SOUTH AFRICA: Family Safari At Huntershill Safaris (If my wife & kids can do it so can yours!)

[mcdowelr]

On the fifth day I was riding with the tracker on a four wheel mule and a Cape Buffalo cow chased us for a bit as we drove by a waterhole. Fortunately we had a head start but it was an interesting race. The property near Fort Beaufort is about 2600 Hectares and is easy walking terrain. We saw Zebra, Kudu, Waterbuck, Blesbok, Warthog, Duiker, Steinbok, Giraffe, Nyala, Waterbuck and Warthog every day. And yes lots of Impalas!

Noah got an Impala!

 

[mcdowelr]

The girls got in the action.

Lauren got her Impala. (And her first animal)

 

[mcdowelr]

Kelli got an Impala. Her first trophy and a 225 yard shot to boot!

 

[mcdowelr]

Mother Daughter Impala Slayers!

 

[mcdowelr]

Noah, Jonathan and Lauren all took cull Blesboks as well. Sorry for whatever reason we didn't get a pic.

On the 6th day everyone slept in except for me. We were after my trophy warthog that had been eluding me. We stopped what were doing when we came across a Huge Impala Ram with a lot of mass and length. Boyce said he would make Rowland and Ward easy and that they have been trying to get him for some time. He eluded us on two stalks but he nearly messed up when he ran past us and stopped for a second at 20 yards. All I can say is that he caught us by surprise because we were looking were we thought he was. (In front of us) and he came out to our left and did not react in time before he ran into thick cover.

It was getting latter in the morning and Boyce saw a big Warthog across the valley. We glassed him and we could tell he was a big one because we could see the tusks from far off. We hopped out to make a stalk. After a long stalk, we crept to the spot were we had seen him but he wasn't there. We were walking slow and got busted because he was standing down in a little hump right below us hidden. He saw us before We saw him and bolted.

I had been within twenty yards of two great trophy but could not close the deal. We let the trackers take the truck and began walking and stalking towards the lodge with a plan to peek at some waterholes. We crept close to a waterhole in thick brush and could hear pigs snorting all around us. We never saw any males and I ended up taking a cull female out of frustration. The wife and kids had packed up because there was a different group of hunters scheduled to come in. Bruce Niland was there and we got to talking. He suggested that the wife and kids could head back in the SUV and I could carry on hunting. He said he knew a spot that was real good. He called the neighbor and got permission to go on his place. He said "walk down the road real slow and you will get one". The plan worked perfectly. I took this nice one with a forty yard shot less than thirty minutes from going back out again.

 

[mcdowelr]

We took the pig to the skinning shed and hopped in truck to catch up with the family. It was Noah's birthday and we celebrated at dinner that night. Greg generously gave Noah a free trophy animal for his Birthday! We kicked around a couple of ideas and he decided a Black Wildebeest would be cool to hunt and we decided to go out after lunch the next day. The next morning I went out with Boyce to look some Zebras over. I had decided I wanted to take a mature stallion and we glassed several groups and finally spotted and stalked a good male.

 

[mcdowelr]

After lunch the girls went in to town with Karen for girl time. Robbie and Jonathan went culling and took a cow Blue Wildebeest. I went out with Noah on the Black Wildebeest hunt. This is a really challenging hunt here because they hang out in the open and take off if they see a truck. The terrain is hilly and open. We made several unsuccessful stalks and Noah butt crawled with the guide to within 300 yards and took a steady rest off an ant hill and took a shot at a nice bull. He hit it but we could not tell where. He was bleeding out of his mouth so we waited for 45 minutes since the herd had not moved. I asked why they had not run and I was told they did not know where the shot came from. We did not want to rush in and give him a burst of adrenaline. It was going to be dark soon. I held back as they tried to move in closer for a follow up shot. The herd spotted them and took off. We found blood but when we went back to look the next day the blood trail became difficult to find. Sadly we did not recover the trophy while were there. I asked them if they found it if they could ship it to the taxidermist with the rest of our trophies and they said they would. Here is a picture of a cull cow that had a broken leg that Noah took and put out of its misery.

 

[mcdowelr]

In conclusion our time spent with Huntershill was terrific. The eastern Cape is beautiful and offers a variety of terrain. It was a joy to be able to hunt Africa with my family.

Our guide was very knowledgeable of the area and put us on our target list and them some. In fact we were done with our package in five days and shot some extra animals. Our kids called Boyce the MVP of our trip. The staff there went out of our way to make us feel comfortable and gave great service to me and my family. There is plenty of game. Greg the owner was VERY generous and competitive in his pricing in letting all of us enjoy African Hunting. A big thanks to Bruce Niland for helping me with the warthog! I have all the confidence in the world that if you will contact them they will work out whatever you need to make your hunt possible. I cannot recommend them highly enough. If you have questions private message me and I will try to help.

Their website is: http://www.huntershillsafaris.co.za

FYI. Keith Warren from the High Road hunting show was just out there filming some hunts. Here are some clips from you tube of his hunts out there if you would like to see the terrain. If the links dont work just do a you tube search for Keith Warren Eastern Cape.

 

[Pheroze]

I really enjoyed your post! Thanks and I think you guys had a great family adventure

 

[billc]

Great report and what looks to be a trip of a lifetime. I love seeing kids getting the chance to hunt and you even got the wife to so great job. Some very nice pictures also.

 

[Adrian]

Great write up, thank you for posting and congratulations to you and the family on a successful trip.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Congratulations to everyone.
There is sure a lot to see in the EC.

Have to love Jonathan's attitude on the Gemsbok shot.

Thanks for the write up.

 

[ChrisPy]

That is great to see the kids out having a good time. Less than a week and my family will be on there way, if we have half the fun your family had we should have a great adventure

 

[gillettehunter]

Looks like something that the family will remember forever. Congrats on some nice trophies. Nice pics. Really special to have the kids get in on the hunting. They'll have fun sharing with their friends. Bruce

 

[Wheels]

Glad you and your family had a great time. Congratulations.

Thanks for sharing the memories with us.

 

[Royal27]

Great read!!!

I love how the entire a milt was involved. What fun.

 

[Mekaniks]

Congratulations on a great hunt and thank you for the Awesome write up!!

 

[Nyati]

Congrats for a great family adventure, Rob !

 

[Redruff]

Wonderful write up your family adventure. Thank you for sharing!
R.

 

[RickP]

Cool to see that you and the crew had a great time.

The time some buddies and myself were at Huntershill, it seemed too "organized" and structured to cater to high-dollar European "hunters". Not overly impressed with the skinners and their facility. Nor the eatery. Wayyyyyy to stuffy as courses were served with no flexibility and beverages were charges, not included.. I prefer the 'family style' meals I've had.