SOUTH AFRICA: First Hunt With Alpha Pride Safaris

[skydiver386]

Heading about 20 minutes southeast we started glassing for Tina's Tiny Ten and spotted this fine Duiker. Tina scored a perfect hit with her Savage .257 Roberts. This turned out to be the best picture of the entire hunt.

 

[skydiver386]

After that it was back to the Lodge and clean up for dinner. Nearly every meal we had wild game of some type, and this evening it was Sable, with a type of Cole Slaw, veggies and mocha liquor ice cream dessert that I can't recall the name of. Then it was off to bed for the night.

 

[skydiver386]

The next morning it was time for a little Wingshooting over a waterhole. This was the end of the dry season, and you can see for a long distance most of the vegetation is gone. Great amounts of sand grouse and dove became dinner that night, wrapped with bacon of course.

 

[skydiver386]

We did see plenty of Giraffe and one especially sharp colored male. There were some smaller ones among the groups, and I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for them. I know Giraffe can get moisture from what they eat higher than most other animals can reach, but as dry as it was things had to be hard on the young ones. Hope the rains come soon.

 

[skydiver386]

One area we hunted was right on the border with Botswana, and a wide dry riverbed forms that border. We spotted some poachers on the far side of the fence, and I asked how they could tell they were poachers, my guide said "Greyhounds, they use them to chase the animals and surround it, then they kill it however they can, spears, knives, etc". Wish I had taken a picture of them with their dogs.

 

[skydiver386]

Came across this raggedy bunch, but because we weren't hunting Cape Buffalo we steered clear and gave them lots of room. The one at the top left of this picture looked at me like I owed him money. Tina asked if we could get closer for a photo, but both the guide and I said let's don't and say we did.

 

[skydiver386]

Coming to a small rise just up from the dry riverbed that forms the border, we spotted some Red Hartebeest. Unfortunately just peeking over the hill they spotted us as well. This was the start of a cat and mouse game that took several hours and quite a distance. Finally we found some cover to stalk from, keeping the brush between ourselves and most of the herd, but one female had us pegged. At just over 150 yards Cristo put down the sticks and I fired as soon as the cross hairs settled. Most of the herd was starting to move, but this old boy stared just a bit to long.

 

[skydiver386]

There were a few Waterbuck in this area, but most didn't look to be in very good shape. This past season had been exceptionally dry, and many of the animals showed it. We did see several waterbuck that were dead, and had been partially eaten by Jackals. I was surprised when we spotted a small group of them under some trees. My guide said there was one good bull in the group and I put my Leicas on him and knew we should give him a try. Unfortunately the whole group had us, so we backed off, checked the wind and came around their right side. Most of the group was facing to our right, into the wind as we made our approach. My bull was in the shade under a small tree, facing to my right. At almost exactly 100 yards I fired at him perfectly broadside. I was sure not a one in the bunch had a clue we were there until I fired. He ran maybe 30 yards and piled up. The Barnes X stopped just under the skin on his far side, and was the only animal we didn't get a pass through on.

 

[skydiver386]

That evening we were in an arena that had a good number of Steinbok, and I spotted several at less than 50 yards. One simply walked about 10 feet, faced us and laid down. My guide said that's common as they think you can't see them. We put a stalk on several, but Tina being shorter than Cristo and I, she couldn't see them over the weeds to get a clear shot. I watched several walk away slowly and wondered why she didn't seal the deal, but she told us she never saw a thing, just weeds. We did spot a jackal at close range and we told Tina to shoot, but again, she asked us where it was because she couldn't see it. Late in the afternoon we came across this guy, and Tina had a clear shot. Number 2 on Tina's Tiny Ten list.

 

[skydiver386]

Most days, we did see one or two Impala, but almost all were females and the rams we did see were very young. My guide said we should look at a place he knew not far away that was still slightly green. After about a 45 minute drive we came to a place much greener than where we had been, but not many large trees. Quite the change in a relatively short distance. Anyway there were plenty of Impala in that area. All of them looked good to me, but as usual, I was told these were young. I had learned to trust Christo, and so we kept looking. About 10 in the morning we spotted a group of about 6 Impala, with 5 females and one big male. Christo whispered "There's your Impala" and we went wide around them in the direction they were feeding. Stalking was difficult, but the Impala kept their heads down feeding most of the time. At 80 yards we whispered quietly that after the ram moved left just a little, and presented us a shot, we would take him. Just then he moved away from the females, Christo set up the sticks, I got my rifle on him and just as his eyes met mine the trigger broke. The shot went through him quartering from his front left shoulder to about his midsection on his right side. He dropped at the shot.

 

[skydiver386]

A better look at this old boy from the front. You can see the entrance wound and exit wound in the photos. The 150 grain X bullet did a fine job. There were larger ones in the area that we saw, but they were younger than this guy. I'd rather have the old bull, and let someone enjoy those younger ones in a few years.

 

[skydiver386]

This is Tina's Boma, or blind. We knew the Springbok were very skittish in this area, so we figured a blind might work. Within a half an hour after sitting down, we had animals approaching from a small knoll about 200 yards straight in front of us. At 120 yards Tina shot, but the Springbok wasn't hit hard. He slowly walked away and we had to do some difficult tracking.

We cought up with him in some thick brush about 3/4 of a mile from where the shot was taken. I had Tina's rifle, because if we jumped it, she wasn't keen on trying to take a finishing shot on a running animal. When he did burst from cover, I simply put the cross hair on him and fired. My guide was most thoroughly impressed with my shooting, but all I felt was relief. If you're hunted long enough, you have one shot that goes bad. This story had a happy ending. The photos were taken in a bit of a hurry while the pronk was still standing up. Team effort paid off on this one.

 

[skydiver386]

After we had things sorted out, my guide told Tina and I to put our nose down close to the pronk, and see what we smelled. I thought, this must be the part where they play a trick on the unsuspecting new guy, but he insisted. Smelled just like cotton candy back home at the State Fair. We all had a laugh and I learned something new that day.

 

[skydiver386]

We were lucky enough to collect our Springbok just as it was getting dark. After dinner we did a bit of night hunting with the guides rifle. No jackals came to the call, but we did see Springhare, and a surprising number of bat eared Fox. None were taken though, as this wasn't on license.

 

[skydiver386]

In all, I'd give Alfa Pride the highest marks. Great lodging, truly fine dinning, lots of laughter and a family atmosphere. Every effort was made to ensure that Tina and I were comfortable, well fed, and most of all had the hunt and memories to last a lifetime. Alfred the Skinner and Steppy the house maid were very nice and helpful. And last but not least, Woffie the tracking dog. My job was to keep Woffie thoroughly unemployed, and we succeeded.

 

[BRICKBURN]

..... This turned out to be the best picture of the entire hunt.View attachment 568351

Great image.

 

[skydiver386]

Great Kudu and Warthog! Seems like this is a good outfitter.

HH

We had a great time. There was plenty of joking and good natured teasing. Tina loves giraffe, and when she saw some newborns she said "Aww, it's so cute, it even looks like it's smiling." From then on it was, "Look Tina, a Gemsbok (or whatever) and it's SMILING!" Lol. Smiling Giraffe and the DOOM treatment were the running jokes all week long.

 

[Frederik]

Thanks for sharing and some great animals taken.

 

[375Fox]

Congratulations and Nice report. You might ask the moderators to change the name from Alfa to Alpha in the title and first post so someone can find it with a search in the future if they are doing some research on them.

 

[skydiver386]

Congratulations and Nice report. You might ask the moderators to change the name from Alfa to Alpha in the title and first post so someone can find it with a search in the future if they are doing some research on them.

I'll see if Brickburn can square that away for me. Not sure what I was thinking with that spelling. ;-)