BC Tal
AH senior member
@Just a dude in BC (Matt) and I had been talking about doing a hunt in Africa for a couple years now. He has family in South Africa and Zambia so that helped shaped the choices. We did some research online, but after a recommendation from one of Matt's uncles and a chat with Dave, we felt really good hunting with @DAVE FREEBURN SAFARIS in Limpopo. Papers were signed and we were booked for an 8 day buffalo hunt from Aug 22-30 with plains game add-ons.
From the beginning we knew we wanted to take our own rifles. We talked endlessly about what rifles and calibers. We both wanted classic calibers and unique / classic rifles that would be at home in Africa. Matt naturally went with a custom Ruger No 1 in 500 NE and a custom Krieghoff Optima in double 9.3x74R with a 20 GA tube strapped to the bottom. I, being a lefty had a little more interesting time finding what I wanted, but landed on a Ruger No 1 in 416 Rigby and a left hand Winchester Model 70 Safari Express that I had re-barreled to 300 H&H. We worked up our reloads and hit the range. The 500 NE and 416 Rigby were both ok off the sticks, but doing any shooting off the bench we quickly learned to add a small sandbag behind the recoil pad when shooting multiple rounds... ugh. Most of the range visits ended with a trip to the pub to review the day's shooting and discuss the upcoming hunt. Looking back, it was a great time, full of optimism and dreams of Africa.
We booked our flights with Jenn and Darren at @TRAVEL EXPRESS, can't say enough good things about our experience, top notch comms all the way. WestJet from Victoria to Vancouver to Atlanta and Delta to Joburg. Our guns were booked all the way through and we never saw them again until Joburg. Interesting note, we declared our rifles at the airport in Victoria, did up the paperwork and then over to the oversized luggage area. The security folks had a table and then did a cool thing by pulling a screen on wheels over to shield us from nosy travelers, nice! Surprisingly rather pleasant exchanges and off we went. Flights were on time and non-eventful, but that Atlanta to Joburg leg was a killer at 15.5 hrs! There were a number of obvious hunters on the Joburg flight - middle aged men wearing their khakis and tans, so naturally we talked to them. Once we landed we grabbed our luggage off the carousel and then to our surprise the rifles cases came down them too! Ok, off to meet our point of contact from Afton who asked, "why do you have your rifles already?" We shrugged and headed over to the police station. They didn't seem to phased when we rolled up to their office with our rifles. Opened the cases, confirmed the serial numbers matched the paperwork and we were off to Afton Lodge to store our rifles while we visited Joburg and Zambia for a week.
So glad we flew in a week early: we got a chance to visit Matt's family, see the country and perhaps most importantly get over the jetlag in order to be fresh for the hunt. Among the highlights was a trip to the courts to watch a dog beater get sentenced with a fine and jail time (Matt's cousin works with the SPCA), eat African street food of beef rashers and pap - and survive, visit with some Canadian troops from the Boer War buried in Pretoria, watch South Africa play Australia in a rugby match at a pub and had a number of braai. We did a quick couple of days to visit more family that farm in Zambia. I can now say I've had my clothes coal iron pressed. Amazing experiences seeing the country, the people, the food.
Day 1
The morning of Aug 22, we returned to Afton Lodge where we were met by Dave's apprentice PH, Keenan. Grabbed our rifles, loaded up the Land Cruiser and off to Dave's farm on the border with Botswana in Limpopo. We met with Dave and his family and had lunch - the first of many wonderful meals, got our gear stowed away in our rooms, signed some paperwork and off to the range to confirm zero on the rifles. My No 1 was good and the Winchester only required two clicks right. Of course the show only started when Matt pulled out his rifles with their magnificent stocks.
Once the rifles were good to go it was immediately off for the afternoon hunt. Matt and I took up our positions in the back of the Land Cruiser with Keenan, Damian (Dave's son) and Tracker John. This would become the crew for the rest of the hunt and a good crew it was. Apparently, Matt went behind my back and contacted Dave before we left Canada with instructions that I would be first in the breech for a buff. That first afternoon we saw Guinea fowl galore, impala and warthogs. Getting close to the end of the day we glassed wildebeest and buff at a waterhole. Dave, myself and Damian stalked through the thorn bushes to get closer. My heart was pounding furiously. Slowly we got into position behind some trees and brush and Dave set up the sticks. Instructions were whispered and up I go on the sticks with the Ruger. A tree was in the way. Then it happened... I went to point to the buff I couldn't see and through gritted teeth Dave instructed me to get my white ass Canadian arm down and moved the sticks to the right. Unfortunately, bush was now obscuring the buff and I was too slow to communicate this to Dave... the buff moved on. Hard lessons for me how to be behind the sticks and that I needed to communicate better with Dave. Last light came quickly once the sun was down and that was the end of day 1. The pre-dinner drinks around the fire and the dinner were great, but in my heart I was reflecting that I needed to tighten it down quickly.
From the beginning we knew we wanted to take our own rifles. We talked endlessly about what rifles and calibers. We both wanted classic calibers and unique / classic rifles that would be at home in Africa. Matt naturally went with a custom Ruger No 1 in 500 NE and a custom Krieghoff Optima in double 9.3x74R with a 20 GA tube strapped to the bottom. I, being a lefty had a little more interesting time finding what I wanted, but landed on a Ruger No 1 in 416 Rigby and a left hand Winchester Model 70 Safari Express that I had re-barreled to 300 H&H. We worked up our reloads and hit the range. The 500 NE and 416 Rigby were both ok off the sticks, but doing any shooting off the bench we quickly learned to add a small sandbag behind the recoil pad when shooting multiple rounds... ugh. Most of the range visits ended with a trip to the pub to review the day's shooting and discuss the upcoming hunt. Looking back, it was a great time, full of optimism and dreams of Africa.
We booked our flights with Jenn and Darren at @TRAVEL EXPRESS, can't say enough good things about our experience, top notch comms all the way. WestJet from Victoria to Vancouver to Atlanta and Delta to Joburg. Our guns were booked all the way through and we never saw them again until Joburg. Interesting note, we declared our rifles at the airport in Victoria, did up the paperwork and then over to the oversized luggage area. The security folks had a table and then did a cool thing by pulling a screen on wheels over to shield us from nosy travelers, nice! Surprisingly rather pleasant exchanges and off we went. Flights were on time and non-eventful, but that Atlanta to Joburg leg was a killer at 15.5 hrs! There were a number of obvious hunters on the Joburg flight - middle aged men wearing their khakis and tans, so naturally we talked to them. Once we landed we grabbed our luggage off the carousel and then to our surprise the rifles cases came down them too! Ok, off to meet our point of contact from Afton who asked, "why do you have your rifles already?" We shrugged and headed over to the police station. They didn't seem to phased when we rolled up to their office with our rifles. Opened the cases, confirmed the serial numbers matched the paperwork and we were off to Afton Lodge to store our rifles while we visited Joburg and Zambia for a week.
So glad we flew in a week early: we got a chance to visit Matt's family, see the country and perhaps most importantly get over the jetlag in order to be fresh for the hunt. Among the highlights was a trip to the courts to watch a dog beater get sentenced with a fine and jail time (Matt's cousin works with the SPCA), eat African street food of beef rashers and pap - and survive, visit with some Canadian troops from the Boer War buried in Pretoria, watch South Africa play Australia in a rugby match at a pub and had a number of braai. We did a quick couple of days to visit more family that farm in Zambia. I can now say I've had my clothes coal iron pressed. Amazing experiences seeing the country, the people, the food.
Day 1
The morning of Aug 22, we returned to Afton Lodge where we were met by Dave's apprentice PH, Keenan. Grabbed our rifles, loaded up the Land Cruiser and off to Dave's farm on the border with Botswana in Limpopo. We met with Dave and his family and had lunch - the first of many wonderful meals, got our gear stowed away in our rooms, signed some paperwork and off to the range to confirm zero on the rifles. My No 1 was good and the Winchester only required two clicks right. Of course the show only started when Matt pulled out his rifles with their magnificent stocks.
Once the rifles were good to go it was immediately off for the afternoon hunt. Matt and I took up our positions in the back of the Land Cruiser with Keenan, Damian (Dave's son) and Tracker John. This would become the crew for the rest of the hunt and a good crew it was. Apparently, Matt went behind my back and contacted Dave before we left Canada with instructions that I would be first in the breech for a buff. That first afternoon we saw Guinea fowl galore, impala and warthogs. Getting close to the end of the day we glassed wildebeest and buff at a waterhole. Dave, myself and Damian stalked through the thorn bushes to get closer. My heart was pounding furiously. Slowly we got into position behind some trees and brush and Dave set up the sticks. Instructions were whispered and up I go on the sticks with the Ruger. A tree was in the way. Then it happened... I went to point to the buff I couldn't see and through gritted teeth Dave instructed me to get my white ass Canadian arm down and moved the sticks to the right. Unfortunately, bush was now obscuring the buff and I was too slow to communicate this to Dave... the buff moved on. Hard lessons for me how to be behind the sticks and that I needed to communicate better with Dave. Last light came quickly once the sun was down and that was the end of day 1. The pre-dinner drinks around the fire and the dinner were great, but in my heart I was reflecting that I needed to tighten it down quickly.
