Lancaster
AH senior member
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2017
- Messages
- 66
- Reaction score
- 134
- Location
- North of England and Scotland
- Media
- 9
- Member of
- British Deer Society, British Association of Shooting & Conservation
- Hunted
- South Africa
Part 1
I embarked on very much an entry ‘level’ African safari this year and hunted cull plains game for a couple of days in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. I now have the bug!
We have been to Africa before but on photographic safaris only. My eldest daughter has been volunteering for a couple of months in Port Elizabeth so we decided, as a family to go and see her. We flew from Heathrow to Johannesburg then got a transfer to PE, we then all went to Addo Elephant National Park and stayed in an amazing SanParks self catering lodge called Nyathi where we saw 4 of the Big 5 from our balcony/plunge pool/bath!
From Addo it was a three hour drive NNE to Huntershill http://www.huntershillsafaris.co.za/ which I chose because A. it was not far from Addo and B. a friend locally here in the UK is the UK agent C. they have just about every species you could wish to hunt on one (55,000 acre) property so no time wasted driving between ranches. It is fenced, as are most places in SA but is so big you certainly don’t feel they are not free roaming. (photo 66d the lodge)
We were greeted on arrival by my PH Lloyd and after a quick chat went off to the range. I was borrowing a rifle, it was a well-used Howa in .308 with a Vortex scope but two shots within ½ inch just above the bull confirmed it and I were up to the job. As it was after the main season we were the only guests there.
I was hunting cull plains game. The costs were amazingly reasonable, less than a 3rd than one would pay for a stag/buck in the UK and the accommodation/food/booze about the same (the Rand is weak.) I explained to Lloyd that I liked ‘stalking in close’ rather than long range shooting but now I’ve been once I will ask to do even more on foot and less in the bakkie (truck.)
We were then off and drove for about a mile with tracker Lucas on the back spying. We parked near an escarpment and Lloyd explained we’d climb up on a kopje as below was a favourite place for Black Wildebeest to graze. Sure enough as we neared the top we saw a herd of about a dozen about 120 yards below. We edged slowly to get in position with my knees collected every acacia thorn in the vicinity along the way. It was the first time I had seen Black Wildebeest and they are indeed strange looking animals. I managed to get a rest on a rock and Lloyd pointed out and old bull that was broadside. As his walk paused I put the cross hairs on his shoulder and squeezed. A good sounding ‘thwack’ reported and he gave a good ‘buck’ before turning to his right and running off in to some scrub with the herd.
Lloyd confirmed he thought the shot was good. We gave it a minute or two and then went down to the shot site. Our tracker Lucas (who Lloyd spoke to in Xhosa) found some blood and then I was very relieved when Luca pointed out my bull laid stone dead about 70 yards away hit through the both lungs. My first African animal, Lloyd said he was an old bull so a good one take to take out. I was chuffed, it had taken me many years to get there but I’d finally fulfilled a childhood dream and hunted in Africa
I embarked on very much an entry ‘level’ African safari this year and hunted cull plains game for a couple of days in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. I now have the bug!
We have been to Africa before but on photographic safaris only. My eldest daughter has been volunteering for a couple of months in Port Elizabeth so we decided, as a family to go and see her. We flew from Heathrow to Johannesburg then got a transfer to PE, we then all went to Addo Elephant National Park and stayed in an amazing SanParks self catering lodge called Nyathi where we saw 4 of the Big 5 from our balcony/plunge pool/bath!
From Addo it was a three hour drive NNE to Huntershill http://www.huntershillsafaris.co.za/ which I chose because A. it was not far from Addo and B. a friend locally here in the UK is the UK agent C. they have just about every species you could wish to hunt on one (55,000 acre) property so no time wasted driving between ranches. It is fenced, as are most places in SA but is so big you certainly don’t feel they are not free roaming. (photo 66d the lodge)
We were greeted on arrival by my PH Lloyd and after a quick chat went off to the range. I was borrowing a rifle, it was a well-used Howa in .308 with a Vortex scope but two shots within ½ inch just above the bull confirmed it and I were up to the job. As it was after the main season we were the only guests there.
I was hunting cull plains game. The costs were amazingly reasonable, less than a 3rd than one would pay for a stag/buck in the UK and the accommodation/food/booze about the same (the Rand is weak.) I explained to Lloyd that I liked ‘stalking in close’ rather than long range shooting but now I’ve been once I will ask to do even more on foot and less in the bakkie (truck.)
We were then off and drove for about a mile with tracker Lucas on the back spying. We parked near an escarpment and Lloyd explained we’d climb up on a kopje as below was a favourite place for Black Wildebeest to graze. Sure enough as we neared the top we saw a herd of about a dozen about 120 yards below. We edged slowly to get in position with my knees collected every acacia thorn in the vicinity along the way. It was the first time I had seen Black Wildebeest and they are indeed strange looking animals. I managed to get a rest on a rock and Lloyd pointed out and old bull that was broadside. As his walk paused I put the cross hairs on his shoulder and squeezed. A good sounding ‘thwack’ reported and he gave a good ‘buck’ before turning to his right and running off in to some scrub with the herd.
Lloyd confirmed he thought the shot was good. We gave it a minute or two and then went down to the shot site. Our tracker Lucas (who Lloyd spoke to in Xhosa) found some blood and then I was very relieved when Luca pointed out my bull laid stone dead about 70 yards away hit through the both lungs. My first African animal, Lloyd said he was an old bull so a good one take to take out. I was chuffed, it had taken me many years to get there but I’d finally fulfilled a childhood dream and hunted in Africa