SOUTH AFRICA: TERMINATOR 10 Day Group Hunt with KMG Hunting Safaris in East Cape RSA July 25-August 5

[TERMINATOR]

So after my 2nd Trip to hunting in RSA with Marius @KMG Hunting Safaris in 2022, my son Derek and my friend Lincoln Rohn and his nephew Ben Johnson couldn't stand looking at the pics and mounts from my Africa trips anymore. They needed to get in on the action. So they all asked (demanded might be a better word) that I take them back to Africa with me in 2024.

I still had some specific holes to fill in my plains game wish list so I happily agreed to organize a group Plains Game hunt with KMG as I knew Marius had the operation that could give my group both an outstanding hunt and outstanding "1st Safari in Africa" experience. So after talking with Marius about what we were looking for and what dates he had available I locked in the dates of July 25 through August 5 2024. Now we just had to wait....

Lincoln had been dreaming of Kudu...the animal that captivated his brain to the point that he had his tattoo artist work a Kudu into the sleeve on his arm
But that should give you an idea of how jacked up Lincoln was to go hunt Africa and get a Kudu.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to they first time Africa hunters dying to get over there, the day arrived for us to meet at Grand Rapids Airport to begin the journey that would eventually have us meeting the KMG team at the airport in East London, RSA. Delta took us to Atlanta where we got on the all too familiar LOOOOOOOOG flight from ATL to JNB. My Million Miler / Platinum status with Delta allowed me to get my son Derek and I up into Delta Premium Select for the flight over at a reasonable cost. I just could not justify going Delta One considering it would cost more than my target animal, a Sable, and I would rather spend the money on animals. Lincoln, his wife Allison, Ben and his wife Jessica got the best seats possible in Delta Comfort+ and we strapped in for that dreaded 16 hour flight...

Four prior trips hunting to RSA had taught me a few things about how I want things to go when I land at JNB after that long ass flight.
1) I want to get through Customs as fast as possible
2) I want to get my rifles collected and rifle permits processed as fast as possible
3) I want to be in my room for the night as fast as possible
4) I want to get some non-airplane food in me and get some sleep in a real bed as fast as possible so I can fight though the following mornings flight to East London

All of that means I immediately turn to Henry and Adel at riflepermits.com and arrange for VIP Meet & Greet and Pre-Approved Rifle Permits.
Yes...it cost some money. Less than the cost of a warthog per hunter, to get assistance zipping through Customs, Collecting our luggage and being whisk over the the SAPS office where a person is waiting with pre-approved rifle permits.
Yes...I can do my own rifle permit...but then I have to get the rifle permit reviewed and approved while I wait vs. just have them check that the serial numbers match and be out the door to our hotel. Trust me...it is well worth the reasonable fee. Contact Henry @riflepermits.com

I book the Citilodge hotel and stay right at the airport so after a 300 yard walk with no cab/uber I am checking into my room, then heading down to get a very good and VERY reasonably priced steak for dinner without ever leaving the airport grounds.

Which is what we did.

The next morning we got checked in for our flights to East London and noon I was meeting my old friend Marius of @KMG Hunting Safaris at the baggage area of the East London Airport. He was a sight for sore eyes and our group was introduced to his PH's Nick Neuper and Lloyd Freitag. I had arranged for Lincoln to hunt with Marius, Ben to hunt with Lloyd and Derek and I would be hunting 2x1 with Nick. So the introductions were made, luggage loaded and we were off to the Lodge to get settled in. The 1 hr ride gave the groups time to get to know each other and the people they would be hunting with for the next 10 days.

We got to the lodge and after everyone was assigned their rooms it was off the the rifle range. I was shooting my .300 Wby Mark V Accumark pushing 180 Grain Nosler Accubonds. Derek was shooting his 7mm Weatherby Classic Stainless Mark V pushing 160 Grain old School Trophy Bonded Bearclaws. Lincoln was shooting his Browning Abolt in 300WSM pushing 180 grain Norma Bondstrike Ammo. Ben was shooting his Rem 700 in .338 Win Mag with 200 Grain Hornady SST bullets

All went well at the range, checking the zero and 100 yards on paper then confirming at 200 meters on a gong. I made a slight adustment right as I was hitting just left. Everyone else was good to go so we were ready to rock for Day 1

Day 1 found us off with our respective PHs looking for our target species.

Lincoln was bouncing off the walls a the thought of getting his Kudu, but Marius being the experienced PH he his had a plan for Lincoln. Lincoln is kind of a gun ho high energy guy, but had never hunted anything but Whitetails from a stand. Marius wanted Lincoln to get a couple stalks in and shoot an animal or two to settle him in before he went after his dream animal. So they spent the day at a nearby ranch where they popped a really nice Impala in the morning and a old warrior brute of a Blesbok in the late afternoon. They plan worked perfectly as Lincoln had two chances to settle into the routine of stalking with Marius and make two nice shots with his .300WMS (which were his first two animals with it). Now any nerves about hunting in a strange place were calmed and his confidence with his gun was high. Lincoln was ready to go get his Kudu.

Meanwhile, Ben was out looking for a Bushbuck at first light with Lloyd. While glassing for a Bushbuck they spotted a real nice Warthog. Warthog was not part of Ben's priority animals but was definitely on his list of add-ons and they decided this was too nice of one to pass up. Lloyd guided Ben through a long slow stalk to get Ben into position and Ben dropped his first African animal from 180 yards out. The .338 pounded the Warthog who dropped in his tracks. Ben's first African animal was in the salt! Later that evening they were again looking for a Bushbuck. The Bushbuck were still hiding out but when they saw a real good Blesbok, one of Ben's other priority animals, Ben added him to his collection after a short stalk. Ben's joined Lincoln with an opening day Double!

All 4 of the above animals were taken on Free Range Low Fence properties.

While those two were doing their things, I rode shotgun while Nick took Derek out for his first hunting experience on the Dark Continent. Derek had Zebra, Impala, Bushbuck, Gemsbok on his primary list. I as looking for a Sable, Black Impala and Common Reedbuck. Being a dad, and given it was Derek's first trip to Africa, I wanted Nick to focus on Derek for Day 1. We went to a free range property of almost 90,000 acres that had 3 of Derek's target animals on it (Zebra, Bushbuck and Impala) along with Kudu, Nyala, Warthog, Blesbok, Hartebeest, Waterbuck. There might of been other things but we saw all of those.

We were hunting in a style I love. Having options and just seeing what happens. There were 3 species that Derek wanted on that ranch and we were just gonna see what we found and go from there. The plan was to look for the sneaky Bushbuck rams at first and last light, and look for a big Impala or Zebra Stallion during the middle of the day. Morning found us glassing some of Nick's favorite Bushbuck spots from the top of a large ridge, but they failed to show up. So about 10am we transitioned to Impala/Zebra. We spotted and evaluated several Impala but nothing that got Nick excited. We found a couple groups of Zebra and one of them had a nice Stallion. We put a stalk on them but just as we were getting Derek into position 80 yards out, the wind swirled in the wrong direction, the Zebra got our scent and bolted. So that was how the morning ended. We stopped and had lunch soaking in the magnificent East Cape scenery from a hilltop that allowed to to glass several valleys while we ate.

After lunch, we evaluated more Impala...once again, nothing up to Nick's standards. We located the same Zebra heard we had stalked that morning with the big stallion, planned a stalk and took off after them. They were moving, but not quickly. Every time we would try and close the distance, they would still be out there 400+ yards moving away until finally we lost them in the thick bush and decided to leave them for another day.

We hiked back to the truck and Nick were driving to another favorite Bushbuck lookout when the tracker in back pounded on the roof of the truck cab. Everyone that has ever hunted Africa knows what that means and your heart rate rises when you hear it.

The tracker had spotted another group of zebra 300 yards off the road feeding in the thick bush. Nick was pretty sure one was a stallion so we continued down the road until there was a hill between us and were the zebra were. We piled out of the truck and Nick lead Derek off on a quick semi-trot toward the crest of the hill to study the zebra. The tracker and I were behind Nick and Derek. Nick had been studying the Zebra and determined there was a nice stallion in the group. They were feeding in and out of the bushes about 350 yards out and Nick wanted to close the distance and get in front of them so he, the tracker Timba and Derek crouched low and quickly shuffled from bush to bush, closing the distance. I remained sitting on the hill watching the stalk play out so as to have one less person for the zebra to spot and spook. They closed the distance down to what seemed like 200 yards by my estimate and I saw them sit down and get Derek on the sticks. Derek was set, watching a gap in the bushes and I watched first one, then another zebra filter through the gap. 5 more zebra filtered through the gap and when the next one stepped out I could tell it was bigger and more muscular than the others...so I was pretty sure it was the stallion. About the time I came to that conclusion, my suspicion was confirm when I saw the bullet pound the shoulder of zebra through my 12x42 Swarovski's just before I heard the rifle crack. I was far enough away on the hill that the bullet hit the zebra before the sound of the rifle reached me. A second later I heard the smack. I had no doubt the zebra was hit hard, but it ran off into the thick bush.. The sun was nearing the horizon as we moved to where the zebra had been. The track saw where the zebra had torn up the dirt when running off and found some blood. Following the spoor, Timba moved through the bush. 50 yards later...there was Derek's first African animal ... DOA.

The 7mm Wby had slammed that 160 TBBC right through both shoulders. There would be no chance to examine the bullet to judge it's performance. I was told that the shot had been ranged at 237 yards and from 237 yards that TBBC went though both shoulders, opening an nasty hole on the far shoulder. 50 yards was all the zebra could muster before collapsing in a heap. So we couldn't examine the bullet performance from the physical bullet but we had all the evidence we needed to just how it had performed. And it had performed FLAWLESSLY.

To say Derek was happy is a massive understatement. And to say I was a proud dad was an even bigger understatement. Seeing Derek's success means more to me at this stage in my life than any personal success I could possibly have.

So Day 1 was in the books with 5 Animals in the Salt. Our group was off to a roaring start!

#Prouddad
#KMG



The group waiting to board in Grand Rapids MI

Lincoln and his Nephew Ben ready to board the flight in Grand Rapids

Derek and I in Delta Premium Select waiting to take off in Atlanta

Lincoln's Impala

Lincoln's Blesbok

Ben's Warthog

Ben and Jessica with Ben's Impala

Derek's Zebra Stallion

 

[Mekaniks]

Excellent! Thank You for sharing

 

[TERMINATOR]

Day 2 - Skip
Day 2 found Derek and I with our PH Nick and tracker Timba heading to a large (25,000 acre) ranch about an hour away that was known to hold some nice Black Impala, one of my 3 target species.

We would target my Black Impala, then if I was successful, look for a nice Common Impala for Derek.

We stopped by the ranch HQ and talked to the manager who told us he had been seeing a nice Black Impala Ram running with a couple younger Black Impala rams with a group of Common Impala over in a certain section of the ranch. So Nick decided we would start off by looking for that ram to check him out. We took one of the ranch's trackers who knew the place like the back of his hand to work with us.

After some looking we found a herd of about 40 Impala with some Blacks mixed in thick cover in the foothills of a mountain, so we decided to check them out. We put a stalk on them to get closer and examine what Black Rams we may find. We closed in to about 100 yards out from the herd. Nick and Timba the tracker looked over the rams as they drifted between trees in the bush. They were not spooked but had picked us up and were nervous...moving way with purpose to put some distance between us, but not spooked/bolting. There was one that Nick was curious about but not sold on. He had me get on the sticks and focus on a opening that the Impala were passing through about 150 yards out. We watched Impala after Impala pass through the opening. I had the safety off but finger outside the trigger guard. Whenever a black animal came into the gap I would center the crosshairs on it's shoulder and prepare to shoot if given the instruction from Nick. Finally the one he was interested in stepped into the opening. I could see he was a good one...but waiting for Nick to give the word to "take him". I had him killed 3 times in my brain as I looked at the crosshairs on his shoulder...then heard Nick calmly say "Nope"....

I flipped on the safety and relaxed my trigger hand as we watched him slip away into the bush to grow a little more.

Even though I didn't shoot, it had been an pulse raising situation. And it felt good to know that we were waiting for a GREAT Black Impala. So we hiked back to the truck.

We grabbed some water and slowly motored to another section of the ranch. As we rounded a bend in the road a large hill (small mountain LOL) loomed into sight. "Thump, thump, thump"...Timba pounded the roof from the back of the truck and Nick stopped and raised his binoculars.

In a valley to our left was a group of Impala. No Black rams were there. But high up on the hillside were 3 rams, slowly feeding across the hillside. There were two Blacks and a Common. They were almost a mile away. Nick got out his spotting scope and soon said "Grab your gun!" We took off walking slowly, but steadily down the road towards the rams on the hill.

The hillside was a mixture of broken cover with the Impala feeding in the open patches. At the base of the hill was a large group of trees that the road we were hiking on would pass into. We moved forward while watching the rams, to make sure they stayed focused on feeding until we reached the trees at the base of the hill . We were about 600 yards from the rams. Now that we had entered the trees we could pick up the pace without being detected. We closed until we were directly below the rams, at the base of the hill they were on and moved forward. We got to the edge of the trees and there was about a 100 yard clearing to the base of the hill. We could go no further without getting spotted. We backed into the trees until we found an opening where we had line of sight to the rams and sat down.

Nick put the sticks in front of me. I was sitting on a rock and the tripod was sitting taller than me because the rams on the hillside were about 60 degrees upon the hill. I have shot many animals from the top of a hill angling down but this was a first for me. Shooting at an animal with a severe upward angle.

Nick, Derek and the tracker were watching the rams as I tried to locate them in my 3x18 Leupold VH6-HD Scope. After several iterations of me turning the scope down and lifting my head to visually locate the rams and then cranking the scope up to high power I FINALLY got the scope on the target ram. Thank god there was a Common Impala in the group because that was how we could communicate to assure I was on the right ram ("he's the one below and to the right of the common, quartering toward the left") Considering were were looking at a black animal with black horns in the shadows of the hillside, there was no way I could make out which was the larger ram from the distance were at looking through the scope. I was 100% going on Nicks call as to the ram to shoot. Nick called the range as 348 so I set the CDS dial on the scope to 350 and centered the crosshair in him waiting for a good angle. The ram was mostly facing downhill almost head on, so no way I was taking that shot from 350 yards out. So I waited. Eventually he turned and was mostly broadside. I centered the crosshairs on his shoulder as I sat there with the rifle in the tripod angling 60-65 degrees upward over my head. I was a strange position but I was steady so I started squeezing the trigger.

BOOOM....the 300 Weatherby roared and the recoil moved me off the animal in the scope. Both Derek and Nick looking through binoculars saw the bullet his the dirt right at the rams front feet. They both said "Miss....low" almost in unison. The Rams were confused at the shot but really didn't know where the shot came from and just scampered a couple steps and then stopped looking around. I relocated the rams in the scope and while confirming with Nick which was the target Black ("still the one BELOW the common") I clicked the CDS dial up a few notches since I hit low. Now he was quartered a bit toward me but still facing left, so I settled the crosshairs on him again and for the second time squeezed the trigger. Then time when the big 300 roared, both Nick and Derek excitedly said "He's down!!!" before I could recover from the recoil. The ram had crumpled at the shot and rolled a couple turns down the hill. There was no movement after that.

High fives all around!

The tracker Timba and the ranch tracker worked their way up the hill and slowly carried the ram down the hill to us for pictures. We took the Impala to a clearing to set up and the picture session began.

He was a GREAT Black Impala with tips that went up, back, up then flared out. He was better than I could have possibly hoped for.

The bullet had entered in his neck just inside the base of his front (left) shoulder, angled up and right out the upper far (right) shoulder. Timba patched the exit hole with some hair from his tail but you can see some of the exit hole in the pic below. It was mostly hidden for the photo but the exit was probably the size of a quarter or a little larger. The 180 grain Nosler Accubond had done its job.

He was up near the top of that hill behind me and we were in the trees at the base of the hill behind me.

Later when talking about my first shot hitting low, Nick mentioned that he was reading out 348 meters as his RF Leica Binocs were reading in meters. I had set the dial for 350 YARDs based on his saying 348. When you do the math (add 10%), it turns out 348 meters is 383 YARDS! When I had missed low, I had just cranked a few clicks up and fired again. When I looked at the dial, I found that those clicks to the dial to 380 yards....and bingo...right on target, albeit slightly left of aim. But hey, 380 yards, sitting on a rock with the gun angled up higher than my head....I will take it

We got him dropped off at the skinning shed and then took off looking for a shooter Common Impala for Derek. Over the afternoon we glassed several and Derek, Nick and the ranch tracker stalked one in some this brush without luck. He was 80 yards out from a real nice ram but the ram was always screened by brush and finally disappeared into the thick stuff.

So as the sun was closing in on the hills, we picked up Timba and the trophy parts of my Black Impala from the ranch HQ and headed back to our lodge.

My Day 2 was a success and I couldn't wait to toast our luck with a whisky on the rocks back at the lodge.

#BlackImpalaDown
#KMG

 

[Pablo]

Great ram!

 

[cpr0312]

Heck of a first day! Looking forward to more!

 

[USN]

Enjoying your groups report! Thanks

 

[TERMINATOR]

The TERMINATOR Assassins in the East Cape

Derek, Myself, Ben and Lincoln

 

[TERMINATOR]

Day 2 Ben

While Derek and I were chasing Impala on one large ranch, 40 miles away, Ben and his PH Lloyd were going to look for a Zebra. They were going to the ranch Derek and I had hunted the day before and where Derek took his stallion. We had seen several herds of Zebra and had only covered a portion of the gigantic 90,000 ranch so it seemed like a good plan.

Lots of people think hunting zebra is like shooting fish in a barrel. Maybe on a open plain area it could be pretty easy. But as Derek and I found out on Day 1, when you are hunting in the rugged hills/canyon areas of the East Cape, nothing comes easy. In the areas we hunted it was easy to spot herds of zebra because their white hides tend to stand out more than the brown/black antelope do. But the cover was thick, the wind would swirl in the canyons and the zebra can and would slip over the hills into the next canyon. Then you would get there, look into that valley and find them just in time to watch them slip over the next hill. It took Derek 3 stalks to get the drop on his Stallion Day 1, so nothing is a given. But with a good zebra population and great PH's it is only a matter of persistence and you will get one.

Ben and Lloyd spend the day looking at and putting stalks on zebra without getting a shot at one. Remember that when people tell you hunting zebra is "shooting fish in a barrel". They were also looking for a big Red Hartebeest and saw/evaluated some, but did not find one Lloyd liked as a "shooter". Same with Kudu, which was also a Priority Animal for Ben.

As the sun started setting, Lloyd took Ben to one of his favorite Bushbuck spots on a cliff overlooking a valley where Lloyd had often seen Bushbuck feed. Bushbuck was not a priority animal for Ben but it was on his "opportunity list". After only a couple minutes Lloyd said "There is a Bushbuck and he is a really good one!". That was the good news. The bad news is he was 900 yards away feeding in a small clearing and the light was fading. Lloyd mentally marked the spot where the Bushbuck was and they quickly got in his vehicle and drove down into the canyon. Luckily the road down into the canyon was not visible from the clearing where the Bushbuck was feeding.

They stopped the vehicle when they got to the bottom of the valley so as not to spook the Bushbuck They got out and quickly hustled down the road towards where the Bushbuck had been feeding. Lloyds tracker had remained up on the hilltop with a radio to help guide the hunters to the clearing in the bush. When they got as close as the road would take them, Lloyds tracker directed them to cut into the bush in the direction of the Bushbuck. After a slow stalk through the bush, they got to where the team could see into the clearing and spotted the ram, still content on feeding.

The sun was already behind the hills when Lloyd set the shooting sticks and Ben settled into them with his Rem 700 .338 Mag.

Lloyd read the range...125 yards. Point blank range for Ben who's gun was sighted in for 200 yards.

The gun roared and the shot was perfect. Ben had collected his 3rd trophy in 2 days....and man was it a magnificent Bushbuck.

High fives were given and the photos were taken. Ben was loving the East Cape RSA and why wouldn't he

So Ben and I had scored Day 2. Meanwhile Lincoln was 40 miles away chasing his dream animal...the Kudu. That is a story worth waiting for....

#BigAssBushbuck
#KMGHuntingSafaris

 

[TERMINATOR]

This is what hunting is like with @KMG Hunting Safaris in the East Cape.

No "fish in a barrel" to be seen anywhere

 

[TERMINATOR]

Day 2 Lincoln

While Derek and I were chasing Impala on one ranch, Ben was stalking Zebra and ended taking a Bushbuck.

For Lincoln....the day he had been dreaming of for years was finally here. Marius was taking him to look for his dream animal...a nice Kudu Bull.

The day saw them leaving the lodge just before daylight, headed to a large ranch known to have good Kudu.

Daylight saw them on one of Marius' favorite high points, glassing the area looking for a target Bull. They saw several Impala, some Springbok, some Kudu Cows and a couple young Kudu Bulls...but no shooters.

After a couple hours they were convinced they had seen what there was to see from that spot and relocated to another spot Marius knew well. A cliff overlooking a hillside and valley. History had shown Marius that the Kudu Bulls would often bed on that hillside after feeding for the morning. History was soon to be repeated. After about 30 minutes of glassing, Marius saw a very nice Kudu Bull, stand up from where he was bedded under a small group of trees. Marius could see that it was a good bull but wanted to study him to get a better look. All of the KMG PHs not only look at length, but they are looking for "old"....hard, thick horns at the bases....mass. So Marius broke out his spotting scope. By now the Bull had bedded back down under the same trees, facing away with a tree trunk blocking most of his body. But the back of his head was visible so Marius could look at the spiraling horns at his leisure. It was about 10am and the day was starting to heat up. The bull would most likely spend the mid-day resting in the shade, but would probably get up a time or two before getting serious about an evening freed.

Working his spotting scope on the bedded bull, after a while Marius turned to Lincoln and said "He's the one. We are going to wait him out and kill him when he stands". It actually was a good situation for Lincoln as he could get a solid rest built out of his daypack and jacket, calm his nerves over his excitement of taking his dream animal and be rock solid for when the bull stood up.
So they got his rifle rest set up and waited.

And waited...

And waited....

Finally, the Bull stood up. Lincoln got settled in, flipped the safety off and got on the Bull as he nibbled the leaves of a bush nearby....but even though they could plainly see the Kudu, the bull's vital area was screened by brush. Marius calmly urged Lincoln to be patient....then the Bull laid back down right where he had been...tree blocking his body.

Lincoln was going through an emotional roller coaster...waiting for the bull to stand, getting his adrenaline pumping when the bull stood...then emotional deflation when the bull laid back down without giving him a shot.

Marius assured Lincoln that it was just a matter of time before they got their shot and that Lincoln should stay positive.

"Matter of time"....a factual statement but neither of them knew how much "time" that would be.

They laid on the rock SIX FREAKIN HOURS waiting for their shot. Meanwhile the Bull rose to his feet twice more without giving Lincoln a clean shot. So two more times, Lincoln got fired up to close the deal, then had to calm down, regain perspective and settle back in to wait.

At 4pm the sun was starting to inch toward the hill tops. The Bull stood up a FOURTH time and for a FOURTH time Lincoln settled into the scope and flipped off the safety.

FINALLY, the bull moved about twenty yards into a clearing. He had stopped to look around and was mostly broadside. Marius gave the command, but Lincoln was already squeezing the trigger and the roar of the .300 WMS drown him out.

The hit was solid and Marius could see the bull stagger at them impact. He hissed to Lincoln "Hit him again!!!" but before Lincoln to rack a 2nd shell the bull toppled to the ground.

After 6 hour and 4 adrenaline rushes, 3 of which had ended in deflation, Lincoln had put his Kudu in the dirt!!!

After High Fives all around, the team worked their way around and down to the now expired great Kudu Bull.

The bull was a beautiful trophy...old, heavy, very good curls and ivory tips. Everything a guy that had spent years dreaming of taking a Kudu Bull could hope for.

This picture says it all.

Day 2 was in the books with 3 hunters taking great animals under the guidance of KMG PHs

Soon we would all be back at the lodge toasting each others success and reliving the day!

 

[Rem280]

Day 2 Lincoln

While Derek and I were chasing Impala on one ranch, Ben was stalking Zebra and ended taking a Bushbuck.

For Lincoln....the day he had been dreaming of for years was finally here. Marius was taking him to look for his dream animal...a nice Kudu Bull.

The day saw them leaving the lodge just before daylight, headed to a large ranch known to have good Kudu.

Daylight saw them on one of Marius' favorite high points, glassing the area looking for a target Bull. They saw several Impala, some Springbok, some Kudu Cows and a couple young Kudu Bulls...but no shooters.

After a couple hours they were convinced they had seen what there was to see from that spot and relocated to another spot Marius knew well. A cliff overlooking a hillside and valley. History had shown Marius that the Kudu Bulls would often bed on that hillside after feeding for the morning. History was soon to be repeated. After about 30 minutes of glassing, Marius saw a very nice Kudu Bull, stand up from where he was bedded under a small group of trees. Marius could see that it was a good bull but wanted to study him to get a better look. All of the KMG PHs not only look at length, but they are looking for "old"....hard, thick horns at the bases....mass. So Marius broke out his spotting scope. By now the Bull had bedded back down under the same trees, facing away with a tree trunk blocking most of his body. But the back of his head was visible so Marius could look at the spiraling horns at his leisure. It was about 10am and the day was starting to heat up. The bull would most likely spend the mid-day resting in the shade, but would probably get up a time or two before getting serious about an evening freed.

Working his spotting scope on the bedded bull, after a while Marius turned to Lincoln and said "He's the one. We are going to wait him out and kill him when he stands". It actually was a good situation for Lincoln as he could get a solid rest built out of his daypack and jacket, calm his nerves over his excitement of taking his dream animal and be rock solid for when the bull stood up.
So they got his rifle rest set up and waited.

And waited...

And waited....

View attachment 626745

Finally, the Bull stood up. Lincoln got settled in, flipped the safety off and got on the Bull as he nibbled the leaves of a bush nearby....but even though they could plainly see the Kudu, the bull's vital area was screened by brush. Marius calmly urged Lincoln to be patient....then the Bull laid back down right where he had been...tree blocking his body.

Lincoln was going through an emotional roller coaster...waiting for the bull to stand, getting his adrenaline pumping when the bull stood...then emotional deflation when the bull laid back down without giving him a shot.

Marius assured Lincoln that it was just a matter of time before they got their shot and that Lincoln should stay positive.

"Matter of time"....a factual statement but neither of them knew how much "time" that would be.

They laid on the rock SIX FREAKIN HOURS waiting for their shot. Meanwhile the Bull rose to his feet twice more without giving Lincoln a clean shot. So two more times, Lincoln got fired up to close the deal, then had to calm down, regain perspective and settle back in to wait.

At 4pm the sun was starting to inch toward the hill tops. The Bull stood up a FOURTH time and for a FOURTH time Lincoln settled into the scope and flipped off the safety.

FINALLY, the bull moved about twenty yards into a clearing. He had stopped to look around and was mostly broadside. Marius gave the command, but Lincoln was already squeezing the trigger and the roar of the .300 WMS drown him out.

The hit was solid and Marius could see the bull stagger at them impact. He hissed to Lincoln "Hit him again!!!" but before Lincoln to rack a 2nd shell the bull toppled to the ground.

After 6 hour and 4 adrenaline rushes, 3 of which had ended in deflation, Lincoln had put his Kudu in the dirt!!!

After High Fives all around, the team worked their way around and down to the now expired great Kudu Bull.

View attachment 626746

The bull was a beautiful trophy...old, heavy, very good curls and ivory tips. Everything a guy that had spent years dreaming of taking a Kudu Bull could hope for.

This picture says it all.

Day 2 was in the books with 3 hunters taking great animals under the guidance of KMG PHs

Soon we would all be back at the lodge toasting each others success and reliving the day!

View attachment 626748

Amazing bull! Congrats

 

[TERMINATOR]

Amazing bull! Congrats

Yes, Lincoln was super happy with him. Made the 6 hour wait on the cliff worth it!

Was a day to remember for a lifetime. Every time he looks at the mount Lincoln will think of the day spent laying on top of a cliff.

 

[TERMINATOR]

Was that a gunshot????

 

[TERMINATOR]

#FreeRangeHunting with @KMG Hunting Safaris

 

[TERMINATOR]

The Lodge for KMG Safaris

 

[TERMINATOR]

Day 3 Derek

Day 3 saw Lincoln, Ben and their wives take the day off to go on a Game Drive arranged by Marius to a nearby Game Reserve. There they could see/photograph some of the animals we would not see on our hunt....mainly the Big 5. It was a windy and chilly day but they bundled up and had a very nice day with a stop for lunch.

Meanwhile Nick took Derek out looking for a Bushbuck again at first light, then we would go from there looking for an Impala or Hartebeest.

Nick headed for another large free ranch ranch where he had often taken Bushbuck. The road up to the hunting area was very steep and very rugged...even by South Africa ranch standards LOL I mean it might have been the nastiest road I have ever been on.

As we headed to the spot Nick liked for Bushbuck, we spotted some Nyala and Kudu Cows. By now Derek was getting really good at spotting the local animals but it takes some doing to spot them BEFORE the PH or tracker did. I mean Nick can drive on the nastiest of roads, be sending messages on his cell phone arranging the next days hunts (thank god for Siri LOL) AND spot animals that we would not see.

At one point Nick stopped the vehicle and raised his binoculars. After a second he said "that's a real good Kudu over there". I have a nice Kudu and was filling holes in my collection this trip (Black Impala checked off...Sable to come) and Kudu wasn't in Derek's plan/budget for this trip, was to be the key animal for a future trip, so after a minute we moved on towards the Bushbuck spot Nick likes to glass on that ranch.

We glassed for about an hour while Nick told us tales of the local area's interesting history. No shooter Bushbuck.

I could tell something was puzzling/troubling Nick and I ask "What's up...it seems like your mind is elsewhere?" Nick replied "I cant get that Kudu we saw on the way in out of my mind. I think it is a REALLY good one". I said "Well, let's go see if we can find him again and have a look. If he is that good I would consider taking him". So we went back where we had seen the Kudu bull where the road ran along the ridgetop, stopped and started glassing. Nick located the Kudu bull not far from where he had been before, still feeding contently on a bush below a large rock outcropping. He was about 600 yards away, well below us across the valley on the opposite hillside.

After looking at the bull briefly in the binoculars, Nick broke out his spotting scope. A couple minutes later Nick turned to us and said "Guys....that is the biggest Kudu bull I have ever seen while hunting myself or guiding. It is brute. It will be a crime if one of you does not hunt him." He was practically pleading for us to hunt him.

I looked at Derek. Being "the dad" and this being Derek's first Safari I deferred to him to have first option. Nick said "Derek, you could come back to Africa 10 years in a row specifically looking for a Kudu...and probably never get a chance at a fair chase, free range Kudu that big."

Derek was sold. He decided to forgo one of his target animals for this trip and blow though his budget if need be to try and capitalize on this potentially once in a lifetime opportunity that had been placed in his lap.

So we grabbed the shooting tripod and Nick plotted a path down the hillside we were on to take us lower and position us directly across the canyon from the feeding Kudu bull.

The Kudu was facing away from us which helped but we went as fast as we could side hilling down lower and lower. At one point we lucked onto an old road/trail that allowed us to move more quickly until we were directly across from the Kudu but sill somewhat above him. Nick read the range at 370 meters (just over 400 yards) and wanted to get closer. The trail continued on across the hillside but this was as close as it came to the Kudu, so we dropped off that trail and crouching, slowly worked down the hillside. The last portion was pretty steep and we just sat on our ass and slide slowly down the hillside until we reached a clump of bushes that gave us some cover and were almost directly across from the Kudu.

This was as close as we were going to get.

Nick and Derek were just below Timba the the tracker and I on the hillside. I was watching the Kudu and Nick set up the tripod to fit a sitting position and Derek settled in. Nick read the range....288 meters. Quick math said 316 yards. Derek set the CDS for 315

We were all watching the Kudu, Derek through is scope, Nick, Timba and I through our binoculars as we watched the Kudu feed with his ass towards us, waiting for him to turn and give us a better shot angle.

After what seemed like forever, but was probably 10 minutes, the Kudu turned and moved to feed on a bush next to him. That put him almost broadside facing left. I knew a shot was coming, but still jumped a little when I heard Derek's 7MM Wby roar.

I watch the Kudu stagger, rocked at the impact as the 160 grain TBBC hit him dead on the shoulder. He took a step, then fell to the ground. Derek didn;t wait to see what happened next, he had racked another shell and sent another round into the Kudu who was now laying kind of away from us head up the slope of the hillside. Derek's 2nd shot hit him mid body and angled into the off shoulder.

The Kudu was done. Whoops and high fives were given and Derek looked relieved. We had practiced out to 400 yards but at was the longest shot he had ever made on a game animal and had done it from a tough position on the side hill.

But he got it done.

The Kudu would measure 56" on one side and 57" on the other. He had deep curls that damn near came together in the middle and ivory tips.

The Trophy of a Lifetime for Derek.

And I was there to see it.

Now it was time to get over to the other hillside and get to work on the Kudu.

It was 1pm before the photos were done, the kudu skinned and the carcass cut in two and hauled up to the nearest spot we could get the hunting bakkie, 60 yards above the Kudu. So we called it a day and went to the lodge to toast Derek's great fortune.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Look at those curls!! What a monster for the Eastern Cape! Truly a once in a lifetime bull!

 

[Nevada Wapati]

Fantastic animals. I need to get back there.
Great hunting with wonderful PH's (friends).

 

[TERMINATOR]

Look at those curls!! What a monster for the Eastern Cape! Truly a once in a lifetime bull!

Yeah, he was definitely worth blowing out the budget for

Derek shot him from the hillside that would be somewhere above where the tip of his left horn is in this picture

 

[TERMINATOR]

Fantastic animals. I need to get back there.
Great hunting with wonderful PH's (friends).

Thank you

We had had a tremendous hunt and there’s lots more to report yet