JG26Irish_2
AH veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2023
- Messages
- 114
- Reaction score
- 293
- Location
- United States
- Media
- 4
- Member of
- Bluegrass Safari Club
- Hunted
- KY, WV, TN, ND, SD, NM
"ENTER AFRICA" My first close encounter with Africa felt much like my first intimate encounter with a member of the opposite sex. Anticipation, excitement, a little bit of the fear of the unknown. It felt very good and following the event, I find myself dreaming of and wanting more. May sound like hyperbole but hear me now, it is not. This place and its people are MAGICAL. I arrived as a guest of RDB Safaris for a 8 day hunting trip in the wilds of the Limpopo province. By chance and the good counsel of friend and brother Todd Jones, I did not have to search for a professional and honorable outfitter. Rumano De Beer is that man. He has carved out a little slice of Paradise which is his hunting reserve. Everywhere we traveled people knew him and loved him. Quality is hard to hide. By the time I leave, we are close life long friends.
It is time to make these guys famous. From left to right: Robert De Coster, Jr, facility manager and young Professional Hunter. Just celebrated his 25th birthday recently. Rumano De Beer, founder of RDB Safaris, PH, owner, outfitter, Johannes - tracker/skinner, John - lead tracker skinner, driver, Glass - young tracker skinner, and David - tracker skinner. Charles - the Master Skinner/artist is not in the photo as his skill as skinner was being deployed elsewhere. He is billed as the best game skinner in all of South Africa. I believe it. I once asked Rumano what his long term goals were? "To be the most famous Big Game PH/Outfitter in all of Africa". Big goals for a young man. With successful concessions in Limpopo and Free State RSA as well as Botswana and Namibia and possibly in the not too distant future another one elsewhere in a very famous place known for African Big Game Safaris. I admire his drive, ambition and skills but most of all, I admire all of these men for being good and honorable men. A rare trait in the world today. Bravo Gentlemen! Bravo!
Hunt Summary Report
Country - Limpopo Province. South Africa
Dates - July 22 - August 2, 2024
Type of Hunt - Plains Game
Method of Hunting - Rifle
Outfitter - RDB Safaris
PH - Rumano DeBeer, Robert Decoster
Agent - N/A, self booked
Locations Hunted - Limpopo Province, RSA
Species Hunted - Nyala, Blue Wildebeest, Common Duiker, Bushbuck, Gemsbok, Impala, Warthog, Baboon
Trophy Quality - Took six (6) animals total. Two scored preliminary as SCI Gold Record trophies (Wildebeest & Bushbuck), one was just short of SCI record book quality by 2/8" (Nyala) and the Wildebeest was only short of a Rowland Ward record book trophy by 1/8"
Species Seen, Population and Quality of Game Observed - Saw many many species while hunting:
Food - 5 Star. Chef Charles fed us game with every meal plus usual domesticated meat such as chicken, beef, lamb. The food included many traditional African dishes at my request and was tailored to meet my specific dietary requests.
Activities - 8 days hunting which also included side trips to Nylstrom to meet with the taxidermist and to Big Five Game Preserve to do a afternoon photo safari
Travel Methods - Flew to Johannesburg via Atlanta on Delta. PH picked us up at the airport and handled all in country transportation to and from.
High Points - This was my first Safari and it was all magnificent. Limpopo is like a little slice of Paradise. RDB Safaris treated us like gold.
Low Points - The 16hr flight was brutal. Delta and TSA took forever to clear the rifles back into the USA forcing me to miss my connection by 3 minutes and thus spending an extra 4 hours in Atlanta. The Delta Atlanta staff was slow, and surly and treated everyone like crap.
Things to Improve - This was an educational trip to plan for a larger group trip for both DG and PG in 2025. Learned a lot about things not to take.
Overall Rating - 10+ I cannot say enough good things about RDB Safaris, Rumano the outfitter/PH and Robert the other PH. This trip could not have gone better.
Would Recommend to a Friend?
I plan to provide a longer and more detailed report of each days hunt in installments below. It will take a bit of time so please be patient.
Irish
It is time to make these guys famous. From left to right: Robert De Coster, Jr, facility manager and young Professional Hunter. Just celebrated his 25th birthday recently. Rumano De Beer, founder of RDB Safaris, PH, owner, outfitter, Johannes - tracker/skinner, John - lead tracker skinner, driver, Glass - young tracker skinner, and David - tracker skinner. Charles - the Master Skinner/artist is not in the photo as his skill as skinner was being deployed elsewhere. He is billed as the best game skinner in all of South Africa. I believe it. I once asked Rumano what his long term goals were? "To be the most famous Big Game PH/Outfitter in all of Africa". Big goals for a young man. With successful concessions in Limpopo and Free State RSA as well as Botswana and Namibia and possibly in the not too distant future another one elsewhere in a very famous place known for African Big Game Safaris. I admire his drive, ambition and skills but most of all, I admire all of these men for being good and honorable men. A rare trait in the world today. Bravo Gentlemen! Bravo!
Hunt Summary Report
Country - Limpopo Province. South Africa
Dates - July 22 - August 2, 2024
Type of Hunt - Plains Game
Method of Hunting - Rifle
Outfitter - RDB Safaris
PH - Rumano DeBeer, Robert Decoster
Agent - N/A, self booked
Locations Hunted - Limpopo Province, RSA
Species Hunted - Nyala, Blue Wildebeest, Common Duiker, Bushbuck, Gemsbok, Impala, Warthog, Baboon
Trophy Quality - Took six (6) animals total. Two scored preliminary as SCI Gold Record trophies (Wildebeest & Bushbuck), one was just short of SCI record book quality by 2/8" (Nyala) and the Wildebeest was only short of a Rowland Ward record book trophy by 1/8"
Species Seen, Population and Quality of Game Observed - Saw many many species while hunting:
- Eland
- Kudu
- Cape Buffalo
- Blesbok
- Klipspringer
- Steinbok
- Golden Wildebeest
- Blue Wildebeest
- Royal Wildebeest
- Giraffe
- Sable
- Impala - Common, White, Black
- Water buck
- Zebra
- Reedbok
- Bushbok
- Nyala
- Warthog
- Jackal
- Civet Cat
- Rhino
- Lion
- Bush pig
- Plus most of those listed above
Food - 5 Star. Chef Charles fed us game with every meal plus usual domesticated meat such as chicken, beef, lamb. The food included many traditional African dishes at my request and was tailored to meet my specific dietary requests.
Activities - 8 days hunting which also included side trips to Nylstrom to meet with the taxidermist and to Big Five Game Preserve to do a afternoon photo safari
Travel Methods - Flew to Johannesburg via Atlanta on Delta. PH picked us up at the airport and handled all in country transportation to and from.
High Points - This was my first Safari and it was all magnificent. Limpopo is like a little slice of Paradise. RDB Safaris treated us like gold.
Low Points - The 16hr flight was brutal. Delta and TSA took forever to clear the rifles back into the USA forcing me to miss my connection by 3 minutes and thus spending an extra 4 hours in Atlanta. The Delta Atlanta staff was slow, and surly and treated everyone like crap.
Things to Improve - This was an educational trip to plan for a larger group trip for both DG and PG in 2025. Learned a lot about things not to take.
Overall Rating - 10+ I cannot say enough good things about RDB Safaris, Rumano the outfitter/PH and Robert the other PH. This trip could not have gone better.
Would Recommend to a Friend?
I plan to provide a longer and more detailed report of each days hunt in installments below. It will take a bit of time so please be patient.
Irish
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