Winkabeast
AH member
My brother Rob and I have just returned from our long-delayed Connecticut DSC Dinner auction hunt with Numzaan Safaris in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.
I had been warned that Limpopo has been heavily carved up and fenced, and that the properties are smallish when compared to other parts of South Africa, or other destinations around it, and this turned out to be a spot-on assessment.
It is also mostly flat, and brush choked, so all in all I would have to say it was not the most epic and awe inspiring of our safari hunting experiences or the most breathtaking of African scenery, but the lodge was comfortable and Jakes the PH, and Sello the tracker were good men, so Robbie and I kept a good attitude and we had a fun hunt, even if the days excursions were a bit repetitive, with a lot of miles on the same roads, and even if we saw a lot of fences and feeders.
The first day found us in a very small area which seemed to be chosen for the numbers of Nyala, which was the auction specific animal. With country this flat and brushy there's a tendency to use the truck more than you really should, but I told Jakes I wanted to stalk and shoot off the sticks, so we only spotted from the vehicle, then went in on foot when a good bull was spotted.
After a couple busted stalks, we finally got in on a group successfully, and I put my Nyala down !
This pattern would repeat over the following days, though we did occasionally go to larger areas looking for other species.
I shot my BERGARA Highlander in .300 WinMag on this trip, and was once again very pleased with it's performance. The Highlander is now discontinued, and I know some found/find it a little heavy, but I don't mind its weight at all. It's not oppressive, it's just not as light as some of the sexy light mountain rifles that have come out since. And that little extra weight makes it SO steady off the sticks !
I had purchased a set of the Danish Viper Flex quad sticks a couple months back, and I had done a LOT of practicing at home with my .22 and my .223 getting ready for this trip, so when I switched to the bigger gun my shooting was natural and on point !
I was really in the zone on this trip.
I fired a total of eight shots...
2 shots literally in the same hole, and on the bullseye, on day one, verifying my zero...
4 one shot, DRT kills on the point of aim on my animals during the course of my hunt... and...
2 shots hitting a half of a 12" steel in the near dark, off a field expedient rest, at 500 yards on the last night, just for fun.
I took a great Nyala, which was a bucket list animal for me, a beautiful Golden Wildebeest, a 27" Common Impala, and a beautiful Black Impala.
Rob was shooting his Shaw Custom in .35 Whelen, but he was having a bit of a bad stretch with his shooting this time. He had a couple misses early on, and a long, blood trailing recovery later in the week, but he did finally take a really nice Blue Wildebeest, a nice Springbok, and an old warrior of a Common Impala.
All in all I would have to say I agree with other reports on Limpopo and Numzaan.
The outfitter is extremely professional and organized and employs good people, but the properties are small and the fencing extensive enough that the hunt feels tame and very similar to shooting inside the high fence exotic operations in Texas.
The flat country is also not beautiful or evocative of your African dream. I'm glad this wasn't my intro to African hunting, or I might not have gotten the addiction as bad (good?) as I did.
That said, we did have a fun hunt, and we did laugh a lot with our tracker and our PH, and we did take some nice animals.
A hunt is often what you make of it !
Enjoy the pics.
I had been warned that Limpopo has been heavily carved up and fenced, and that the properties are smallish when compared to other parts of South Africa, or other destinations around it, and this turned out to be a spot-on assessment.
It is also mostly flat, and brush choked, so all in all I would have to say it was not the most epic and awe inspiring of our safari hunting experiences or the most breathtaking of African scenery, but the lodge was comfortable and Jakes the PH, and Sello the tracker were good men, so Robbie and I kept a good attitude and we had a fun hunt, even if the days excursions were a bit repetitive, with a lot of miles on the same roads, and even if we saw a lot of fences and feeders.
The first day found us in a very small area which seemed to be chosen for the numbers of Nyala, which was the auction specific animal. With country this flat and brushy there's a tendency to use the truck more than you really should, but I told Jakes I wanted to stalk and shoot off the sticks, so we only spotted from the vehicle, then went in on foot when a good bull was spotted.
After a couple busted stalks, we finally got in on a group successfully, and I put my Nyala down !
This pattern would repeat over the following days, though we did occasionally go to larger areas looking for other species.
I shot my BERGARA Highlander in .300 WinMag on this trip, and was once again very pleased with it's performance. The Highlander is now discontinued, and I know some found/find it a little heavy, but I don't mind its weight at all. It's not oppressive, it's just not as light as some of the sexy light mountain rifles that have come out since. And that little extra weight makes it SO steady off the sticks !
I had purchased a set of the Danish Viper Flex quad sticks a couple months back, and I had done a LOT of practicing at home with my .22 and my .223 getting ready for this trip, so when I switched to the bigger gun my shooting was natural and on point !
I was really in the zone on this trip.
I fired a total of eight shots...
2 shots literally in the same hole, and on the bullseye, on day one, verifying my zero...
4 one shot, DRT kills on the point of aim on my animals during the course of my hunt... and...
2 shots hitting a half of a 12" steel in the near dark, off a field expedient rest, at 500 yards on the last night, just for fun.
I took a great Nyala, which was a bucket list animal for me, a beautiful Golden Wildebeest, a 27" Common Impala, and a beautiful Black Impala.
Rob was shooting his Shaw Custom in .35 Whelen, but he was having a bit of a bad stretch with his shooting this time. He had a couple misses early on, and a long, blood trailing recovery later in the week, but he did finally take a really nice Blue Wildebeest, a nice Springbok, and an old warrior of a Common Impala.
All in all I would have to say I agree with other reports on Limpopo and Numzaan.
The outfitter is extremely professional and organized and employs good people, but the properties are small and the fencing extensive enough that the hunt feels tame and very similar to shooting inside the high fence exotic operations in Texas.
The flat country is also not beautiful or evocative of your African dream. I'm glad this wasn't my intro to African hunting, or I might not have gotten the addiction as bad (good?) as I did.
That said, we did have a fun hunt, and we did laugh a lot with our tracker and our PH, and we did take some nice animals.
A hunt is often what you make of it !
Enjoy the pics.
