SOUTH AFRICA: Eastern Cape The Return

[Vanguard2279]

After too much procrastination, I'm finally ready to start my hunt report for the period of 05/10-05/21. On this trip, I returned to a place I had been in 2017 and remains one of my three favorite places to go. Unfortunately, I didn't keep notes on the hunt so let's hope the benefits of Prevagen are real. I will do my best not to bore any of you.

OUTFITTER: South African branch of Western Safaris (www.westernsafaris.co.za) owned by Kevin & Natalie Bowker.
THE HUNTER: 52 year old white male, widowed, grey collar professional grandfather (two granddaughters).
RIFLE: NULA M24 .338-06 with 210-grain Barnes TTSX and Leupold 3.5-10x40 scope (zeroed at 200 yards).
PACKAGE: Mountain Reedbuck, Black Springbok, Nyala, Cape Bushbuck, Warthog.
PH: Kevin's cousin, Meyrick Bowker of Bowker Safaris (www.bowkersafaris.co.za)

HUNTING BUDDY: 68 year old physician who hasn't had a vacation in 19 years. This was his first trip to Africa. He was my primary care doctor until he went to a different practice where they didn't work him like a borrowed mule. He will be referred to in this as "Doc".
HIS RIFLE: Tikka T3x .30-06 with factory Barnes 180-grain TTSX and a Leupold Scope 3-9x40 also zeroed for 200 yards. Doc also has my Viper Sticks which we've practiced off a fair amount. He hasn't hunted in almost 20 years.
PACKAGE: Cape Kudu, Black Wildebeest, Common Springbok, Impala and Warthog.
PH: Braun "Proppie" Olkers who was my PH in 2017.

Doc had been wanting top go on safari with me since 2017. As it does, Life gets in the way. So, last year I told him that we were going in 2021. No changes. I believe that when you set a date, you make things "real". I had previously hunted with Kevin and Natalie in 2017 as my second safari. It is still one of my three favorite hunts, the other two being Jaco van der Merwe (Namibia Safari Corporation) and @spike.t of Takeri Reserve Zambia.

We booked our flights with United to Houston and IAH-DOH-JNB with Qatar. The final leg to Port Elizabeth was handled by Airlink. I am once again glad that I used the Lady Warriors @TRAVEL EXPRESS. Jenn was phenomenal as always and was patient with my constant questions. We booked Economy on all flights.

Needless to say, Covid has made everything more difficult. Both Doc and I are vaccinated, but we needed to secure negative Covid tests 72 hours prior to departure. This is when I realized that leaving on a Monday made things harder. We found a UMC facility that could test on a Saturday and get us our results within 24 hours.

Once again, I convinced my daughter's best friend, Erica, to dog & house sit for me. I'm very thankful that she has a job where she can work remotely. I can also count on her to take the dogs to the dog park. The only downside is that any silly "rules" I may have about the dogs sleeping on the bed go out the window. Erica is 30, has a Masters, athletic, attractive and single. Message me for details.

 

[Vanguard2279]

THE JOURNEY:
I filled out the Health Questionnaire online before departure. I received both an email and a text of the code to show SA authorities upon arrival. Doc did the hard-copy version that was handed out on the Qatar flight. There were no issues with either.
The trip to Houston on United was uneventful. We did have an extended discussion with a very nice counter agent in LAS about why United DID NOT need an Import permit when they were a domestic-only leg. At Houston, we picked up our luggage and rifle cases and headed to the Qatar counter. It was interesting having our Covid test check three times in about 25 feet. I want to say that Qatar Airways personnel are very helpful. There is a lot of paperwork needed to check in the rifles and we had one lady dedicated to helping us. Hopefully, they will streamline that process a bit over time when they realize that they are picking up more hunters than previously. We had to remove our ammo boxes from our suitcases and weigh them separately and then place them back into our suitcases for the flight.
15:30 hours to Doha is a long flight. Having said that, Qatar is a wonderful airline. Amazing leg room, plenty of refreshments and food. I don't sleep much on planes. I was greatly relieved when we started our descent into Doha. Very uneventful. We had no issues with our luggage or rifles which were transferred seamlessly to the DOH-JNB flight. I did manage to go to Starbucks and get the cup from the "Why The Hell Am I Here?!" collection and I got a photo of the giant Teddy bear.
Our flight to JNB was interesting. It was about 60% full. This leg was only 8:30 hours.
Some time ago, I purchased the Lifetime subscription to Africa Hunting Gazette. With the purchase came three VIP Meet & Greets, three one-night stays at Afton Safari Lodge and three firearm permit clearances. We were met at the gate by an airline employee who squired us through the Customs line and on to Baggage Claim where we picked up our suitcases. He then led us to the Arrivals are where we were met by a person know to many of us, Xolile "Mr. X" Monakali. He and I had been chatting on WhatsApp and he knew were were arriving at 0405. Mr. X led us to the SAPS office and assisted with getting our rifles. He then led us to the Airlink counter. The process wasn't too painful. We had to remove our ammo boxes and send them as separate luggage items. We then went to another counter to pay rifle handling fees and Mr. X made sure that the airport attendant responsible for checking in our rifles was available.
We then headed to our gate for the flight to Port Elizabeth. We managed to have breakfast and get some coffee before the flight. We boarded and headed to our final destination. The flight was crowded, but pleasant nonetheless.
Upon arrival, we were met by Braun "Proppie" Olkers who had been my PH in 2017. It had been slightly over four years since I had seen him. I had made arrangements for Doc to hunt with him as he is an incredibly knowledgeable guy. I had originally been scheduled to hunt with Kevin, but work obligations had interfered with that so he arranged for me to hunt with his cousin, Meyrick Bowker, whom I met in 2017. I had been WhatsApping with him for about a week prior to arrival. We gathered our luggage, rifles and ammo and headed to the lodge which is about two hours north of Port Elizabeth and sits outside Grahamstown (or Makhanda as it is now known).
TIP: Dowload WhatsApp.

 

[spike.t]

Ok my turn to go to sleep mid story ....will read rest tomorrow.....cheers

 

[Vanguard2279]

I'm smoking a meatloaf for dinner tonight with some friends including Doc. I'm not going to finish this beast today.
Upon arrival at the lodge on Waterfall Farm, we were met by Natalie and Meyrick Bowker. I finally met retired PH John Barnes, like Natalie a Zimbabwean (born Rhodesian). John had come to help out with the safari guests. We settled into our rooms and gathered rifles & ammo for zeroing. We took care of that over the hood of a bakkie and returned to the lodge. I had previously asked Natalie to make roast chicken for dinner as she does an amazing job of it. Finally, we made it to bed.
On a side note, I like to bring seasonings to leave at the lodges that I hunt at. This time, I brought Frank's Red Hot and Slap Ya Mama. Both were very popular. I also brought Starbucks Via as I knew they had an electric kettle.

THE HUNT BEGINS:
Meyrick had told me about a Mountain reedbuck that he had seen on a few occasions in a specific area. We headed out that first morning to scout Cape Bushbuck, but managed to locate the Reedbuck on our way. Our tracker/skinner for the entire hunt was Zwile. Great guy and absolutely fantastic with everything he does.
We dismounted the truck and started our ascent up the mountain. We finally managed to get within 275 yards of the Mountain Reedbuck. I settled onto the shooting bag and lined up my shot.
You know those times where you feel like you made a good shot, but you don't? It's your fault. You just don't understand how it happened. This was one of those times.
The first shot went through the top of his left front leg. Four inches higher and it would have been in his heart. The Reedbuck absolutely didn't care. He didn't run away. He stayed focused on the females he was chasing. My next shot struck towards his hip and the third shot dropped him. A definite ignoble start to the safari. I've never liked that bag. My fault, I know. Give me my 4Stable Sticks and I'm happy. Every shot from then on was off my sticks.

 

[Vanguard2279]

One thing that we did every day was look for Bushbuck. Morning and afternoon. This was by far the hardest animal to hunt and we spent a lot of time looking for one. We would see them every day, but getting close enough was difficult. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the afternoon where a grand Bushbuck was posing in the open and I couldn't find him. When I did finally locate him, he slipped away. I appreciate Meyrick's patience immensely.
This is one area that we staked out often.

 

[Vanguard2279]

DAY TWO:

After hunting for Bushbuck in the morning, we decided to go after a Black Springbok that we had seen earlier. We were well aware just how hard it was going to be to sneak up on him so we approached on a long slope, moving from cover to cover. On our way, Meyrick located an enormous old Warthog boar hanging with a younger male. We managed to get within 204 yards of him. I could see that his head was down and he was mostly facing me and quartering to the right. I settled onto the 4Stable Sticks and sent one round into his right shoulder which exited at his left "waist". He dropped in place. we closed the distance and Zwile brought up the truck. We took a few trophy photos and then threw Big Homie into the back and continued our stalk of the Black Springbok.
We were thankful that the Springbok had not been disturbed by the gunfire. We managed to get to about 200 yards of him. He too was facing me and quartering to the left. Once again, I settled on to the sticks and aimed at his right shoulder. I sent one round and he dropped dramatically in place.
This is where shit gets weird,....
Upon closing the distance, I observed a small hole in the right side of the Springbok's face. On the left side was a larger hole. There was clearly an entrance wound on his right shoulder and an exit behind the left. I stared at this for a while, wondering what exactly happened. As near as we can figure, the Springbok was preening his side when the bullet struck his right shoulder. It then exited and struck him in the left side of his face and exited the right. Definitely one of the odder things that has happened to me.

 

[Vanguard2279]

The Springbok was an older ram. Prior to our investigation of the multiple holes in him, he displayed his fan. I was fortunate to get pictures of that.
We dropped the animals off at Meyrick's Thornkloof farm and headed to the lodge. By the way, the Parson Russell Terrier is Cola. I called her "Baby Groot" although "Baby Yoda" would have been just as fitting. Very tenacious little animal that made sure every animal was dead before we got to it.

 

[Vanguard2279]

DAY THREE:

We took a break from chasing Bushbuck to head to another farm in search of an Nyala. While scouting, we came across an amazing Waterbuck relaxing in tall grass. We eventually caught a Nyala bull in a meadow below us. He did not appear to be going anywhere so we went out looking to see what else was in the area. A few hours later, we returned to see if he was still there and he was. We started working our way down hill to see how close we could get. He was bedded down under a tree and we were able to get a good luck at him. We got to about 200 yards and above him and waited. And waited. And waited. I think we sat on him for close to an hour before a shot was taken. He was facing me with his head turned to his left. The shot went low in his neck and out the back. He stayed down. Unfortunately, the path to him was choked with thick brush and we were going to have to lose visual contact with him. Meyrick had me put an insurance shot into him which I did.
We returned to the vehicle and made our approach from directly opposite of where we'd shot. Upon closing the distance, we discovered that he had not moved from where he dropped. He was also a much older Nyala than we had first thought. He had clearly been living in grassy areas for a while as his front hooves were overgrown. He was fantastic and better than I had hoped for. Zwile maneuvered the truck as close as we could and we were able to get him loaded without too much drama.
As we were expected to leave the meat at the farm, we hung him from their skinning area. Two of the farm dogs had Cola pinned down, menacing her. I went over and pushed them aside and picked her up. When I did, one of the dogs attempted to bite her rear. So, basically I slapped a Beagle. I did tell Cola to remember that I was her hero and put her in the truck. One of the farm dogs took off with one of the Nyala's forelegs as a chew toy. The farm owner showed up and said that he thought this Nyala was the one who stared down the dogs and ate oranges in the yard by the farmhouse.
Meyrick showed me the bull's teeth which were worn down to his gums indicating that he was an elderly animal. All of this made him more perfect.

 

[cpr0312]

Good start to the hunt! Enjoying the read!

That Nyala

 

[Erny]

Great write up. Keep it coming!!!

 

[Lee M]

That is a stud Nyala! Yes Good shape and length. I think the shape is what makes them good.

 

[jasyblood]

Awesome nyala! Sounds like a great trip so far!!

 

[Wheels]

Enjoying your write up.

Congratulations on the animals taken so far.

 

[rinehart0050]

Great report! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Uncle Sauce]

Enjoying - Keep it coming!

 

[kdenn]

Ditto!!

 

[Vanguard2279]

I have neglected to mention that my good friend @norfolk shooter was going to come with us on this hunt. Sadly, he's stuck in the UK due to draconian measures to limit Covid. I'm hoping to visit the UK this August, but I'm not holding my breath. I just hope that "he of the lime green slacks" can make it to DSC in 2022. We have a buffalo hunt planned with KMG for April 2022.
I also wanted to share a few photos of the accommodations which I found very comfortable. Each day, we would have breakfast in the larger "chalet" that I was staying in. Lunch & dinner would be eaten in another building by the pool.

 

[Wheels]

I have neglected to mention that my good friend @norfolk shooter was going to come with us on this hunt. Sadly, he's stuck in the UK due to draconian measures to limit Covid.

Bummer. South Africa doesn't know what they missed out on without the two of you together.

Like I always say, you can tell a quality outfitter, if they provide the client a mustache strainer for high tea.

 

[jacques smith]

Nice read, sounds like a fun time, excellent Nyala. Keep up the good work
U should enjoy hunting with Marius next spring

 

[gillettehunter]

Great start to your hunt. Looking forward to the rest of it.
Bruce