SOUTH AFRICA: Frontier Safaris Eastern Cape 05/01-05/10

[Field28]

05/06
Over the mountain to try and kill a springboks. I miss two shots, something wrong with the rifle.
We stop on the way back to put a can of diesel in on the way home.

 

[Field28]

Say a prayer for our friends in ZA today with their elections!

 

[Field28]

05/07
After the rifle problems of the previous two days. I decided to shoot Barry P's suppressed 308. I'm still not a fan of the 308, but man am I believer in the suppressor now.

I was hunting a basic package but had a few animals that I was willing to add on. My most desired add on was a bushbuck. They just intrigued me, funny how these African animals have a way of growing on you.

We start heading up the mountain. Barry leans out the window to tell Timba...
We're looking for a black wildebeest, a red hartebeest, bushbuck. Before Barry could complete the word bushbuck, Timba starts tapping on the roof. Bushbuck!

We walk to the edge of a kloof and there is an old ram about to slip back into the bush. Sticks up, bushbuck down!

 

[PARA45]

Love how dark that Bushbuck is. Keep it coming, enjoying your report.

 

[Field28]

05/07
Continued
We take the bushbuck back to the skinners. I'm doing a wall pedestal with that one. We head back out looking for kudu. We see some nice bulls just can't get to them. On the way out we notice the gate we shut earlier in the day is wide open with noticeable damage to the wire on the gate.

A kudu calf is lying by the gate. It had run into the gate so hard that it broke its neck. Still alive, I ask Barry if he wants me to put a bullet in it or should we cut it's throat. Timba cuts it's throat and it bleeds out. I look at Barry and say I thing we should take this meat by to camp, he replies... anything less would be a sacrilege.

When we get back to camp I tell the lodge manager Ian that I have a favor to ask. Let that calf hang for a day or two, then let's cut out the tenderloins and backstraps and throw them on the braai for an appetizer. Agreed.

 

[Field28]

05/08
The wind shifts back out of the South and temps drop quickly. The focus is kudu for the day. We stalk several nice bulls during the day. One bull we parallel down in a sloot for about a mile and a half. A damned baboon is following us the whole way barking and giving us away. We hunt hard the whole day working numerous bulls just can't get right.

 

[Field28]

05/09
We've still got a kudu, impala and a warthog to fill on the package.
We head to another concession up on the Fish River. The hunt starts out with Timba and an unexperienced tracker from that farm. We go to make a move on a stud impala ram. Barry and I make great stalk moving behind acacias to a decent shooting distance only to have the ram haul ass. I think it was the new tracker, we take him back and call for a backup local tracker, this one knew how to hunt!

We spot some young bulls and cows. A few minutes later we come up on a finished bull at around 250 yards. Sticks up, he's hit and runs. Barry and the two trackers take off after the bull in some thick bush, I opt to stay at the truck.

I doze off for a few and wake up as Barry is starting up the truck. I ask did you find blood? He tells me they did find blood but we now have a f@ck all problem on our hands now. I ask him what? With a grin Barry says, I've got to figure out how to drive the truck to your bull mate!

 

[bashaw]

Oh yeah, shout out to Rys from Nyla Republic! We will definitely film the next hunt man!

Rhyss filmed my hunt in EC with Huntshoek a year ago, a great guy had beers with him in April in Joburg before my Elephant hunt

 

[Field28]

05/09
Round two
The same farm that we shot the kudu on is also loaded with impala. We drive around that late afternoon and see a good many small rams. We drive and see a shooter standing down in a sloot. I take a shot and him he runs. We end up putting four bullets into him before he falls for good. Damn, African animals are tough.
He's a shooter, nothing overly impressive.

 

[Field28]

Few other cool pics from that afternoon.

We came across this on the side of a hill.
According to Barry, this was the grave if a British soldier from the Anglo Boer War.

Couple of Bat Eared Foxes on the way home!

 

[Gerty]

Awesome post. I'll be en route to Frontier Safari's this coming Sunday !!

 

[Field28]

Awesome post. I'll be en route to Frontier Safari's this coming Sunday !!

You will have a blast!
Do me a favor and tell Barry P, Ryan, Andrew, Ivan, Deon, Kian and Jason to drink a cold Castle or Windhoek in honor of Dave!

You're going to be with a great crew on some beautiful land with lots of animals .
Take it all in!

 

[Field28]

Rhyss filmed my hunt in EC with Huntshoek a year ago, a great guy had beers with him in April in Joburg before my Elephant hunt

I was whatsapping Rhyss earlier today.
He's filming up in Namibia!

 

[Field28]

Better picture of that kudu

 

[PARA45]

Wow, that's a big Kudu for the EC. Congratulations, beautiful animal.

 

[Field28]

Wow, that's a big Kudu for the EC. Congratulations, beautiful animal.

We weren't too far from Free State.

 

[Field28]

Better picture of the bushbuck.

 

[Field28]

The gemsbok.

 

[Field28]

05/10
Last day of hunting.
We still have a warthog to kill.
We stay at the lodge a little later, most of the pigs we had been seeing were mid morning to afternoon. We locate a nice pig with some sows, put on a stalk but he gives us the slip.
Head to Grahamstown for lunch then we decide to check the same spot from earlier with a different angle of approach.
There he is a Stud Boar at 100 yards in a clearing. We finish strong with plenty of daylight left and get an early start in the boma!

 

[Field28]

Alright, time to wrap this review up.
Lucked up on the flight back and had the whole aisle to myself.

Flying into the sunset in Africa was pretty cool but flying back with the sunrise was impressive as well.