NAMIBIA: BOWHUNT: Bowhunt In Namibia

[Dee S]

One of two, RhinoBlind 500's that we utilized in the badlands. Don't let the desert look fool you, that place was loaded with animals. If it lives in southern Africa, it was probably on this property. I shot my Red Hartebeest from this blind, missed a Blesbuck, passed on a trophy Kudu bull, saw giraffe, waterbuck, springbuck, blue wildebeest, black wildebeest, ostrich, black faced impala, Burchell's zebra, and warthog from this location. All in the same day. Oh, and sat through a sandstorm in that blind. What a great day! Gotta love it!

 

[jpomazi]

Thanks for the write-up and congrats on the trophies. Love Namibia.

 

[Hunter101]

way to smoke some awesome trophies and a 657 grain arrow put the hurt on them! such a adventure thanks for sharing

 

[gesch]

Thanks for a well organized report. It looks like a fantastic adventure. Spending the time you did makes the travel with different locations work well. It looks like a model hunt! Thanks again.

 

[Dee S]

I put together a short video and it contains drone footage and pictures from the first location that we hunted. No kill shots or dead animals in this one, but that video will follow.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Nice video! I’ll be taking my granddaughter there in 2020 on her first trip to Africa.

 

[Dee S]

Put no expectations on the trip other than to just relax and enjoy Africa. She'll have a great time when there's no stress involved. Look forward to the pictures and story.

 

[Dee S]

What a day this was, sitting in a pop up blind all day. It started out well, shot a Red Hartebeest an hour after getting into the blind. Made a clean miss on a Blesbok about an hour later, then the wind picked up before noon. It would blow like there was no tomorrow for a while, then settle down a bit, you'd think it was over, and here it would come again. At times we were both holding onto the wire frame of the blind in order to keep it grounded.
Sand got into everything, including my cameras, shutting down my main video recorder for the remainder of the trip. All three cameras have been sent off for extensive cleaning and they told me the camcorder may be a total loss. My bow also is getting torn down at the bow shop, cleaned & lubed, and will be put back together soon. Yes, it will cost me money for those repairs, but it was worth it. What an awesome day!
Hope you enjoy the video and pics

 

[Ridgewalker]

WOW! Brutal day for a bow hunter in that wind! Hope they had a good shower to get that sand off?
That reminds me of the summers I spent in West Texas. Almost a daily sand storm!

 

[Dee S]

Yes, Pieter had arranged first class accommodations for us and the rooms had wonderfully hot water. I took my bow into the shower to get it cleaned. I felt bad for the cleaning lady as my gear had so much red sand in and on it and most of that came off on the sparkling white tile floor in my room. But no complaints, I loved it. What a great day if hunting.

 

[cagkt3]

Well done!

 

[RBurg44]

Shew! Rough sand storm def didnt look fun but its part of hunting so guess thats best way to look at it!

 

[flatwater bill]

Hartmann's with a bow is quite a challenge.............enjoyed the report...congrats on trophies...............thanks for posting.................FWB

 

[Dee S]

Just finished a video, where I shot an Oryx. I may have to edit it, YouTube says it may not be suitable? If they restrict it, I'll have to edit it, take out the slow mo stuff? Let me know, is it too much??

 

[Hunter101]

Looks like a heart shot to me! How many inch was that bull?

 

[Dee S]

It looks like I hit him about two inches too far forward, but he didn't run far as you can see.

I think he was right at 36" as I recall? I was after a good mature bull and he fit the bill. If I get to go back one day, I'd really like to take an old, old bull with really heavy mass, don't care about the length, just thick, solid horns. I shot three bulls, all were in the 35-36" range, what varied was width, equal length on both sides, and of course, mass.

 

[Beretta391]

Perfect shot!!! Excellent video! Thanks for sharing

 

[Dee S]

Thanks, but I think the only three perfect shots I made out of twelve attempts were on the Duiker, my first Hartmann's zebra, and the Burchell's zebra. I made some shots that I'm not proud of and wish I could have a 'do over' on, that's for sure.
It was really difficult for me to NOT aim behind the shoulder, but to aim ON the shoulder. And then at some of the water troughs, the animal appears to be broadside, but upon review I can see that they were usually quartering away a bit.
Most shots were made from the sitting position in chairs that I don't have over here and the angle was not always the best from where I had the chair set up.
If we were in one of the two Rhino 500 blinds, then I was shooting through the screen window, which was a first for me as well.
I shouldn't use those as excuses, I should have trained better, and been better prepared for those situations.
With the videos of the actual kill shots, I'm a person that believes that only the best of shots make it onto the world wide web. Anytime a hunter posts a video online they are subjected to the 'left' and the 'anti hunters' and while even the best of shots are still subject to that attention, I feel that the videos showing the shots with poor arrow placement really add fuel to their fire. With that in mind, I'd love to tell you that my aim was perfect and all those awesome, Robin Hood shots were captured on video, but sadly, that is not reality.
In a perfect world, I'd have at least one of the Hartmann's zebra shots on film, but with them coming in at dusk and the herds of eland that were out at the same time it was not worth it. I had waited far too long for the opportunity to even get one within bow range of a Hartmann's and I told Pieter that if they came in, to not even bother with filming, I did not want that to interfere with the shot. I wanted the zebra more than the footage and thankfully, I got the zebra and have no regrets on the lack of video. For both of those shots, there was no wind, it was dead calm, every noise in the blind was amplified, the zebra were super skittish as there was a hyena in the area making their weird calls, and I'm just so thankful to have gotten the shots that were provided and that both animals died within 50 yards of the spot were they were hit.
Expect more kill shot videos, but of the nine kills I made, not all will be posted online.

 

[Lee M]

Hunter101. That was your blind i believe. Was just thinking of your double jackal with the bow evening sit.

 

[Dee S]

I wanted a jackal, not one came in while hunting this property. You must have shot them all?