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Limb Chicken
Active Member
I too am interested in hearing about your trip. Am thinking of going in four years and am starting to collect info...
Rackaddict
Life Member
I want to know if he had any more monkeys give him the "bird"!
Old Buck
Life Member
This trip I took my wife and daughter so it was planned with a little less emphasis on hunting and a little more for a good family experience. One of the neat things about Africa is the possibilities are almost enless and you can customize a trip to any need and interest.
First we went to the Northern Cape province where they do lots of the diamond mining. We did a tour of the underground diamond mine. They sure go to a lot of trouble to find those sparkling little rocks. No wonder they are so expensive.
At that farm I took a nice eland bull and a black wildebeest the same evening. My wife taped one shot and my daughter the other so it was a real family hunt. We tried for several days to get an animal for my daughter seeing lots of animals up close but Murphy was always there and it never quite happened.
April and Marcia took a break from hunting and did some horseback riding and tours while I collected three springbok. The last night I was set up for gemsbok which I haven't taken yet. I saw a lot of nice ones and went nuts trying to figure out just how big they were and which was the biggest. In the end I didn't shoot any which was probably a mistake since I learned later that night that several were probably in the 39-40" range. That is the equivelant of a 170" whitetail.
The next hunt was in Kwazulunatal north of Durban near the India Ocean. We finally got an animal in close enough for April at a water hole. She made a heart shot on a very nice, mature impala ram. It only went 88 yards and we got the whole thing on tape. April's excitement was only exceeded by that of mom and dad.
I finally took a nice nyala bull which was my top priority animal there. They are in the spiral horned antelope group with kudu and bushbuck. I also shot a warthog the PH asked me to watch for and shoot if I saw. It was a sow with a bad leg. Turned out it was caught in a poacher's snare which broke off leaving the warthog with a foot about 6 times normal size.
We took a number of other trips in the area. Got some great video of charging elephants as a herd of 150 animals passed on both sides of us. Fortunately it was a 'false charge'. That means we got out of the way before it really got mad.
Three times I had rhino come in while sitting in a ground blind. The closest was 11 yards while I was in a double bull with camera rolling. They are a great blind but don't offer much protection from rhinos. I had already unzipped the entrance (exit) in case I needed to rapidly relocate.
Also got tape of several bull elephant in a friendly duel. It ended when one pushed over a 40' tall tree. The last day I got some great reference material of cheetah and cerval cats at a breeding station.
The last night in camp we were surprised when 18 zulu natives came in a did a war dance around the camp fire. The whole thing was staged to show us what it was like in the 'good old days' on safari in zululand when the natives didn't want you there. The dance was done to get the native fired up to fight the next day and to put the fear of the spear into to opposition. It looked to me like it would have been effective at both. I think if I had heard the drums and screaming at night while on a safari in the old days I would have been in new hunting grounds by dawn the next day.
It was a great trip. A big thanks to everyone who helped my wife and daughter get set up with bows and offered instruction and encouragement to a couple of new bowhunters.
Old Buck ('Old Kudu' in Zulu)
First we went to the Northern Cape province where they do lots of the diamond mining. We did a tour of the underground diamond mine. They sure go to a lot of trouble to find those sparkling little rocks. No wonder they are so expensive.
At that farm I took a nice eland bull and a black wildebeest the same evening. My wife taped one shot and my daughter the other so it was a real family hunt. We tried for several days to get an animal for my daughter seeing lots of animals up close but Murphy was always there and it never quite happened.
April and Marcia took a break from hunting and did some horseback riding and tours while I collected three springbok. The last night I was set up for gemsbok which I haven't taken yet. I saw a lot of nice ones and went nuts trying to figure out just how big they were and which was the biggest. In the end I didn't shoot any which was probably a mistake since I learned later that night that several were probably in the 39-40" range. That is the equivelant of a 170" whitetail.
The next hunt was in Kwazulunatal north of Durban near the India Ocean. We finally got an animal in close enough for April at a water hole. She made a heart shot on a very nice, mature impala ram. It only went 88 yards and we got the whole thing on tape. April's excitement was only exceeded by that of mom and dad.
I finally took a nice nyala bull which was my top priority animal there. They are in the spiral horned antelope group with kudu and bushbuck. I also shot a warthog the PH asked me to watch for and shoot if I saw. It was a sow with a bad leg. Turned out it was caught in a poacher's snare which broke off leaving the warthog with a foot about 6 times normal size.
We took a number of other trips in the area. Got some great video of charging elephants as a herd of 150 animals passed on both sides of us. Fortunately it was a 'false charge'. That means we got out of the way before it really got mad.
Three times I had rhino come in while sitting in a ground blind. The closest was 11 yards while I was in a double bull with camera rolling. They are a great blind but don't offer much protection from rhinos. I had already unzipped the entrance (exit) in case I needed to rapidly relocate.
Also got tape of several bull elephant in a friendly duel. It ended when one pushed over a 40' tall tree. The last day I got some great reference material of cheetah and cerval cats at a breeding station.
The last night in camp we were surprised when 18 zulu natives came in a did a war dance around the camp fire. The whole thing was staged to show us what it was like in the 'good old days' on safari in zululand when the natives didn't want you there. The dance was done to get the native fired up to fight the next day and to put the fear of the spear into to opposition. It looked to me like it would have been effective at both. I think if I had heard the drums and screaming at night while on a safari in the old days I would have been in new hunting grounds by dawn the next day.
It was a great trip. A big thanks to everyone who helped my wife and daughter get set up with bows and offered instruction and encouragement to a couple of new bowhunters.
Old Buck ('Old Kudu' in Zulu)
Limb Chicken
Active Member
I appreciate that I know you are a top shelf guy and trust your opinion. I will PM you some basic questions. Thanks! Who knows it may be an iowawhitetail.com Africa hunt!
stuffy
Member
Wow!, Old Buck, sounds like a great trip. How many days,weeks were you there? Now with all of your new reference pictures, I can see the next print in my mind. " A bowhunter is in his treestand, a Iowa cornfield at his front, an old barn with John Deere to his left, a cheetah making his stalk on the bowhunter, while he is looking down at a kudo, nibbling on corn." I think that print would be a top seller! Thanks for sharing,would love to see some photos. Stuffy
Central Iowa
Life Member
Thanks for sharing. That is a trip I would love to experience and plan to sometime. Rhino at 11 yards, WOW!!!
