SOUTH AFRICA: Hunt With Limcroma Safaris

[RStien321]

Day 4
Now that the Buffalo was down, our pace slowed a bit. Instead of breakfast at 5:30am, it was now at 6:30am. There was also this feeling of weight being lifted off our groups collective plate. A 2:1 hunt with a Bull Buffalo means that it is going to take up a lot of the time, so it felt good to have that part of the hunt successfully wrapped up.

My brother did have a buffalo cow on his list, and one of the preferred ways to pursue them is to identify a cow that has been pushed out of the herd and make a plan to hunt that lone mature female. The other way is to hunt a herd and try to pick a single mature female from the group and get a shot on it. Fortunately, the trackers at Limcroma did identify a female that had been spotted solo from the herd and had started to pattern her. Ryan let us know that if the pattern persisted for 3-days we would make a move on the cow.

We started Day 4 in pursuit of Impala on a farm that was INCREDIBLY thick. My brother was first up on Impala, and with how thick the property was, it definitely wasn't a small task. We had a few failed stalks, and as we were driving the property the PH quickly signaled for the truck to stop and said "Let's go." I take that as code for "minimal crew, it's go time." I stayed on the truck as we pulled away. I didn't have a great view to the stalk, but I know this much. It was quick. And it was quite effective. The 375 Ruger made short work of a beautiful Impala Ram.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

That buffalo must have died from lead poisoning! Did you recover any or all of the bullets?

 

[RStien321]

Day 4 Continued
We made a few other attempts at Impala during the morning, but eventually threw in the towel and went to lunch.

After lunch we went to a property that had both Impala and Sable as the primary targets. A short drive into the property and we were quickly on a group of Impala rams. There was about 400 yards between us and the rams, and that distance was primarily through some moderately thick brush. As we went through the stalk, Ryan kept checking on the Rams to ensure they didn't bust and we could continue to close distance. We crawled the final few yards to get in position (roughly 70-80 yards away), and Ryan quickly set the sticks up, and told me to take ram on the right. The Ram was quartering away and I put the cross hairs on the shoulder and took the shot. The Ram immediately dropped and we had another animal in the salt.

We continued to drive the property in pursuit of Sable. We spotted a few very nice Kudu bulls, but neither my brother nor I had Kudu on our list for this Safari. As the afternoon wore on, the PH spotted a few Warthog. Now, interestingly, Warthog had been quite hard to come by due to flooding that happened in the region earlier in the year. Warthog was also one of the animals that was quite high on my brother's list. I watched as the PH, my brother and camera man quickly hopped off the truck. I watched from the truck as they quickly closed the distance and my brother got on the shooting sticks. Then the waiting started. From my seat, I couldn't figure out what on earth was taking so long. What I missed from the truck was Ryan's work to confirm that the Warthog was mature and was what my brother was actually after. Once Ryan felt good on the animal, the 375 Ruger made short work of it and we had another awesome animal down to wrap up Day 4 with Limcroma.

 

[RStien321]

That buffalo must have died from lead poisoning! Did you recover any or all of the bullets?

Haha - dang near. It sounded like World War III broke out! Didn't get a chance to look if any of the bullets were recovered on the animals we took!

 

[archer36]

Great hunt.

 

[RStien321]

Day 5
We were making quick work of the animals we wanted to take on Safari! Day 5 morning was going to start with Sable as our target, and if things went well, we might pursue the Buffalo Cow as the wind was going to be really favorable in the afternoon. Another challenge in play was the wind speed was expected to pick up and stay a bit higher through the remainder of our hunt, which could have its own complications.

Activity was very minimal the morning of Day 5. The wind was howling, and animals were very very skittish. The property we hunted was quite large and boarded the Limpopo river. We were literally just across from Botswana on this concession. We hadn't seen Sable all morning, and were getting close to calling it a morning when the PH spotted an awesome Sable bull in clearing a few hundred yards off. The PH put a quick plan together and we closed the distance by stalking through a clearing to give us the best shot possible. Once we got to the end of the stalk I was amazed at the scenario we were in. We had a great shooting lane, we were 10 yards deep in the thicket giving us great cover from any animals that would see us, and the wind was blowing directly in our face. I was on sticks, I could see the Sable, and all he needed to do was continue on his path and it would be a 45 yard rifle shot. The Sable read the script, entered the clearing, and the 7x57 found its mark. The Sable took off fast and ran nearly 100 yards before going down in the field and quickly expiring.

I was amazed at not only how beautiful, but also how big the Sable is! Such an awesome animal to hunt, and felt fortunate to make it happen with a great plan from Ryan.

 

[archer36]

Great hunt.

 

[RStien321]

Day 5 (continued)
During lunch, Ryan informed us that we were going to prioritize going after the Buffalo cow. With the potential for increased wind speed later in the week he didn't want to risk the cow going off pattern. We entered the concession a bit after 4pm and started the search was on. It didn't take long to find the cow was sticking to the script as Ryan spotter her through the thickets. My brother, Ryan, and camera man quickly got off the truck to put a stalk on to close the distance. A short while later I heard a shot ring out. Shortly after a second shot followed. A minute later a third shot was fired. Ryan's voice came through the radio and the tracker drove the truck up to the Cape buffalo cow that was down! This was a great end to Day 5, and we were quickly working through some great hunts as we went through our list with Limcroma!

 

[RStien321]

Day 6
We started Day 6 on a new concession pursuing Blesbok. I always viewed Blesbok as an animal that is relatively easy to hunt, comes as part of your plains game package, and is just something you tack on to your hunt because it's so inexpensive. This was not the experience I had with my Blesbok hunt.

I think I was on sticks with animals in my scope more times on Blesbok than every other animal combined up to this point in the hunt. A combination of animals being in front of the target, behind the target, or the Blesbok just constantly moving. At one point in the three hours of stalking Blesbok, the herd busted back towards us, running just a few yards away from us. Not sure if anyone has been trampled by Blesbok, but we came dang close. As the animals calmed down we put what would prove to be the final stalk on. We crawled the last 20-30 yards to get in position. I was on sticks for what felt like an eternity waiting for animals to clear, and then finally was provided a shot. It was the one plains game that I needed to put a finishing shot on due to hitting the Blesbok a back on the first shot. But the good news is we then had a hard earned Blesbok down!

We were close to lunch by the time I had my Blesbok down, but Ryan said if we got a shot at another one on the way out, we'd try to make it happen. As luck (or skill) would have it, Ryan spotted a Blesbok herd. My brother made a short stalk and connected on a shot just over 150 yards on his Blesbok and we had another one down!

At this point we had three and a half days of hunting left, and my brother was completely through his list of animals, I only had an Nyala left on my list, so we decided to take the afternoon off to rest. And I decided to take another look at the bank account to see if I could pull off adding another animal to the hunt!

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Excellent report! My wife and I had the privilege of meeting you and your brother at that camp and can’t say enough good things about you both. Congratulations on an excellent Safari!

HH

 

[RStien321]

Day 7
I kicked off the morning by letting Ryan know that I was open to adding Bushbuck to my list of animals to hunt. My logic was we had multiple days yet to hunt, I wanted to maximize our time in Africa, and Bushbuck are allegedly some of the hardest animals to hunt. I also found out that my PH Ryan was obsessed with Bushbuck - so it was a perfect thing to add to our hunt!

The morning of Day 7 was quite uneventful. We spent the morning in search of Nyala but didn't put eyes on a bull - a few ewes, but nothing of note.

The evening of Day 7 we gave Bushbuck our first attempt. Ryan set the stage that Bushbuck were a challenging animal to hunt, and that he also would not hunt them at night. It wasn't to knock those that do hunt Bushbuck at night, but it was based on his personal respect for the animal and to hunt it with all its senses available. It was how he was raised to hunt them and how he takes clients hunting to that day. I was very excited to do things his way an embrace the experience!

The concession we were hunting was the same one I had taken the Sable on during Day 5. Our plan was to walk the concession following the Limpopo river and hunt with our eyes for Bushbuck. The hunt was amazing - so much wildlife including Hippo and a ton of Crocodile! We walked just over three miles to cover the entire concession and spotted several female Bushbuck and one male that was quick to evade us through the bush.

On the way back, past an area we had walked by not 20 minutes prior, Ryan quickly pulled up his binoculars and identified a Bushbuck and it was a ram. He quickly deployed the shooting sticks and I got my rifle setup on the target. At first I thought I was looking at a rock, but as I zoomed the scope in I recognized what was unmistakably the front shoulder of the target. Ryan told me to be ready and he wanted to confirm the maturity of the ram. He said, "Good ram, take it on the shoulder." I didn't need telling twice and sent a round from my 7x57 into the shoulder of the ram anchoring it on the spot from close to 150 yards out.

Ryan was as excited as I had seen him after 7 days of hunting, and I could tell how special Bushbuck hunting was to him and was so excited to get to share that experience with him. I also realized how fortunate I as to take a Bushbuck in my first few hours ever pursuing them - Ryan talked about how there are customers who take multiple safaris in pursuit of Bushbuck. Not a trophy I had planned for, but one of the more unforgettable moments of the trip!

 

[RStien321]

Excellent report! My wife and I had the privilege of meeting you and your brother at that camp and can’t say enough good things about you both. Congratulations on an excellent Safari!

HH

Thank you! We had a great time getting to meet you and your wife as well - hope you had success on the Leopard!

 

[RStien321]

Day 8 and Day 9
The Bushbuck was intended to take up more time, but after a successful first hunt for Bushbuck, it would be up to the Nyala to command the focus of the rest of our Safari.

We drove out to a property a bit further from camp that was nearly 70,000 acres in size. The action started off quick with several Nyala spotted, but with how thick the property was we weren't able to get a shot with how thick the property was. The property was dense with animals and we saw Kudu, Zebra, Wildebeest, and Impala as well. Around midday Ryan decided our best path forward was to build a blind over a water hole and plan to hunt Nyala that way. Before hunting the blind we went to a classic South Africa restaurant - Kentucky Fried Chicken.

After lunch we hunted from the hide, and a small Nyala bull came in along with a few ewes, but not what we were looking for. At the very very end of shooting we had a chance at a mature Nyala bull, but with having a videographer on the trip, we decided to pass and use our last day to do our best to capture the Nyala hunt on camera!

We started Day 9 with coolers packed for lunch. We were back at the same property and we were prepared to hunt all day for Nyala to make it happen. We started the day driving through the property to see if we could spot some Nyala on hoof in the morning. We weren't successful in that pursuit, so we went back to the blind Ryan and team built the day before. Not 10 minutes after getting to the blind, the same young Nyala bull came back. It should speak to how long this bull was at the watering hole yesterday that I could identify it was the same bull without the help of Ryan. I had shot the Nyala in my head no less than 50 times the day before. The same young bull hung out for about 30 minutes at the blind before leaving along with the 4 ewes he came in with.

After another hour I spotted a ewe coming to the watering hole - as more ewes came in I could tell they were a different group than had been in with the young bull. I let Ryan know and he said to keep looking because he could hear more animals coming in - I was beyond impressed that he could hear that nuance because I heard absolutely nothing! Soon not one but two Nyala bulls were at the watering hole. I could immediately tell these two were bigger, and Ryan slowly moved into a position to better judge the animals. After a thorough assessment Ryan confirmed that both bulls were mature and quality trophies, and that whichever one offered a clean shot was one we should take. Now the dance begins.

The animals were in view, out of view, had ewes in front of them, then behind them. Fortunately my nerves were completely under control because I had these bulls in my crosshairs on and off for several minutes. Finally you could tell the moment of truth was coming. Just one more Nyala ewe needed to clear. And then the bull moved. And two more were in front of it. CRIPES. More time went by, including a window where it looked like both bulls had left the hole, but one of them came back and was in the clear. Ryan gave the go ahead and I fired the 7x57 Mauser. The Nyala spun in place and went down. It's head rising and falling, slower and slower. Ryan said, "If it stands up be ready to put another one in him." As if on queue the bull stood up and took off in one fluid motion. Not two seconds later a loud crash came from the brush.

We waited a few minutes and went to investigate. Ryan asked me to wait as he walked into the bush - he waived me forward and pointed to where the Nyala had just crossed a broad opening. I was stunned as I felt so good on my shot, and with the crash assumed the Nyala was down. Then a grin came across Ryan's face as he pointed into the bush the other direction to the Nyala bull that was down.

 

[RStien321]

Wrap up
Our experience with Limcroma was amazing. Great facilities, Ryan was an awesome PH, and we had a great concessions to hunt. I had been planning to get back to Africa since 2017, and Limcroma has been at the top of my list since that point due to the reputation they have built and what I have read of them here on AfricaHunting.com.

I was very pleased with how the 143 grain Hammer Hunter bullets performed on game. The only thing I would say I disliked on the bullet was the lack of a blood trail they produced. At the same time, only one animal required a follow up shot, and that was a hunter induced error. Even then the animal was severely laid up by that first shot. I don't think I would hesitate to use them again on Safari - my initial plan was to use either a 175 grain partition or 160 grain A Frame, but I just couldn't get either to shoot how I would like (greater than 1.5" groups, and not consistent). And the Hammer bullet was shooting legitimate sub 0.5" groups at 100 yards.

I won't hesitate to go back to Limcroma, and have a small list already started for a hopeful return to Africa in the future.

Also - I didn't touch on it much in the hunting report, but I elected to hire Southern Cross Productions through Limcroma to video the hunt. Shaun at Southern Cross is amazing. If you have ever thought about videoing a hunt and had any reservations on having a videographer because maybe they'd be in the way or be a distraction, throw those out the window. Shaun is amazing and an asset to the hunt while also capturing awesome video to capture your hunt in a very unique way!

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Thank you! We had a great time getting to meet you and your wife as well - hope you had success on the Leopard!

Thank you and yes we did. The report is upcoming as I have been slammed from being gone almost 5 weeks in Africa.

HH

 

[Rare Breed]

That buffalo must have died from lead poisoning! Did you recover any or all of the bullets?

Love the rounded off right horn showing a good old dagga boy perfect buff to take…well done!!!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Well done.
Thanks for sharing your adventure.

 

[Firebird]

I love that bull-Sooo much character!

 

[Adipose]

Thank you. What a great report. My wife and I are about 3 hours from landing in Joberg and Limcroma is one of the places we are hunting with this trip. Congratulations on a fantastic safari. This was a great read for the flight.

 

[RStien321]

Thank you. What a great report. My wife and I are about 3 hours from landing in Joberg and Limcroma is one of the places we are hunting with this trip. Congratulations on a fantastic safari. This was a great read for the flight.

Glad it could provide some entertainment and hopefully some excitement as you wrap up the flight! Best of luck on your hunt - I’m sure you’ll have a great time with Limcroma!