SOUTH AFRICA: Liam Urry Hunt Giveaway

[GKNOX]

Nov 12/18 (Hunt Day 3)
Once again up at 5:00am and out the door at 6:00am. The plan for this morning was to try to find a Gemsbuck bull again. After appx 1hr we spot a nice Impala off in the trees. Adelou, dad, and Joe (tracker, skinner) take off after him to try to get a shot. Jeremy and I were sitting in the truck when all of a sudden lions started roaring off in the distance. It always amazes me the sound these animals can make. It almost seems to rattle your body to the core. I was happy Jeremy was able to hear it.
Appx 20 minutes later the guys return. Wind shifted and Impala took off. We continue on our way looking for Gemsbuck. Around 8:00am we come upon a herd of appx 8 or 10 with a nice bull in the group. Bull steps into an opening in the trees about 250 yards out and dad drops him in his tracks. As we approach there is still a bit of life left so dad finishes him with a quick shot from a 9mm. Real nice, heavy old bull. Gemsbuck was at the top of my dads wish list and I was happy he was able to get a great bull.

We make our way back to the skinning shed to drop the bull off and relax for a bit until after lunch. Around 1:00pm we decided we would try to sit at a water hole to get my son a shot at a warthog. We were in a blind with only 1 small window. Temps outside were appx 45 degrees Celsius. After appx 1 hour of sweating buckets in comes 4 pigs. There was a nice sow in the group and Liam gave Jeremy the okay to shoot a sow for his first big game animal. Anyway when we were trying to get into position to shoot they heard us and spooked. Off they went. Decided then we would be unable to sit in the blinds in the extreme heat and we may be better off building a blind another day. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent at the target range just playing with some different rifles, shotguns and pistols that were there. I was able to take a couple shots out of a .458 Lott which was a neat experience in itself.
Jeremy said his favorite part of the day was playing with the dogs and watching them chase the truck.

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 13/18 (Hunt day 4)
Up at 5:00am and out the door by 6:00am.
The plan for this morning was to go to a neighbors property and see if we could find a good kudu bull for dad.
We arrive at the property and start looking around. This is a property with some very large hills (mountains). As we come around a corner appx 150 yards up on the side of one of these hills is a monster warthog. Seeing as dad has his already I was up. He dropped at the shot but a second later he was up and moving. He only made it 10 yards or so and went down for good. The climb up to him was awful. The whole hill was these little hooked thorns that are razor sharp. They grab hold and tear your clothes and skin to pieces. Jeremy definitely had the benefit as he could go under most of the bushes and not try to am his way through.
Eventually we made it up to him and then realized just how big he was. His tusks were massive. One was wore down but these were the thickest tusks I have ever saw. Turns out this was the biggest warthog that Liams group shot this season. When taking pictures I realized that one of the bottom tusks was broke off a bit. A couple seconds later Jeremy found it among the rocks. He must of broke it off when he fell.

After pictures and carrying the boar back down to the truck we continued on our search for kudu. After travelling another mile or so we spotted a nice bull off in the trees. We drove past him with the truck so as not to scare him off and walked back towards where we last saw him. As we were getting close to where we last saw him he runs across the road appx 100 yards away. As he came into an opening he stopped briefly and dad hit him hard. He did not go down and took off running a second shot rolled him and he was down for good. When we got up to him we could see he was an old bull that was very skinny. His long horn measured just over 51" so a perfect trophy to take. After many pictures we load him up and go back to the skinning shed.

After a very successful morning we spent the rest of the morning staying cool, swimming and relaxing with a beverage.
Around 3:00pm we decided to see if we could find a Zebra for dad. It did not take us long to find a herd that included a big stallion and 4 mares. I find zebra to be extremely skittish and tough to hunt. We played cat and mouse with this herd for quite a long time and finally on the 5th attempt at getting close they stopped long enough to give us a standing 200 yard shot. The old stallion went down at the shot and was dead by the time we got up to him. He was a large stallion with a few scars from fighting but dad didn't mind as he will make a nice rug none the less with a little character.

We were definitely having a day to remember. We decided to try to call for Jackals just before dark with no luck.
Jeremy said his favorite part of the day was climbing the mountain to get to my warthog and when Liam pretended to pull a couple beer caps out of his ear.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Wow! Some fine trophies and a great hunt! You guys are some excellent shots!

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 14/18 (Hunt day 5)
Up at 5:30am and out the door by 7:00am.
After the successful day we had yesterday we decided to get a little later start to the day.
The plan was we were going to go to a large government owned property that Liam has the sole hunting rights to. We would be trying to find Black Wildebeest and Hartebeest for myself.
After appx 3/4 of an hour after arriving at the property we see our first herd of Wildebeest. There was appx 20 animals in the herd and they were out in the wide open prairie.
We were appx 1 mile away from the group. We closed the distance to appx 600 yards and could see a real nice bull off to the side of the group about 200 yards. Luckily for us there was a small group of trees that we could get between us and the bull. The rest of the herd could see us and started to move off but the bull stayed back just on the other side of the trees. Once we were appx 200 yards from the bull we could see him on the other side of the bluff so I got on the sticks. He stopped broadside and looked over at us but it was too late. He dropped at the shot but as we approached him I hit him once more as there was still some life left. Another great old bull.

Adelou walked back to get the truck and rest of the crew and I stayed with the bull. Appx 50 yards away I saw a skull and set of horns from another bull. Jeremy quickly claimed that set when he arrived. After pictures we were off to find a Hartebeest. A fire had recently went through the area and burned a large portion of the grass. This meant that the Hartebeest were not in their usual area. We knew we had to find grass that the fire had not reached and we would find the animals. Sure enough and hour later we find some grass and start seeing animals. Quickly we spot a herd of 7 or 8 which included a nice bull. As we start walking after them we look off to the side and there is a lone bull standing 250 yards away in a burned patch of grass. One quick look and realize he is a shooter. There was a small shrub blocking his lower half of his body so I go for a high shoulder shot and he drops. He is still moving around so I stay on him and sure enough he gets up and I hit him again and he is down.
This was a very old bull that had no teeth left and was very skinny. Another great animal to take.

Part of the deal for Liam being allowed to hunt this property is that the village is given the meat. We load up both the animals and drive into the village to skin then and drop off the meat. While the animals were being cleaned we made a fire and had a barbecue of Eland sausage.
There was a boy of appx 10 years old hanging around. After trying to communicate with him one of the villagers told me he was deaf and couldn't talk. For some reason this day I had packed a bunch of Jeremy's snacks in my bag. I filled up a bag and Jeremy took the boy a bag of candies. This gave me an idea. On the way into the village we saw a kindergarten school so I asked if we could visit and give the kids some candies. I was hoping to use it as a learning tool as well for Jeremy to show him how fortunate we are to have all the luxuries we have in schools and life.
When we first arrived at the school there was only 4 or 5 kids there. As we started handing out the candy more and more started showing up from the nearby huts and pretty soon we had 20 kids surrounding us. It was an awesome/emotional experience seeing how happy the kids were to be getting treats and how little there was in the school. We sometimes take for granted all the things we have and forget to realize that there is a large group of people a lot less fortunate. There were no tables or chairs in this school as well as very little toys.
This really seemed to resonate with Jeremy as once we got back in the truck to leave I asked him what he thought. He was very concerned that the kids had no place to work and he wanted to come back tomorrow and build them some tables and chairs out of trees that were nearby. He also wanted to pack up some suitcases full of toys from home and bring them to the kids as they didn't have enough to play with. I am extremely proud of my son for thinking of others with this type of compassion.

We arrived back at the lodge in early afternoon. Liam then arranged for us to visit a local wildlife sanctuary/rehabilitation center. We saw lions, cheetahs, bat eared foxes, jackals, cervals, monkeys and meercats. We were able to pet the cheetah and feed the foxes by hand. The kids loved it. Joe brought along his son Stoffell who is the same age as Jeremy. They got along great just running and playing.

Jeremy said the best part of the day was going to the school and giving out the candy.

 

[Ridgewalker]

What a wonderful experience for a young man! GKNOX, obviously your dad did a great job raising you because you are passing on some excellent lessons to your young one!

 

[cls]

Well done

 

[Icehunter]

Winnipeg. I'm a transplant from out east (Newfoundland). Moved here in 2004 for school and stuck around once finished!

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 15/18 (Hunt day 6)
Decided to sleep in this morning as we have managed to successfully hunt almost everything we had came for already. Out the door by 10:30am.
Plan this morning was to build a blind near a trail that a large boar warthog was known to use on its way to water and hope he made an appearance long enough for Jeremy to get a shot. We were in the blind by appx 11:00 a.m and waited until appx 1:30pm with no trace of the boar. By this time we had run out of water and 45 degree sun was getting to us. We decided we would go back to the lodge for a swim to cool off a bit and make another plan.
Plan B was to make another blind close to a waterhole on the other side of the property. We were thinking with the extreme heat that being close to water was probably our best bet.
It was appx 4:15pm by the time we got our blind set up and settled in. We sat for appx 45 min and I looked back over my shoulder and there was a nice Springbok coming in from behind us. We had not expected them to come from this way therefore our backs were completely exposed. He could tell something wasn't quite right and turned and walked away without the opportunity for a shot.
About 30 minutes later I see some more Springbok coming towards the water from the other direction. This is where we were thinking they would come from so I told Jeremy to get ready on the rifle. Just as they were about to come into the opening they took off running back into the trees. I was not sure what happened as I know they didn't see or hear us. Just then a large sow warthog stepped out into the open appx 30 yards away. As Jeremy was already on the gun it did not take him long to get her in the scope. I whispered in his ear to shoot her right on the shoulder and a second later he takes the shot. I could see right away it was a perfect shot. She took off running and went appx 15 yards before piling up and Jeremy had his first big game animal ever.
The excitement on his face was unforgettable. He was pumped. We saw her go down, so right away ran over to her to check her out. She was a very old, dry sow with no teeth left. She has 1 tusk that is appx 8 inches and the other is wore right down. Everyone was very happy for Jeremy when we radioed back to camp to tell them. When they came to pick us up pretty well the whole camp came to congratulate him. I could see huge smile on grandpa from a mile away. He was just as proud as I was. It was pretty cool. Liam said Jeremy was the youngest hunter he had ever had and told him he was Liam Urry Safaris hunter of the year which Jeremy thought was pretty awesome.

First picture shows the perfect shot placement at the tip of the stick. Turns out the shot severed the top of the heart. After many pictures and laughs we loaded her up and took her back to the skinning shed. On the way back Jeremy said he wanted to help skin her so when we arrived I asked Joe if it was alright. He said of course and he coached as Jeremy skinned the whole back half. Because he was getting a shoulder mount we decided we should let Joe skin out the cape to avoid any extra holes.

When they were done Jeremy gave his knife to Joe as a thank you. He was very appreciative and said he would take very good care of it.
The rest of the day was spent around camp relaxing and having a couple drinks.
Of course, the highlight of Jeremy's day was hunting his first animal ever and getting to skin it himself.

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 16/18 (Hunt day 7)
Up at 5:00am and out the door by 6:00am.
Plan today was see if we could find a Duiker, Warthog, Impala or Springbok.
Saw 3 Impala rams this morning but all had broken off horns. Many Warthogs and Springbok seen but no shooters. We did find a large tortoise which was neat to see and check out.

We decided to go into Kimberley for lunch and see some sights. We at at the Occidental which is at the Big Hole diamond mine. They have an old fashion town set up as it would have been in the old days. Liam's dad came with us and bought Jeremy a little bucket of mine tailings. They sell these and allow the kids to pan through them and find gems/diamonds that they can trade in for toys. Jeremy thought this was great and "bought" a little airplane with his findings.

When we were done looking around and buying some souvenirs for everyone back home Alex (camp manager/PH) took us back to the lodge for an evening hunt. We spotted a group of Impala that had a nice buck in the group. We closed the distance to 150 yards and dad made a perfect shot. After pictures we went back to camp to deliver the Impala to the skinning shed.

Jeremy said his favorite part of the day was finding diamond.

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 17/18 (Hunt day 8)
Up at 6:00am and out the door by 6:30am.
Plan for today was to try to find an impala for Jeremy. We had seen an old male earlier in the week with about 6 inches broke off one horn which we thought would make a great trophy as his unbroken side is actually quite long. Around 8:30 am we see a group of females and upon closer look, we see the ram we are after. They start to move off through the trees and we are unable to get a shot before they went around the backside of a large hill. We went around the hill from the other side to try to get in front of them but they seemed to vanish like they sometimes can. Will try to find him again this afternoon. Back to the lodge for a swim to cool down.
Around 4:30pm we go out to see if we can find the ram again. Around 5:45pm we spot a group of Springbok with a very nice male. We were able to close the distance to about 150 yards before running out of cover. This was going to be Jeremy's longest shot so we got settled in and I was talking him through the shot. He was on him and said he was ready so I told him to go ahead. At the shot the buck jumped straight in the air and took off running. He had shot just over his back and didn't touch him. Buck only ran about 75 yards and stopped again. He was now at 225 yards. Jeremy was on him and I asked him if he was comfortable and he said he was right on him. I told him he could shoot if he was steady. A couple seconds later he fires and drops the buck in his tracks. Didn't take a step.
When we got up to him we saw he made a perfect shoulder shot that ended up just missing the heart and destroying the lungs. Another proud dad and grandpa moment.

I showed Jeremy and my dad how the hair on their back stands up and Alex said it smelled like cotton candy. I took a smell and sure enough it did. After pictures we loaded him up and took him to the skinning shed. Once he was gutted I showed Jeremy the different organs and we discussed how they worked and what they did. Joe was there with Stoffell so Jeremy and him ran around playing until after dark.
Jeremy's favorite part of the day was getting his springbok.

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 18/18 (Hunt day 9)
Up at 6:00am and out the door by 6:30am
Plan was to try to find the big Impala with the broken horn. Searched everywhere but couldn't find him. Saw others but now we have our hearts set on this particular buck. Make our way back to camp for a swim to cool off.
Joe, Alex, and Liam took us to some Warthog dens that they know of which are used by porcupines as well. We were hoping to find some quills. We found a bunch including some very large ones. Back to the lodge to get ready for the evening hunt. Out the door at 4:00pm but the broken horn ram is still nowhere to be found. Liam suggested we try to call some Jackals. We set up the caller and climbed a hill appx 75 yards away to get a better vantage point. Caller wasn't on for a minute when we spot one coming in from the side. He stops at 100yards and I have a solid rest across the top of a large rock. I take the shot expecting him to drop but he takes off. I shot over top of his back. Not sure how, but I did. Probably not concentrating enough as I was thinking he was already in the bag. Apologized to the guys for the goof up and we tried another set up before dark but no luck.
Jeremy's favorite part of the day was climbing the big hill to call Jackal.

 

[GKNOX]

Nov 19/18 (Hunt day 10 & departure day)
Up at 5:00am and out the door by 6:00am.
One last try to find the broken horned Impala. Very windy this morning so very few animals out in the open. Called it a hunt and back to the lodge. Went around and thanked all the staff and finished packing and got cleaned up for the long trip home.

Flight leaves Kimberley at 6:20pm and we arrive back in Winnipeg at 8:00pm on Nov 20. Total flight time of 22 hours and 57 minutes.
No issues with customs and all travel was smooth except for a brief air sickness episode for Jeremy on landing in Toronto. Good thing they have those little bags in the seat backs.
This truly was a trip of a lifetime. Having my dad and son both on their first trips to Africa, my son hunting his first 2 big game animals at 5 years old (and making the great shots he did), and the excellent service that Liam and his crew provided was outstanding. This is something we will be talking about for the rest of our lives. Hopefully we get to do it again together but there is still only 1 first time.
Thanks to everyone for reading through my long winded report, to Liam and his staff, and to Jeremy and dad for sharing this trip with me. It was a good one.

 

[Newboomer]

What a fantastic way to introduce a young man to hunting. Hope he sticks with it.

 

[huntermn15]

Outstanding! Three generations hunting together, you're a lucky man. What a great experience for all involved.

 

[gillettehunter]

I really like the 3 generation photo with the warthog. I'd have a big one done on metal and frame it. Congrats and good shooting.
Bruce

 

[GKNOX]

I was definitely lucky to be able to do a hunt like this. It will be remembered forever.
Yeah there is going to be a few different things done with pictures for everyone to keep. I was very happy how they turned out. Taking the time to take great photos is key as these are just as important as the trophy itself in my opinion.

I really like the 3 generation photo with the warthog. I'd have a big one done on metal and frame it. Congrats and good shooting.
Bruce

 

[lwaters]

Wow what an outstanding time.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Brickburns favourite parts of the report:

• Jeremy said his favorite part of the day was playing with the dogs and watching them chase the truck.
• Jeremy said his favorite part of the day was climbing the mountain to get to my warthog and when Liam pretended to pull a couple beer caps out of his ear.
• Jeremy said the best part of the day was going to the school and giving out the candy.
• Of course, the highlight of Jeremy's day was hunting his first animal ever and getting to skin it himself.
• Jeremy said his favorite part of the day was finding diamond.
• Jeremy's favorite part of the day was getting his springbok.
• Jeremy's favorite part of the day was climbing the big hill to call Jackal.

But the topper:

• Jeremy ... was very concerned that the kids had no place to work and he wanted to come back tomorrow and build them some tables and chairs out of trees that were nearby. He also wanted to pack up some suitcases full of toys from home and bring them to the kids as they didn't have enough to play with. I am extremely proud of my son for thinking of others with this type of compassion.

Thanks for sharing your adventure. Liam Urry sure made certain that you guys were very well taken care of. Well done.

 

[npm352]

Very cool! Sounds like a great hunt. Awesome that Liam Urry did such a great job for you .

 

[rinehart0050]

Wow. Congratulations to you and your family. What a great adventure and a great report. Sounds like you're raising your son right!

Also kudos to Liam Urry for making this possible.