SOUTH AFRICA: Improvise, Adapt & Overcome With JKO HUNTING SAFARIS

[BeeMaa]

Wow that is a cool bull. Nice story!

Where was the first shot on the bull?

Three inches to the left of center on the chest. If it had been a proper shot, he would’ve run about 100 yards. Again stressing the importance of a well placed first shot. And a quick follow up wouldn't hurt either.

One of the recovered bullets is from the initial shot, but I’m not sure which one. Although I know it’s not the one found in the stomach and not the one missing the petals. One of the three in the middle.

The one missing the petals was recovered in the back leg after penetrating through a tree while shooting on the run.

 

[WAB]

Congratulations, way to hang in there!

 

[VertigoBE]

Waidmannsheil on a tank of a Buffalo @BeeMaa ! And congrats on keeping your cool and seeing things through. Luckily there is a happy end for all involved.

I’ve been in your shoes on a cape eland, the feeling of letting yourself and the whole team down is not fun at all.

Looking forward to the rest of the story!

Cheers!

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats so far, look forward to more!

 

[JES Adventures]

Good on you @BeeMaa, Perseverance and Prayer always paid off for me when pursuit becomes difficult.

JES

 

[BeeMaa]

Congrats so far, look forward to more!

My writing is a work in progress. LOL. I have to find time after work to complete it. Appreciate the well wishes.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Congratulations on the first buff @BeeMaa. I knew part but not all of the story, it was good to read it in full. I know nothing of the second bull and look forward to the rest of that story!

 

[shootist~]

Great bull - so glad you were able to finish him. Will be in your dreams for some time to come.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Nice old warrior, I had a similar incident with my first buff, I put three 416 Rigbys into him just before dark, we found him the next day still on his feet 200 yards from where I shot him and finished the job. Hunts don't always go as planned, that's why we call it hunting instead of shooting.

 

[Fatback]

Congrats on a fine buffalo bull. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your safari.

 

[BeeMaa]

Back to the story...

It’s amazing that such a large animal can nearly disappear in nothing more than tall grass and shrubs. Even more amazing is the ability of the trackers to pick up on those visual cues. All I can see is a tiny black hump amongst the grass and it’s about 70 yards away. PH2 explains the plan; stalk to within 30 yards, set up the sticks and he will do a cow call to get the bull to stand up. Once he stands, the PH will make the call on where to shoot. Did I mention the stalk will happen across dried grass that sounds like potato chips when walked on…awesome.

We are hunched over and moving slowly from bush to bush for cover. I’m walking in the footsteps and placing my foot down at the same time the PH is in an effort to minimize the noise, but it still sounds loud to me. There is a good wind that is blowing in our face that is probably helping mask the noise and carry it away from the bull. My heart is pumping but my mind is focused as PH2 points to the last bush between us and the bull. We get to that bush; the sticks open up and my rifle is set. The bull is still completely unaware of our presence…perfect. The PH lets out a cow call…nothing. We wait a moment and he does another call…still nothing. I’m consciously focused on the task at hand but can’t help but think that this guy is taking a serious nap. One more cow call…and the bull comes to his feet glaring at us. Distance to target is 18 yards and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. This is why I came to Africa.

 

[BeeMaa]

The bull stands up, his lower chest is obscured by the tall grass, PH2 whispers “point of the shoulder” and without hesitation I send the first shot and it SMACKS the right shoulder of the bull. The reload is quick and I’m back on target with another shot…the mud from his coat puffs in the air as my bullet hits. He’s running to my right and I continue to put bullets in him, only stopping to pull cartridges from my belt. Then the bull slows but is still walking away. There is time to set up the sticks. PH2 says “do you see?” and I reply, “the shadow line?”, YES…BAM another hit and he’s running again.

As the bull runs away this last time, it slows and turns to looks at us. I’m unaware of it because I’m trying to top up my magazine, but PH2 sees it clearly. After the bull looked at us, he slowly walked into a nest of blackthorn. We have been running for about 200 yards but have stopped at a tree to catch our breath. One of the trackers wants to flank the bull to the left of the blackthorn bush. The PH asks him to go get the bakkie instead. The bull is hurt, we have good blood, there is no reason to rush into that blackthorn without waiting and letting him bleed a while longer. The PH explains that “the look” the bull gave before going into the bush is what he’s seen many times. This bull isn’t running anymore; he’s standing his ground and fighting. This is why we wait.

 

[BeeMaa]

It takes about 20-30 minutes for the bakkie to arrive and we are now better prepared. The PH and I will walk to the left, shoulder to shoulder, guns up and approach the blackthorn. I’ve given him permission to shoot as he sees fit. We slowly walk up on the bush and there he is, standing up broadside with his head to the left in THICK cover. PH2 asks me to take aim about 6” below the hump in his back for a spine shot. We line up and our rifles go off at nearly the same time. The bull spins and runs to the right as I continue to fire and then falls on his right side against some thick brush. Now there is a death bellow while he’s lying down.

I look at my available ammo, all I have left is a solid so I load it. The bull bucks and swings his head like he’s going to get up. I take aim and put the solid through the spine from the rear to do my best at anchoring him. It’s a few more minutes before we slowly walk around the front of the bull and check his eye for a response. We watch as his last breath leaves his body and I take some nearby grass and put it in his mouth to honor this old warrior.

 

[BeeMaa]

I’m in awe of the massive and worn smooth horns on this old bull. And the body on this one seems to be much bigger than the first one. The fight that he put up was incredible. PH2 takes me to a pool of blood that was directly under where the bull was standing. He explains that if he had let the tracker walk where he wanted to, instead of going to get the bakkie, the bull had a clear lane to charge. While we would have zero chance of stopping it. This is where the experience of a PH pays off and I thank him for keeping everyone safe.

Second time in less than a week that I’m opening a beer before 10 am and it feels pretty good. The recovery team arrives with my wife and she comments on the status of my cartridge slides…they are empty. I explained that I would not allow a repeat of the previous buffalo for pride of only shooting once. If he’s still moving, I’m still shooting. Some of the last shots pierced good sized tree branches before getting to the bull. Not often you see .375” holes like this.

 

[BeeMaa]

Trophy pictures complete, we pop a bottle of champagne and have a toast to our formidable quarry and all those that made it possible. As the bull is loaded up for the skinning shed, I notice it seems to be much larger than the first one. The PH and ranch manager agree that this one will be over 1000 kilos (2200 lbs). I’m not an expert on such things but he’s definitely a big boy. Pictures from the skinning shed show the massive size of the neck and compared to the first one, this is HUGE!

Not all the bullets were recovered (big surprise) but from the ones that were left to right. Woodleigh Hydro Solid into the spine recovered somewhere in the boiler room. Not sure where that TSX came from. Next TSX recovered in the stomach (obvious from the color) but no point of origin is known. Flattened TSX was my initial shot on the point of the shoulder. Swift A-Frame from the PH’s rifle with no info on location or origin. Everything weighed 300 grains except the SAF that was 281.

 

[schmijar]

That over the shoulder picture is INCREDIBLE.

 

[BnC 04]

Outstanding @BeeMaa, what a great trip yall had!

 

[BeeMaa]

It’s good to be back at the lodge and relaxing before lunch. I make a few trips to the skinning shed and pay them each as I did last time. I also leave them with a good amount of Hershey’s Nuggets and Lifesavers to power them through the task. We take the rest of the day off. My wife’s eye appears to be getting better, not great but at least better. PH2 and I make a plan to do a game drive tomorrow and let her take the lead. She’s been hamstrung at the lodge not wanting to put limitations on my hunt because of her eye. The least I can do is let her have a few days to spot game…and she really knows how to spot ‘em.

And that’s what we do for the next few days is look at game and track animals. I saw a leopard early in the hunt with PH1, and I was hoping she would have a chance as well but it didn’t happen. We did spot some amazing sable and one kudu they were estimating at 57” and 58”…a real big one. Not to mention the huge buffalo herds we saw on more than one occasion.

 

[BeeMaa]

Sadly, our time came to an end. We left early in the morning for Pretoria to stop at the Jonsson clothing outlet…we love these shirts. One more stop at Safari and Outdoor (also in Pretoria) before heading to the airport. We say our goodbyes to PH2 & his tracker at the airport. We were well taken care of by JKO Hunting Safaris and I’ll be looking to book another hunt with them…maybe lion? Maybe talk to Jacques at SCI in 2026? We will see.

The flight, it’s long but again comfortable because of the nicer seats in business class. Home the following day and the inevitable jet lag for a bit. We both took a few extra days on the backend of this to readjust, but it still doesn’t seem to be working. LOL.

Take aways from the safari.
- We love going to RSA, too many reasons to list.
- We can’t wait to come back and do it all over again.
- Learned a lot about hunting buffalo you can’t from YouTube or books.
- Staying positive, even in the face of adversity, is key.
- I might need a bigger caliber rifle; however The Dept of Finance will not be approving anything soon. LOL.

Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. I hope you enjoyed our little hunt report and appreciate you taking the time to read it. Cheers.

 

[BeeMaa]

That over the shoulder picture is INCREDIBLE.

My new wallpaper on my phone.

Photo taken from a video that the PH made for me. For that one, the tracker was holding the phone because PH2 was busy backing me up. LOL.