L
littlejoe
Guest
Outfitter: Kanana Safaris ? Kalahari Desert - Ghanzi, Botswana (www.kanana.info)
PH: Jason Bridger ([email protected])
Logistics: Claire Bridger ([email protected])
Trackers: Happy & Morlen
Driver: Will Armitage (British college student doing his internship at Kanana)
Hunt Dates: September 13 ? 23, 2012, 11 hunting days.
Hunters: Justin Lewis (crossbow, rifle), Jef Hoggan (rifle), Erick Glass (bow) and Cody Stokes (bow, rifle)
Travel Arrangements: Gracy Travel - Shawn Kennedy (www.gracytravel.com)
Rifles:Christensen Arms Remington 300 Ultra Mag, Leopold 4.5 x 14 x 40
H S Precision 375 H&H, Swarovski Z3 4 x 12 x 50
Crossbow: Horton Fury
Shwacker Broadhead
Ammunition: 300RUM, Nosler Custom Trophy 180 Grain Accubond
375H&H, Federal Premium 300 Grain Barnes TSX
Animals seen: Greater Kudu, Cape Eland, Steenbok, Blue Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Burchell?s Zebra, Ostrich, Gemsbok, Waterbuck, Impala, Warthog, Giraffe, Black Back Jackal, Kalahari Springbuck, Black Mamba Snake, and Brown Bush Duiker.
Animals taken: Greater Kudu (3), Cape Eland, Steenbok, Blue Wildebeest (2), Red Hartebeest (2), Burchell?s Zebra (2), Ostrich, Gemsbok (3), Waterbuck, Impala (3), Warthog, Giraffe, and Black Back Jackal (2).
I could have taken both a trophy Black Wildebeest and a Kalahari Springbuck but chose not to.
Videographer:
Fluid Peak Films,David Page (www.fluidpeakfilms.com)
Gettin Stoked Outdoors, Cody Stokes (www.gettinstokedoutdoors.com)
This safari was totally unplanned and by some fortunate circumstances all came together in about a six week period of time. Jason went well above and beyond what he needed to do to make this safari a reality. Kanana has not been commercially hunted since 2005 as there was significant eco-tourism during that period of time. Jason and Claire were hired to oversee the hunting and logistics of the camp and in a short amount of time this year have made it a premier destination for plains game. It is unbelievable currently but they are not done and making significant improvements to the already very cozy accommodations, skinning shed facility, waterhole blinds and many other hunting related areas. In short, it is totally amazing and will only get better with time.
I did get an English lesson while I was there on pronunciation:
Gemsbok is actually pronounced correctly as ?hemsbuck?.
Wildebeest means wild cow and should be pronounced as vildebees. The ?W? sounds like a ?V? and remove the ?T? in the pronunciation.
The local currency is the Pula and the conversion rate is about 7 to 8 for $1.00 American dollar.
(Left) Jason, (Center) Happy, (Right) Morlen
Accommodations:
The camp and tents were much better than expected. There is a big main kitchen area where meals are prepared and a place to charge cell phones, iPads, etc.
There is a big main lodge area that has a very nice thatched roof and a dining room table and sitting area. It also has a bar area. There is a pan right behind this area and we would always see warthogs or some type of other species coming in to drink.
There is a big rock circular enclosure that has a big fire pit in the middle, chairs to lounge in down the one side and tables and chairs for dinner down the other side. In the evening when we would come back we could chat with the others to see how their day was and then have dinner.
There are four big tents that each contain two beds and a full bathroom; sink, flush toilet and shower. They have heated water for each shower and it was very nice after a long day in the dust.
Interesting to listen at night as there was almost always some type of animal roaming and feeding around the tents after dark.
The safari started on Monday, September 10th as we departed from home in Richmond, Utah to Salt Lake City. The first leg of the trip was the flight from Salt Lake City to Atlanta. A three hour layover and then 16 ? hours from Atlanta directly to Johannesburg. We had a 10 hour layover there and elected to stay at the City Lodge. The following morning we took the 1 hour 40 minute flight from Johannesburg to Maun, Botswana. Jason and Will Armitage met us at the airport and then there was a 3 ? hour drive from Maun to camp via Ghanzi. We finally arrived at camp on Wednesday afternoon; Botswana time. What a long and draining trip but we arrived and thankfully this year we had our duffel bags and rifles. Last year in RSA we did not get our belongings until hunting day 8 of 10.
A couple of items of note: We flew Delta from Salt Lake City to Johannesburg and Air Botswana from Johannesburg to Maun. I was surprised when checking in at the airport to learn that Delta only allowed for one bag free of charge, the second bag was $75 and the third bag was $200. I was also unaware of the significant cost of paying a duty at the Maun airport for the ammunition to be allowed into the country. It was a couple of hundred dollars for both mine and Jef?s ammunition. Hunters are only allowed to transport 11 pounds of ammunition and the weight includes the case the ammo is travelling in as well.
Chris, Jef?s PH, also informed me that a resident of Botswana can only have three rifles in their possession and no more than 100 rounds of ammunition. They are allowed to purchase only 100 rounds of ammunition each calendar year for each rifle as well. The taxes and fees to purchase a rifle in Botswana are in the thousands of dollars.
Hunting Day 1, Thursday, September 13th
Back to the Dark Continent and that in itself just brings a smile to the face. Through the course of the day we would see every species that Kanana has to offer except for Red Hartebeest. There are many different water holes located throughout Kanana and we would park at a distance and then sneak in to see what was on the water as it was very dry and hot. We saw a lot of Blue Wildebeest and Oryx, some Kudu and a few of everything else. I was pleasantly surprised to see a significant amount of Giraffes. We did see one old stink bull that was very dark in color but Jason said he was still a few years away from being old enough to take so the only thing I did was snap some pictures.
We were headed down the road in the early afternoon and spotted a herd of Zebra and the stalk was on. In hindsight this would be the first of many times where we would start out in pursuit of Zebra and end up bumping into something else that was bigger and better and end up taking it. The herds of Zebra ended up leading to the demise of several other trophies over the course of eleven days. We were on foot and in pursuit when we spotted two Kudu bulls to the right of the Zebra. Immediately, I could tell the one bull had the most mass I had ever seen on a Kudu. Jason said he was dang big and the stalk was on. They did not know we were there and they kept feeding to the right away from us at a very brisk pace. Eventually, we closed the distance and I got on the sticks as the big bull faced from left to right. He finally realized we were there about the time I pulled the trigger. He immediately whirled and took off running to our right. This is the part that I hate the most. The time right after the shot when they don't go immediately down. In Africa, it is very rare they drop on sight from what I have seen and been involved in. We ran up to the area and could not see him so Happy and Morlen found the tracks and the stalk was on. We found a significant amount of blood but he was gone. Finally after ten minutes or so we found him. What a relief! An ancient old bull with about 2? of ivory and very worn. It looked like he had tree trunks growing out of his head. His mass was every bit as impressive even when we could inspect it up close. The bull ended up taping at 11 ?? bases. The most mass of any kudu I have seen and he was by far the most massive of all the Kudu taken by anyone during the safari. I had previously taken two Eastern Cape Kudu and the greater Kudu is significantly bigger in horn size and body size. I would compare them in body size to our elk.
I was originally not pleased with my shot when I saw the entrance wound being further back than I expected but the exit wound was perfect. He was on a greater angle than I had anticipated and the shot had ended up being perfect even though he ran for a considerable distance.
Happy retrieved the Toyota Landcruiser and I got to see the winch in action as they backed up and loaded him with the help of the winch. Off to the skinning shed.
I have to comment on the skinning shed setup. It is extremely nice. They have a full size walk in cooler. They have a big area for the skinning and Stone was to oversee the skinning for the four hunters for the week. They were in tune the entire time and had stuff processed immediately and with great care. The current skinning shed is at least a 15 minute drive from the main camp and Jason is having a new one built a short walk from the main camp. It is almost complete and will be very nice and has a huge area that can easily accommodate a giraffe sized hide with no problem.
Right after the animals? heads are skinned they go into a barrel to be boiled. We could see the clean skulls within 24 to 48.
All of the meat is utilized at camp or sold to a local restaurant in Ghanzi.
The weather is quite a bit above average for this time of year and nothing ever seemed to be moving between 1:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. each day. We decided after going to the skinning shed we would go back to camp and have lunch since it was in the hottest, slowest time of the day.
After a short break we were back in pursuit of Zebra and had several chances at mares but I told Jason my preference was a battle scarred stallion. We saw several but just never got the right opportunity during the day. We saw some Eland, Black Wildebeest and Waterbuck to end the day. Fantastic start to the safari.
Jef shot a Blue Wildebeest and a Zebra and saw nine Cheetahs but unfortunately left his camera in camp by mistake.
Erick shot a Warthog with his bow but it was not recovered.
Cody shot a 23? Impala and a very nice Black Wildebeest bull with his bow.
PH: Jason Bridger ([email protected])
Logistics: Claire Bridger ([email protected])
Trackers: Happy & Morlen
Driver: Will Armitage (British college student doing his internship at Kanana)
Hunt Dates: September 13 ? 23, 2012, 11 hunting days.
Hunters: Justin Lewis (crossbow, rifle), Jef Hoggan (rifle), Erick Glass (bow) and Cody Stokes (bow, rifle)
Travel Arrangements: Gracy Travel - Shawn Kennedy (www.gracytravel.com)
Rifles:Christensen Arms Remington 300 Ultra Mag, Leopold 4.5 x 14 x 40
H S Precision 375 H&H, Swarovski Z3 4 x 12 x 50
Crossbow: Horton Fury
Shwacker Broadhead
Ammunition: 300RUM, Nosler Custom Trophy 180 Grain Accubond
375H&H, Federal Premium 300 Grain Barnes TSX
Animals seen: Greater Kudu, Cape Eland, Steenbok, Blue Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Burchell?s Zebra, Ostrich, Gemsbok, Waterbuck, Impala, Warthog, Giraffe, Black Back Jackal, Kalahari Springbuck, Black Mamba Snake, and Brown Bush Duiker.
Animals taken: Greater Kudu (3), Cape Eland, Steenbok, Blue Wildebeest (2), Red Hartebeest (2), Burchell?s Zebra (2), Ostrich, Gemsbok (3), Waterbuck, Impala (3), Warthog, Giraffe, and Black Back Jackal (2).
I could have taken both a trophy Black Wildebeest and a Kalahari Springbuck but chose not to.
Videographer:
Fluid Peak Films,David Page (www.fluidpeakfilms.com)
Gettin Stoked Outdoors, Cody Stokes (www.gettinstokedoutdoors.com)
This safari was totally unplanned and by some fortunate circumstances all came together in about a six week period of time. Jason went well above and beyond what he needed to do to make this safari a reality. Kanana has not been commercially hunted since 2005 as there was significant eco-tourism during that period of time. Jason and Claire were hired to oversee the hunting and logistics of the camp and in a short amount of time this year have made it a premier destination for plains game. It is unbelievable currently but they are not done and making significant improvements to the already very cozy accommodations, skinning shed facility, waterhole blinds and many other hunting related areas. In short, it is totally amazing and will only get better with time.
I did get an English lesson while I was there on pronunciation:
Gemsbok is actually pronounced correctly as ?hemsbuck?.
Wildebeest means wild cow and should be pronounced as vildebees. The ?W? sounds like a ?V? and remove the ?T? in the pronunciation.
The local currency is the Pula and the conversion rate is about 7 to 8 for $1.00 American dollar.
(Left) Jason, (Center) Happy, (Right) Morlen
Accommodations:
The camp and tents were much better than expected. There is a big main kitchen area where meals are prepared and a place to charge cell phones, iPads, etc.
There is a big main lodge area that has a very nice thatched roof and a dining room table and sitting area. It also has a bar area. There is a pan right behind this area and we would always see warthogs or some type of other species coming in to drink.
There is a big rock circular enclosure that has a big fire pit in the middle, chairs to lounge in down the one side and tables and chairs for dinner down the other side. In the evening when we would come back we could chat with the others to see how their day was and then have dinner.
There are four big tents that each contain two beds and a full bathroom; sink, flush toilet and shower. They have heated water for each shower and it was very nice after a long day in the dust.
Interesting to listen at night as there was almost always some type of animal roaming and feeding around the tents after dark.
The safari started on Monday, September 10th as we departed from home in Richmond, Utah to Salt Lake City. The first leg of the trip was the flight from Salt Lake City to Atlanta. A three hour layover and then 16 ? hours from Atlanta directly to Johannesburg. We had a 10 hour layover there and elected to stay at the City Lodge. The following morning we took the 1 hour 40 minute flight from Johannesburg to Maun, Botswana. Jason and Will Armitage met us at the airport and then there was a 3 ? hour drive from Maun to camp via Ghanzi. We finally arrived at camp on Wednesday afternoon; Botswana time. What a long and draining trip but we arrived and thankfully this year we had our duffel bags and rifles. Last year in RSA we did not get our belongings until hunting day 8 of 10.
A couple of items of note: We flew Delta from Salt Lake City to Johannesburg and Air Botswana from Johannesburg to Maun. I was surprised when checking in at the airport to learn that Delta only allowed for one bag free of charge, the second bag was $75 and the third bag was $200. I was also unaware of the significant cost of paying a duty at the Maun airport for the ammunition to be allowed into the country. It was a couple of hundred dollars for both mine and Jef?s ammunition. Hunters are only allowed to transport 11 pounds of ammunition and the weight includes the case the ammo is travelling in as well.
Chris, Jef?s PH, also informed me that a resident of Botswana can only have three rifles in their possession and no more than 100 rounds of ammunition. They are allowed to purchase only 100 rounds of ammunition each calendar year for each rifle as well. The taxes and fees to purchase a rifle in Botswana are in the thousands of dollars.
Hunting Day 1, Thursday, September 13th
Back to the Dark Continent and that in itself just brings a smile to the face. Through the course of the day we would see every species that Kanana has to offer except for Red Hartebeest. There are many different water holes located throughout Kanana and we would park at a distance and then sneak in to see what was on the water as it was very dry and hot. We saw a lot of Blue Wildebeest and Oryx, some Kudu and a few of everything else. I was pleasantly surprised to see a significant amount of Giraffes. We did see one old stink bull that was very dark in color but Jason said he was still a few years away from being old enough to take so the only thing I did was snap some pictures.
We were headed down the road in the early afternoon and spotted a herd of Zebra and the stalk was on. In hindsight this would be the first of many times where we would start out in pursuit of Zebra and end up bumping into something else that was bigger and better and end up taking it. The herds of Zebra ended up leading to the demise of several other trophies over the course of eleven days. We were on foot and in pursuit when we spotted two Kudu bulls to the right of the Zebra. Immediately, I could tell the one bull had the most mass I had ever seen on a Kudu. Jason said he was dang big and the stalk was on. They did not know we were there and they kept feeding to the right away from us at a very brisk pace. Eventually, we closed the distance and I got on the sticks as the big bull faced from left to right. He finally realized we were there about the time I pulled the trigger. He immediately whirled and took off running to our right. This is the part that I hate the most. The time right after the shot when they don't go immediately down. In Africa, it is very rare they drop on sight from what I have seen and been involved in. We ran up to the area and could not see him so Happy and Morlen found the tracks and the stalk was on. We found a significant amount of blood but he was gone. Finally after ten minutes or so we found him. What a relief! An ancient old bull with about 2? of ivory and very worn. It looked like he had tree trunks growing out of his head. His mass was every bit as impressive even when we could inspect it up close. The bull ended up taping at 11 ?? bases. The most mass of any kudu I have seen and he was by far the most massive of all the Kudu taken by anyone during the safari. I had previously taken two Eastern Cape Kudu and the greater Kudu is significantly bigger in horn size and body size. I would compare them in body size to our elk.
I was originally not pleased with my shot when I saw the entrance wound being further back than I expected but the exit wound was perfect. He was on a greater angle than I had anticipated and the shot had ended up being perfect even though he ran for a considerable distance.
Happy retrieved the Toyota Landcruiser and I got to see the winch in action as they backed up and loaded him with the help of the winch. Off to the skinning shed.
I have to comment on the skinning shed setup. It is extremely nice. They have a full size walk in cooler. They have a big area for the skinning and Stone was to oversee the skinning for the four hunters for the week. They were in tune the entire time and had stuff processed immediately and with great care. The current skinning shed is at least a 15 minute drive from the main camp and Jason is having a new one built a short walk from the main camp. It is almost complete and will be very nice and has a huge area that can easily accommodate a giraffe sized hide with no problem.
Right after the animals? heads are skinned they go into a barrel to be boiled. We could see the clean skulls within 24 to 48.
All of the meat is utilized at camp or sold to a local restaurant in Ghanzi.
The weather is quite a bit above average for this time of year and nothing ever seemed to be moving between 1:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. each day. We decided after going to the skinning shed we would go back to camp and have lunch since it was in the hottest, slowest time of the day.
After a short break we were back in pursuit of Zebra and had several chances at mares but I told Jason my preference was a battle scarred stallion. We saw several but just never got the right opportunity during the day. We saw some Eland, Black Wildebeest and Waterbuck to end the day. Fantastic start to the safari.
Jef shot a Blue Wildebeest and a Zebra and saw nine Cheetahs but unfortunately left his camera in camp by mistake.
Erick shot a Warthog with his bow but it was not recovered.
Cody shot a 23? Impala and a very nice Black Wildebeest bull with his bow.