SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape Hunt With GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS

[DieJager]

I hope I dont spoil it for @PARA45 But since I am in camp now, just days after his departure, I cam report the cull impala was successfuly found.

Thanks, that is good to hear. Some closure. And also a happy granddaughter iirc.

 

[PARA45]

My apologies, and this afternoon while out with my wife, I did realize that I had not included the finding. My apologies and thank you @Tbitty for relaying the finding. I received a text from Wik on Thursday, letting me know that X had found my Impala cull. X walked out and he noticed some crows flying over an area we thought the Impala had run into, and sure enough, X found it in some serious thick stuff. This shows the devotion of the G4A crew, they never stop working.

 

[archer36]

You mentioned Eland meat. I agree it's one of the best. Here is a tenderloin from mine. Fed about 10 people.

 

[PARA45]

At the end of every hunt, I like to reflect on what gear worked, and what didn't work. So, here it goes.

Rifle and ammo. Both rifles (CZ & Remington) and Trijicon scopes performed as expected. With the exception of the shooter (me) on the last Impala. The Remington rifle sling stud came out, and it wouldn't stay in. A bit of epoxy or something like that would have solve the problem, but unfortunately, we didn't have any. The only issue we had with the rifles.

Ammo. Both TSX and TTSX bullets performed as expected. Only one bullet recovered from the Buffalo, all other total pass through. From what I saw, lots of internal damage was done due the kinetic energy of the cartridge and bullets. The more I shoot Barnes bullets/ammo, the more I like them. Little hole in, little hole out. I did however, noticed that the ammo from Hendershots had some issues with a stiff (hard to lift) bolt after firing. Shouldn't been an issue since it was cold and not hot. I'll reach out to them and see what they say. The 375 H&H factory ammo performed flawlessly.

KUIU jacket, gloves, pants and socks, all worked as expected. The jackets I had were enough for the cool temperatures in the morning, and for the stiff winds in Mountain Top and Reedsdale. The pants worked as well, but not so much against the thorny African bush, but then again, I don't know what would. The Merino wool socks worked great, and my feet were dry and did not have a single blister from all the walking up and down those mountains. BTW, we average anywhere between 4-7 miles daily, but I don't believe my phone takes into consideration that the terrain is not flat, and we were going up and down 90% of the time.

My Crispi boots worked great and were light enough to keep me going and kept me close to Don during those we need to get there quick and quietly moments. However, the sole flex on these boots is light, and I believe a stiffer boot would have helped me navigate the ups and down of Mountain Top, and the Woodveld (Homestead property). Not a single thorn went through, they are waterproof so going through some small streams was not an issue either.

Cabela's shirts worked as they have since I bought them in 2012. The heavy cotton protected me from the thorns and kept me comfortable in the cool days. A bit hot during those "walks", but it is expected from a 100% cotton shirt. An undershirt (light base layer) would have helped and it's something I'll keep in mind for the next safari.

The Outback Trading Comp wool hat was awesome, keep the sun off my face and kept my coconut warm in those cool mornings and evenings. However, during those "walks", my head got hot, but it is expected from a wool hat. I like the hat, it's light, crushable, and made me look cool. That's what my wife said, and who am I to argue with her.

Pelican two-gun case worked as expected no issues with my guns or scopes. However, two big caliber rifles, and I was close to reaching the 50 Lbs max weight, and it sucks maneuvering that big case through busy airports. I had to pay for excess weight with Airlink, but I do not know if it was my suitcase, the ammo or the guns. I had cut the foam inside to fit two rifles, but I believe that if I put the rifles in soft cases, they would fit better. Something I'll have to try and see.

The people from South Africa we dealt with were pleasant and seem to always have a smile on their face. Even when we went to town, it was obvious (probably our wardrobe gave it away) we were not locals and were treated very nice. There was one hunter with his son in camp with us, they were from FL. The guy was a total douchebag, and full of himself. Luckily, they went up to the North Camp, and our interaction with them was brief, but enough to noticed how full of himself he was. His son was a nice 17-year-old, and when he was not around his dad, he was a pleasant young man. We enjoyed sitting around the fire talking to him.

All in all, we are already planning another trip in the next two years or so. I'm planning on dragging my wife with me this time around, and we are looking at maybe having a group hunt. We are going to see how many of our local friends/hunters would like to join us and go from there.

A final note. I would highly recommend hunting with G4A, and I can assure you that you will have the time of your life. They are genuine, hardworking family, with you the hunter their main focus and priority. From the room cleanliness; the food preparation; mount preparation, and everything that takes to run an operation like this is top notch!

BTW, I have no affiliation with G4A whatsoever, this is my honest and true observation of what I've seen in two safaris with them. If you ask around the forum, you'll see that those who've hunted with them would agree with my assessment.

Hope you enjoyed my report, and please forgive my 100s of grammatical errors I know I made.

 

[Hunt anything]

For those interested, Wik has started posting Oscars hunt on their Facebook page today.
I’m not on face book but you can glance at it for about 30 seconds before you get blocked.

Apologies if already covered but curiosity has me wondering about taxidermy plans?

 

[PARA45]

Thank you! I don't have FB. I'll have to check it out with my wife's login.

 

[Nyati]

Well done Oscar, you had your animals and really enjoyed the hunt.

Next time will be even better

 

[Rare Breed]

Dinner that night was Blesbok back straps. I thought I had taken a picture, so my apologies for that. After our celebratory cigar, we went to bed, for yet another early morning. The routine was breakfast at 7, leave the lodge by 7:30.

Woke up as usual early and went to the lodge for my cup of coffee. Today, we were going to do the same thing as the day before, send trackers out and look out for Buffalo. We head out and after an hour or so, we get the call from one of the trackers that they had a cow on one of the mountains, and that it looked like she was not alone, but the trackers couldn't see what was with her.

We get to an advantage point and Don is looking. We can all see the cow, but can't tell if there is a bull nearby. Looked at Don and ask what's the plan. He looks back at me and states "We'll go for a walk". Well, shoot, remember what that meant with Wik, I could only imagine what was waiting for us.
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The hill in the background is where we started our stalk.


We head downhill from where we were at a rather quickly pace, and I thought Wik was a mountain goat, well, Don is not too far behind. I'm trying to keep up with them, and I'm also trying not to fall on my face with all these lose rocks. We crossed this little valley, and we start climbing the other hill. About halfway up this hill, my legs are burning, and I'm totally out of breath. I think Don felt bad about Gary and I and decided to give us a small break.



At this point, I thought we were about parallel with where the Buffalo where, but it was almost impossible to see 5 feet in front of you. So, after Don talking with X, the decision was made to come from the top and watching the wind on our descend. Well, the half part of this hill was the steepest, and up we went. By now adrenaline has kicked in, and I was keeping up with Don and X, even though my legs were burning from fatigue, I kept pushing. We got to the top and made an immediate right and started descending and looking for the Buffalo.

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Where we were and from where we took the shot. The bull was about halfway up. Hard to tell with the picture, but it was brutal. LOL!!!

About 3/4 of the way down, X froze and pointed. The cow and now the bull were below us at about 80 yards. The wind was good, and they had no idea we were there. Methodically moved downhill trying to stay quiet which is extremely hard with all the shale rocks around. We closed the gap, but didn't have a good angle on the Buffalo. We moved again, and nothing, moved once again, and this time the bull and cow noticed movement, but couldn't tell what we were. Got into position, and had a branch in front of my rifle, Don reached in and broke the branch. I now had a clear shot to his should. I was at 62 yds out, and I was solid. I took two deep breaths, and I heard the word of my PH, on the shoulder and take him when you are ready. He was not done saying those words when I was firing. The shot felt perfect. Came back from recoil, and immediately reloaded a new cartridge, and was ready for more. When I came back on the scope, I saw the Buffalo running like nothing.

When I saw the Buffalo running, my heart sank, and I thought I had shot him a bit too far back. Now, I'm questioning my shot, and I'm upset with myself for making a bad shot. My friend Gary told me that he saw the impact and that the shot impacted in a good place, and that he thought he had seen him go down. Don was also positive that I had made a good shot, but I was still not convinced based on how the Buffalo was running. Don kept listening to the death bellow but couldn't hear and we never heard one.

Don decided that it was prudent to call in the dogs and not go after him. If we did, he could be hiding 5 ft from us, and we would never know until it was too late. I said, your call and I'll do whatever needs to be done so we could all go home safe. I topped off my CZ with another cartridge, and we waited. About 30-40 min went by and the tracker with the dogs showed up. We directed him which way the Buffalo had ran and where we thought he was.

Time went by 15-20 minutes or so, and I'm burning up inside, still thinking I made a bad shot, and now I have someone down there looking out after my mess. I'm on the sticks waiting to where we think this Buffalo may run to. The radio cracks, and I think the Buffalo is going to run out, nope, tracker come on the radio that the Buffalo is dead in the spot where Gary had pointed out earlier. A great relief and I said a small silent prayer that everything worked out and no one got hurt.

Walked up my Buffalo and placed my hand on him, I had finally taken a bull Cape Buffalo. Like I always do, I said my thanks. Wow, what an amazing animal, and what an old warrior. This guy was much better than the one we had seen the day before. Had so many scars and character on his face, the perfect old warrior I wanted to take. Couldn't have asked for a better Buffalo.
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Where we found him. Some thick stuff.

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My bull, what a magnificent animal, old and scared. Like Don said, proper Buffalo. I can't express enough how proud and happy I am of taking such an old warrior.

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With Don.

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With the crew who cut this animal in three and took it down this mountain. Lots of work.

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The only bullet recovered and from the Buffalo. Perfect shape, almost commercial material.

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Perfect buffalo to take! outstanding animal! Well done!!!

 

[PARA45]

Good luck on your hunt, looking forward to reading your report and seeing pictures. Go get them.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Just catching up on your well written, extensive report. Congrats on your trophies and good to hear the cull was located. I'm with you on eland. To me, it's the best pg meat. Thanks for posting the pics. They make one feel like they're there with you.

 

[Mekaniks]

Congratulations on a great hunt! Thank you for taking us along and sharing

 

[Brent in Az]

Great write up, Sir Oscar. Super nice buff and other trophies with a great outfit in an amazing area of South Africa.
Well done!

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Congratulations, Oscar
Your report brought back great memories, chasing Wik up and down those hills, stuffing myself with that delicious warthog sausage and all of the rest!
I also really like the shape of both kudu! Unlike most I prefer the more narrow bulls. To go with your scabby old buff.

Thanks for bringing back the memories so vividly! Also glad to see old Rocky still hanging in there.
David

David,

"Unlike most I prefer the more narrow bulls."

You are not alone.

 

[Doug3006]

An excellent hunt and a great report. Thanks for sharing your safari with us!

 

[Ridge Runner]

The night before we said our goodbyes to Wik and Brittany, and we enjoyed the rest of the night reflecting on the wonderful memories. Don and I stay a few minutes after Gary left, I had to finish my cigar, and we went to bed for an early morning.

I woke up early with anticipation for our long trip home. I poured myself a cup of coffee and went outside to admire yet another beautiful sunrise.

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We drove to Buffalo City to some curio shopping and to pick up something I had ordered. Check in at the airport was a breeze and no issues whatsoever. We are at the gate, and I went to the restroom before boarding our flight, when Gary came looking for me. Well, seems like I had forgotten to pay for the ammo and rifle. Oops, now I'm running chasing this agent, and trying to get this done before boarding, then to clear security again, and finally made it through. Always something exciting.

Flight was uneventful, got to Johannesburg without any issue, collected out bags, and for the long wait for the Delta counter to open. Once the counter open, we went to check in, and to my surprise, those who fly in economy are only allowed one bag, even though two bags are allowed leaving the US. Try to politely argue with the counter agent, but nope, I had to pay. Luckily Gary was flying first class, so he put my bag under his name, and I didn't have to pay for the extra bag.

While waiting to board our flight, I had the honor to meet one of our own who was sitting behind us. @Cajun Hunter was sitting behind me, and I introduced myself and asked if he was part of the forum, and of course he said he was, and once we shared our screen names, we knew who we were. What a small world. We shared our experiences and visit for a while.

The flight home was, well long as you all can imagine, but there is no other way to do it. So, I dealt with it the best I could. Halfway into the flight, I felt some discomfort on the back of my knee on the crease, and decided to check it out. Well, it turned out that a tick was hitching a ride to the US, I had to use my phone light to see and get it out. It never fails; I'm such a tick magnet.

Made to Atlanta airport and no issues, Passport control was quick, but rifles check in was slow. We waited for a while before someone showed up to get things going. Some folks had very short layovers, and I'm sure they missed their flights.

For those flying with bows, customs is now spraying the arrows that were used to kill animals, and the bows come through the same area that rifles do, and this of course added additional minutes to an already painful process.

Didn't think about this till you mentioned it. Entering back to the US arriving in Atlanta the CBP sprayed my boots. Since I started flying in and out of DC the CBP hasn't sprayed any of my footwear once arriving back into the US.

I checked for 2 weeks after my return to the US to make sure none of those nasty little African illegals (ticks) entered the US as hitch hikers using me as their "coyote".

Glad you were able to get your...ah....your grand daughter's impala.

Great report. Congrats to you and Gary on successfully hunting some fine animals. Especially Gary's nyala. That nyala is huge.

 

[AZDAVE]

Bet your grand daughter is a happy camper? Congratz on a fine trip!

 

[PARA45]

Bet your grand daughter is a happy camper? Congratz on a fine trip!

Thank you! It's a surprise, so she has no idea. Out of my Impala, I'm making a lamp with the legs, and tanning the skin, all for her.