SOUTH AFRICA: Adroda Safaris Hunt Report

[Jörg Krüger]

You really got some monsters on your hunt.
Awesome and congrats

 

[Edge]

You really got some monsters on your hunt.
Awesome and congrats

We were having a great hunt, wait until you see the “monster” from the evening hunt coming up next.

 

[kdenn]

Thanks for sharing these great pictures. Wonderful trophies and a very entertaining hunting report.

 

[jacques smith]

That country looks like Oregon or Nevada I want a horse to hunt that, don’t think my knees would like walking that much lol. Very unique springbok

 

[gillettehunter]

Very nice trophies. I enjoy that type of hunt. Good job on your shooting.
Bruce

 

[Edge]

Day 5 – Sunday 13 June 2021 – Evening Hunt:

Nottingham Road is the closest town to Adrian’s farm. Nottingham Road has some history behind it and was originally named Karkloof Station but was renamed to the present name after Fort Nottingham which is located nearby. The area is deeply rooted in farming and is one of the oldest agricultural societies in South Africa. The town is now, how shall I say it, a little on the uppity, greenie side of society with boutique shops and such in a town square type of setting. The area now holds many horse farms in addition to dairy, cattle and sheep ranching.

The plan, we will head back to the first farm where the big Reedbuck turned away at the property line, maybe he will be on our side of the fence this evening. The morning cold had turned into a fantastic bright and warm day, almost too warm. Would that impact the animal movement was the question!

The first green field we come to has Reedbuck bedded in the field, they must also be enjoying the day, time is approximately 3:45 pm!

Reedbuck bedded in the green fields​

We continue on down the road as the buck in the above picture is still young. The area opens up and the area is full of life, everyone is out today! Going to do a running photo safari of the evening:

Another buck out soaking up the rays!​

Female Oribi running away while Ms. Reedbuck wonders what’s going on!​

Oribi looking back over her shoulder​

Bucks are out in force today but not big enough!​

Buck pushing around a doe in the flay, not big enough!​

Nice buck appears in the flay, great solid muscled body but horns are straight with no curve. Adrian says we can do better as we drive on!​

Oribi ram thinking we can’t see him, really dude?!?​

Young Blesbok​

Two young Reedbuck in the flay

Pair of Jackals​

Another solid Reedbuck…I hear “We can do better”​

Couple of youngsters squaring off!​

We are just minutes away to the end of shooting time. I volunteer to Adrian, let’s check out the first couple of fields we drove in on earlier in the day. The fields are loaded with Reedbuck as we glass for an old buck. Adrian’s voice goes up an octave or two (easy for a young guy haha!), there’s a doe with horns, you must shoot it!

I’m thinking a doe with some spindly spikes sticking up. Not really interested Adrian, but he’s excited, “you must shoot this thing, it’s a unique trophy”. I tell him, “not full trophy fee”. He’s on his phone in a flash and receives a response, “cull price”. I’m not sure if he even told me the price at that point, I was going to give this ‘unique trophy’ a go but we have just seconds before we lose light.

We bail out of the truck and get in position for a shot, 6.5x284 Christensen Arms locked into the Spartan fitting. Solid rest and the Zeiss Fluoride scope is still bright. I see long curled horns, “what the heck, it looks like a devil goes through my mind” I look away and concentrate on the shot.

Devil​

The ‘devil’ is slightly quartering to me, 167 yards, and I put the bullet on the point of the shoulder, bang flop.

We race down the field and see the Reedbuck up close for the first time and I get a case of the goosebumps, this thing is a FREAK!

Devil Reedbuck​

Adrian and I with the ‘unique’ Reedbuck!​

Adrian blasts out photos of the freak to the farmer and other hunting buds, what a unique trophy and I will probably have “it” made into a shoulder mount, just need a proper Reedbuck next to it!

The body was huge, had teets, no nuts but did have a penis hole. Upon skinning, there were no gonads inside at all, the lack of testosterone was probably the cause of the odd shaped curved horns. My expectations for a Reedbuck were to get close to the magic 18” length, this one measured 17 ¾”! Adrian looks at me, there’s your big Reedbuck as we laugh! For those wondering, the Roland Ward minimum is 14” with the record listed at 18 3/8”.

We make it a short evening as we will leave early and travel down to the Umkomaas Valley for a proper free range Nyala hunt in the morning!

 

[375Fox]

Some of these reedbuck look like northern whitetail bucks during the rut!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on such a unique specimen or reedbuck! I for one like to occasional oddball

 

[jacques smith]

Think they would call that Transgender — probably has rights to use whichever bathroom it wants—- eek, eek, freak

 

[Chukar]

What an interesting animal!

 

[gillettehunter]

That was a really cool reedbuck to kill. I got a good one a few years back. Hunted for days to find a mature ram. Its great that you're seeing so many. Underated trophy in my book.
Bruce

 

[Edge]

Day 6 – Monday 14 June 2021:

Up and going early as we have a two plus hour drive to get to the free range farm to see if we can find a Nyala bull. Driving in the dark of the morning through Pietermaritzburg when everyone is heading out to work was not something I would want to do more than once! Hats off to Adrian for driving through and around the throng of people walking two and three abreast on the shoulder, wearing dark clothes and with on-coming traffic and headlights.

We get to the farm and meet up with Wayne, the recent owner and PH, he will be helping us along with his helper/spotter. A quick intro and chat about some of the recent trophies I had taken that Adrian had shared with him. Wayne had recently, I believe within the past two years, purchased the property and was planting nut trees, growing cabbage and other crops. He had also opened up a few areas for game viewing/hunting as the area was THICK and very green with all the bushes still holding the leaves due to all the rain. The Umkomaas Valley is also closer to the Indian Ocean and the temperature was much warmer than where we had been hunting around Nottingham Road.

We drive down some tight 2 tracks with branches scraping along the sides of the Cruiser, park and walk a ways down the road and make a sharp left down a steep hill to a big boulder. The boulder is large enough for all of us to sit and watch over an area that had been cleared on the opposite side of the valley. What a beautiful spot with a creek gurgling below us and the cool morning air as the sun slowly lit up the valley.

Glassing across the valley at first light​

Both PHs and trackers all spot a group of Nyala immediately and I find them a few seconds later. Michelle has trouble finding them and Wayne says “they are across the valley and about a 100 meters above the cleared area…WAIT FOR IT…by that big green tree”. I don’t know how I didn’t fall off the boulder into the creek below trying to hold it in! We quickly explained to Wayne how we had tried to guide Michelle’s eyes in prior days, by the big rock, by the green tree etc etc. Now he knew why he got the death stare from Michelle!

We decide to move on as the group of Nyala were all females and young, no bulls to be found. We begin driving through the farm and I was thinking there was no way were going to shoot a Nyala in this thick stuff! Michelle is able to shoot a couple of young bulls with the Olympus.

Young Nyala bulls​

Topping out at an old farmstead, better viewing was to be had as the area was less chocked with bush! Wayne explained he was going to refurbish the house and have it functional “off the grid”. What a beautiful area to have a house! We broke out the coffee and biscuits while watching the opposite hillside and out steps a big female Kudu, we are able to watch her and what we believe were her prior years offspring.

Momma Kudu and kids
​

We poked around much of the late morning and early afternoon without much to show. A beautiful Nyala bull showed up at a feeding spot 300 yards across the valley, needs another couple of years!

Nyala bulls are just gorgeous!​

Wayne and his tracker come running up the road gasping for air, there is a nice bull down in the bottom. I grab the rifle and we all turn and run back down the road and over the steep side to an overlook area. Where had he gone? The tracker spots him for a split second and points the PHs in the right direction as I ready the Weatherby on the tri-pod. Adrian and Wayne see him for just a moment but the bull disappears into the jungle. Was this the only chance we were going to have?

We are back at the truck nodding off in the warm sun when Wayne rolls up in his pick-up. They have spotted another bull in the upper end of the valley. We drive part way and then high step it down the road a bit and then down over the steep hillside for 30-40 yards, winding our way on a path down to a boulder just above the creek. The bull only presents short glimpses as he works his way through the thick bush just above the creek, I never do lay eyes on him. We are just watching the opposite hillside now as the guys spread out again up and down the valley. Second chance and no deal.

It can’t be ten minutes later, a bull is spotted just down from us, we must hurry before he disappears. I pull the round from the chamber and race up the steep hill trying to keep Adrian and Wayne in sight, hit the road and they are way ahead of me before they break left back down over the bank. I keep chugging along after them, trying not to break my neck or take a spill and land on the rifle I have in my hands. Now down the hill, slow to a walk as I’m sucking air. Adrian has the sticks set up and I lock in the Spartan fitting, find the bull, it’s a good one! Adrian tells me 127 yards, no need to adjust the elevation, bull is heavily quartering away and slightly uphill looking back over his right shoulder.

Ready to fire!​

I signal the guys to cover their ears as I throw my hat to the ground, take a deep breath and squeeze. CLICK. I hadn’t jacked another round into the chamber since we had started sprinting from the other spot! I cycle in a round and pull the trigger, I have my Nyala!

View across the valley, believe the dark spot is the downed Nyala​

No way to get to the bull from this side, we have to drive around to the head of valley and come back down the other side. After thinking we have driven to the closest point, we wind our way down through the thick bush, what a magnificent animal. We admire him and thank him for his life. He is old, very old. Missing teeth in the lower front of his jaw.

Old Nyala missing teeth​

Darkness is falling quickly and we all pitch in hauling the bull up the hill to the road.

Team Effort!​

Some views of the Nyala:

Heavy gnarly horns​

Top down view​

Deep wrinkles around the eyes​

Our Nyala Bull!​

The Nyala will be a shoulder mount, the horns measuring 28 ¼”, another Roland Ward class trophy. As we head back to the skinning shed, Nyala bulls begin to appear along the edges of the bush and fields. While Sukkie is caping out the Nyala, two more bulls appear in the green field just a 150 yards away! This farm holds a lot of Nyala and is not high fenced. There are also has a couple of big areas that don’t have any road access, I bet there are some big old Nyala and Kudu bulls tucked away!

 

[Martin Rodriguez]

Epic Report! Great Hunt!!

 

[Frederik]

Good Nyala, I don't how you can hold out so long on those reedbuck?

 

[cpr0312]

Nice nyala, congrats!

 

[Edge]

Good Nyala, I don't how you can hold out so long on those reedbuck?

Just have to find the proper buck, I had faith my PH would find one for me!

 

[shootist~]

Great story and fantastic views!

 

[Edge]

Day 6 Addendum: 200gr Accubond Bullet Performance

I'm always very interested in bullet performance, in the case of the Nyala a handloaded 200gr 30 cal Accubond from my 300 Weatherby.

The shot was ~130 yards with an impact velocity of ~2750 fps. I was quite pleased I was able to drive the bullet at such a severe angle through the last rib (possibly behind it, forgot to take a picture as it was being skinned) and still break the offside shoulder and exit. In reality, is it too much to ask a heavy for caliber bullet to have good penetration! Pictures of entry and exit below.

Gaining confidence in my choice of bullets! (If this is the only post you read, please see some comments/posts that will be forthcoming on this bullet's performance).

Entry

Exit​

 

[Edge]

Day 7 – Tuesday 15 June 2021:

It seems as everyone in South Africa was burning firebreaks today as the wind was calm, making for a hazy day. We have a plan, head to the farm where the farmer had been seeing Mountain Reedbuck, we've hunted here a couple of times but have only seed two does. Again, we can’t find any Mountain Reedbuck glassing from the lower hills and take the trail up the valley to the top plateau. No Mountain Reedbuck up top or looking down over the rocky hills. A group of Vaal Rhebok was spotted off in the distance with a decent male. They blend in very well in the rocky terrain and don’t stick around long!

Herd of Vaal Rhebok, male is lower left corner.​

“Hey Michelle, there’s a Reedbuck over by that big rock (continuing our joke)”, she nails it! Yep a big rock!

Big Rock (you need to read the story to understand!)​

She is able to grab a few nice photos of a Cape Vulture soaring while we are glassing the hillsides:

Cape Vulture soaring over the valley

Cape Vulture soaring past at almost eye level!

Common Reedbuck crossing in front of us

Jackal Buzzard
​

The Jackal Buzzard is actually a bird of prey and not a "buzzard" as an American might think of one. The wingspan is on average 4.5 feet and 2.5 pounds in weight. We were able see a pair of these as they hunted and swooped down into the flay and green fields after prey, beautiful bird.

We’ve searched the farm thoroughly and can’t find the Mountain Reedbuck, they are either across the fence on the neighbor’s side or have found a safe hiding spot. New plan, head over to the farm where we had taken the Vaal Rhebok. Michelle grabs a couple of photos of sheep at the new farm, with Blackjack seeds stuck in the hair! With all the rains this year, the Blackjack was thick at lower elevations.

Just a Sheep with Bidens Pilosa stuck to it!​

Check this out, the plant is know as blackjack, the scientific name, Bidens Pilosa!!! I’m not kidding, look it up! An invasive species that is highly poisonous, sounds about right.

There is another deep valley that runs through the property that we haven’t looked into during this trip and isn’t accessible from where we took the Vaal. We would have to drive up a washed-out old road to the back of the property, hike up to the top and cross over a wide plateau. This took a while as much of the drive was spent hanging on for dear life even in four-wheel drive low range. We finally made it as far as we could and hiked the next 30 minutes over to the hidden valley, smoke filling the air from the burns.

Hidden Valley​

Sukkie heads up the valley as we head down the valley and begin glassing. Nothing to see except for a Jackal.

My partner forever!​

We aren’t there long when Adrian looks up and says we must go now now. (Sidebar: For those not familiar, “now now” means right this second, if someone says “now”, that equates to soon.) He has gotten permission to hunt a new farm that is apparently loaded with Common Reedbuck, and big ones from the photos the farmer sent.

We haul tail back the way we’ve come, back down the rutted road and push to the new farm which is a good 45 minutes away. There isn’t time for a lunch stop and we munch on a few granola bars as we are hanging on for dear life. Adrian’s cruiser has the big V8 diesel with an upgraded turbo and a high-performance suspension system, he used every bit of the performance package getting us across paved, unpaved and two tracks!

We arrive in plenty of time, but now winds are sweeping 15-20mph out of the Drakensberg’s with a cold bite. The farm workers are burning the property line up wind of us 600-700 yards away, covering the area in smoke. This all adds up to only a few animals being seen and nothing even worth a stalk. We drive around a bit to make sure we cover the entire area but are disappointed in the evening’s hunt with some much anticipation of this area being a gold mine of Reedbuck!

Evening view of the flay and green fields.​

We are all ravenous by this point and have a good 45 minute drive back to Adrian’s farm. Around the fire the previous evening, and after a few drinks, Michelle and Adrian had decided on Beef Wellington for dinner for tonight. Memory, the cook, had decided to come back to work a few days prior and was going to take a stab at cooking the Beef Wellington. This was one of Adrian’s favorite meals that his mother makes to perfection, the bar is set high!

Memory did a great job for her first time as well as a candied crème brulee!

Beef Wellington
​

Candied Crème Brulee
​

With full bellies, we retire to the firepit for a few night caps and Ruger joins me on my lap. A long day hunting without much to show, but that's why we hunt!

My buddy Ruger

​

 

[BRICKBURN]

I want to thank your Photographer for ensuring your report had excellent images to help your story along!