A week with the beasts... Bos en Dal Safaris 2024

[mdwest]

Location: @Bos en Dal SAFARIS , NW Province, RSA
Time: July 2024
Rifle Used: Musgrave 7x57 / Swaro Optic (camp rifle)
Who: @mdwest, wife, youngest daughter & @Goopy

I'll start with the same typical disclaimer up front that Ive made with other Bos en Dal hunt reports.. I obviously have a relationship with this outfitter (see banner at the bottom of every post), and am clearly biased.. I absolutely love this camp, the staff, the animal quality, the food, etc..etc.. which is why we keep going back every year (the only year missed in recent history has been 2020 when RSA was shut down for COVID), and why I maintain a relationship with Gerrit, the owner of @Bos en Dal SAFARIS ...

All of that said, I am NOT paid by Bos en Dal either for posting hunt reports or for acting as the US Representative.. much like others here that act as US representatives for African outfitters, I have become very close personal friends with quite literally ALL of the PH's, camp staff, the outfitter, etc over the years and personally want to see their business do well.. that is my motivation... (the same motivation that sees me host parties in our home each year during DSC, etc)...

So.. with that now behind us.. on to the hunt report!

Having hunted with @Bos en Dal SAFARIS many times previously, we really didnt have much of an agenda this year.. We know the properties extremely well, and honestly between my wife and I, have taken most of the species available on the property over the years.. We really just wanted to spend time with our friends, get away from the cell phones and laptops for a week, and enjoy being in South Africa for a little while... any hunting we did would be a "bonus"....

Flights on Qatar out of DFW were completely uneventful.. Check in was easy (no firearms this year).. and as always the plane was in great shape and we were able to get really good seating (Im an AA Platinum Pro flyer and have been for years.. so grabbing bulkhead or exit row seating at normal economy rates is easy to do).... We had bulkhead seats on both flights to OR Tambo, and Exit Row seating on both flights back to DFW...

Once we arrived in Doha, we found the the Al Mourjan lounge crowded and backed up... No problem, Qatar upgraded our entire party (to include @Goopy ) to the Oryx lounge at no additional cost.. this made the 8 hour layover we got stuck with much, much easier and palatable..

We landed in Joberg around 930, and cleared the airport around 1130... After getting the mini bus loaded up with all of our stuff, we got on the road and arrived in camp a little before 130PM... a quick bite to eat, a quick unloading of our gear, and we were off to the range before 3PM.. confirming zero for everyone was a breeze, and we were all hunting by 330...

As some of you know, my wife, youngest daughter, and I all do a little work to support an orphanage in Rustenberg, South Africa and have gone so far as to set up a non-profit that we use to collect funding (much of which comes from us personally) and take on certain projects to help out the 66 kids that currently reside there.. One of the challenges they have is keeping all the kids fed...

Last year while we were @Bos en Dal SAFARIS with @roverandbrew , an idea that was fielded was to pay to cull some cow blue wildebeest (@Bos en Dal SAFARIS has huge herds of blues running around everywhere and needed some culling done this year and last), and then donate all of the meat to the orphanage... Gerrit was onboard with this idea.. so we decided we'd set out each day in search of a cull or two.. and then if we saw anything else attractive, we'd just take whatever the bush provided, and be happy..

Thinking we really only had about 2 hours before we ran out of daylight, we decided to make a cull wildebeest a priority... theyre abundant on the main property and we thought they'd be easy to find this late in the day (almost certainly going to be either at a watering hole or in a field feeding)...

Less than 15 minutes after leaving the range we spotted a fairly large herd of blues in the distance. We dismounted, and began to stalk, but before we could close the distance we were busted and they took off... we knew that theres a fairly large dam in the direction they were heading though and figured theyd probably stop there if we didnt pressure them too hard.. so we moved to circle around where we thought they were headed with the intent of being able to sneak up on the banks of the far side of the dam and ambush them when they arrived..

When we arrived we found that the wildebeest beat us to the dam and about 1/2 of the herd was already milling around the waters edge getting drinks... we were pretty close on the other side with most shots being between 100-120 yards.. so we started the process of trying to identify a cow that didnt have a calve for us to cull...

Right about the time we identified a really nice cow to take, I saw movement just off to the right of the herd, roughly 70 yards from my location... I pulled by head away from the scope, and saw a young jackal, just casually walking down the banks of the dam that was completely unaware of our presence..

In all the trips Ive made to South Africa, Ive never seen a jackal that close during daylight... certainly not one that calm and relaxed...

So our wildebeest cull hunt immediately became a jackal hunt lol... (we still had plenty of time to take the 3-5 culls we wanted to take by the end of the week)...

It only took a few seconds to get the jackal in the crosshairs.. once I told Rikus (our PH for the week) that I had him, Rikus made a light squeeking sound and the jackal stopped in his tracks, giving me a perfect broadside shot..

Jackals clearly do not enjoy 7x57 projectiles.. He jumped 2-3 feet straight up once hit, turned back toward the wood line, ran no more than 15 yards, and expired..

@Goopy also had a successful 1st day.. but I wont spoil his story in case he chooses to post a separate hunt report..

We were back in camp by 615.. were greeted with wonderful snacks and even better libations the moment we rolled in.. and hung out by the fire until about 7PM.. Dinner was a slow roasted leg of springbok with potatoes and a nice vegetable medley... After dinner we all managed to keep ourselves awake until about 9PM, but we were all exhausted from the travel, so we retired to our rooms, got cleaned up from the day, checked our gear, and hit the bed early..

More to follow tomorrow after I get some more pics downloaded from the phone and do a little better job collecting my notes from the trip...

 

[Datchew]

1 Jackal down is a great way to start the hunt! Looking forward to your report. Hunt safe.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Been looking forward to this report!!

 

[Graham Hunter]

I want to hunt with Bos en dal but I think you and MArk shot everthing.LOL

 

[Wheels]

I recognize that Musgrave. Looking forward to the rest of your report Dave.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

I want to hunt with Bos en dal but I think you and MArk shot everthing.LOL

There's plenty there! But we have taken our share.

 

[AZDAVE]

I bet the jackal didn't like the 7x57
Looking forward to you report and glad you got some time to unplug and just relax.

 

[Goopy]

Location: @Bos en Dal SAFARIS , NW Province, RSA
Date: July 2024
Rifle Used: Winchester Model 70 Safari Express .375 H&H, Vortex Crossfire II 1-4X24
Who: @mdwest, wife, youngest daughter & @Goopy

Hello All- I'm Goopy (referenced above in Dave's initial post); I'd like to start this with an incredible amount of thanks and gratitude to everyone on this forum that took the time out to answer my endless questions about hunting in Africa, rifle selection, clothes to wear, etc. etc. etc.... I have reached out to many of you in preparation for my very first hunt in Africa and everyone came through wonderfully. People that need to be singled out for an extra special shout out include: mdwest, Hunter-Habib (a true gentleman and mentor), Mark Biggerstaff, Newboomer, Jimbo12, SFRanger7GP, sestoppelman and Cousin Bongo.

I met Dave, AKA mdwest, thru the forum and he was the "dealer that introduced me to the addiction" I guess it would be quite fair to say. After initial pleasantries and introductions thru the forum, we graduated to phone calls. Dave invited me down to Dallas for DSC and that really set the hook. While at the Bos en Dal party hosted by Dave and his family, I was the very fortunate grand prize winner of a Cape Buffalo Cow Hunt that Gerrit of Bos en Dal had donated. This changed my whole plan of starting out gently with a plains game hunt and instead jumping into the deep end of the pool to get up close and personal with a herd of angry horned critters that were very big.

As Dave has already mentioned, travel to South Africa was fairly easy and quite uneventful; the only difference being that I flew in from Chicago as opposed to Dallas. I'll spare everyone the repetitiveness adding only that I have to highly recommend the lounge experience for any type of layover- I think I actually ate two or three times the price of admission and was afraid that they might ask me to leave...

Upon arrival in JoBerg, we were met by Gerrit, got our bags, grabbed my rifle (after superb help by riflepermits.com) and hit the road. As Dave said before, we got into camp and, after eating a delicious lunch, changed into hunting clothes and the fun began!

My PH was Francois and to that man I owe an extreme debt of thanks. Almost immediately we became like "peas and carrots" and hit it off like we had known each other for years. The other PH, Ricus, went with Dave and his family, and was just as solid and fun as Francois. Francois and Ricus proved to be some of the finest, most easy going fellas that I've met. Both of these guys showed consummate pride in their work and strove to help the "new guy in Africa (me)" successfully navigate any turn that I encountered. I really cannot say enough about these two guys except that it was my extreme pleasure to not only meet them, but become friends with them. It actually reflects back on Gerrit, his family and the whole operation of Bos en Dal. The quality, pride and overall welcoming feeling that everyone provided was genuine and extremely well received. Gerrit was a true gentleman in bringing me into the Bos en Dal fold right from the start. I realize that this is a business, but Gerrit made it his personal mission to make me feel more than a client, more so a returning friend.

Trophies in no particular order:

First Trophy
We decided to first try our hand on Red Hartebeest. We started glassing out some thickets and saw a group of them moving out across the plain and then observed a lone bull on the other side of the thickets. He seemed to have no intention of going with the others and we had observed other bulls within the herd. We decided to have a stalk on this one and made our way thru brush, trees and thorns until we got about 70 yards from him. We could feel the wind swirling and changing direction and decided to go up on the sticks for a shot. As I placed the rifle on the sticks, the wind made a definite shift and he looked in our direction. As he looked, I squeezed the trigger into a very mild quartering away shot. My bullet entered his left shoulder and made a slight diagonal line into his right shoulder. The Hartebeest took two steps and dropped right there! It was my very first Africa trophy and an extremely beautiful animal.
That night we were able to celebrate with taking a jackal and a Red Hartebeest!

Second Trophy
We set out early the next morning with no plan other than what the bush offered. As we drove along, we saw herds of Wildebeest, solitary Kudus, Blesbok groups, giraffes and ostriches. While cresting one of the many hills on the concession, we observed two Impalas in the distance. We stopped the bakkie and got out to start a long stalk. Traveling along the trail, we could see the hoof prints going along in front of us. As we rounded a bend in a thorn thicket, a nice mature Impala stood about 400 yards in front of us. We noted the direction of the wind and cut through another set of thickets, hoping to cut this guy off as he travelled along the trail. Going through the final set of thickets/thorn scrub, we came onto an open plain and saw our guy standing a bit more than 100 yards away. He was intently watching the tree line in front of him and we were able to pop up the sticks, get a good sight picture on him and send a round. I was offered a perfect broad side shot and placed my shot right through his left shoulder. Right there he dropped and, as we paced off the shot, found it to be almost exactly at 130 yards.

Third Trophy
In the middle of the week, we decided to call it Buffalo Day. I think that maybe Francois wanted to see how this silly American shot off sticks on the two previous animals before going out on a herd of Cape Buffalo. We glassed from the side of a mountain early in the morning where we had seen buffalo the previous two days, but of course, none were to be seen. After driving off the mountain, we came onto a plain and saw the back of a herd entering yet another thicket. We drove about a fifth of a mile from where we saw the herd go in and dismounted the truck. We could clearly see the fresh hoof prints all around and decided to start a stalk. I saw Francois remove his rifle from its case as we got our gear together and knew, at that moment, that this was indeed serious business. He cautioned me to be very alert as we followed the tracks and to act quickly when he moved. As we inched along the small trail into the thickets, I could hear and smell the herd in front of us. It seemed as they were only a few yards away! We came into a small clearing and through the thorns, there was the herd. We were able to observe them for a bit and found a large cow that had no calf. She seemed older and on the outskirts of the herd and a suitable cow for us to have a go at. We came through the edge and were partially covered by a small thorn bush when Francois whispered to get on the sticks quickly as the wind was once again playing games with us. As soon as I popped on the sticks, the cow gave me a full frontal shot with no other members of the herd behind her. I was able to get a clear sight picture and pulled the trigger. CLICK was all I received!! I quickly cycled the action, popped the bad round out and reloaded another. My sight picture was still on and pulled the trigger, sending the round right through her center from about 50 yards! She moved about two yards to her left and fell. The rest of the herd now turned its attention to us as we backed away for a bit. In backing away, we heard the death bellow from my buffalo. The herd gave it a couple of minutes then started moving away. We then walked back to the truck and drove back to recover my Cape Buffalo. Upon making sure she was gone, we looked at the first failed round and found a good primer strike and what can only be chalked up as a bad primer. What a time to have a bad primer! While admiring her I realized how lucky I was, how fortunate the event turned out to be and, as crazy as it sounds, what a great story that I now had! She is not the biggest buffalo ever to grace this forum nor in possession of the widest horns, but she is my first Cape Buffalo and my trophy!

Fourth Trophy
For some odd reason, I really wanted a warthog and talked almost incessantly of finding one. I'm sure that I drove Francois crazy talking about, but he was an exceptionally fine sport and never once told me to shut the heck up! Anyway, as we hiked around the land, up and down the mountain glassing around for a warthog or "what the bush may provide", a phrase that I've come to love, we spotted a lone Blesbok walking along about a quarter mile from us. As we contemplated a plan for a stalk, we watched him go into a line of thorn trees. Francois said that he knew that there was a big clearing on the other side and that our best chance would be to stalk through the thorns and position ourselves in a diagonal intercept across the plain. We got out and hiked along the thicket for a bit and finally broke through after about twenty minutes. Glassing along the clearing we could see the lone Blesbok across the plain scanning the thorn tree line that we were in. As we came through, the Blesbok was trying to read the wind, giving us a nice slightly quartering away broadside. Up on the sticks I went, pulled the trigger and was pleased to see our guy stagger about two yards then fall. After pacing it off, we discovered that it was a nice even 175 yard shot. His long horns were beautifully worn, rings white and ears full. My final trophy and quite possibly favorite animal!

As the trip ended, we took a ride to, what I believe, was the most fulfilling chapter of the entire journey- the visit to the Lighthouse Orphanage. As we all know, the bounty of our hunts supersedes what a small party can consume. Even though we ate like kings on the animals harvested, there was still more than could ever be used by us alone. The rest of the meat was taken by us to an orphanage that is supported by a foundation here in the US guided by mdwest and carried in South Africa by Bos en Dal Safaris. Gerrit and mdwest managed to find seemingly the only McDonalds in the North West Province and ordered 75 Happy Meals to supplement the 2000 pounds of game meat donated to the kids at the orphanage. Upon our arrival, it was like Christmas, Easter and St. Patrick's Day were all rolled into one holiday for the kids (can you tell that I'm Scots-Irish from the South Side of Chicago?) and they were loving it!

Of course, there is always one silly American that needs to entertain the kids and that would be me! No matter what language the kids spoke: Afrikaans, Tribal Dialects or broken English, they understood that a silly grey haired guy with chips stuck in his upper lip was hilarious!

I apologize in advance for hijacking Dave's thread, in retrospect, I probably should've just started my own darn thread but once I started typing- I couldn't quit.

If this newcomer to the forum and new guy fresh from his first safari can throw out one piece of advice it would be- CALL GERRIT AT BOS EN DAL AND PLAN OUT A TRIP! He and his family have a first rate operation and most assuredly will make sure that you and your family have great memories that will last forever! Words are at a loss for how much I enjoyed my time with Francois and Ricus, they are truly good lads. I have absolutely no problem with anyone contacting me for an even longer detail of the trip and how much I enjoyed it!
Cheers,
Billy
AKA Goopy

 

[JerBear8]

Congratulations fellas! Especially loved reading about your first trip Billy. Nothing compares to the first time you set foot in Africa.

I also help support an Orphan Care Center in Lesotho. Well done gentlemen!

Looking forward to the rest of the report!

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Congratulations to both of you on a very successful and fulfilling trip.

@Goopy have you picked dates for trip #2 yet? I’m sure the planning started before you even made the McDonalds run.