NAMIBIA: 20 Days With Keibeb Safaris

[Jeffro]

The next days were very tough. The wind blew very strongly, and changed direction repeatedly, making stalking quite a challenge. In addition, we discovered by examining trail camera pics, that the big rams or bulls were all moving at night, which did not surprise us given the monster full moon. We should have done our homework! We did take a number of long treks on foot along the swales and river beds, but the wind constantly betrayed us. If one ever doubted an antelope's senses of smell and self-preservation, this would erase those doubts. We could have shot any number of zebra, but that was already done. Over the next days, I took two impala. The first was a real old fellow whose horns were worn down several inches. In addition, when the skinners were done with him, they said that all his ribs on one side had been broken, which would explain his carelessness. I think he is wonderful, despite being "only" a silver medal animal. A couple days later, we were able to come across another good ram while in pursuit of other of his bigger cousins. I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and took him, too. I adore impala. I am adding a sunset photo, and a night sky photo. If you haven't seen the African sunset, or night sky, you are in store for something wonderful.

 

[Jeffro]

On the sixth day, despite lots of walking, I noticed that Lara's wonderful cooking was taking its toll...the belt wouldn't quite close properly. We also decided to change strategies, and begin to sit at water holes. What a brilliant decision. The parade of animals and birds was endless, and fascinating. There was something to see every few minutes, it seemed, including the biggest impala Steff had seen. Unfortunately (or not) he chose a great time to show up, namely at the exact same time my big kudu bull emerged from the trees. Before I continue, take a real good camera. I had camera envy the whole time, especially when it came to the little birds. Even in the blinds, the wind gave out scent away, so Steff resorted to burning kudu dung, which seemed to help. Even with that, plenty of animals just would not come in; no matter, it was a lot of fun for me, especially after I heard the words, "big kudu". Sure enough, a big bull was hot on the heels (or some other part) of a big cow. The sticks went up, and as soon as he stopped, the shot went off and he dropped in his tracks. What a trophy. To begin with, he was soon to be a casualty of the drought...he was skin and bones. Second, he was kind of funky, with two quite different horns. Third, the longer one measured 57 and three-quarters! The recovery team lead by Steff's dad came to collect him, abd day six was in the bag. Nothing to do but enjoy a Cuban cigar, a few beers, the best boerewors on the planet, and Lara's meal.

 

[Jeffro]

I should mention that we were ably aided by Dani, Steff's driver, tracker, and jack of all trades. Dani was very helpful in collecting us after our longer stalks, and in dropping us at the water holes. On the day I shot my kudu, Randy and Steff's dad had seen a big waterbuck using a different water hole, so we decided to go there the next afternoon. Sure enough, at 4:10 pm, just as the day before, the cows emerged, and shortly thereafter, the bull. We had seen this character before, but he didn't give us an opportunity. This was his unlucky day. Randy got onto the sticks, the .375 Ruger barked, and the waterbuck took off. The shot was a tad high, but the bull only ran about 200 meters before piling up. We learned an interesting thing or two about waterbuck from Steff. First, you cannot drag them. They have glands that secrete an unpleasant substance/odour. If pressure is applied to the animal by dragging, the secretion can ruin the meat. No worries. The crew came to collect him, and we ate waterbuck tenderloin with great gusto. Second, much like pronghorn, you have to avoid the hair contacting the meat.

 

[flatwater bill]

You certainly made the most of your trip. Nice to see someone enjoy both the tourism and the hunting.......love the night sky foto.................excellent trophies.................thanks for posting a great report.....................FWB

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on all the trophies to go along with the touring! Thanks for sharing!

 

[meigsbucks]

What a great trip. The tour was amazing and the hunting spectacular. Congratulations

 

[otsego44]

My son and I had the pleasure of hunting with Steph a few years back. An extremely knowledgeable and competent PH, and an absolute pleasure to be around. A return trip was planned for last year, but circumstances on my end changed that. I do plan on hunting with Steph again in the future.

 

[BRICKBURN]

You certainly made the most of your trip. Nice to see someone enjoy both the tourism and the hunting.......love the night sky foto.................excellent trophies.................thanks for posting a great report.....................FWB

What Bill said.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats on your hunt, and thanks for sharing !

 

[Matt_WY]

Looks like a wonderful trip!

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jeffro]

Keibeb Continued.

Next, we changed things up a bit after the water buck, and went to the blinds early in the morning. Again, the trail cam picks showed nocturnal visits, so we hoped to catch a straggler. Not many animals appeared compared with the late afternoon so we returned to our walk and stalk tactic. One large meadow had struck us all as a real likely spot to find a nice big bull of some description, but until today had only produced females and young, or animals we didn't want, like the usual suicidal blesbok. As we walked in this time, though, we spotted a smallish group of gemsbok, and our excitement levels soared. Until now, they had eluded us, but..."Wait" came the order. "There is a nice kudu bull over there", Steff whispered, pointing to a tree not far off. It was Randy's turn to shoot, so he decided to try for the kudu. It was a pretty short stalk to get into position, and once Steff positioned the sticks, Randy wasted no time, and he had his kudu, too. We chose to sit at water holes that afternoon, and Randy got a nice impala, but nothing suitable came by me. Because I wasn't there, I have no photo of his animal, so I'll add a few photos of animals that did show up, but weren't shooters. It was tremendous fun seeing all the animals and their interactions, ranging from the ultra-cautious vervet monkeys to the surprisingly belligerent francolin.

 

[Jeffro]

We decided to stay together the next day, so we returned to the blind where I had taken the kudu. In quite a short time, a lone gemsbok bull came sneaking in. Steph and Lara had been trying to hunt him themselves, but he had always escaped. He was easy to identify by his unusual horns, and Randy agreed that he would make a great trophy, so once he reached the correct point, Randy squeezed off his shot and the old bull was done. Randy was so happy that he even shaved that night.

 

[Jeffro]

Our last foray saw us split up again. Again, I got splendid photos with Steph, while Randy went with Steph's dad. Randy got another very nice kudu, our last animal on that leg of the hunt.

As a final word, I cannot recommend Keibeb enough. Steph and Lara saw to it that every day was excellent. I will be back there in 2020.

 

[Ridgewalker]

What a fine adventure! Yep those Franklins look like they are determining the pecking order.
Excellent trophies! I really like the goofy gemsbok!

 

[Guy M]

What a great trip! Thanks for the write-up.

Guy

 

[WMU05]

What a great hunt, report and photos! You've now given me another outfit to investigate for my 2022 African 40th B-day safari!