SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape Hunt With GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS

[PARA45]

I was told it needs to be taken for 21 days straight for the virus to die. Let’s hope the Doc will see it that way.

 

[Hunt anything]

I think I was on for 24 days, two 12 day cycles

 

[Frederik]

Just read your report tahnks for sharing a good hunt with good animals taken sorry for the tickbite fever!!
Got back from Belgium Tuesday evening and hit the ground running with work since then.

 

[archer36]

Yup. Almost everyone in camp got it. My Son and I didn't feel the effects till we got home and the Dr's were perplexed at what we had. They looked it up on the Internet.

 

[Rare Breed]

Well, the little bastard that was hitching a ride on my leg got me. I had a fever of 100.4, and I’m now sitting in the ER, waiting to see a Doc and hopefully he’ll prescribe some Doxycycline? Wed was a week since I found the tick.

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so sorry my friend! This is why before I go on my yearly hunts to Africa I get Doxy, Malarone given I am in a malaria zone and a strong anti diarrhea medication all just to be on the safe side

 

[V.Veritas]

Well, the little bastard that was hitching a ride on my leg got me. I had a fever of 100.4, and I’m now sitting in the ER, waiting to see a Doc and hopefully he’ll prescribe some Doxycycline? Wed was a week since I found the tick.

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That’s unfortunate. Have you had all your clothes treated with permethrin and it got you anyway?

 

[Fatback]

Hate to hear that @PARA45, hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

[DillonG]

Let's go hunting.

17 Jun 2025.

Don, my friend Gary and I discussed how this hunt would go. Don suggested that we hunted Buffalo first since this was the most difficult animal on our list and we all agreed. Buffalo it is. Some of you have been to the Eastern Cape and you know how the terrain it is, and for those who have not, let me explain. The terrain consists of some flat terrain with some mountains and cliffs. Lots of loose shale rocks everywhere, which makes it for an exciting walk when going downhill fast. The vegetation is thick, and I mean thick, and these 2000 lbs. animals disappear in this stuff.

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How they hunt Buffalo in Game-4-Africa consist of the following. The PH sends 2-3 trackers early in the morning (before sunrise) to watch the Buffalo move and then report to us if a bull has been spotted. BTW, Game-4-Africa has a self-sustained heard of 200+ Buffalos. In the meantime, we would be driving looking around for other game. We get a call that a lonely Buffalo has been spotted, and off we go. We get off the Land Cruiser, and I load up my CZ-550 with Barnes, 300 grs TSX. We walked closed to 2 miles, and all this time the spotters are giving us direction in which way to go, and X our tracker is on point ensuring the wind is good, and we are going towards our Buffalo.

We reached an area, and we could see the Buffalo on the other side of this hill. Big old boy, standing there. He could sense something was up but couldn't see us. I have a clear shot, but he is 120 yds away, and I had specifically told my PH that I did not want to shoot a Buffalo that far, and that I wanted to be as close and personal as we could without endangering the life of others. He was good with my request. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any closer to this Buffalo. The decision was made to leave him alone and come back later.

We move out of the area, and as we are driving away, we get the call that the Buffalo was on the move again. We turned around and head back to the area he had been spotted. We dismount the Land Cruiser, and the same routine, load up and off we go. We walk probably a mile or so, and we stopped. The spotter is telling us the Buffalo is heading in our direction, and Don positions me overlooking a small clearance at maybe 20 yds away. I wanted close and personal, but not this close. I have my scope set on 1 power, and I am rock solid waiting for this Buffalo to show up. I'm going through my mind where to put the dot of my Trijicon scope, and where to shoot. I can't say I was scared, or nervous, but my heart was pumping hard, and my adrenaline I'm sure was through the roof, with all this going on, I somehow felt very calm. We all waited, and waited, and out of nowhere we could smell him, and we could hear him. He was probably 30-40 yds below us. He knew something was up, he was not happy, and he let us know he was not happy by snorting and rubbing his horns against the bushes. After like 10 min or so (an eternity), he decided he had enough of us and moved on. Well, shoot, what a great start.

We went back to the lodge for lunch, and we would regroup and head out again by 3 PM. We had some delicious Blue Wildebeest Lasagna for lunch and enjoyed a wonderful cigar watching the animals below.

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Three O'clock rolls around, and our PH come over to asks us if we are ready. No reports from the trackers on the Buffalo movement yet, so off we go. We play the cat and mouse game with the Buffalo, but we could never seem to get ahead of him or see him. We came close, but gave us the slip, and disappeared in this wonderful terrain. Buffalo 1, Hunters 0. It's about 4:15, and we are heading in the direction of the lodge, when out of nowhere there is that tap on the roof of the Land Cruiser, and Don stops the vehicle. Remember I said I wanted to go after this one Waterbuck? Well, Don looks through his binoculars, and looks at me and said, huge Waterbuck, we are taking this one. No questions asked if I wanted to hunt this one or not, just we are taking this one. We jump off the Land Cruiser, and off we go. We are losing day light quickly, and we get into position at about 170 yds away. We can't see his vitals, and we reposition again, and still can't see his vitals. Moved once again, and we don't want to move again, because he is looking our way. Mind you, I'm usually a very calm shooter, and I get excited after the shot. This time the enthusiasm of my PH, caught on to me, and I was too excited, my heart was pumping hard, and I breathing was out of whack. Don looked at me and whispered to relax and to breath.

Waterbuck is at 162 yds away, and a small brush is covering his vitals, and Don ask if I'm comfortable shooting through the bush. I could see the top of his back, and I give him the ok. He whispers take him when you are ready. He is not done saying that when I shoot. I see the waterbuck jump, but loose him after coming back with recoil. With excitement he yells, "you smoked him". Watch the area for 5 min or so, and we move quickly to the area where the Waterbuck was lying motionless.

I could not believe my eyes when I saw how massive this animal was. I knelt next to him, gave God thanks for allowing me to hunt His beautiful creatures, and thank this wonderful Waterbuck for the honor of taking his life.

Hi fives, and hugs all around, and we had our first African animal down. As many of you know, I don't measure any animals and I don't judge the hunt by the inches, but rather by the stalk, friendship, and experience. Don wanted to measure this Waterbuck, and I agreed. To say that it's a huge Waterbuck it's an understatement, this thing is massive and thick from the bases all the way to the top.
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My friend Gary and I smoked our celebratory smokes, and since I was the first to draw blood on this trip, I had to take a drink out of the Springbuck nut sack.

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BTW, there was a lot of cigars smoking during this trip. Much more to follow.

Oh, and for those who would like to know, the Waterbuck measured 28 3/4" long.

I appreciate your taste in cigars, at least this first one!

 

[PARA45]

That’s unfortunate. Have you had all your clothes treated with permethrin and it got you anyway?

I did spray my boots and pants daily, but I believe I didn’t one day and that did it.

 

[PARA45]

Thank you gents. I only had fever last night, and today I’m like nothing happened, my energy is back and feel almost 100%. The Doc last night prescribed Doxy and started taking them today.

 

[PARA45]

Update on the tick fever fiasco. Nothing so far, about the only thing I've been dealing with are headaches. Had a bad one yesterday afternoon, took some Tylenol, smoked a cigar and was fine in an hour or so. Got the Doxy, but the doc only gave me meds for 7 days, going to make an appointment with my regular Doc, and get some more just in case.

 

[V.Veritas]

I did spray my boots and pants daily, but I believe I didn’t one day and that did it.

Thanks.
I’m booked to visit the same tick “infested” fields in August. I’ll be more diligent on the permethrin application and tick checks now that I’ve been warned.
Great field report.

 

[PARA45]

The mountains and savannas were not the issue. We did however walk through some damp/humid areas between the mountains, and I knew there were ticks there. Luckily that one day I did spray my pants & boots, but was not expecting to do something similar the day my friend shot the Nyala.

I believe permethrin will do the job and maybe treat the boots. August may not be as cold, and that may get the ticks going.