Color phase Springbuck and Blesbok, who has them in South Africa?

[Dee S]

I just got back from hunting with 4ACES OUTFITTERS just outside of Kimberley, South Africa. I had a great time and have no complaints, the story and pictures will be coming soon.
Adam has an incredible operation there and there were more animals than you could imagine on his properties. He had every plains game animal you could think of and a couple I'd never heard of, so it was an exciting place to hunt and I hope to return one day.
I went there with a certain list of animals and none of them were the color phase springbuck or blesbok, but half way through my hunt, I changed my mind and added them to my list. I was able to take a great copper blesbok, but unfortunately, they had received a lot of rain the week before we arrived and the smaller animals were not coming to water as the roads and depressions were still holding water when we left. We saw huge herds of them as we drove the property, they just weren't coming to the water holes and there were way too many eyes in that open country to try a stalk on them.
I'd like to go back and target those animals, so my question is, who else has such a large assortment and variety and is setup for bowhunters? I have no issues with returning to 4Aces as my hunt was a 5 star rating across the board, but I do like to hunt different areas just to see more of the country and to meet new people.
I doubt I could beat the prices or the setup at 4Aces, but I'm willing to be surprised.

 

[Spear Safaris]

Dee s, thank you for the great report. What were the smaller animals you sought and did not get?

 

[Spear Safaris]

I assume it is only the colour phase springbok?

 

[Dee S]

Without giving too much away until I get the pictures and video ready for the hunt report, I'll just say here, I had a lot of bloody arrows early in the hunt and was looking to expand my list towards the end. Again, keeping it short here, I'd like to return and bloody some more arrows on the following plains game.

• Springbuck, white
• Springbuck, copper
• Springbuck, black
• Springbuck, common - if a real trophy size
• Blesbok, white
• Blesbok, Yellow
• Blesbok, common - if a real trophy size
• Black Gnu
• Bushbuck, any sub-species

Requirements for any operation:

• Bow blinds
  • several, with pictures in advance
  • well placed and setup correctly
• PH that bow hunts
  • I don't go over there to teach my PH how to bow hunt
• Low day rates
  • I usually hunt 10-12 days, so high day rates mean fewer animals I poke holes in

And I'll say again, the only reason I'm inquiring about another location is due to the fact that I prefer to hunt different areas and see more of the country. My experience at 4Aces was incredible and his operation will be hard to beat in regards to bow blind setups, quantity and quality to animals seen, food and lodging, dip & pack services, and of course, his day rates and animal price list. Should I not find a place that can beat his prices, then I'll return to Adam without hesitation. A top notch operation and very well run.
If someone sends me to a website that "caters" to bow hunters and I don't see pictures of their bow blinds and there's hardly a bow shot animal in their photo gallery, then I'm moving on.
You all have beds, you all have good food, I just ask that you show me your blinds and proof that you cater to bow hunters. Convince me that you know the needs of a bow hunter.

 

[Dee S]

I assume it is only the colour phase springbok?

Heading to your website now.

 

[Nyati]

Hi @Dee S, glad you had a good time at 4Aces, I´ve hunted with Adam 3 times at his property and also in other provinces of SA, going again in September, first in KwaZulu/Natal, then at the Northern Cape.

Who was your PH ?

 

[DE KLERK SAFARIS]

Hello DEE S
We can help with all the above mentioned species except the bushbuck and the yellow blesbuck.
We do have bow blinds and have PH's working for us that bow hunt themselves.
One of the hunt reports (maybe two) below in my signature is from bow hunters.
I can send you more references from other bow hunters.

We are situated in the Kalahari desert about 450 km north of Kimberley on the Botswana border.
We believe in quality rather than quantity so we only book one group at a time.

Send us an e-mail and I will forward you our price list.

Sincerely
Hans de Klerk

 

[Dee S]

Hi @Dee S, glad you had a good time at 4Aces, I´ve hunted with Adam 3 times at his property and also in other provinces of SA, going again in September, first in KwaZulu/Natal, then at the Northern Cape.

Who was your PH ?

We had several in camp due to the size of our group, and I ended up hunting with 3 different PH's. Heinrich, SP, and BiBi. All were a pleasure to share the blind with. But Adam, Geoffrey, and Chris were also in camp and were helping take hunters out. A lot of good stories around the fire.

 

[mdwest]

@Bos en Dal SAFARIS has some options for you.. several white blesbok running around (I thought about one of those 2 weeks ago when I was in camp, but a Rowland Ward quality common blesbok showed up.. so we put the stalk on him and put him in the salt instead).. a few black impala (we took one of those last year).. and a couple of different color options on springbok are running around as well..

 

[Jaegger]

@Dee S … I spied what interests you on Huntershill Safaris webpage.

Happy Trails

 

[Nyati]

We had several in camp due to the size of our group, and I ended up hunting with 3 different PH's. Heinrich, SP, and BiBi. All were a pleasure to share the blind with. But Adam, Geoffrey, and Chris were also in camp and were helping take hunters out. A lot of good stories around the fire.

Great guys, SP was my PH in 2019, and I always enjoy sharing a few drinks and stories with Geoffrey.

 

[Hunter101]

Nice I like bloody arrows too. Be looking for your report. i hunted with magersfontein safaris years ago. Greg farm was perfect for those anaimals on your list. I'm sure he would give you a great price and bowhunting only. I shot a 17 inch white blesbok. They are pretty dumb animals. Common springbok,zebra and giant blk wildebeest. I shot a bushbuck in the Limpopo with Lakota safaris. I was ready to leave that place after first couple of days. I really didn't care for that place at all. Good luck on your search

 

[Dee S]

Nice I like bloody arrows too. Be looking for your report. i hunted with magersfontein safaris years ago. Greg farm was perfect for those anaimals on your list. I'm sure he would give you a great price and bowhunting only. I shot a 17 inch white blesbok. They are pretty dumb animals. Common springbok,zebra and giant blk wildebeest. I shot a bushbuck in the Limpopo with Lakota safaris. I was ready to leave that place after first couple of days. I really didn't care for that place at all. Good luck on your search

I just sent them an email, thanks for the tip.

And I have followed up on all of the outfitters mentioned so far, but when I see some of the day rates alone, I'm hesitant to investigate further. I know the day rates in South Africa tend to be higher, but I'm on a budget. When I say budget, what I mean is, I have to keep the overall price around $7000, that's my comfort zone for a 12 day hunt. My goal is to bloody as many arrows as I can, whether on trophy or cull animals, it doesn't matter. A mixture of trophy and cull is great, so, the lower the day rate, the more arrows I can let fly.
If the day rate is $350, for a 12 day hunt I'm already at $4200. That leaves me $2800 for animals and if you average trophy animals out at $600 each, then I'll only need to bring 5 arrows with me.
I don't pay to bow hunt in the US, it's just too expensive, especially in Texas. I'd be lucky to find a decent deer lease for $7000, and the same would go for a guided 5 day elk hunt. A muley hunt, probably closer to $5000 for a 5 day hunt.
In my opinion, and that's not worth much, Africa provides the most bang for your buck. Just provide me with a blanket and a cot, a hot shower in the morning, three decent meals a day, and let me shoot as many animals as I can in a 12 day hunt for $7000. Is that too much to ask?

 

[gillettehunter]

There is no doubt that you know what you want. Good luck.

 

[Hunter101]

I would also look at Chumlet safaris.

 

[driev]

Sounds like a great hunt. Let us know if we can be of any assistance to your next trip!

 

[Spear Safaris]

We got one of them a few days ago

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

umlilo safaris have agreat place in the kalahari, have all these colour phases and more

 

[Nyati]

4Aces near Kimberley has all the colour phases you can dream about.

 

[Dee S]

umlilo safaris have agreat place in the kalahari, have all these colour phases and more

Thank you, I pulled up their website.