NAMIBIA: First Safari Lessons Learned

[Buffalo1]

Very nice recording of your hunt. Congrats on some beautiful trophies!!

 

[pilar]

Glad parts of your trip were great , and you got some great trophies!
Even though we want every safari to be a magical experience as they should be
Some PH’s just aren’t that great and shouldn’t be in the hunting industry.
Every couple of weeks I get to hear about a ruined safari my friends chad and Margie
Had with a very famous outfitter in Zimbabwe that his PH’s ruined a very expensive hunt on lake Kariba. , ( they treated the camp staff very poorly in front of Margie, and didn’t get along with the hunting crew, ect ect , didn’t even try to fill the contact on some game they had available)
These things happen, thanks for sharing the good and the bad

 

[revturbo9967]

Looks like some very nice trophies. I may have missed it, who was the outfitter and ph?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Looks like some very nice trophies. I may have missed it, who was the outfitter and ph?

He wants to go back to the outfitter because the property is fantastic. So he's hesitant to open a wound with the outfitter by naming him here. But he will not be hunting with that PH again, obviously.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing, some great bulls and rams you took!

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Great hunt report. Thank You. I was in Free State and Limpopo the same time frame this year. Too bad that you and your PH were not a great fit. Still, things happen and it can be hard to id an animal in the field while under pressure. In my opinion, it is easy to mis interpret a PH when shooting in a herd and as a hunter, I would have had to been there to know or have an opinion. I can relate to the PH getting excited and shouting shoot, shoot, shoot to me. Last year, my PH would get excited and do that over and over. After taking three animals, I had a talk with him and told him, that when we spot an animal, I will get on the sticks and spot him in my scope. I will estimate the range while the PH ranges it both visually and with the laser range finder. If I had questions about which animal, I would ask and when he said "shoot" once, that was enough and to be quiet after that unless I asked him a question. When the driver went too fast over rough ground, I would simply ask the PH to have him slow down. Afterall, we are the client and it is not a race. It is amazing how well these professional hunters can spot and see game. Civilized man has lost most of his hunter/predator instincts and we are handicapped in that regard. I do notice that after about three days in the bush, my abilities start to awaken but never to the degree than my PH has.

My PH did not like using his laser range finder and last year, his visual ranging was consistently short by 50y. This year, he did much better with the visual ranging but we nearly missed a black WB bull due to a ranging error. That was in Free State where shots were longer and winds were sometimes intense. I was using a 7mm/08 which is not as flat as your 300wm but that was a compromise for later use in Limpopo. Normally, I would not take shots on game past 300y but did practice out to 400y regularly from sticks and am fairly confident out that far. In our case the WB was laser ranged at 314y but the very flat ground made it difficult to get a correct reading and the actual range was closer to 400-450y and resulted in a near miss. Because my rifle had gotten knocked out of alignment, it was shooting 6" high. Due to that fact, I still hit the beast and killed it. Not ideal but it was in the salt anyways. In the end the shooting is up to the loose nut behind the trigger and all of the ranging by others is only data to be used or not used at the moment. Overall, my PH and I work well as a team. That one incident was not his fault as I ranged the shot four times afterwards and got different readings from 275 to 450y each time due to the tall grass and flat ground. It was just tough to get a clean read on it. I practice visually ranging all year long to improve my speed on tgt but will admit that on the wide open plains like in some of Free State, I struggled and often underestimated the distances in those conditions.

Stuff happens and that is no big deal. People make mistakes both the PH and the hunter and how we handle it is all the difference. My PH is also the owner/outfitter and my party is the only hunter(s) in camp when I hunt with him. He was a former Pro athlete in his mid 30's and is very fit. At almost twice his age, I sometimes have to remind him that I was old and had bad knees, lol. Overall, we get on great. I hunted last year with Fusions and this year with TSX and CX ammo and both did well but the Fusions for me did much better for plains game. More accurate and quicker, cleaner kills. But, I did use different rifles and had issues with my rifles staying zeroed this year while bouncing around in the Bakkie.

Looks like you had a good hunt in spite of a few issues and you did bag some nice trophies. My hunt last year was magical and about as perfect as once can imagine. This year was tougher and some issues were had but not with my PH. It was more with the outfitter in Free State who hosted us for the first few days. He was a good guy and I liked him a lot but his trackers were not very good and his knowledge of some of his concessions was limited. His lodge accommodations were not up to the stds, that I expected, etc. But, people are people and do foul up from time to time and once we got to Limpopo, things were great for the rest of the trip. Maybe, I got spoiled last year with such a great experience. Even so, I would go back and use the same outfitter without reservation. I will do a hunt report later when I have time.

 

[Cucuy]

Reported. Frankly, if you were dumb enough to fall for a crypto scam then you deserve to lose it. The irony…

 

[Cucuy]

Oh, and your mom has crabs.

 

[DavidAC]

Enjoying your report, and that Gemsbuck is a stud, congratulations. Like other have said, too bad the about the PH. I can completely understand, and I relate to your situation.

When I hunted Limpopo (my first safari) back in 2012, we had been looking for Kudu real hard with no luck. The owner told us to go to a different property, and we sat in a Hide/Blind. This was because my wife was with me, and she wanted to take pictures. Well, a truck with no muffler comes in and drops a bunch of feed on the ground, and leaves. The truck was not even 50 yds away when the Kudu showed up to feed. One beautiful bull stepped in, and my PH said shoot that one. I said no, and he said shoot again, I firmly said no. I told him I came to Africa to hunt not to shoot. My wife took some pictures of the Kudus, and then I said let's go. The PH was pissed at me for not shooting the bull. I spoke to the owner and explained what happened, and he apologized and understood. The Kudu I shot, was spotted by my wife.

We pushed some Gemsbuck into the corner of the fence and I declined to shoot. My PH said no problem and understood.

 

[Philip Glass]

I read your experience with great interest as my only African hunt was such a mess I didn't even want to try to (post) explain a hunt report. I may be the only person on this forum who came back from Africa and isn't sure I want to return.
I'm glad your trip overall was a success!! Best of luck on trip 2!

You must post a hunt report. No need to sugar coat bad experiences. There are many and they go unreported. Please reconsider.

 

[PARA45]

You must post a hunt report. No need to sugar coat bad experiences. There are many and they go unreported. Please reconsider.

+1

 

[Philip Glass]

I've had two hunts in Namibia with PH's who were similar in some respects. We need to get more folks to post their bad experiences and let others know what happened. Being honest and fair to all parties but telling the truth of a safari gone sour. Africa is such a great experience we can easily over look many problems.
Let's all be honest. This was a terrible safari. The client is in charge of how he wants to hunt and should be catered to and especially CONGRATULATED when he takes a nice trophy! If not he should get a new PH early in the hunt. There are too many high quality outfitters and PH's in RSA and Namibia to contend with the losers.

 

[Malambo]

Very nice Gembock and Kudu. congratulations!
I am sure your trophys will give you much better memories for live, than the bad moments that have already past.
Thanks for sharing your experience

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Very nice Gembock and Kudu. congratulations!
I am sure your trophys will give you much better memories for live, than the bad moments that have already past.
Thanks for sharing your experience

I'm not sure quality of trophies counterbalances bad hunting experience. I have three kudu on the wall and the best one conjures up some sour memories. But not of the outfitter or PH. I shot through some stuff and hit the bull poorly at relatively close range. It took two more days before we finally got him. I went with the trackers scouring the bottom of the ravine while PH watched the top end. This bull had a propensity for crossing up the sides into next valleys so it was anticipated I would get the shot. Didn't work out that way. The PH finished him and I was very pleased. On the second day he asked me if it was okay to bring a rifle. I said it would be very not okay if he didn't! "Can't believe you'd even ask." Told him if we didn't get that bull I would probably stop hunting. Had never lost an animal before. I didn't sleep a wink those two days fretting about how that poor animal was suffering. Every time I look at those beautiful horns it still makes me sad ... and disgusted with myself. They are a painful but effective reminder of what not to do.

I think the OP and I are cut from the same cloth. The memories mean more than the horn length. It sure has been an eye opener reading some of the responses.

 

[Duke1966]

Day 8 (June 8)
When we got back to our main camp (June 7), in the mountains, a couple of the hunters had killed mountain zebras and were talking about how tough the hunt was and how far they had to walk through the mountains. Two hunters didn't get zebras and said they weren't back up. It was just too much. They were going to the coast to go fishing instead.
That evening I had a conversation with the other PHs without my PH there and they both said that zebras were difficult to hunt this year because the rains came late and they were staying out in the desert and didn't need to come up for water. My PH showed up about midway through this conversation and even though most of the conversation was in Afrikaans I concluded that they were telling him that we'd have to get away from the truck a put some miles of foot to get my zebra.
In the morning we drove 2 hours to the far end of the property. All of Namibia is full of amazing views but this place was just breathtaking.

On the way we found a watering hole that had a lot of fresh zebra tracks. My PH decided that we'd come back a sit at this hole late into the evening. He felt it was pointless to just "wander around" walking. Looking back I think this was his last ditch effort to get out of spending the day on foot. We spent about an hour cutting back some brush a setting up the blind. It looked good and the wind seemed good for the spot.

Our trackers took the truck back about a mile and we set up in the blind. I haven't mentioned it but everyday it had gotten increasingly cooler and the winds stronger. After about an hour of sitting I was a lot colder than I had ever thought I'd be while hunting in Africa. At just about dark I saw movement to my right down in the dry creek bed. I was surprised that I caught the movement before my PH. I slowly looked over my shoulder and saw a huge hog. (I had warthog on my list also but we hadn't seen many so I didn't really think that I'd get one) I was expecting to hear "Shoot, shoot" but nothing. The hog was moving fast and I looked over at my PH and just said "hog"....I can't say for sure but I don't think that he ever saw the hog. Finally I can tell that he sees it as it trots down through the creek bed. "Small tusks" he says. I guess I don't really know. But I do know hogs and this guy was big and much bigger than what I expected to see here. I really didn't need a "trophy" hog but I guess that's his job to decide if it's a shooter. About five minutes after the encounter I heard the trackers sounding almost frantic on the radio. I guess the hog had walked right up the road and stopped in front of the truck. Later both trackers told me it was a big hog.
Only a few more minutes passed and heard movement behind us, directly downwind. Just about the time I spotted them out of the corner of my eye I heard them bark. Kudu cows. They were pissed. They were close, under 40 yards. They never saw us but definitely smelled. They have a very loud and deep sounding bark that really carries through the air. They all stopped and looked around seemingly confused. Finally they all left barking. It was getting pretty dark and I could still hear the long after I lost sight of them. I'm not sure if he felt that our hunt was ruined or if he was cold but my PH decided it was time to pack it in.
On the ride back to camp we decided I could ride on the back and my tracker could spot light for jackal. We saw a lot of game but the couple of times they spotted jackals I just couldn't find them quick enough. My eyes were dry and sore and just not up for it. I learned most PHs are often somehow related to sheep farming they all hate jackals with passion. I could tell that my PH was frustrated that I never got a shot at one. We saw a lot of kudu, a pair of bat eared foxes, an aardwolf and several sets of eyes that disappeared in the rocks of the mountain. At one point the trackers got very excited and thought they had sighted a leopard but the PH discounted it. We got back very late and I was cold and tired, but thankfully the kitchen staff had a warm plate of food for us.

 

[Malambo]

I'm not sure quality of trophies counterbalances bad hunting experience. I have three kudu on the wall and the best one conjures up some sour memories. But not of the outfitter or PH. I shot through some stuff and hit the bull poorly at relatively close range. It took two more days before we finally got him. I went with the trackers scouring the bottom of the ravine while PH watched the top end. This bull had a propensity for crossing up the sides into next valleys so it was anticipated I would get the shot. Didn't work out that way. The PH finished him and I was very pleased. On the second day he asked me if it was okay to bring a rifle. I said it would be very not okay if he didn't! "Can't believe you'd even ask." Told him if we didn't get that bull I would probably stop hunting. Had never lost an animal before. I didn't sleep a wink those two days fretting about how that poor animal was suffering. Every time I look at those beautiful horns it still makes me sad ... and disgusted with myself. They are a painful but effective reminder of what not to do.

I think the OP and I are cut from the same cloth. The memories mean more than the horn length. It sure has been an eye opener reading some of the responses.

I guess the OP likes his very nice kudu, since it shows in his avatar

 

[trperk1]

Great report so far, enjoying the read. Hope your experience get's better as I move on to page 2 or 4!

 

[KEC]

It seems you are doing the best you can with the hand you were given. Your report brings back memories of my first "away" big game hunt in 1986. I chose an outfitter in West Texas that hunted trophy antelope near Cornudas outside of El Paso. I was in my mid 20s and money was tight but managed to put together $1600 for the hunt after saving what I could making just above minimum wage. He promised me that I would be hunting with him but after getting there and paying I was assigned a guide from Boston Mass. Needless to say, my "trophy hunt" was not as expected. Then, to make matters worse, he invited me back for free the next year only to cancel my trip the day before I was to depart. I lost my money for airfare and was heartbroken. I tried to stay in touch with him, he even replied once with a letter saying he would make it up to me and was not "bull shi..ing" but never heard from him again.

 

[Duke1966]

It seems you are doing the best you can with the hand you were given. Your report brings back memories of my first "away" big game hunt in 1986. I chose an outfitter in West Texas that hunted trophy antelope near Cornudas outside of El Paso. I was in my mid 20s and money was tight but managed to put together $1600 for the hunt after saving what I could making just above minimum wage. He promised me that I would be hunting with him but after getting there and paying I was assigned a guide from Boston Mass. Needless to say, my "trophy hunt" was not as expected. Then, to make matters worse, he invited me back for free the next year only to cancel my trip the day before I was to depart. I lost my money for airfare and was heartbroken. I tried to stay in touch with him, he even replied once with a letter saying he would make it up to me and was not "bull shi..ing" but never heard from him again.

Wow! I was an E-3 in the Army in 1986 and $1,600 was about three months take-home pay for me.

 

[miket1]

Awesome animals, congrats! Sorry you got a bad PH. I went with Frontier in Namibia this May. I was paired with a master guide and 17yo apprentice rather than a PH. I was slightly concerned at first, but the master guide was excellent. He spoke very little english, so the apprentice translated, but the apprentice did most of the talking anyway. I was thoroughly impressed by this young man. His love of the hunt was intense, I could tell he was having as much fun as I was. Im 50 and he is younger than my youngest kid, but after a day or two it was like hunting with a good buddy.

Mine was an unbelievable trip, I am sorry yours was not the same.