SOUTH AFRICA: Bos en Dal SAFARIS 20 days!

[Mark Biggerstaff]

This trip has been almost a year in planning and had changes in itinerary a couple times. I am going to break this trip down into segments.

Outfitter:
@Bos en Dal SAFARIS
Hunted with PHs Gerrit,Rikus, Frikkie and Francois.

Travel:
Jennifer at Travel Express handled all arrangements. United Houston, Newark to Johannesburg. Same return route. Polaris class seats.

Firearms:
CZ 550 458 Lott, Swift Factory 500 gr Aframes, Leupold VX6 Patrol FireDot 1-6 Duplex.
Remington 700 custom 300 win mag, 180 gr Barnes TTSX handloads. Leupold VX6 3-18X50 Firdot Duplex
Remington 700 custom 375 HH, Federal 300gr Aframe factory, Swarovski Z6 1.7-10x42


Travel over:
Departed 5/17 Houston Untied, as usual about 45 min late on departure. Arrived Newark only 15 min behind schedule. But! No gate to Dock at. Sat on tarmac for 45 mins to get a gate. I had awhile before next flight and went to Polaris Lounge to wait.
Departure Flight was 1 hr and 45 min late leaving. This was a bad flight for me, We had the geriatric crew. No service after meal was served, they all disappeared until about 1 hour before landing. No service in Polaris seating during flight.
We landed 1 hour later than scheduled.

5/18 Arrival
Arrived 1 hour behind schedule.
I had arranged with Henry Rifle Permits for pre approval and meet greet at gate.
We made it thru customs in record time.
As long as you had Vaccine Cert with QR code. Or Negative Covid test with date stamp. Saw a lot of people being held back for improper paperwork.
Riflepermits people were waiting along with PH Gerrit in main hall. Meet greet guy left us and went found rifle case and got it pushed up to front. Was in and out in 15 min. Gerrit had arranged a place for us to stay the night in Johannesburg. We would be heading to the Limpopo area the next morning on the Botswana border.
Hotel was nice, good restaurant and rooms. Secured guarded place.

5/19
Up at 6:00 am. Breakfast and gone by 8:00 am for 4.5 hour drive to farm we will be hunting for the first couple days. Looking for Bushbuck and Waterbuck.
Uneventful drive, some rain along the way.
We arrived at camp about 1:00 pm. Unpacked, checked 300 win for zero. And started to get a feel for the place. Picked up tracker and went for a ride thru. Saw some game. Nothing a shooter for me.
Went in for a nice dinner by the River.

 

[Angelo_orygun]

Great start! Also sounds like par for the course on United international “premium” cabin! Enjoy your time in Africa!!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/20
First Full Day
Rained most of night. Everything wet, thick bush and green from all the rains.
Up and gone by 6:30am.
Drove area and walked a lot along the river. Bush is thick and tall. Saw a few Bushbuck males, just none old enough to pursue. Came in for lunch and decided to go sit a waterhole mid day. Rain hit again and stopped that! Late afternoon back on River area looking. Seeing young Bushbuck but nothing big enough for me.
Had nice dinner on the River deck again.

5/21
Up at 5:00 am
Rained again during night. Quite a lot this time. Muddy wet morning. Not seeing a lot. Just young males and females. Bush is thick, wet and muddy. Lunch and repeat again in after noon. Not much seen as cloudy and overcast.
Rained all night again.
With weather and terrain like it is. We decided to pull out and head back to main Bos en Dal Farm in the morning.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/22
Up at 5am and started packing up. Got on the road ( if you want call them a road)
After all the rains.
We had about a 5 hour drive to main farm. When we arrived Elna had a great luch ready for us. I unpacked and got settled into room. Then to range to check all the rifles. Then back to camp to relax and get ready for the next day

60 kilometers of this! Before pavement. On way out of Limpopo.

 

[mdwest]

Keep it coming @Mark Biggerstaff !

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Keep it coming @Mark Biggerstaff !

Will do as soon as I can!
Just boarded last flight. Newark to Houston! Will be later tonight before I can add anymore.
Believe it or not. All flights on schedule

 

[VertigoBE]

Looking forward to reading more @Mark Biggerstaff ! Despite the weather all good do far!

Wondering what the 458Lott will be up to

 

[Hogpatrol]

Thanks for posting. Definitely an adventure. Got an exit seat going out of EWR next week. Glad I didn't spend the extra change on the Polaris. Nest year, Qatar for sure.

 

[kdenn]

Thanks Mark, waiting to hear more about your adventure. 69 days and counting to Bos en Dal.

 

[gillettehunter]

Looking forward to your report. Lots of tall grass in the Limpopo this year. Those bushbuck disappear into it pretty easily.
Bruce

 

[Frederik]

Keep em coming!!!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/23
Let me start of saying. This trip with Gerrit and team is not a numbers hunt. We are hunting specific type or specific animals. Like one particular Buffalo and one particular Kudu nicked named “Narrow Horn”. I have had an obsession about this Kudu every since I Saw him for the first time in 2019!! I hunted him all my safari last year. No one had ever gotten a shot at him. He was spotted still alive and well about a month before I arrived and mad it a mission to find him this trip

I was up at 4am. Couldn’t sleep. We left lodge about 6:30 to head to back mountain look out to look for Narrow Horn. We parked and myself, Gerrit and Rikus started in on the trail to the lookout point. About 1/3 of the way down the trail we came around the corner and a Big Buff Bull was in trail at about 15 yards!! Don’t really know who was scared the most!
I was carrying 300 win mag. Gerrit and Rikus only sidearms.
We all froze and started backing out slowly!
We realized this was the Buff Bull I was also hunting. To the truck real quick and rearm! I had the CZ 458 Lott in truck and Gerrit his 500Nitro Rikus a Cz 375HH

Rearmed we started back in down the trail. We got to the look out point and could hear the Bull going down the side of mountain. We slowly followed him down the trail. We could hear him but not see him. Bush is that thick on the back mountain. We followed him and worked our way down for over 2 hours. Never seeing him but could hear him in the rocks. We bumped other game on way down and that kept him getting farther ahead of us. We finally lost him in some real thick stuff and the bottom.

We loaded back up in cruiser and started driving to see what we could find.
About 11:00 we spotted a big herd of Blue Wildebeest. Made a plan and got wind right and started working our way to them.
About 1/2 way to the BW we started hearing a noise? Pop pop pop. Almost like a motor running? Gerrit then spotted them? Warthogs! Big male chasing a female in heat in circles in the open bush area. We switched to them fast! Worked to about 75 yards but they just wouldn’t stop. Running in circles thru the bush and brush. I was on sticks waiting for an open shot and off to my left heat comes another Big Male! I swing to him at about 55 yards and drop him in tracks with 300. The others never stop running. Boar still chasing sow after shot! We work into them some more as they are moving away now. Bush got thicker and we could hear them but not see them. Sounds like headed back our way! All of a sudden Gerrit starts stepping backwards yelling
Shoot Shoot! The sow and boar come out of the bush almost on top of us!
So close all I do is look down the side of rifle barrel and fire! And Fire a second round as fast as I could work the bolt.
Both shots are hits. Behind shoulder about 3 inches apart. Boar went maybe 25 yards.
Two good Warthogs in 10 min! Wow. I was one happy guy. Warthogs were on my list again this year!

Right one is one chasing sow. Left one was one coming in to see what was happening.

After photos we walked back to cruiser to find a flat on rear tire. Radioed for recovery crew and tire was changed. Headed in for a great lunch and a little break.

Left out about 2:00pm to Naaupoort Farm. It’s across the road from main camp. To look for Common Reedbuck. Saw females but no males. Stayed there till dark then headed back to lodge.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/24
Up and gone by 6:30 am
Plan was back mountain looking for Narrow Horn and Buff Bull

At this point I want to tell you about the Buff Bull we are looking for.
Gerrit put a self sustaining herd of Buffalo on the property in 2019. The big herd Bull was getting up in age. Well, I had told Gerrit last year when ever that Bull became hunt able I would like to have first option. About 45 days before my trip Gerrit Whatsapp me and said the old Bull had been beat up by the younger bulls and was now a loaner. If he didn’t rejoin the herd or get a few cows with him we would hunt him. Well, when I arrived he was still a loaner. Not staying in any particular area of the 8000 plus acres of main farm. So this would be a challenge in finding him.

We drove all day, checking waterholes and game cameras. Glassing and looking for either him or Narrow Horn.
No luck on either by the time nightfall came.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/25
Usual morning up and gone by 6:30am
Making our way thru the farm checking and looking. About 8:00 am we spot 4 BW bulls running together. One of them is wide! I am always on the lookout for big BW! Made a short stalk an them and at about 75 yards the big one stopped and gave me a frontal shot. Hit him solid and he ran about 45-50 yards and piled up.
29 1/2 inch BW in the salt.

While we were setting him up for pictures, Rikus went to get truck. He came flying up to where we were saying the Big Buff Bull was up the hill about 200 yards from the truck when he got to it crossing the road.
We stopped the BW set up for pics. Rearmed with big bore rifles and headed off on foot to where he last saw him. Gerrit tracked him in the rocks and bush for about 2 1/2 hours until we lost him going down hill in some really nasty stuff. We headed back to BW and took pics and radioed for recovery trailer.

When John arrived with trailer he said he had just seen the Big Bull about 1/4 mile below where we were headed to tank to water. We took off!
Had to make a wide circle around to that area for what wind was doing. Gerrit stopped truck about 1/4 mile from water tank and we started in slowly on foot. We got in to water tank area and started looking and walking slowly and methodically. Gerrit soon spotted him off to the left of the water standing in some bush, he was facing us! About 45 yards away. Sticks went up and I was on them quick. Bush was thick with know open shot. The Bull stepped forward two steps opening up his chest for a straight on frontal. I told Gerrit I had clean frontal and he said take him. 458 Lott went off and the Bull ate it hard! You could tell from his reaction solid hit! He was into the thick stuff before I could get a second round off.
We stood there for a few minutes, you could hear him in the thicket struggling for air. Rikus went to fetch truck while me and Gerrit waited. We were gonna give him about 15 min before the follow up.
As Rikus was driving up we heard the first death bellow! Then a long second one!!
Then all went quiet. We went to where he was standing and just a few feet away was blood. We started in following the blood. Blood would go into a thicket, we would work around the thicket and find blood coming out, then back on trail. About 45-50 yards in Gerrit spotted him laying on his side, back to us! At 15 yards I put an insurance shot right between the shoulders. No movement from him. We eased in and Big Bull was down and out!!

Recovery team was radioed and he was pulled out for proper photos.

He measured a little over 41 in wide. Massive bosses.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Congrats on your Buffalo.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Nice deep curl on your buff, and great warthogs! Congratulations Mark, looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[Graham Hunter]

Great Buff and great reports. Congratulations Mark. Well deserved!

 

[BnC 04]

Outstanding Mark! Very happy for you and how the hunt turned out. Great looking buff bulls you connected with. Looking forward to visiting about the hunt down the road.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/26
Up at 5am gone by 6am
Spent the first couple hours looking for Reedbuck. Then rest of morning looking for Narrow Horn. Lunch and back at it by 1pm. Looking for kudu then reedbuck last hour or so

5/27
Gone early 6 am back mountain.
Saw Narrow Horn for just a brief second or two on side of mountain. To far for shot anyways. Sat and glassed mountain for a long time trying to spot him again. Never did. Lunch then back at it looking for him till dark.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

5/29 Sunday
Up and gone usual time. Back mountain. Colder windy. Not much moving this morning.
About 11 am Gerrit spotted a really good Impala. We made a quick plan and set off. A few min later sticks went up and 300 hit its mark. Nice Impala headed to skinning shed.

All the family here for a big Sunday lunch. Sat around talking and taking a break till about 3 pm.

Headed down the road to neighbors place. Going try for baboon.
Big canyon they stay in

No luck. Tho. Could here them. But never saw one for clean shot.