SOUTH AFRICA: 1st Safari With Global Safaris

Ok well can't get the video to embed for some reason, I'll try tomorrow.
 
Gilbert is a super nice guy. I'm on the look out for a set of Texas Longhorns for his car :ROFLMAO:

Ebay has a bunch. https://www.ebay.com/bhp/mounted-bull-horns

I've been thinking about buying a set for my man cave.

I've also seen a bunch for sale at the Maverick Travel Center (Chevron station), which is just south of I-20 at Hwy 281

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Ok, I've slept so I finally remembered how to do the video. If you look just to the right of the giraffes, you can make out the small herd of impala and actually see hers drop.
 
Day 6

Got a little bit of a late start this morning as the group of 3 was heading out, and Ronald wanted to see them off. No big deal for me, got to spend some time sitting outside at camp drinking coffee which is something I love to do wherever I am. Something about drinking coffee in the outdoors just feels right.

Anyways, we get started were going to check the usual spots to see if we could spot some zebra or their tracks. However, out walks a group of gemsbok with a decent bull in it, and the question is asked do I want it. Yup, I do. So I get the rifle up quickly, no time to range but he was probably no more than 150 yds if not closer. Easy shot right? Well he was quartering to me, and I pulled the shot catching nothing but back shoulder. He was definitely not going to be using that leg, but with no vitals hit I was about to find out how far a wounded gemsbok can run. (The answer is far, and for a long time). After discussing the shot, myself and Owen starting trailing and Ronald and the wife stay in the truck. Plan is for Owen and I to track and if we bump him, Ronald will try to finish him when he crosses to the next block. Owen is a phenomenal tracker, he stayed right on the track where I thought for sure we were done. He even managed to show me a few things of what he is looking for/at while tracking. The bad shot sucked, but the tracking was a cool experience. We bump him a few times, but Ronald is unable to get a good shot. Although he did test the range of his .375! Finally we catch up to the animal again in the next block as he starts to slow down and we see where he had bedded down. Owen says "there he is, shoot him" and I nod & say "uh-huh".....and stand there. Oh, yeah....you have a gun dummy! Well off he goes as I finally start to raise the rifle. Owen gave me so much shit the rest of the day, and rightfully so! Thankfully, as the gemsbok took off this time, Ronald was in a good position watching the road and was able to get a couple shots into him as he tried to cross the road. Own and I proceed out, and I put one in from close range to finish him. I was really humbled by the experience, and quite angry with myself for a bit, but the constant stream of ribbing from Owen helped. I've got a ton of respect for the animals over there on how tough they are. We spent close to 2.5 hrs tracking this thing, and Lord knows how many miles and steps through several blocks.

Mine and Owen's Gemsbok (it is as much his as mine I told him, for all the tracking he had to do)
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Back for a long lunch, and some much needed rest. We head out in the evening to chase zebra yet again with not much luck - although another group that had come in had 2 hunters each take one. Now you can see why the zebra became my wife's nemesis!
 
Day 7

The worst day followed by the best day. We wake up, eat and head out to another farm. We hunt the morning, looking for zebra and also chasing some red hartebeest we seen while looking for zebra, but no luck. We decide to head back to a different part of the farm, and break for an early lunch. On the way, we run into the farm owner Renier. He decides to make sure we get on some animals and says he knows where the zebra are likely hiding. We eat, and head out. We also talk to him about kudu - Ronald had mentioned to me that he has some nice kudu on the property, but he's kind of particular about hunting them and doesn't let very many be hunted. Fortunately for me, Renier says absolutely we can get after the kudu as well, so off we go. We drive for a bit, seeing a few younger kudu bulls, and then Renier stops us so he and my wife can go for a walk to try and spot some zebra. No luck. Back on the truck and we continue our drive, until we come across a pair of kudu bulls. Ronald and Renier glass them and discuss - we have a shooter. I'm not shooting for inches, so I am all over it. I get lined up, making sure I am on the right animal, and pull the trigger. Yep, pull.....I hit a bit far back, but thankfully the shot is good enough to catch some lung. He runs off a bit, and slows to a stop under some trees. Renier tells me "it's okay, time for a smoke and a coke". We hang back as I don't have a clear shot and not wanting to bump the animal and have him take off. Sure enough after just a few minutes (that felt like hours), the animal is down.

Saying thanks for the beautiful animal - he was my #1 target heading over
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You can see the shot, a little far back even though he was quartering. Here is the entrance on the other side

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So we load him up and drop him at the shed of Renier's place, and head back out for zebra. We chased them all over the place. We'd spot them, back off in the thick stuff and try to work for a shot. Then they would take off, and they were running hard. Finally we manage to catch them as they were getting ready to cross from one block to another...they pause for a few seconds, and there is a nice stallion at the rear of the group. The wife lines him up and squeezes....just as he starts to bolt. Shot was pretty far back, and no blood. My wife is everything you could ask for in a relatively new hunter - she is patient, will only take shots where she can clearly see the vitals, and is really dedicated to making clean shots to minimize any suffering to the animal. She is very hard on herself when she thinks she made a bad shot, so I did my best to do some encouraging, as did Renier and Ronald. We turn loose the secret weapon - an old Jack Russell terrier. The dog is on the track, and we start walking. We are making progress, slowly working and come to the next block. Renier, Ronald and my wife hop back on the truck and try to get ahead of the animal, while Owen and I follow the tracks and the dog. Soon we hear barking....followed later by a shot. We make our way back to the truck and there lays a zebra! So this awesome little dog caught up to the zebra, chased it down and bayed it while my wife was able to get into position and take a shot about 150 yds out. Her second shot did the trick, and the zebra was down.

The happy girl and her stripes
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The team
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So the sun is heading down as we are driving back, and Renier says I have some nice waterbuck this year, would you want a waterbuck....uh, yes please! So we start back on a path that runs us through some real thick stuff where the waterbuck like to travel and are cruising along when the wife turns to Karel and says "hey is that a kudu?" (Another funny, long-running joke is that my wife couldn't keep the names of the species straight. At one point she gave up and called them all deer). Well it was my waterbuck. So I quickly get the gun up, but he's pretty covered up by the grass. Ronald and Renier help talk me through where to aim since I couldn't see the shoulder clearly, and boom. Shot felt good, we try to watch and listen as he makes his way off. Man, he's running a lot further than I would have thought....but the shot felt good. We turn the dog loose, and quickly we find a little blood. The dog runs off and within just a few minutes is barking. We follow and there lays a big bodied waterbuck. I'm estatic!

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What a day! We load up the waterbuck with the zebra and start driving back to the shed. And then we proceed to test the weight capacity of the Toyota LandCruiser by adding a kudu on top of the zebra and waterbuck. Talk about load!

Sunset drive back
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"And then we proceed to test the weight capacity of the Toyota LandCruiser by adding a kudu on top of the zebra and waterbuck."

While those 3 animals are quite a load, it's probably in the same neighborhood as 1 eland.
 
Congrats to you and the wife on some great animals! Sounds like y'all had a blast!
 
Your really did well! Congrats on the kudu, a real nice one especially being your #1 target animal!
 
Day 8

We head off to a new farm today, looking for a nyala which was the other main target for me this trip. We arrive and go find the land owner who is doing some brush clearing and burning. We head off in search of the nyala and run across some cape buffalo he has. He tries to get us closer so we can get some pictures and see them a little closer, and we manage to bury the back axel....did I mention it rained a little while we were there?? Anyways, we get a few pics while the guys rock the truck back and forth with no luck. Funny enough, this only brings the inquisitive buff closer. They end up maybe 40-50 yds away trying to figure out what these idiots are doing! The pics are a little blurry as I was using the phone zoomed in.

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We finally get unstuck, and continue our search. The farm backs up to the Crocodile River, and as we are driving a bushbuck pops out and runs along the bank - no more than 20 yds from us. The owner says there are bushbuck in this area back by the river, and if we see one it is on the table. Sure enough a little while later, we see a nice buck out in a little open area. He's a good one, and I try to quickly get my wife on him. About the time she finds him in the scope, he begins walking away and before she gets comfortable with a shot, he steps behind a tree and wanders off without presenting another shot. He will definitely be high on the list for her next time (and for me as well).

As we continue on, we come around a corner, and Ronald spots one. He tells me to get the gun up, and I'm take a few seconds to find him. Ronald and the land owner and both whispering animatedly to take him, so I figure he must be a good one. I quickly find the shoulder and squeeze. He runs off into the thick stuff, but we hear him crash down. We track for just 30 or 50 yds (kind of hard to tell as the stuff was so thick). Wow are nyala gorgeous! I'm glad I didn't have a lot of time to look him over, he was a fantastic ram. We take some pics and get him loaded up, and take off for camp. Once back, Ron throws a tape on him as he's curious....turns out he's a little over 30" on both sides!

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Day 9

So over the course of the last week, we had been talking to Ronald about the black impala they had on the ranch. I never thought I'd get into hunting the different color variants, but had to admit the impala looked beautiful. The wife ended up really wanting one, so we worked it out with the ranch owner as they had never taken one to date as they were building up their breeding herd, which included both black and regular impala. We took off a little later than normal, and started to head towards the back side of the farm....warthog! Ronald quickly stops, we get the wife out the door and get the sticks set up. He's noticed us now, and is staring at us but not quite sure what we are yet. She gets him lined up and we are telling her to hurry before he figures it out. She shoots, and off he goes. We are not quite sure about the shot, but we go check for blood and find some. We chase the hog for most of the morning, but no luck. We are all pretty sure the shot was low and got the brisket. We head back for lunch while Owen continues to search. We head back out and pick Owen up and call off the search as the animal appears to still be running strong with no signs of slowing down. The wife is pretty down, but I convince her to still go after the black impala.

We continue on, and head towards where we had done some scouting a few days prior. We locate the bachelor group of rams and identify the ram we are after. Unfortunately, they are close to some farm buildings, and we need to adjust our positioning so we aren't shooting towards them. We sneak around and get into position, up goes the rifle and she absolutely nails it. Perfect shot, the animal drops right there! The wife is elated, as not only is she the first female hunter, but the first hunter period to take a black impala on the ranch.

Fancy picture
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Wife and Ronald
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Congrats on the beautiful nyala!!! You don't see one like that around every bush!!
 
Day 10

We relax in the morning, and start getting ready to leave. It's been a great trip and something I still can't believe we were able to do.

After lunch, we decide to go to Marakele National Park for a game drive. It was a great way to end the trip, we were able to see elephant and white rhino up close, along with plenty of PG species.

Baboons
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Elephant
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Rhino
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Scenery
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We finish packing up and try to sleep, but it's tough as the 10 days flew by and we are not ready to leave yet. We are up the next morning early, and make the drive back to the airport and then fly for home.
 
Congrats! Some excellent animals! Love the curves on the kudu and nyala! Congrats to your wife on the black impala!
 
That is a fantastic Nyala. Very nice black Impala. Nice that you were able to get your wife involved in the hunting. Congrats
Bruce
 
Just a few other random notes to wrap things up.

Rifles
Remington 700 in .30-06 shooting Remington Premier 180gr Swift A-Frames
Savage Model 111 in .270 Win shooting Remington Premier 140gr Swift A-Frames

Bullets worked to perfection when we did our part. I was thoroughly impressed with them and thanks to the folks that recommend them (@Velo Dog had a great deal to do with me selecting them).

Airlines/Travel
Emirates was great, would fly them again no question. We flew coach and were comfortable enough. Their business class looked amazing. Only issue we had - on the way back we bought some SA wine to take home at duty free in JNB. When we got to Dubai, they had the normal screening and then a secondary "random" screening. Basically at the gate, we presented our passport and tickets and went down a set of stairs to a boarding area with more seating to wait in prior to actually getting on the plane (if that makes sense). At the bottom of the stairs was the secondary screening. There I was told I couldn't bring the wine on board, even though it was bought at a duty free and was in a sealed bag. So I had to go back out, buy a cheap bag and check the wine. Well they broke 1 of the bottles either loading in Dubai or unloading in Dallas. Not really Emirates fault, I guess just a Dubai International security thing. I thought it was weird, but I don't do a lot of international flying.

@Travel Express handled all my flights and what not, and they were fantastic! I will be using them again (and am right now)

Epilogue
After returning home we started communicating with Swift Dip who we are using for dip and pack, and they have been doing a great job. As a plus, we found out they found my wife's warthog so we will be able to do a euro mount on him!

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I cannot express what a great time we had. Ronald, Carolien and Rene made sure our trip was everything we wanted. They handled every request and answered every question, and made us feel at home. I would recommend anyone planning a trip take a look at them. The main camp great, and we hunted several other concessions as well. Ronald has a great network built up and we got every animal we desired (or at least the ones our checkbook could afford!). I will be finding a way back to see them again.

Thanks everyone for reading, and for all the kind words
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Great report! Sounds like you are already planning your next safari. Addiction confirmed.
 
That is a fantastic Nyala. Very nice black Impala. Nice that you were able to get your wife involved in the hunting. Congrats
Bruce
Unfortunately for me, she's a little too involved! I was starting to have to fight her over animals haha
 
Wow what a great hunt! Awesome Nyala, dream bull for sure!
 

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Everyone always thinks about the worst thing that can happen, maybe ask yourself what's the best outcome that could happen?
Big areas means BIG ELAND BULLS!!
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autofire wrote on LIMPOPO NORTH SAFARIS's profile.
Do you have any cull hunts available? 7 days, daily rate plus per animal price?
 
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