SOUTH AFRICA: Tootabi Hunting Safari Report With The Wife A Family Affair

Royal the Kudu gets into your blood. They are majestic for sure! I think the left horn on yours gives him a very distinctive look. Don't think you mentioned how you intend to have him mounted but his neck was huge so I would sure play that up!

His neck was huge! In the rut for sure. The ladies definitely got him in trouble!!!

Nice buff. I like the worn left side. Now I understand your reference to left sided stuff.

Yup - I'm a leftie and I like to think that my buff and kudu were too.
 
What a trip, what a hunt and what a great hunting report royal...!!!!!

I enjoyed every pic, every trophie, every word......!!!!

Thank you so much.....!!!!!
 
I do plan on writing a summary of reflections at some point, but this is just about it for the report.

It was a really great time with the wife, Loodt and family, Lammie, and of course Tim and Kathy. I'll admit that I'm sad as I type this, knowing it will probably be 2018 at best before we make it back, but make it back we will.

I do have one final picture to post. I saved the best for last. ;)

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By far the best picture ever on Ah. LOL

You had one hell of a trip and you now know why I was so happy to. With his friends and family you can only have a good time with loodt. He may be young but is already making his place in this business and I am proud to say I have hunted with him. I am even prouder to call him my friend and see what he has done when given the chance.
 
Royal;
Sorry but I just cannot give you a "like" on that last picture:eek:

And Bill, can't agree on the picture but I like the rest of what you said :D
 
Royal,

Super steenbok.

Enjoyed your report tremendously. Thanks for posting.

As Bob said on that last photo????????????????

All the best.
 
wow some of you guys just don't know SA fashion I guess. You all just want one of the shirts I can tell. LOL :A Banana:
 
I just hate it when Bill starts to pout! ;)

I promised him last summer that I would post a picture of me in the pink shirt and I try to be a man of my word!

Thanks on the Steenbok, Wheels. I could be happier with him!
 
wow some of you guys just don't know SA fashion I guess. You all just want one of the shirts I can tell. LOL :A Banana:

Bill,

If you starting trying to buy a pink short for everyone on AH that doesn't like them it will cost you more than a Roan!!!
 
I just hate it when Bill starts to pout! ;)

I promised him last summer that I would post a picture of me in the pink shirt and I try to be a man of my word!

Thanks on the Steenbok, Wheels. I could be happier with him!
Royal your a better man than me....

And that is a heck of a whopper steenbok! Congrats on the whole trip!!!!
 
Great story Royal! Glad You and the wife had a wonderful trip! Very cool you got to do some hunting with Tim also. That time with the cheetahs must have been amazing!
Cheers,
Cody

Thanks Cody!

The cheetahs were very cool. The four of us got so lucky that she liked us, also that it ended up just being us four and not a larger group. We started with two other guys who had to leave for the airport and missed the good part!
 
Wished you would have saved that Steenbok for me!
My daughter added $20 to her Africa fund this morning. Now we are headed out for driving lessons and some trigger time at my Aunts ranch.
 
That is a fine pink shirt !
 
I was pleased to see junior find a pod of squirrels, bail out, and go prone in her quest for the best shot. Up until now she always shot standing or sitting. Next March she will be shooting at Warthog, Ostrich, and Springbok! Not trying to hijack the thread... just displaying our excitement for our next trip.
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On a separate note. Just a short time later I let her drive on the ranch, alone, for the first time. She returned with nearly a ripped out side-wall on the left rear tire. Thank goodness for tires that are nearly bald and needing replaced anyways.
 
Royal, I still cant believe you shot my Steenbok.
 
Hijack away!!!

I LOVE seeing kids want to hunt, my sons dont, and I think it is awesome when girls go out and show the boys how to do it.

It is also great to see that you are obviously teaching her to always get a better shooting position. I would shoot every shot prone if I could.

Oh, and that wasnt the only big Steenbok on that ranch I promise you!!! :)
 
Congrats for a great experience, Royal, and thanks for sharing !

Fantastic pics, well, except......the last one :E Lol:
 
Day Five

One day I was hunting near the beach and sand and the next I’m hunting in the mountains and rocks. It went from easy walking to rather tough. The rocks and brush hold a special place in my heart though as I grew up spending much time in the Texas Hill Country. The “Kudu Camp” really reminded me of the hill country, except bigger. Acacia instead of mesquite, but the prickly pear cactus looks similar. The cactus is taller in Africa too, but the palms look the same. Somehow I’m not sure that I got a single good picture of the cactus. Oops…

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Luck did turn for the better again. And in the early morning Attie spotted a nice Duiker bedded down. We could only see his head through the grass. I decide I could make the shot though and took it. I still haven’t learned how to compensate for the grass properly and shot over his back. He just stood up and moved maybe five yards to the right instead of running though. I guess he was still sleepy. Big, big mistake on his part. If I didn’t learn anything else at SAAM it was to always be ready for another shot, and I was.

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The morning wasn’t over either as we found the Steenbok next. I’m not sure how long the shot was, maybe just over 100 yards, but regardless I pulled it and hit the Steenbok low. $^$&*$%!!! We jumped him again and I took two running shots that missed, although the second one looked like it went between his horns. Attie saw the brush that he bedded down in though and had a plan. They had me circle around and get ready and then Attie and Lammie flushed him out like quail. Another running shot, but this time I didn’t miss.

I always try to be honest with myself and everyone else about what I do wrong and try and learn from it. This time I overcompensated for my belief that I’d been too slow on the sticks several times the day before. Well, this time I was too fast and made a poor shot due to it. Frankly, I’d rather be too slow. There is fine line in there and I struggle to hit it.
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So it is now 9:30 in the morning and we are looking for Kudu as we came to the camp to do. We see some, but not a lot according to Lammie. He expects more, but they just aren’t moving for whatever reason. This continues for the rest of the day. Cow and young bulls, which they call “stutostut” (I’m sure I just butchered that…), which translates to “motorbike” referring to the ape hanger handlebars on a Harley Davidson. I think the term fits perfectly for those young bulls that point out!

Mid-day we do see one mature bull that is very wide for the area, but he isn’t what I’m looking for. Lammie had me take a picture of him because of the width and estimated him at 45 inches. When I showed Loodt the picture that night he gave me a bit of a hard time telling me that I should have taken him and that he would have and that he would go back and take the bull himself. He just wasn’t what I wanted and I had no remorse in passing on him. To me that is the great thing about Kudu, the shape and spread can be so personal and different even if the inches are close to the same.
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We finished the evening with a still hunt at a spot Lammie has hunted many times before. Lammie was disappointed because we “only” saw roughly 15 Kudu and the one decent bull we saw never came close enough to stalk. But here was the exciting part for me. Lammie told me beforehand what they would do, where they would come from, how they would come, and where they would go. It was really neat watching them do it. Where I hunt most of the time you just don’t get to see that. Very cool.

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So that was it for the day and we drove out after dark and man was it pitch black. Well. If I haven’t learned anything else in two trips to Africa it is that when you think it is all over something else amazing will happen. So there on that dirt road is a porcupine. Bakkie comes to a quick stop and out we jump. I always carry a little Streamlight flashlight in my pocket and it came in handy as it was the only one we had. Off into the bush Attie and I go chasing after that porcupine. I felt like a teenager! He zigs and zags and I’m trying to get pictures and get closer and Attie runs by him as well. Not too long ago there was a thread here asking about the appropriate caliber for a porcupine. I can now tell you what it is - .rock! Attie hit him right in the head and that was that. Quick and clean, he never even fell over. Before that happened though I did get to hear him shake those quills. What a sound they make!!! Sound just like a really loud rattlesnake, but just a little slower on the rattling. Great day again.

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A Kudu bull that we found dead. If you look on the flank you can see where he was gored in a fight with another bull. Nature is so peaceful and all animals get along unless we come to hunt them. Yeah right...

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And finally, if anyone ever wondered about what kind of an impact over grazing could have in the bush, here you go. Good management on one side and bad on the other.

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Should have dusted the flies off the Kudu and posed, just kidding
 
I do plan on writing a summary of reflections at some point, but this is just about it for the report.

It was a really great time with the wife, Loodt and family, Lammie, and of course Tim and Kathy. I'll admit that I'm sad as I type this, knowing it will probably be 2018 at best before we make it back, but make it back we will.

I do have one final picture to post. I saved the best for last. ;)

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Pink?
 
Should have dusted the flies off the Kudu and posed, just kidding

I don't care who you are, that's funny!!!!

Well... Unless you are my wife. Then it probably isn't funny.... :A Banana Sad:
 
Great hunt, nice trophies, thanks for sharing. I have almost convinced my wife to come along next time. We would be doing much the same as you did. Your trip report will definitely help persuade her.
 

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