The 1884 hunt in "De Zuid Afrikaansche republiek"

[Gert Odendaal]

True cultivation of tradition. Thanks for sharing.

Witold , thank you for the positive replies, it is much appreciated..

 

[nztimb]

Is it canvas you have used for the matress Gert (sewed on a machine I see ) . Is it just gravity that holds the bed long legs to the tripod and is there any tendency for the legs of the tripod to walk together under load or do you dig them into the ground a little

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Garry, it is canvas, this is gravity/friction that keep the bed together..no it does not slip at all , I used the same system last year and it worked great , although the one pole broke so I had to cut one from an olive tree that was extremely strong..this time I am making sure it will not break..it is 80mm poles ...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I prefer sleeping in an open surrounding, the tent is only for heavy rain or thunder storms...I will cover the tri-pod bed with it`s canvas awn , will upload photos of the completed set up..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Good members, Georg Poppel and his wife Elfriede arrived Wednesday morning by plain 8:15 at OR Tambo Airport. I took them to the police department to clear al three of his rifles. It took me ten minutes to do that, and fifteen minutes longer to get his permit completed and given to him. I did not experience any difficulty at all, maybe my advantage was that I spoke the Nguni/Zulu language and not English with the Police officials on duty.
I went to the Sergeant on duty and told her about the 8x68S barrel I need to bring in from the USA. She told me that any visiting hunter /person can bring the barrel to South Africa without any documentation accept the invoice of purchasing as proof that the barrel was paid for and bought from a legitimate company like PAC-NOR barrel manufacturing company.
I am the person who need to have a duplicate of the application I submitted containing all detail of the barrel, this application to permanent import a rifle /barrel take the same time as an application of a licence ....I then need to present the application permit and go through the normal procedures like I did with Georg Poppel`s rifles...
I then went to customs and explain the same scenario to them..they pointed out to me that for one rifle I brought in/barrel valued at less than R5000 South African rands I do not pay any customs duty at all...only when a company bring in a few rifles , they are refereed back from Police to Customs to work on the custom tax that needs to be paid on the large amount of the numerous rifles/barrels/action permanently imported by a gun shop or company...
Now I went through the complete process and knows exactly how it is done and what the procedures are...
This will make all the future permanent importation of rifles, barrels and actions an easy process for me since I know first hand how to do it...

 

[nztimb]

Maybe so Gert but there are still restrictions on taking a barrel out of the US ie it is a gun part and falls under the export restrictions. Iasked a visiting hunter to NZ to bring a barre with him and he quoted the restrictions to show a Licence was needed and he couldn't bring it for me. We have no import restrictions and no need for any paperwork to bring one in on our end but the US does if one is taken out.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Maybe so Gert but there are still restrictions on taking a barrel out of the US ie it is a gun part and falls under the export restrictions. Iasked a visiting hunter to NZ to bring a barre with him and he quoted the restrictions to show a Licence was needed and he couldn't bring it for me. We have no import restrictions and no need for any paperwork to bring one in on our end but the US does if one is taken out.

Good to hear from you Garry, yes , Sir you are quite correct, I need to put this in perspective, there is a common believe here in our country in the rifle owning community that it is only possible to import rifle /rifle barrels/actions via a gun shop , therefore not possible for a private individual to permanently import these items.
This is why I explain the our experience at the airport..there are documentation on the SAPS web page with description in regards to every rifle/gun/ammo related issue about permanent importing/exporting these items available, people just need to make some effort to access this information page .

Garry, in regards to all the parcels you send me that never did reach me, I have an extremely good story I will upload about what happens to a parcel Georg send me from Germany three months ago, it is hilarious , you would think such things only happens in movies, I even have photos taken to proof this unbelievable story, but this will have to wait until I return from the Black powder hunt commencing today ...Georg/Elfriede are driving with me to Weltevreden farm to participate in the 1884 Zuid Afrikaansche republiek.

 

[nztimb]

Look forward to the hunt report and the mail story Gert.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Members here is a report of our actual Black Powder hunt of 1885 in the year of 2019:
Georg and Elfriede Poppel accompanied me to Weltevreden to participate in the Black Powder hunt. We arrived at the gate of Weltevreden farm on the Saturday during midday on a hot sun shining down on us.

Johan Greyling already arrived with the freight ox wagon at the camp, we had some damage on the canvas covering the ox wagon , this year the ox wagon was a great feature as a kitchen storage surface...An extremely important issue we all gave a lot of attention to is to eradicate all plastic and new world pollution in the camp...all containers not conforming to our requirements of vintage /historical point of views..

We pitched tents , Georg/Elfriede slept in the "new world camp " I slept in the original camp...

Real cosy...

My sleeping adobe :

Making sure I stay afloat:

My humble adobe with a few add on`s:

Hunters from the Free state:

Hunters from Natal, Volkmar /Renata pitching their tent:

Ludi, hunter from the far North pitching his tent:

 

[Gert Odendaal]

In and around the camp:
The Kitchen:

MC Heunis assisting in starting the camp fire, we used a flint and steel "Tonteldoos" as was used by the Voortrekkers...

Coffee pots was the most important item in conjunction with a lot of condensed milk

Coffee beans was constantly grounded to keep up with the demand for a great, strong condensed milk brew...
Noticed the old vintage labels printed by MC Heunis

Utensils that made live easier around the kitchen:

There are always boiled water on the fire:

Enough working surfaces was another important issue , this year we even had an Ox wagon to store/place our stuff onto as well as a few tables...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

A video about moments around the camp fire cooking food:

Ludi , his son Duan really are an asset on such a hunt, Ludi , hunter from the far North brought a lot of proviand, pots, utensils and a lot of great items that assisted us around the fire while making food...here is a video of Ludi making a great pot of "pap" ...

 

[BRICKBURN]

 

[nztimb]

Another great start to a yesterdays stay in the bush.
Words fail over the complex simplicity of this wonderful spice store.

Did they start earlier in the 19th century with the compressed paper egg trays in SA Gert

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Garry , we really are trying very hard to get rid of pollution in our camp. I think we made great progress in this regards.. I want to build a few items that is not possible to get hold of in an original form..like the pans they used in that era...another item I saw worked great was the folding chair that Hansie made from an original folding chair the Boer hunters made themselves ...the most interesting was the Whips Hansie Minnaar splice from raw leather thongs he made himself...

 

[BRICKBURN]

Gert, I finally got some flint so I could try the flint and steel "Tonteldoos" you sent me.

I was lost for quite some time on how to properly strike the flint and possibly aim the spark into the cotton.

I finally figured out you do not have to use such heavy force, but use the sharp edge of the flint to shave the steel.

Anyway, great success. I can always have fire now.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Gert, I finally got some flint so I could try the flint and steel "Tonteldoos" you sent me.

I was lost for quite some time on how to properly strike the flint and possibly aim the spark into the cotton.

I finally figured out you do not have to use such heavy force, but use the sharp edge of the flint to shave the steel.

Anyway, great success. I can always have fire now.

View attachment 275608

Wayne, excellent, yes, the Tondeldoos played a huge part in the survival of our Voortrekkers..fire was something they could not be without...enjoy the Tonteldoos, I really like using mine , it is efficient , fast and work every time..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I already discussed with Hansie a date for me and Chris Moolman, my good friend to attend a whip splicing course..I always wanted to make my own whips..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

An interesting photo George took on the hunt...it also is an item we surely can not be without ...

 

[nztimb]

At one stage on another forum (now defunct) you started to show us how you made long leather strips from a cow hide and treated and stretched it have wide ranging uses, but never finished the tutorial which I assume was because of the forum issues. It would be great (and informative) if you could re-do that as it would tie in well with your hunt theme and could even have uses within the camp

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Another activity that we also can not be without is the delicious bread Johan Greyling is baking. I can assure you it really is hard and hot work ...here is some photos as well as a video to underscore my statement...
The young hunters dug the oven in the river bank:

The master himself:

A video of the process: