Elkassassin:Yes I did and we have been back for a month or so. I hunted with Motshwere Safaris. We spent 16 very interesting and sometimes intense days over there. I had a very professional P.H and he was pretty damn good company besides. He didn't talk a whole lot but when he did you knew it was worth listening too. My wife hunted with me almost every day. She did take one day and go into Lepahale with Werner's wife. The outfitter and guides were amazed because the wives don't usually last that long hunting. The food and accommodations were second to none. It would have been a hell of a trip even if I hadn't hunted. I ended up taking 7 plains game animals that I went over for and a couple more I couldn't pass up. My wife even punched a couple and she isn't really much of a shooter. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime! Anybody that enjoys the thrill of the hunt could not like it. Some things were a lot different than I imagined. But the number and diversity of animals was amazing. Being chased by a Cape Buffalo was a memory I won't soon forget and coming face to face with a very pissed off Egyptian Cobra spitting venom was a thriller. Both of my sons are booked with the same outfitter next September. I hope they have as good of an experience as I did. I have some decent pictures of the hunt If I can get the wife to help me post them. I,ll try to get them up along with a story. I'm really not much of a hand at the computer, I think it must be a age related issue. The kids keep telling me I'm an old fart. The trip took my hunting slush fund way down, but like Curtis Mathis TV's, it was damn well worth it. When you consider the price of a quality North American hunt even some CMU hunts against the number of animals I was able to take It's a slam dunk price wise. As I recall there was about 10 people with the group I went over with. We took a total of 60 animals. I have to admit towards the end of the hunt I started questioning my motives and reasoning of taking so many animals. But after you see how the animals are utilized and nothing wasted, and I mean nothing wasted! The stuff we pull out and leave on the mountain as refuse the natives love and eat it all. Not to mention the monetary value the tribes derive from hunting, as a lot of the hunting is on tribal concessions. Some of the similarity's to the Rez we live on is amazing but that's another story.
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The first animal I took was an Impala. It was amazing how many we saw. I consider them to be one of the more beautiful animals, very similar to our North American Antelope. As we were there in April/May, which is their Fall-they were in rut and very vocal.
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That same evening I was able to take a Blesbok. Not my favorite animal.
Next on the hit parade was a Blue Wildebeest. We had seen several but they were very wary and it was usually just a flash sighting through the trees. This one finally held still long enough for a quick shot.
This was my most memorable stalk and kill of the entire trip. After hunting most of the day and not seeing anything, my PH suggested we climb to the top of what he called a "mountain." After seeing it, I would consider it more of a ridge. He wasn't sure if I would be able to climb it, as it was surrounded by cliffs and we had to climb though a narrow gap that was steep. I was willing to try so off we went. The gap proved to be interesting but we made it to the top in time for the last hour of day light. But we still had to walk the length of the ridge which was about 300 yards long while looking for black mambas that he informed me liked to hang out in the tall grass. We had just settled in and started glassing the area when we starting seeing animals in the thick acacia brush below. My PH spotted this Kudu at about 600 yds headed toward a water hole. By the time I got positioned for a shot he was right at 400 yds. My PH asked if I felt confident at that range. Since I had been shooting accurately out to 600 yds, I knew I could make that 400 yd shot, so I squeezed the trigger. Before I could get another round in the chamber, my PH informed me he was down. When I asked how he knew, he said, " I heard the brush crash when he went down." Because it was right at dusk/dark we knew we would never get off the ridge and be able to find him so the PH directed the tracker, who had stayed in the truck, by walkie-talkie to where the Kudu went down. Sure enough he walked right to him laying in the bush. The tracker commented that he was very impressed because he had never seen a 400 yd shot like that before. I not only felt like I had taken a very nice animal but I had a outstanding hunting experience to boot. He didn't have the longest horns taken from our group, but he definitely had the biggest body. It took 13 skinner/trackers to carry him to the skinning shed.
The experience of that kill will be a memorable one for me.
GEMSBOK-
Another beautiful animal I was able to harvest was the Gemsbok, taken off the same ridge, within 50 yards of where I shot my Kudu just 2 days earlier. I had passed up a shot at a huge male Baboon just a few minutes earlier because I didn't want to take a chance on spooking any game in the area. Lucky I didn't take that baboon because just a few minutes later my tracker spotted this nice gemsbok. I took him at about 300 yds down the ridge right a dusk. That was the easy part. Then came the task of trying to get him out. He was on a small ledge toward the bottom of the ridge and there was no way to get a vehicle even close to where he went down. After calling for additional man power and 3 hours later they were able to drag/carry him to the vehicle, but not before several close calls that could have been bad. Several times more than one guy fell down in the rocky terrain. They were all cussing at having to haul this big guy out especially at 10:00 at night with no moon.
A baboon wasn't originally on my "want" list but I couldn't pass up taking this one after observing several troops of baboons, I found them very intriguing. I still wasn't sure I wanted to shoot one but while looking for a water buck in the river bottom one day, we spooked a band of baboons. They ran across the clearing about 100 yds in front of me. They were moving too fast for a shot. Then all of a sudden a big male came out behind the rest of the troop, jumped up on a fence post and looked back. That was his last big mistake. when I got closer and looked at the how big he was and the length of his teeth, I have to say I was impressed. I've seen Mountain Lions that didn't have teeth that impressive.
Next animal I took was a bush buck. The bush buck is a very hard animal to hunt. They are small and hide in the tall reeds and bushes in the swampy areas and are very hard to see. I lucked on to his one while trying to find a Water Buck in the marsh. All I could see was his head and horns sticking above the tall grass. I made a good guess as to his body location and took him with one shot.
A good Water buck was the hardest to find. It took me until the 2nd to the last day of my hunt to finally take one. I ended up shooting him out of a blind on a water hole. I'm not a fan of that type of hunting, I would rather be stalking and moving rather than sitting and hoping something comes to me. But it was my last hope of taking one. Again, I was impressed with this animal's body size. He was as big as a bull Elk and very solid built.
My time hunting in Africa was truly an amazing experience. I will go again some day! I'm hooked.
Here's a few misc. pictures of our hunting lodge, good food, sights and experiences of Africa.
This is where we stayed for 15 nights:
The inside of our "bungalow"
Excellent food by a professional chef: We ate some of almost everything that was harvested including: Ostrich, Wildebeest, Kudu, Eland, Gemsbok, blesbok, bush buck and zebra.
Beautiful sunsets:
Wart hogs everywhere. That is on my list for the next trip.
Saw many neat animals. Giraffes everyday.
Tons more pictures and experiences but I've taken up enough of your time. I'll end by saying It was a great experience and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
If anybody has questions, feel free to contact me.
