SOUTH AFRICA: Ubathi Global Safaris Plains Game

[WildWill]

Just got back from a 9 day hunt from May 4th-12th with Ubathi Global safaris. This was my first trip to Africa and I was joined by my good friend who we can call Will #2 for this story. Our PH was Ronald and he and his whole crew where absolutely amazing.



Day 1: Our flight arrived just after 9am in Johannesburg and after a long trip we were happy to see Ronald waiting for us at the exit. To keep things as simple as possible on our first trip we decided to rent rifles so we were out the door and on the road in no time. We got to know each other on the 3-4 hour ride north to the lodge. We got there in time for a late lunch and decided to do some shooting and get out that evening. We took a few rifles out and I settled on a sweet shooting Mauser 300 win mag and my buddy picked a Tikka 30-06 both shooting 180gr Partitions. Then we headed out for a late afternoon hunt. Neither of us had fully decided on exactly what we wanted to hunt. My package came with a Nyala and my daughter insisted on a zebra rug but other then that I wasn't sure. We got into red hertabeast, eland, blue Wildabeest, Sable, and more but the sun caught up with us before we could make anything happen. On our way out we came across a waterbuck with 3 or 4 cows my PH looked him over and said he was a good one and we drove on. That night at dinner (which was always delicious) my thoughts kept returning to that waterbuck of course the beautiful waterbuck mounted in the lodge wasn't helping. After a long day I was of to bed early.




Day 2: After the long flight we got a later start on this first full day then we would the rest of the trip. We had breakfast at 7am and headed out immediately after. We went to the same property as the day before and quickly found a herd of zebra to stalk. The first stalk ended in the 3 of us being busted by a group of around 20. Attempt 2 ended in a close encounter (40-50 yards) but no shot due to the group being bunched up. Luckily they moved out of the thicker bush and into a more open area better for stalking. The third time was the charm and they were able to get within 180 yards without the group knowing they were there. I had decided to stay with the truck after the first stalk as I figured the more people the easy for the animals to spot them. After sitting in the same spot for 20-30 minutes Kutzee our driver suddenly fired up the engine and took off. I was on the outside so didn't hear the radio but from the way he was driving I figured something had happened. As we pulled up I could see the bright white and black animal at his feet. We had our first African animal. He made a perfect shot and she only ran about 40 yards and best part we were able to get the truck up to her.

It was already almost 11am so we hunted a bit longer before heading back to the lodge for lunch and to take care of the zebra. After a great lunch and little rest we headed back out to see if we could get back on some zebras. Pretty quickly we ran into 7-9 gemsbok a animal that I'm very interested in and off we went we got to just past 300 yards and a good one was out by himself but he had to much brush blocking the vitals and when the went the went fast into a thick patch of bush. Ronald and Owen my tracker quickly formed a plan that almost worked perfectly. Me and Ronald setup in some brush in a clearing separating two blocks of thick bush. Owen went around and gently pushed the gemsbok out. They trotted almost in a line right to us stopping at 160 yards after finally seeing something they didn't like. Ronald found the one we wanted but unfortunately all I could see was his head and neck the rump of a young bull completely covered his vitals. I waited for what seemed like forever hoping for a clear shot but when they left it happened suddenly and gave me no opportunity. We got picked up and were in the process of trying to find the gemsbok again when we ran into 6 blue Wildabeest bulls. My buddy quickly decided he'd like one of those so we shifted gears. After a short stalk he made a shot that was a bit far back. We watched 5 bulls run away but his never came out of the small thicket he ran into. Owen found him still alive and they crept into 15 yards for a finishing shot. Now my buddy had two and I was still at 0 but plenty of time on the clock. It was basically sundown by the time we had the Wildabeest in the truck so we headed out. We had seen more waterbucks that day including two bucks and I immediately knew they weren't the one from the first night I was still thinking of him. Got back to the lodge ate and sat around the fire having a few drinks with the other guess that night now that the jetlag had worn off.

 

[WildWill]

Day 3: We had breakfast at 6am which would become our standard time and then headed out. We decided to go back and look for the gemsbok or zebra from the day before. I'd also decided after seeing my friends Wildabeest I would be happy with one of those as well. I don't remember much of that day. To sum the day up no gemsbok, spooky zebra, and lots of long stalks that just never came together. The one extremely memorable event of the day was on our way out during the last 10-5 minutes of light there stands the waterbuck from the the first night in almost the same spot. Unlike the first night he didn't stand around and quickly slipped into the nearby bush before any shot presented itself and it was to late to go after him. That night at dinner I told Ronald I wanted that waterbuck but we agreed to try try a new area a little further out the next day.



Day 4: Breakfast at 6am and today we packed a lunch and off we go down a very bumpy old military road to a new property. The first property had plenty of animals but this one had more including blue and golden Wildabeest, impala, warthog, tsessebe, cape Buffalo, ostrich, giraffe, and zebra. We cruised around for awhile a bit overwhelmed on the number of Wildabeest before we got on a group of zebras. As we approached they split and we managed to get close to a small group of 3-4. I was on them 3 separate times before getting the green light on which one to take. He was at 170 yards but the grass covered about 2/3 of the way up so I guesstimated best I could and shot. He ran for about 100 yards in a big half circle stopping in front of us around 70 yards. I sent another round into him and it was over. I had my first African animal and knew no matter what my little girl would be happy.

Unfortunately the zebra wasn't very close to the road but a little dragging and a bunch of manpower and we finally got him back to the truck. We had been seeing tons of impala but very few if any interested are PH. At times I wanted to be weak but I'd also told Ronald I wanted decent quality animals. Shortly after loading the zebra we drove past what was probably the thousandth impala Ronald said wasn't big enough then we rounded the bend and suddenly Ronald was interested. The buck quickly ran off and we bailed of after him. This was the first stalk were we walked into a Buffalo's bedroom and it made me a little more aware. The impala had fled towards the smaller one and when they ran into each other began fighting. We actually heard them before we saw them bumping into them at only 30 yards. They both separated and ran off the younger one to just a hundred yards before stopping to stare. The older guy had slipped around to a opening and stopped at 270 yards. I quickly got on the sticks aimed a bit high and shot. I shouldn't have aimed high I hit exactly were I aimed breaking the spine. A quick follow up shot to the neck the only part still above the brush ended that stalk. My impala was 29 1/2 inches and I was told was a older animal. Ronald and the property manager seemed pleased and I was very happy but don't know the first thing about scoring/judging African game.

That evening we went to a different place looking for nayala. We immediately ran into kudu my first sighting of one. We found two nayala but both didn't get the nod from the PH so on we went. This property was by far the most heavily forested we'd been to. We were sitting on a lane when far down we spotted what appeared to be a larger nayala. We headed down to get a better look and promptly spooked a group of gemsbok. So off we went chasing gemsbok through some very thick tick covered stuff and only saw them once more for a brief glimpse. We made our way back to the area we'd seen the nayala but just giraffes and 2 jackals. After a long day it was nice to get back to the lodge I believe that night we ate some Nayala cooked by another client in camp whose wife had killed it. That evening we decided to go back to the same property I killed my zebra and impala on and see if I could get a blue Wildabeest or Will #2 a impala.

 

[WildWill]

Day 5: Breakfast at 6am and off on the bumpy road to the same property from yesterday. During the first 20 minutes of being on the property we ran into a group of warthogs including one our PH said was respectable. My friend had wanted one so I passed him the rifle and he made a quick shot from the truck. It was high and back but paralyzed the animal he moved up and put a finishing shot on him.

We load him up and drive of and immediately run into a group of impala including a good buck. After a short stock and a hard quartering away shot at around 200 yards my friend had his own impala. I'm proud to admit he beat me by a quarter inch at 29 3/4 in a beautiful animal.

By the time we got the impala we'd only been at it a hour so we kept hunting. We spent the next 2 hours stalking a huge herd of Wildabeest. Finally we found a bull Ronald gave me the green light to shoot. My first shot was perfect he ran 70 yards stopped and I shot again hitting within a inch of the first shot and down he went. I wanna say Ronald said it was 28in spread but don't hold me to that I may be remembering that wrong.

With a truck full and the memory of the waterbuck still in my mind we decided to head back to the lodge for lunch then go look for the waterbuck that evening. After lunch I formulated a plan were I wanted to build a brush blind in the area we'd been seeing the waterbuck in the evening and sit the last couple hours of light. I went all whitetail hunter on it and while it didn't work it was a lovely evening in the woods. That night at dinner we decided to focus on the nayala the next day and try a couple new properties.




Day 6: Breakfast and on the road to a new property. This place was heavily wooded with a magnificent view. We ran across a few female nayala and a small bull almost immediately. Then we came across the biggest kudu of the trip he was super close like 20 yards ran about 40 yards just into the edge of the brush and looked back giving a perfect shot. I regret not doing it now but I hadn't made my mind up on a kudu till well right after that. Oh well gives me same to look forward to on the next trip. Saw some impala and a bushbuck while sitting water at lunch. But we couldn't find a mature nayala. So we headed to a new property for the afternoon.

Again almost immediately upon getting on the property we run into a group of nayala. This one with a better bull but in Ronald's words it was a "last day bull". We ran into springbok, bushbuck, giraffe, and more on this place. Towards the end of the evening we cruised by the group of nayala we'd seen earlier the group was the same but in the other side of the cleared field about 600 yards away was a better nayala Ronald wanted to look at. We moved closer and Ronald confirmed he was a good bull. We got up to 270 yards and still hadn't been seen but was loosing light quickly and he was moving back into the bush. The shot was slightly quartering away and a solid hit. He ran 20 yards into the bush and stopped so I shot him again in the lower neck dropping him. Right before my first shot I'd noticed he had a slight limp. Apparently at some point he'd stepped through a piece of irrigation pipe when he was just the right size and then when he'd grew it was cutting of into his hoof. Clearly was only going to get worse.

That night I had to decide what to do next and it was a easy choice. I decided to spend the rest of my time looking for that waterbuck.

 

[WMU05]

Those are couple great Impala! Congratulations!

 

[WildWill]

First off sorry about the misspelling of any animals this is all new to me. Will use Nyala from here on out.



Day 7: Headed out at the usual time after breakfast to the property were we'd been chasing the waterbuck. Shortly after pulling on to the property we spotted a waterbuck in the area we'd had been seeing the big guy. A quick look showed it was another smaller bull with no cows. We cruised the outskirts of the thicket they'd been hanging out in and almost drove right past them before a cow waterbuck was spotted. The cow was 60 yards into the bush on our left as we watched her one cow turned to two then 3. Then the buck appeared behind them but as soon as we saw each other he and his ladies headed deeper into the thicket. We raced forward to the next clearing hoped out and tried to cut them off before they could make it across to the next thicket. It sort of worked although I would've preferred to be closer. They crossed at 270 yards the buck in the back fortunately for me he stopped about 40 yards shy of the bush and gave us a look back. I was already on him in the scope when he stopped I aimed and sent a quick shot. Due to the suppressor you can hear the hit and it didn't sound like the crack of a shoulder but that hollow thump maybe of guts. I lost him almost immediately due to working the bolt and being short. My PH thought he saw a bush shaking for a few seconds but nothing other then that. We got our trackers and went to the spot and began looking. We didn't find the hit site nor any blood Owen began following tracks in the bush and I follow him. After about 30 yards I hear my buddy yell "over here" from behind me. I go hustling over asking if he's found blood. He yelled back I found the whole animal. I was extremely relieved and excited to get a gorgeous animal. This one died in the thorns away from the road so some work was required but many hands make light work. He measured just over 26in my son has claimed the skull for his room.

We headed back to the lodge to eat lunch and make a game plan for the afternoon. We decided to go out and do a little bird hunting. The whole week we had been super impressed with the dove and quail population so Ronald lent us a shotgun and out we went. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics but we shot a quail and a few dove for some popper appetizers before dinner. We also saw numerous kudu that evening further fueling the spark.

 

[Nyati]

Great hunt, congrats !

I like that warthog.

 

[WildWill]

On night 7 we decided to go out the next day and add another animal or 2 and then take the final day to relax before the trip home. My friend had really taken a liking to the tiny Steinbucks.

Day 8: We head to a new property right on the Botswana border that had Sable, kudu, Wildabeest, zebra, a bunch of Buffalo, and importantly for us Steinbucks, grey Duiker, and Blesbuck. Within a half hour we found a decent Steinbuck with a herd of Blesbuck behind them. Will #2 and our PH headed after them and I stayed in the truck. I wouldn't see them again for over 2 hours. They almost immediately lost the Steinbuck so switched to the Blesbuck who gave them the run around for a couple hours. That's basically how it went all morning the Blesbuck out smarting us. At one point he had a encounter at around 40 yards in the brush but the sound of the safety flipping off sent the buck into flight. By 1pm we were exhausted and headed to the landowners house for lunch. The moment we got there the landowner (quite the character) comes out and tells us to get back in he has a Steinbuck spotted. He wasn't asking as much as telling so we piled in he drove and we left the driver and tracker to get lunch started. We flew out of the driveway almost immediately getting off the road but not changing speed we crossed about 400 yards of a open field with knee high grass headed toward a lone tree. As we grew closer he slowed telling us were the Steinbuck was and us not seeing anything. He crept closer and closer finally at 30-40 yards he stood up and my friend made a quick shot with a 308. 150gr dropping the tiny guy. They're so cool I want one myself now.

During lunch the landowner mentioned a trophy grey Duiker he's been seeing. We decided if we didn't have any luck that evening we'd go out after sundown and look for him plus I had been told about how many buffalo would be out at night and wanted to see them. We went out that evening not having much luck seeing any Steinbuck or Blesbuck. During the last hour of light we left the truck and went into the bush were the Blesbuck like to hang out. Within 10 minutes I had a close encounter at 30 yards and again the safety flipping off was like a starter pistol. Defeated we returned to the house were the landowner retrieved his spotlight and back out we went. In two hours we saw 2 Duiker but neither the "one" a Steinbuck that would've done but by the time the PH gave me the green light the opportunity had passed. We also kept running into buffalo everywhere. We came around on a group of Wildabeest when we noticed a lone Blesbuck hanging with the group at about 200 yards. I made a high shoulder shot dropping him in his track. On our way back to drop off the landowner we found a lone buffalo almost in his front yard.