SOUTH AFRICA: Bos en Dal SAFARIS April 12-24, 2023

[Houston Bill]

Warthog will be a Euro mount.

Mark,

You need to do a full mount on the Warthog. That is the trophy of a life time!

 

[Houston Bill]

After lunch Frikkie and I headed out and did some Impala culling getting 2 females for meat. Both head shots with 6.5.
Have pics but not posting, don't want to offend anyone

Robbie and Rikus off to look for another Kudu. Robbie hit a good bull and was not found this afternoon.
Plan was made for all of us go back in morning with trackers and dog.

4/19
Up and gone by 6:30
We all gathered at area where Kudu was shot. No Blood was ever found and dog did not hit on anything. We spread out and walked grid pattern till noon. No luck.
Went into town for lunch.
Frikkie and I back to main farm, Robbie and Rikus back to area Kudu was shot.
Made a few stalks on some Impala but nothing came together.

4/20
Frikkie and I left out about 7am.
First up was a Jackel we came across.
6.5 at 240 yards did wonders to him
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Up next was another Impala female
6.5 with head shot again!
After all that was dropped at skinning shed we were making way back to lodge and came across a Big Blue Wildebeest. One I could not resist. Plan was made for stalk and I swapped out rifles for CZ 375 HH
Short stalk with a 65 yard quartering frontal. Big Blue headed to salt!
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28 3/4 wide with heavy bosses

Nice blue!! Impressive head gear on him!

 

[AZDAVE]

Nice hunt. So sorry about your allegric reaction to something. Quick thinking on @Bos en Dal SAFARIS part. Glad all is well. thank you for sharing your experiences, it gives us all room for thought and to be prepared for the unexpected.

 

[Desperatezulu]

What specie of doves are those? That's a fantastic dove shoot!

They look like a mix of Cape Turtle doves (aka RIng neck) and Laughing Doves (smaller pinkish ones)

Rock pigeons are a fair bit bigger, faster and much more difficult to hit!

 

[PARA45]

Mark,

You need to do a full mount on the Warthog. That is the trophy of a life time!

Yes, and couldn't agree more with the above comment. Hopefully it's not too late if you decide to change your mind. That hog deserves to be on the wall.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I never had either, I have normal allergies during the spring at home. Never had anything this serious. I will be prepared for next trip. We just don't think about things like that happening until they do.

Glad you got quick treatment.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Another fantastic hunt for you Mark and a great first African hunt for your friend Robbie! You both took some very nice trophies including the warthog and I really like that bushbuck. I'm so glad you were able to overcome your medical issue there and continue hunting. Great hunt report and photos too! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

 

[davidg8480]

Mark,thank you very much for sharing your adventure with us and what an exciting venture it was, and especially the part about you getting home safely. Oh and by the way not to forget to mention some wonderful animals as well.
On a second note how did you like those Christiansen arms rifles, I have been considering one myself but haven't heard much of anything about them.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Mark,thank you very much for sharing your adventure with us and what an exciting venture it was, and especially the part about you getting home safely. Oh and by the way not to forget to mention some wonderful animals as well.
On a second note how did you like those Christiansen arms rifles, I have been considering one myself but haven't heard much of anything about them.

Christensen ridgeline series are light and very accurate. We sell a hundred or more a year in our shop. Never any issues so far.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Sounds like it might be cardiac related. My African buddy had similar symptoms on his first trip. Had four stents when he got home.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Sounds like it might be cardiac related. My African buddy had similar symptoms on his first trip. Had four stents when he got home.

Cardiac is ok. They did EKG as soon as I hit Emergency Room and monitored heart the whole time I was there.
Already seen my Dr and have some allergy tests scheduled and lung X-rays and such.
Still have a lingering nagging cough at times.

 

[shootist~]

As a layman and heart attack suvivor, I agree it was probably allergy related. But know that an EKG is a piss poor indicator. Mine was perfectly normal 2 days before my myocardial infraction.

However, an Echo Cardiogram will chart all the blockages, (or lack thereof, I suppose). Your doctor needs a solid reason to order one, unfortunately. (Hint: Give him one it you get short winded too easily.)

The inability to catch your breath (lack of O2) is scary as hell, and a good indicator of heart disease, and others, by itself of course. In my case it occurred slowly, then worsened rapidly over a few weeks.

 

[Andrew62]

What a nice hunt report, great pictures, when you were telling me the other day about your health crisis it made me realize I need to be better prepared when I travel to Africa. As always, thank you so much for being able to locate ammo for those of us on this site!

 

[B.Slash(B/)]

4/21
Up and gone by 7am
Me and Frikkie rode, walked and stalked some but nothing came about them. About 10:30am we put stalk on some Impala females. I knew it was a long shot and doped Leupold CDS for 250 yards. Didn't have rangefinder at the time with us. Well shot was a hit. But looked low. She took off and before could get a second off she was pushed out of field into thick brush by a Pincher Impala male. We have her some time before started track. Blood played out and we looked till 1:00. Lodge ate bite and went back looking. At around 3pm we called it. No more blood and not located her.
Robbie also had missed a big Impala twice.
We went range just to verify if guns or shooters. It was shooters, not guns.

Frikkie and I out most of afternoon. Just before dark came across a really good Impala. Made stalk and 6.5 did its job.
We were dragging out and that's when it all went to Hell!
There was some kind of dust,pollen or something I got into I was allergic too!
Before we could set up for pics I started coughing and gasping for air. Frikkie and John loaded Impala and Frikkie rushed me to lodge. I took a quick hot shower to wash off. Didn't help. I was getting worse. Gerrit was back in camp and was decided I needed medical help. He loaded me in Cruiser and off for Rustenburg. I was in and out of consciousness during the trip.
Gerrit phoned ahead for Ambulance Service to meet on the road somewhere.
Normally a 50 min drive was done in under 30 min. When met ambulance and was transferred to it they started oxygen. My oxygen level was down to 61. They started a nebulizer treatment and within minutes I was breathing better. At hospital was given a second treatment along with cortisone and Adrenalin injections. After about 2 hours I was breathing on my own and oxygen level staying in 96-97 range.
Guys this scared hell out of me!
When you can't breath and feel like you are dying from suffocating it's scary.
I want to thank Gerrit again for quick thinking and the ambulance people and nurses at hospital.
Nurse said I was not the first American from USA that has had this happen. She said happens more often than you would think.
I was released and we made our way back to lodge about 11:00 pm. The cook had us a hamburger meal prepared, ate and went to bed.

Here is only pic I got of Impala
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Glad to hear you are good and it didn't ruin the rest of your trip. I cannot imagine how intense that must have been.

 

[B.Slash(B/)]

Warthog will be a Euro mount.

That warthog will be an amaizng Euro mount. Great job and great post!

 

[gillettehunter]

Thanks for sharing your hunt report. Great warthog. Love the mass on your bushbuck. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Thanks for the reminder about emergency procedures. Good to keep those possibilities in mind.
Bruce

 

[Scott CWO]

I had been taking Benadryl daily as my sinus was acting up. I will be taking an inhaler or portable nebulizer from now on. For just incase.

Get an epi-pen and quit scaring the daylights out of us! Glad you’re back to normal!

 

[Scott CWO]

Here are some random pics from during the hunt.
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Nice!

 

[Scott CWO]

4/25
Day we depart
Robbie has early flight out on Qatar to make early connection in Doha for AM arrival in Dallas. I don't depart till 8:30 pm flight. We got one last group pic with all our skulls.
Then off to airports.

We had a great trip and want to thank Gerrit, Rikus, Frikkie and all the Bos en Dal team for another great safari.
Yes I already have dates and plans set for 2024

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Good Lawd have mercy!

 

[Tucketed]

Great hunt, tremendous pig. Enjoyed the read.