SOUTH AFRICA: Paw Print Safaris & 5 Guys From PA July-August 2016

[Lee M]

Finally getting a chance to let all on AH know about our 12 day adventure to SA with Paw Print Safaris. I can speak for all of us when saying it was truly a wonderful time. I think we came home with well over 30 outstanding trophies, but the food, friendships gained and evening campfires were every bit a part of the overall experience. Also got to spend some quality ime with Charlie who we all feel like we know from the many posts on AH. A very nice person that I hope to be able to meet up with and go hunting sometime in the near future.

Well here goes our story.. It may take a few days to finish as I want to ensure I capture all I can from my journal and the many pictures taken.

Day one Tues July 26th
Met at 5am and all piled into the van for the ride to JFK. No big issues, just the usual traffic of NYC and waiting for a police shift change to gets our guns checked and escorted to customers. On the plane for a short 16 or so hour ride... 6 or so movies later and we arrived in Jo Berg.

Pic: Bill, Doug, John, Lee, Larry at JFK



Day 2 Weds July 27th
Got thru customs and had our guns cleared with no issue. We did use a service due to the large size of our party. It was worth the $ as we had a direct escort with no delay. PH's Proppy and Scobie were waiting for us and we were loaded in the trucks and headed to Flintbeck in short time. Prop is a past Rugby player so he was easy to spot at the airport lobby ! LOL.

Approx a 1.5 hrs drive and we were at the Flintbeck lodge.

We picked our rooms and put away our equipment. Met Charlie, who had just harvested a 16 3/4" bushbuck. What a beautiful animal. After a great lunch of Eland burgers we checked our rifles and bows at the range and headed out for an afternoon hunt. I went to a bow blind on Flintbeck with PH Johan and the others went off to two other properties with there rifles. I saw a few Kudu pass by at 70-100 yards, but nothing big. There was a waterhole to the right of the blind that had recently been dry. It was now a small pond as there had been almost 2 inches of rain the previous day. Very unusual and not what I was hoping for with using the bow.

Getting back to the lodge I learned that everyone had a good time and that most saw an incredible amount of game - Zebra, Impala, wildebeest, hartebeest, giraffe, Nyala, etc. John drew 1st blood taking a Blesbuck. Doug had a dry fire on a Jackal learning the importance of actually putting a bullet in the chamber .

We all headed to the fire as it got very cold. There is nothing like a good fire on the first night in Africa. Once the fire grew and there were enough coals a grate was put over a portion of the fire and steaks were grilling! This was lead by Thomas who is part of the Flintbeck family owners. He and wife Heidi are wonderful hosts and good chefs! Life was good.

We ate like kings also having southafrican special grilled tomato/cheese sandwiches, salad, banana salad, end yes a beverage or two of individual choice. At dinner Charlie met a presentation giving the family a massive elephant bone from his hunt with Pieter in 2015. It is now being displayed in the dining area of the lodge. Here are some more pics

Back: Lee, Bill, Pieter ( Paw Print owner and PH), Charlie and John. Front: Larry, Doug

John starts off the safari with a Blesbuck. His first African game!

Lee, Larry, Charlie, Doug, John, Bill

The elephant bone ceremony. The whole gang - hunters, PH's, and lodge owners. We are giving the bone to the 7 week old beagle in the front of the picture. It will last "Bella", tracking dog in training, her whole life!

More stories and pictures to follow. Stay tuned for the next 10 days!

 

[cpr0312]

Good stuff, looking forward to much more!

 

[Lee M]

Day 3 Thurs, 28 July
We were all tired from the flight, excitement of the first half day and a few beverages the previous night. However with the time change I was up at 5:30 and ready to go. Had eggs, sausage, ham, toast, coffee, juice, etc. and it was the start of a 10 lb weight gain for the trip. Anyone who thinks they will come back a lean, mean, fighting machine after a week with Paw Print at Flintbeck is in for a surprise!

We all headed back out around 7:30 am. I went back to the blind which had shown some good kudu trail cam pics over the past few months. Got set and waited for the games to begin. It was cold in the morning and the waterhole by my blind had a sheet of ice over it! A few kudu were seen 80-100 yards out and then some cows and small spikes moved in. They fed and browsed for 15 mins within 25 yards and then looked right, barked and ran off. In moved a baboon. He walked past out of a shooting lane (of course) and perched himself on a hill 80 yards away. There he sat for over an hour.

A view from my sitting position in the blind. Shooting was from a standing position on the vertical slots. The bottom horizontal slot is glass and dark if looking in from the outside

No further kudu action so we headed home for lunch. Learned that Larry had taken a nice Impala. He was stalking a group of kudu when he came across this nice ram. This was his first African animal, and a nice mature representative of the species.

I learned that Doug had missed a Blesbuck and that John was slow on two jackal encounters.

After some sloppy joes for lunch (at least that's what we call them in PA) it was back out on the hunt.

I had kudu disease and was going to sit with my bow for as long as it took, especially due to the ptrailcam pics at this location over the past few months. Others were spread out on 2 other nearby properties. At 3:30 a nice kudu appeared 70 yards out to the right of the blind on a little hill. It was a nice shaped bull with no thought needed to determine if it was a shooter. He watched for 15 mins and then trotted off out of sight. Ugh. Kudu cows and small Bulls moved in from the left just after he left. We are not sure if their movement scared him off? There were 3 small bulls in the mix - one in the 20's, one in the 30's and one almost 40. It was fun to see them. A few more were also moving around about 70 yards to the left. About 4:30 pm three medium sized Bulls moved in. Two in the high 30's and one that my PH said estimated at 46". He looked big enough for me, but as it was just the first full day I watched him walk by at around 20 yards... They all spooked 15 mins later for who knows what reason and the night ended. It was a great night with a lot of visual action!

Back at camp I saw that Larry had shot a kudu, Doug shot a blue wildebeest and Charlie took down a nice Waterbuck. So it was a good day for all. Bill and I were the two remaining huntrs without an animal. No problem as we both had many animals from previous trips and were enjoying the hunt!

Dinner was eland kabobs, grits with tomato/onion/cheese, carrot/pineapple salad and chocolate moose for desert. All very good. We all sat around the fire and had a few beverages before heading to bed. Another great day!

 

[rinehart0050]

Great report so far! Some great looking trophies.

A class act by @CAustin gifting the elephant bone- very cool.

 

[Aaron N]

I was wondering when we would get an update from this group!

 

[Wheels]

Sounds like you guys had a fun hunt. Look forward to hearing about it.

 

[Royal27]

Looking forward to the rest.

Congrats to all!

 

[CAustin]

Lee it was great to share camp with all of you guys. I also hope that we can arrange a hunt together sometime! Good report so far keep it coming because you all had a very good hunt!

 

[Lee M]

Day 4, Fri 29 July
Had another full breakfast although I will admit to not being hungry. I could have gone to dinner without eating, but why stop now. . I headed to Cliffs property where I shot my Nyala and an impala in 2014 with my bow. We had some truck issues and didn't get there until around 9am. I was in a pop up blind that had proven lucky for me before. We had 6 hartebeest come in at 10:20 am but all were female or young. Then a small male warthog, followed by a decent male that hung up at 50 yards before running off. Not sure if the wind was causing issues. 3 mature Nyala females crossed at 20 yards at 11 am. The color in them was absolutely stunning! 5 Impala Rams came out at noon but were 70 yards out and not coming to the water trough. They were just passing by. The last two were very nice. Bigger than the 23" I shot previously. That ended my morning. I consider this a good morning with a bow. A few almost opportunities and a lot of visual action to keep your heart pumping.

Doug and PH Proppy were also hunting on Cliff's land and shot a nice Blesbuck.

Back at camp I heard that John had shot a nice Blue Wildebeest.

After lunch I headed back to the "kudu blind". The others spread out on 3 other ranches that were between 2-20 miles from our base camp. It is nice to have so many different areas to hunt, all of which have different terrain and an abundance of animals. The hunts can also be relatively easy or as difficult (from a endurance standpoint) as you want. Some hunters like to use trucks as much as possible, but if you want to hike or walk and stalk, it is all there for the asking.

In the blind with PH Johan, Kudu again were moving around, but later on this evening. At 4:30pm a bull kudu showed up 70 yards to the left. I stood up and then saw 2 more Bulls in an opening 100 yards out in front. They were coming out of the thick bush and hitting a water source that we later discovered over a small knoll. A few female kudu appeared to the left with a lead cow circling around us 360 degrees. She then climbed a hill in front and stood watch. I wish I had a tpaintball gun with 65 yards range to whack her. . Two Bulls moved in front of the bling to Fred, one of them the PH estimated 46" incher I passed the night before. I think he was heavier and longer from 24 hours of growth. LOL. I was ready to shoot but my PH suggested I remain patient as it was only the the 2nd full day of a 12 day hunt. I took a few pics and a video with the iPhone in order to get a 2nd opinion back at camp LOL. There was no issue kudu were using this area, it was just a question if the right one would give me an opportunity. The other 4 PA hunters had a banner afternoon!

Larry headed off to Kalli's place with the bow targeting a sable! While in my blind my PH showed me a Facebook post showing he was successful. Here is the scoop. They were out looking for the sable in a certain area as the land manager knew (or thought he did) where two were hanging out. Well the sable didn't get the word they were supposed to be there and decided not to show. An hour or so later on the other side of the property they were spotted and Larry got into position at a reasonable distance. He drew his bow and his designated assistant Bill was near him with the range finder. Except in the excitement he did not give a reading. Larry calmly said Bill, "help me out" and after an oh yeah Bill said 37. Larry put his 30 yard pin a little high and let it rip. As Ted Nugent would say, "the magical flight of the arrow" hit it's spot and 50 yards later it was over. All who saw the shot, especially PH Scoby, said it was a perfect heart shot. The green fletching flew in an almost slow motion twist and buried in the bottom third of the sable in the sweet spot. A perfect ending to a hunt for a special animal. The pre hunt practice and 3D shoots paid off. Well done Larry! Wish I was there to see it!

Larry with his bow killed Sable. What a trophy! He also has a kudu and an Impala and is only 2.5 days into his 10 day hunt.

Bill went out on another area of Flintbeck looking for the freaky Red Hartebeest. He likes the crazy ones! His hunt was successful!

Doug was also successfully getting this nice Red Hartebeest. I Can't remember which property he was on.

Headed back to camp (5 mins from my blind) for dinner. When i got there everyone was down at the skinning area and Doug was clearly the man of the hour. He shot a monster pig. Darn thing was as big as a US feral hog and had monster tusks.

For reference Doug is about 6'3" 270+ and PH Proppy beats him in the lbs category! That is one mighty pig.

Dinner was kudu pie, squash, cheese/tomato/carrot salad and some cookies for desert. Lots of laughs around the fire as usual. I think this is the night that Doug and the owners kicked off the Jaigermeister and other shots well past my bed time. It was a great day for all!

 

[Lee M]

I'll continue tomorrow. Forgive some spelling errors and wrong words. Doing this on my iPad mini with two finger typing .

 

[Royal27]

When you start talking about pounds per side, that's a big pig....

 

[BRICKBURN]

That is one monster Warthog.

You guys were laying critters down like firewood.

 

[norfolk shooter]

Well what can I say other than keep up the good hunting and thats one big Warthog should go in the RW book. @CAustin nice touch with the Elephant bone

 

[cpr0312]

Good stuff, congrats to all! Look forward to more!

 

[rinehart0050]

What a pig! !! Wow!

Keep it coming- sounds like you were getting some kudu fever! I know how that goes! I didn't get my kudu until day 6- at that point I would have accepted any kudu! Luckily, I got a good one! .

 

[Charles Rosamilia]

Wonderful to see other PA hunters having a great time on Safari. There are some very nice trophies. Look forward to the rest of your report.

 

[billc]

This was a trip to remember for all of us. Was great meeting Charlie and was great for lee and I to share Africa with 3 new guys.
I did book henrys to clear are guns so I want to give them a shout out for there great job and lori at travel express did another great job on the flights.

I will let lee keeping telling the story and he has some great pics of the food and animals. My camera broke after day 3 so he has all the pics. Already looking forward to going back.

 

[Mark19707]

What a monster pig!!!

 

[Lee M]

Day 5, Sat 30 July
The 5 from PA headed to a property 1.5 hours away that had some black wildebeest, springbuck and Gemsbuck as well as the common species. I was also looking for a giraffe with the bow. Charlie stayed at home base targeting a giraffe. We split in two groups and my group spent the morning looking for a bull giraffe. We found 17 giraffe throughout our search but only one smaller sized bull that I passed on. Some of the females had nice dark color. The big bull that we were after was nowhere to be found, possibly hiding in the thick areas... Time to switch gears, get out the gun and go after blacks, springbuck and other plains game. We glassed numerous herds of blacks and springbuck, but they were spooky and smart and kept their distance. Same goes with a few nice Impala that we saw. We then came upon a group of springbuck that had a few nice Rams and I was able to get off a good shot with the .257 weatherby. I had my 1st springbuck and broke the ice on my trip.

About 45 mins and a few stalks later Bill also made a good shot and our 2nd ram was down.

Now to find a nice black wildebeest. We explored the property and glassed looking for a mature one. Blacks are one of the most unpredictable and crazy animals I have seen. They never stand still or stop twitching. The few seconds of non movement are spent stacked up 3 deep or with females or young in the way of the big boys. I finally had my chance and dropped one at around 250 yds. We drove up to him and I walked up to him only to have a little excitement when he managed to get to his feet and face me at around 20 yards. A little yelling from the vehicle as they thought I was going to impersonate a matador... I dropped to one knee and fired a shot. He went down, incredibly tried to get up again and took another shot before it ended. I don't think #3 was needed, but didn't feel the need to over analyze.

We also saw many groups of ostrich on this property. The males stood out with their red colored feathers showing from the backside. The intrigue of this was too much for Bill and he added an ostrich to his bag of animals. Took a quartering away shot and it dropped like a ton of bricks.

Our other group was out and also had some good success. John and Doug had shots and Doug harvested a springbuck and a black.

We took a break for lunch and went to an area on the property that had some lodging huts and a fire pit with a seating area. Here we cooked up some sausage sandwiches and other grub. Here is a picture of the PA gang as well as the unique chairs that sourounded the fire pit.

Front: John, Lee, Doug. Top: Larry, Bill

Word from back at home base was that Charlie got his giraffe!

Pieter and Charlie with his bull giraffe

After lunch we headed back out to see what we could find. Larry came with us and we hoped to find him a Gemsbuck. We quickly came across some blacks just out of the lunch camp and Bill put one down.

We now concentrated on finding a bull Gemsbuck as no females could be taken on this property. Larry made two stalks in a thick area with the ranch owner and but could not make out a bull. We then had a group of about ten cross the road in front of us with a well executed PA whitetail drive, but again we could not separate the cows from the Bulls. It was still a good hunt and challenge. Sometimes you have to work a little harder, but that makes success even sweeter when it happens. We ended the day without getting a Gemsbuck.

John was successful in the other group getting a nice black. We were fortunate to get him just before dark.

We then went to the property lodge to fill out the needed paperwork for the black wildebeest. A map is posted on the wall and each of us put a pin in the location of our residence. A nice tradition at this hunting concession.

We then loaded all the animals in the trucks and headed back to base camp. We were loaded to the gills! A very fun and successful day.

Back at Flintbeck we again ate like kings with a meal of steak, cheese cauliflower, mushroom gravy, salad and baked potato. And we finished off the day around the fire...

 

[Nyati]

Congrats to all of you, seems like you had a great time and collected fine trophies !