SOUTH AFRICA: Late Season Safari With Bos en Dal SAFARIS

[AZDAVE]

I am going to start this report off a little different. A bit of history and a rifle's review of performance and shooting.

When I first became a member of AH @Bos en Dal SAFARIS Geritt was the first outfitter that reached out to me. We started off talking about rifles and possible safari with his company. At DSC a year later we met him and his wife. my wife and I decided at some point we would hunt with Bos en Dal. Fast forward 10 years and we were finally able to put together a hunt. We tried to dovetail this in after our Mozambique safari in September, but just couldn't get the stars to align. So I scheduled it for October. My wife wasn't able to make this trip due to competing commitments. So we got everything booked, contacted gracy travel and all the travel/gun arrangement taken care of and just had to wait for October to roll around.

All my flights were on time, I actually got a bit of sleep on the long haul (Which is unusual for me) and made it into Joberg, the meet and greet service handed me off the Bruce from gracy travel and he got me through SAPS picked up you rifles and over to City Lodge for the night. The next morning @Gert Odendaal met me for breakfast at the hotel and we had a nice couple hours discussing rifles and hunting in Africa. At 7AM Geritt and his head PH Rikus met me in the lobby, we loaded my stuff and got on the road.

I will cover the actual hunting later in my report. I wanted to start with a review on the rifles I brought.
Chapuis RGEX 9.3x74 double (The favorite rifle I own, hand down) and a Christensen Arms Mesa in 6.5 Creedmoor.

Now before everyone breaks out their man bun comments, first to me the creed is a modern 6.5x55 ballistically. I use rifle based on the quarry I intend to hunt and 6.5's in my book are for deer/antelope here in the states and blesbok and smaller in Africa. What has got this round a bad name with hunters is that gun writers hyped it up to be the wonder round ets. Well I trust what gun writer say about as much as I do politicians or the press have to say. That and way to many people shooting target and match bullets. Then wondering why they have bullet failure. The manufactures really need to make some tougher hunting bullets in 6.5 so I will get off my soap box and go into the rifle review.

Off the bench with Barnes 127gr bullets it shoots sub MOA out to 500 (Longest target at pour local range) The short fall is that the fit isn't perfect for me. The LOP is way to short but in a low recoil round it isn't a big deal or so I thought. On the hunt I was looking for African Wildcat as my primary target for this rifle. I was able to use it on several jackal's, baboon's and other critters I will detail in the hunting part of the report. When I was able to get squared up behind the rifle and ensure the stock was in the shoulder properly and cheek weld was correct I shot spot on. When I was having to adapt to quick night shots the stock placement was off a bit and cheek weld was forward or back a bit I missed right over the top of the animal. Took me some serious internal AAR review on hits and misses to figure out the reason for my misses. Now I am trying to decide if I am going to restock the MESA to the proper length of pull or just trade it on something that fits better? I broke one of my rules about proper gun fit and educated a couple predators on getting out of dodge before the hunter gets in range.

On my Chapuis double I was hunting with 286gr Aframes. With this rifle I shot 4 animals. 3 with two shots. Every one was hit rifle through the boiler room and they just didn't know they were dead yet so since they were still on their feet I hit them with a second shot them put them down. The last animal was DRT on the first shot, legs out and nose in the dirt. There is a reason this is my favorite rifle. It fits me perfectly, Chapuis regulated it superbly and the balance is perfect. I shoot it well. On this trip It shot from 55-130 meters with hits exactly where I wanted them.

Need to get some pictures downloaded out of my phone and weill continue the report laster today or tomorrow.

 

[mdwest]

a Christensen Arms Mesa in 6.5 Creedmoor.

I own 2x CA Mesa's.. one in 300 PRC.. the other in .308...

I have to say, for the Mesa to be one of CA's more "entry" level firearms.. I am SUPER IMPRESSED with them... both of mine shoot lights out accurate.. and the actions are smooth, the balance is perfect (for me), etc..etc..

While I have traditionally been more of a walnut and blue guy most of my life.. Im going to guess my next few rifle purchases/trades/whatever are probably going to lead me to more CA's...

 

[AZDAVE]

@mdwest We have several christensen's in the house between me and my better half. All are smooth and very accurate. They fit my wife right outta the box. For me it is a new stock of a big spacer and recoil pad.. Since I have a custom in 6.5 creed the christensen is redundant for me but for a hunting rifle much easier to carry. My custom weights in at 11Lbs.

 

[AZDAVE]

I have been thinking about a lioness hunt for several years. The price in a truly wilderness area is not in my budget range! so I gave a lot of thought into the CBL hunts in South Africa and went back and forth. My deciding factor is that I don't want to look back in 20 years and wish I had done this hunt. So no matter what someone else thinks, it made it through my decision process.

My list for this safari was a lioness and African Wildcat. Plus what Africa provides within my budget for the trip. A few of my friends asked about female vs male lion. In watching animal behavior the males lay around, breed, protect the pride and hunt once in a while. While the ladies bear and raise the young and do 97% of the hunting so my thoughts are to hunt the hunter.

Geritt picked me up at the City Lodge and we headed for the Kalahari. What he calls the green Kalahari. The smaller trees and brush look very much like where I live compared to our flora and fauna. Took us about 7 hours to reach the lodge for the area we would be hunting the lioness. Got the bags stowed in the room then had a nice relaxing lunch. After lunch we went to the range to confirm rifles were on after the flights and ride out to our hunting area. We headed out to check for tracks and drag the roads so we would have a place to possibly start looking for tracks in the morning.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Dave, you forgot to mention your abnormal LOP for your height. Looking forward to the rest of the details.

 

[AZDAVE]

Had a nice dinner and got to talk to the outfitter and owner of the lodge at dinner and got some solid sleep. Was still sound asleep when the alarm chimed vs waking up at 3AM to stare at the ceiling. Had a nice breakfast and headed out to check for tracks. about a hour and a half later we came across 3 sets of tracks walking down the road together. Driving around the huge blocks to see if the tracks came out anywhere along the way. In going around several blocks we determined that the 3 lions were in a specific block and dismounted and got on tracks over the next 2 1/2 hours the track separated and went three different ways. So the decision was made which to follow based on wind direction. Spent the next hour weaving in and out of the thick bush. We came to a point where she made a j hook and started back the way she came. We moved a bit off to the side of the track to keep our sent line away. Knowing that she should be close we slowed way down. The tracker was out front followed be the outfitter, Geritt, Me and Rikus. When the tracker froze with one foot in the air and backed up slowly. we moved forward and the lioness was about 30 yards to our right. Sticks went up and direction to shoot once I had a opening in the brush. 286gr Aframe was on its way right behind the shoulder slightly quartering away, right through the boiler room. She jumped straight up and did a 180 degree crow hop. My second shot from several yards closer put her down. One assurance shot in the chest and another in the spine and my lion was down for good. If I could have changed anything I would have used a softer bullet. all the aframes were complete pass through except the one in the spine. I am very happy with the rifle and my shooting. Since everything happened so fast the adrenaline dump didn't occur till after the shots were fired and done. We got her moved out to a open area for pictures and get her loaded up and taken back to the lodge.

A easy lunch and short nap. Headed back out to look for a impala or old warthog. but they weren't on the Africa provides list for my hunt. On this property and the next 2 we saw a number of female with young warthogs but no mature males. The drought is having it's effects on some species more than others. So after dinner we made plans to head to Limpopo the next morning.

 

[AZDAVE]

The next morning we headed out after saying good bye to our hosts. Had another drive of about 7 hours. We were able to stop by Geritt's home base and drop the lion skin off. I was able to meet his parents and enjoy a cup of coffee with them. We were about 2/3's of the way to our destination. So on the road again. Once we arrived to the farm we would spend the rest of the safari at we got settled in and confirmed my 6.5 was on. One click in horizontal and 2 clicks in vertical and we were ready for our night hunts and search for the wildcat.

 

[AZDAVE]

@Altitude sickness your are correct the christensen come with a 13 1/2 lop from the factory, the correct lop to fit me is 15 1/4-3/8.

 

[AZDAVE]

Headed out about a hour after dark and using a red spotlight started our quest for my wildcat. Spent about 3 hours out the first night and had no luck finding one. But was able to ruin 2 jackals evening. Should have been three but didn't get the rifle mounted correctly and shot right over #3.

The next morning we went out and drove some of the property looking for warthogs and ??? enjoyed looking and saw a large number of animals. We repeated this day and evening routine for a couple days. put another Jackal down and had a few pepper ticks find the ankles. Treatment for them and a bigger dose of bug juice to keep them at bay.

On day 4 we came across a small herd of golden wildebeest that had one old girl that was it terrible shape down to skin and bones. Put two rounds from the 9.3 double put her out of misery. Her teeth were down to the gum line.

 

[AZDAVE]

On day 3 at this lodge we went to a large property adjoining at the back side. It is a VERY large property and we only drove around a small part. Around lunch time we stopped by a small water source and a bunch of baboon's, klipspringers, and kudu were there and all ran off. The klippy and kudu weren't shooters but in walking up a Nice bush buck was spotted moving in the bush. Grabbed the double and set out to see if he could be intercepted. as he was moving through a small opening, one aframe and he was DRT. Just couldn't pass up a nice bushbuck. Moved him out of the thick bush and set him up for pictures. The whole time we were taking picture a large baboon was in a tree top just giving us his opinion very loudly. In all my trips to africa I had never shot a baboon. That being said I went to grab a couple rounds for my double since I unloaded it for the picture. His 6th sense let him know he should probably leave. Since it was so hot we headed back to the lodge to get him in the skinning shed and salt.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Nice bushbuck!

Also, good looking lioness, congrats. It definitely seems like they make you walk more than males do.

For lion, I really liked how Nosler Partitions performed at 416 Speeds.

 

[AZDAVE]

We are back at night looking for wildcats, early in the evening a 3rd jackal is down. We continue for a few hours and come across a cat that is hunting in the taller grasses. So we work to get a shot and now have a female caracal in the salt. The wildcats must have got the memo that they were my primary target so they just didn't put in an appearance. later in the night had an opportunity for a civiet. Now short LOP and not setting up a 100% correctly and you guessed it missed about a inch over its head. at this point I am getting a bit annoyed at myself and racking my brain on what I was doing wrong. Well it was a clean miss so back to the lodge we went.

 

[AZDAVE]

Back out in the morning to check over the other wildebeest herds and impala's. This drought is hard on the older animals and you can see where some will need to be culled to keep the herds within the carrying capacity of the current conditions. The farm we are hunting has been doing supplemental feeding like most of the outfitters. Most of the animals are in decent shape with exception of the oldest past breeding age males and females. just before noon we come across a herd with a older female that is in the first stages of declining so the stalk is on. Geritt gets us to 115 meters and the double speaks. The first shot hits solid on the shoulder and she does the typical mule kick and takes off. I run 5-10 yards to my left and get the second shot in quartering away and 130ish meters and she goes straight down. I relize that I had just made the longest 2 shot with a double I have taken on game. My first shot was with a aframe and the second was with a northfork cup point solid. I was hoping to see what the CPS looked like when hitting solid bone. Well it went in and through the wildebeest breaking the shoulder on the off side and kept going out into the veld somewhere. So I guess you ban say it did its job well. This was the first time I was able to see and touch a kings wildebeest. It will make a very nice flat skin rug for the house.

 

[cpr0312]

Very nice ram! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[AZDAVE]

Since it is very hot and we have been out in the heat for 6 days we decide to take the afternoon off and take a dip in the pool. we make a plan for the evening and tomorrows hunt. WE will go back over to the property next door tomorrow, where I harvested the bushbuck and see if we can get a few shots at some baboons. Worked hard on the night hunt but again got skunked. Up early and head over to try our hand at baboons. Close to a water hole we start seeing some and there are a couple very big one. Tried to get in a position to make a shot if they ever quit running. Once heads up a hill and sits atop a water tank. Get into position for a 245yard shot. Miss right over the top. At this point I have no confidence in the zero of the rifle. So we find a flat area and set a small coke zero bottle up at a 100 and I hit it dead solid right in the middle where I was aiming. So the background processes in my brain are going full bore on WTF I I doing wrong. In the process of heading back to sit on the water hole made a perfect shot on a medium size baboon at 125. Background processes are now running faster and faster. Get setup and wait. See baboons back in the trees but none are coming out. Get to watch many impala, veret monkeys, bushbuck, and a absolutely tank of a nyala come to water. We were setup about 85 yards from the tank, boy you talk about a hard decision to pass on the nyala. But was working hard to keep within my set budget. and I had already taken a great bushbuck (Which are my favorite of the spiral horns). Since the baboons aren't coming in we decide to walk the road and see if we can spot them on the hill. Get an opportunity at a very large male in a tree. I setup over Rikus's shoulder and send it and you guessed right over its head. the baboon takes off and heads around the mountain taking several more with him. Long story short get a medium size male in a tree at 265, so I take a very deliberate setup and center punch him right straight down outta the tree. This will turn out to be my last shot of the safari. when we get back to the lodge I get a beer and go soak my feet in the pool and start my AAR of shots that missed vs hits with the 6.5. I guess that all the processed finally click and I realize what I was doing wrong with my setup for shots, and improper rifle fit. a few shots here at home to confirm my conclusion!!!

 

[AZDAVE]

A few final thoughts, The drought is having a significant affect on the animals, the good outfitters are working hard to maintain their properties and animals. Hopefully the rains will come and be one of the wettest rainy seasons ever. The roads we drove over were in better shape than the last time I was in Limpopo. It was the first time I made it out to the Kalahari and really enjoyed the time there. Next time will have to make it to the red sand areas.

I would like to thank Geritt for working with me to set up this trip. Look forward to hunting on your property the next time. Also thank Rikus for all the hard work he did to make my adventure special. Time in the bush and around the fire with friends laughing and just enjoying nature with like minded people is priceless!!!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Thanks for the write up Dave. I know your missed shots were not due to skill or nerves.

On our last trip I tried to use my wife’s ultralite rifle with too short of LOP and I struggled with shooting bait animals. I also had to take my time to ensure form. In my case I think the rifle was too lightweight for my liking.

Shame on me. I focused on her practicing with this rifle. And I did not practice with it.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Congrats Dave on a great hunt! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.