SOUTH AFRICA: ZIMBABWE: Mark & Tim's Big Bull Safari With KMG Hunting Safaris

[Tim Blackwell]

Who's Bushpig will be mounted first? Mark or Tim's?

Probably Mark's....practice makes perfect

Especially since he posted that photo above

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Day 4 on PG (Day 12 of hunt)

With Mark's awesome Bushpig boar in the salt next to his big Warthog, it was back on the trail of Kudu bulls.

Again we travelled with Nick and the Kiwis to the same big property as Day 3, we'd seen ample cows, the bulls had to be there somewhere!

Again we walked a lot and glassed even more, in some simply incredible country!

But again, it seemed the bulls were staying well hidden! We lunched again by meeting up with the whole crew atop the hill under our Wattles, a hasty braii and some kudu borewors was a hit!

We worked hard all afternoon but for no result. As we were driving out on last light, all of a sudden there he was, the massive curls of 50"+ of Cape Kudu bull, standing in the open at 70 yards!!

Unfortunately, he was 20 yards the opposite side of the neighbours 4' cattle fence! We retreated back up the hill a little and got set in a seated position over the short sticks, hoping the bull might jump onto our side. But unfortunately, we watched him till it was too dark to see, and he never budged...

The following morning was Day 5 on PG, my 13th and final day hunting. My wife Nikki came out with us this morning, as she put it, "Just go shoot a kudu and let's get back for lunch!"

We headed to a different free-range property just north of home base. It was a beautiful crisp morning, we drove to a high vantage point and commenced glassing, Mart instantly finding Kudu cows. Him and the trackers moved down the hill slightly to set up the spotter, while Mark, Nikki and I continued glassing from the top.

After a while, Thandi came back up and waved me down the hill. Settling in behind the spotting scope, Marty explained they had found a bull. I had a look and his width and shape struck me instantly. He looked like a classic, East Cape Bull. "He's not the biggest bull on the hill inch-wise", Marty explained. "But I guarantee you he is old." His well-rubbed, white ivory tips were testament to that.

He gave me the choice to make a play for him, or to move on and keep looking. I replied that I would never measure him anyway, and that OLD is just what I liked! Let's go!

We drove back down the gully in the truck, and crossed to the other side before setting out on foot. We stopped on a ledge, still well below him looking up. The wind was no good, and we were worried if we got right up on the same face as him, we'd probably struggle to see him in the thick cover, and regardless he'd most definitely smell us.

Glassing again, we could see the bushes the bull had moved in to, but couldn't see him yet. So backing up a little to clear some undergrowth, I got set up prone over the bipod with Martys .300 and waited.

Finally he moved into a small gap. He took some finding in the scope, but at Martys description, I picked him up and zoomed the scope in to 14x. I could just see his head and horns, he'd need to step forwards for a clear shot. Marty called the range as 378 metres.

The bull slowly moved forward through the cover until his shoulder was just visible. I tried to line up, but was wobbling - given the range I needed a rock or something under the rear of the butt. Hang on, my bino pack is the perfect height!

I settled again, picked up his shoulder and squeezed. A definite thud floated back on the breeze, but Marty called the shot low and the bull ran to the right. He took some finding again, but there he stood, front-on.

I held on the centre of his big neck and fired again. Another solid hit and the bull disappeared down the gully in the thick stuff below us.

We gave him some time and then headed in, with Marty's dogs Rocky and Muffin leading the way. There was no blood and it took a nervous little while to find his running marks. But soon enough we heard a Kudu grunt and the dogs increase their volume, we raced downhill and happily no further shots were required. After 5 long days of effort, we had our bull.

I was over the moon, I now had every species I'd come for, and they were all beautiful old trophies. The bull was old indeed, with ivory running down the front of each horn tip, and well worn, solid bases. One very happy hunter!!

Between myself, Marty, two trackers, and a lot of effort, we were able to carry him out whole back to the Toyota, then back to the skinning shed for caping and processing. And like Nikki said, we were back for lunch!

 

[VertigoBE]

That’s a nice kudu! Well done!

 

[Mark R]

Was easy once we had Nikki with us Was a great result on a fantastic bull. Well done mate

 

[kgesch]

Day 3 on PG.... We left the lodge early, headed for one of Martys favourite free-range Kudu properties where he'd had good success in the past. We also had the Kiwis along with Nick, hunting the other side of the huge property. There was plenty of huge deep gullies to hide a Kudu bull or three!

Driving into the property, the vegetation had just started to thicken up, when up ahead, 2 Kudu bulls leapt across the track in front of us! Marty and I leapt out just as quickly with rifle and sticks in hot pursuit. But it was short lived, as both bulls had not finished growing yet. We were after something old that had done his breeding...

Hunting along the ridge top and doing a lot of glassing, we then started dropping down into several promising draws and working our way around the faces. The going was steep and walking difficult through the knee-deep dry grass studded with rocks and boulders.

We located plenty of cows, but the bulls were nowhere to be found! Post-rut Kudu hunting can certainly be a challenge! Nevertheless it was big country, with thick vegetation, the Kudu were certainly there, and all we needed was patience and a little luck.

View attachment 488894
View attachment 488895

We met up with the Kiwis for lunch atop the biggest hill on the property, and one of the only clearings. The Neuper brothers figured we'd feel at home under the Black Wattles

View attachment 488896

That afternoon we made a long walk around a ridge top and glassed several promising remote valleys. Again more cows were all that we could locate. At one stage I got excited about a shape moving through the opposite face, only for a big waterbuck bull to walk out within range

Across the valley opposite us, a nice Mountain Reedbuck ram stood from his bed and commenced feeding along with two ewes. By this stage Mark had decided he well and truly couldn't live without one, so a long stalk commenced.

An hour later, the lads had pushed forward to the best position available, which was still close to 300m and resting over a termite mound. Mark's shot unfortunately narrowly missed, and the ram was not to be seen again

View attachment 488897

Martin and I took one last walk down, then up, another face in the hope a Kudu bull might have gotten hungry, but it was not to be, and there ended another day on Kudu.

‐------------------------------------

As Mark mentioned, the night before he'd skipped birthday cake to go and investigate a Bushpig bait that'd been getting hit recently. Unfortunately on that occasion, the wind got the better of them and no pigs were sighted.

Tonight, the property we'd been hunting was close enough to another property, which happened to be where I shot my big boar on a stalk-in bait in 2019. A year before that, Marius himself had bow-shot an absolute bus off the same bait. And now, the trail camera was indicating another big boar in the area. We may as well go and check it out!

I'll let @Mark R take up the story again about here....

The Neupers are fantastic.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

The Neupers are fantastic.

100%, two fantastic lads and excellent hunters.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

That’s a nice kudu! Well done!

Thank you mate

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Was easy once we had Nikki with us Was a great result on a fantastic bull. Well done mate

Yeah we could have just taken her a couple of days earlier and saved a lot of hard work...but where's the adventure in that??

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Final Day (cont.)

With half a day left, after a short nap we decided to go look for either a big Warthog or Impala ram, either of which I'd happily take another of! We hunted back on the neighbouring property to the lodge.

At 3pm we found a lovely thick Impala ram with a large group of ewes. But being close to the vehicle wasn't exactly sporting, so we decided to press on and see what else we could find. Numerous Nyala bulls, Kudu, warthog and more were glassed, but no bigger Impala.

As darkness fell Martin said, "Let's go find that son of a gun"; and find him we did! A quick stalk into a green clearing on a hillside found him chasing some hot girls around. Marty and I moved down the hillside to within range, but had to move our position several times as the ram kept strutting back and forth. Eventually just as the light failed I got a shot, squatting off the side leg of the sticks. A little wobbly but at only 80m or so I was confident of a good hit. Impala scattered everywhere and a nervous wait followed, but Martin soon found him stone dead in a thorn bush.

A lovely old Ram, rock hard bases and a beautiful coat, my first of these classic antelope from RSA, to go with my Namibian ram from 2016. A great way to finish some very memorable weeks of hunting!

Our EC Plains game haul....

‐-----------‐-----------‐------------------

And so there ends my hunting!
Mark still has another week to go, as another mate Steve flys in. Nikki and I head to Cape Town for a week of R&R. I might post a few pics from there later, if anyone is interested.

A massive thanks to everyone I've mentioned for making memories sharing these experiences with me. Its great to come back to Africa and be surrounded by true friends, who'll bend over backwards to help you at every turn.

Mark, it's always a pleasure hunting with you my friend. Thanks for another great safari, and for seeing it through with me. Here's to many more adventures in the future, wherever they may lead us.

And again, a massive debt of gratitude to Marius Goosen and KMG Safaris for making it all possible. These guys get it done, nothing is too much trouble and their results speak for themselves. The perfect blend of fun and challenging hunting. Absolutely top-shelf. Just do it folks, you won't regret it for a second!

TB

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on a nice kudu!

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Congrats on all your trophies. Glad you guys had a great time .

 

[Frederik]

Nice going on that bull and keeping at it.

 

[Mark R]

Thanks Tim, always a pleasure to hunt with you, a like minded person. Also thanks for the bulk of the report here also mate. I’ll add some pics from the next weeks hunting ut probably not much reporting.

 

[Justhunt]

Great report! thanks for the write up, very cool read. Hard to beat KMG

 

[Ragman]

Great, great trip. What an experience. No surprise Marius comes through again. Mark and Tim you are so lucky to be good friends that share these adventures together. None of my friends will do any big trips, so I’m just a tad jealous!! Congratulations….looking forward to the next one!

 

[BourbonTrail]

Fantastic report fellas!

Congratulations to all.

 

[Rare Breed]

Day 4 on PG (Day 12 of hunt)

With Mark's awesome Bushpig boar in the salt next to his big Warthog, it was back on the trail of Kudu bulls.

Again we travelled with Nick and the Kiwis to the same big property as Day 3, we'd seen ample cows, the bulls had to be there somewhere!

Again we walked a lot and glassed even more, in some simply incredible country!

View attachment 489478

But again, it seemed the bulls were staying well hidden! We lunched again by meeting up with the whole crew atop the hill under our Wattles, a hasty braii and some kudu borewors was a hit!

View attachment 489486

We worked hard all afternoon but for no result. As we were driving out on last light, all of a sudden there he was, the massive curls of 50"+ of Cape Kudu bull, standing in the open at 70 yards!!

Unfortunately, he was 20 yards the opposite side of the neighbours 4' cattle fence! We retreated back up the hill a little and got set in a seated position over the short sticks, hoping the bull might jump onto our side. But unfortunately, we watched him till it was too dark to see, and he never budged...

The following morning was Day 5 on PG, my 13th and final day hunting. My wife Nikki came out with us this morning, as she put it, "Just go shoot a kudu and let's get back for lunch!"

We headed to a different free-range property just north of home base. It was a beautiful crisp morning, we drove to a high vantage point and commenced glassing, Mart instantly finding Kudu cows. Him and the trackers moved down the hill slightly to set up the spotter, while Mark, Nikki and I continued glassing from the top.

After a while, Thandi came back up and waved me down the hill. Settling in behind the spotting scope, Marty explained they had found a bull. I had a look and his width and shape struck me instantly. He looked like a classic, East Cape Bull. "He's not the biggest bull on the hill inch-wise", Marty explained. "But I guarantee you he is old." His well-rubbed, white ivory tips were testament to that.

He gave me the choice to make a play for him, or to move on and keep looking. I replied that I would never measure him anyway, and that OLD is just what I liked! Let's go!

We drove back down the gully in the truck, and crossed to the other side before setting out on foot. We stopped on a ledge, still well below him looking up. The wind was no good, and we were worried if we got right up on the same face as him, we'd probably struggle to see him in the thick cover, and regardless he'd most definitely smell us.

Glassing again, we could see the bushes the bull had moved in to, but couldn't see him yet. So backing up a little to clear some undergrowth, I got set up prone over the bipod with Martys .300 and waited.

Finally he moved into a small gap. He took some finding in the scope, but at Martys description, I picked him up and zoomed the scope in to 14x. I could just see his head and horns, he'd need to step forwards for a clear shot. Marty called the range as 378 metres.

The bull slowly moved forward through the cover until his shoulder was just visible. I tried to line up, but was wobbling - given the range I needed a rock or something under the rear of the butt. Hang on, my bino pack is the perfect height!

I settled again, picked up his shoulder and squeezed. A definite thud floated back on the breeze, but Marty called the shot low and the bull ran to the right. He took some finding again, but there he stood, front-on.

I held on the centre of his big neck and fired again. Another solid hit and the bull disappeared down the gully in the thick stuff below us.

We gave him some time and then headed in, with Marty's dogs Rocky and Muffin leading the way. There was no blood and it took a nervous little while to find his running marks. But soon enough we heard a Kudu grunt and the dogs increase their volume, we raced downhill and happily no further shots were required. After 5 long days of effort, we had our bull.

View attachment 489489

I was over the moon, I now had every species I'd come for, and they were all beautiful old trophies. The bull was old indeed, with ivory running down the front of each horn tip, and well worn, solid bases. One very happy hunter!!

View attachment 489491
View attachment 489492

Between myself, Marty, two trackers, and a lot of effort, we were able to carry him out whole back to the Toyota, then back to the skinning shed for caping and processing. And like Nikki said, we were back for lunch!

Very nice Kudu!!! Congratulations!

 

[Mort Hill]

Great safari and excellent recounting of your adventures boys! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mark R]

Great, great trip. What an experience. No surprise Marius comes through again. Mark and Tim you are so lucky to be good friends that share these adventures together. None of my friends will do any big trips, so I’m just a tad jealous!! Congratulations….looking forward to the next one!

I’m an ideas man. I come up with an idea and Tim says yes

 

[WMU05]

Love the kudu...congrats!