SOUTH AFRICA: Heading Out For RSA!

[Ryan]

First off Congratulations! It sounds like a great hunt and you learned a lot.

You are correct, plenty of opinions about bullets. As for TTSX, the wisest thing I can say is they're built different so they work different. My simple question is what kind of damage did they do and how far did the animals go? From the report I'd say they worked very well. The pics should show it the difference well, left is a 168 grain TTSX from a 30-06, it still weighs 167 grains. The right is a 150 grain Hornady Interbond now weighing 142 grains. The TTSX is here dropped a zebra with a quartering towards me shot braking the leg, going though the vitals and stopping on the inside of the hide. I have shot 7 other animals in Namibia with that bullet, all pass throughs and all dropped in sight. one of the owners actually made a comment my bullet made more damage to a my second kudu's meat than he liked so obviously there is a lot of hydrostatic shock and trauma from those retained petals. The bullet doesn't expand as much but still does amazing damage no matter what. The down side, if you choose to call it such is it will probably pass through. Hunting a cluster of herd animals could be a difficult. The Interbond was a Dall sheep quartering away it only hit two ribs, one going in and one going out I recall before stopping under the hide. That particular bonded bullet would not have done well on a shoulder, but a heavier one and a different design like a Swift A-Frame would.

In the end it's up to you. Research and choose wisely.

Oops, photos didn't upload.

 

[sestoppelman]

Great hunt, really nice animals, congrats!!! I took a Win 95 lever to RSA a few years ago, no one seemed to care, my outfitter never warned me not to bring one, said others had as well. As to bullets,, the "energy dump" thing is a myth. No such thing, unless the bullet explodes, in which case you may have a dramatic dropping of the animal as long as the bullet makes it inside before it comes apart. Larger caliber bullets are much less apt to do this. A pass thru is often considered a good thing, two holes to bleed from and easier tracking. But like so many things, ask 10 guys and get 10 differing opinions.

 

[sestoppelman]

Braver still entering RSA with a BLR............."No automatic, semi automatic, lever action or slide action firearms are allowed".........(Firearms importation to South Africa. AH) Always thought that a BLR in .358 Win would be perfect for my hunting needs in RSA, but worried they would finally uphold the letter of the law just when I arrived. Great report..........love that tightly curled kudu.....................BTW.......your dad has the best beard in South Africa since Koos de la Rey!........thanks for posting..............FWB

Pretty sure that's erroneous info, as I and many others have taken lever actions to RSA in recent years. There is nothing on the SAPS form about it, nor in the instructions of filling it out on Rifle Permits site. If it was a problem I imagine RSA would own a nice supply of lever guns by now!

 

[flatwater bill]

Sesto............I think you are right, as I have seen many reports showing lever guns..............but as the Devil's advocate, I was just quoting one of my favorite websites.......Africahunting.com...................................FWB

 

[Matt_WY]

Well done! Sounds like a fund trip. Thanks for posting about it. Very nice animals!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats on the hunt! What a fine hartebeest and nyala!!!

 

[Sycamore59]

Continuing....
Back home in Indiana, back to work, back to building my place, and taking care of things, finally time to get the report finished!

Waterbuck: After the time at the river camp we headed back to the main lodge in Winterton. My fiancé had mentioned how she thought a waterbuck was a beautiful animal, so if we ended up with the time I was going to add one to our safari and not tell her. Well, the time was had so waterbuck it is!

With some of the day remaining after arriving in Winterton we headed out to another concession for waterbuck. Driving through the block it was amazing how the property seemed endless. At last light we found a bull near a pond with a few cows off in the distance. A quick dash down the hill and through the tall grass and we were about 200 yds from him. On the sticks and looking through the scope, I could only see the top of his back. Wayne told me to only shoot if I was comfortable. I came off the Ruger and told him I didn’t want to take the shot. No worries he said, smart choice. We watched as the bull moved off and we made our way out.

The next day we were back in the area and waterbuck on the brain. We spotted a young bull sunning himself in the morning sun on hill side early on. Making our way to a large pond we found about 1/2 dozen waterbuck cows but didn’t find any bulls. Wayne said another pond was just up the way so we went to check it out. Another 3-4 cows were there. Wayne suggested we go sit back at the first pond and just watch it for a bit.

Back at the other pond we settled on the mountain side and watched. We saw Nyala, kudu, and warthog while glassing the area. As were we sitting there, we heard something coming up towards us from the right. Next thing we know a waterbuck cow was 35 yds from us and the starring contest was on. Dad, Wayne and I didn’t move a muscle. She knew we didn’t look right and hurried off after a few moments.

After an hour and not seeing any other waterbuck we walked down the hill and headed around the pond. After kicking up a few kudu we turned around and headed back. In the corner of the pond, there stood an awesome bull. Wouldn’t ya know it, it was the only area of the pond we couldn’t see while glassing. The wind was in our favor and the stalk was on. We made it down to the edge of the water 160 yds from him.

He was facing away and didn’t present a shot. A few minutes of feeding went by and he headed towards a cow close by. He stopped broad side, but the grass didn’t present a clear shot. For some reason he got weary, turned around and headed away from the cow. The bull came to a stop before rounding a bush, quartering away. Wayne whispered to me, ‘if he rounds that bush, we’re out of luck. if you can make the shot and comfortable, put it on his shoulder and make it come out below his neck.’ I was steady and squeezed a round off. The ol Ruger barked and I heard a slight report from the impact of the bullet. I reloaded as the bull turned to his left and ran to some bush on the edge of the water. I had a hard time finding the bull again but Wayne got me on him and I leveled the cross hairs on his shoulder. I let the Ruger eat again and heard that hard thud of a report from a shoulder shot. The bull put his head down and ran straight out into the water.

Wayne said, how bout that?! A proper waterbuck, in the water! I was excited and we made our way to him. Without hesitation I stripped my boots and pants and went in after him. I wanted to be the first to put my hands on him. A great animal he was. Looking closer, my first shot went through the meat of his shoulder I hadn’t aimed far enough back and nerves had gotten the best of me. After pics we loaded up and headed for the lodge. My dad was able to film the hunt, and I’ve watched it countless times since, reliving the moment. I sent pics to my fiancé and she was really excited to say the least.

One full day left before leaving and dad had the opportunity to hunt giraffe. Long story short, back to the same area where I harvested my zebra and we were on them. We found the old bull and the stalk was on. Getting to within 40 yds dad made a well place shot on the upper neck and he collapsed. I followed up with a quick back up shot as the ol bull went down, because hey, that opportunity doesn’t come around often.

This was hands down the capstone of the trip and sharing it with my dad the day after he turned 60 was even better. There’s more to this story and this hunt, but some of the best are left untold and only shared with those closest to you.

As always, keep your powder dry.

- Sycamore59

 

[Sycamore59]

Flatwater Bill, I was worried a bit about the lever gun as well. Referencing here first I was really worried cause I was reading through making sure I was squared away. This was 2 weeks before we least. Our guide hadn’t mentioned anything other than no semi autos. I checked SA regs and couldn’t find where lever guns were not allowed. So I figured we’d be alright.

 

[Sycamore59]

Ryan, we didn’t recover any bullets. The giraffe we didn’t dissect enough to get to one. On everything else, the shots were pass throughs.

When the shots were placed in the right spot none of the animals went farther than 30 yds. Looking back I guess that’s hard to beat. Attached are the pics from the carcass of my zebra. First pic is shot side and heck of an entrance hole.

Seems like I’m starting to contradict myself with my bonded bullet statement..the TTSXs preformed well and did what they should, no doubt. And considering what Sesto mentioned i guess at the end of the day all comes back to preference and shot placement.