SOUTH AFRICA: My First Safari & Lion October 22

[mark-hunter]

Fantastic first trip!
Congarsts!

Looking fwd to hear future stories of yours with remaning 4 of big5!

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Congratulations on an excellent lion!

 

[PARA45]

Wow, que Leon mas majestuoso. Felicidades, maravilloso reporte!

 

[DieJager]

Thank you for sharing. Great lion! Wmh!

 

[Karl Johnson]

Congratulations on getting your lion! Greatly appreciate your report.

 

[cpr0312]

Congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Ridgewalker]

What an adventure! A very good report and thanks for letting us live it vicariously with you!

 

[TwoTracks]

Muy amable senor, muchas gracias. Enhorabuena!

 

[Daveboone]

Beautiful cat. Good for you!

 

[Nyati]

Magnífico león , enhorabuena !

Great lion, congrats !

 

[Grz63]

thank you for having shared the thrill of the hunt. I will never hunt à lion, not my idea. Congratulations

 

[gillettehunter]

Beautiful lion. Sounds like you made a great shot. Good job.
Bruce

 

[OldnLazy]

Bravo!!!

 

[yarettlopez]

Please don't get mad at me, I've been traveling for work and I haven't been able to finish writing this story even in Spanish.

Thank you all very much for your comments, all I wanted is to give back a little to this community that makes us dream awake.


Day 5

After a long night of rest without worrying about burning to death, I was ready to continue hunting, after breakfast I tried the new rifle that would use a .308 with a suppressor and after a couple of shots, we went out to see what animals on my list we could find. I wanted impala, blesbuck, gemsbuck, duiker, jackal and springbuck, since my budget was limited, so we went out to explore this new property that was completely different, wide open spaces, very dense areas and others with just the right amount of vegetation to do a stalking, after driving a few kilometers we got out of the truck (since I specified to Johan that I did not want to hunt from the truck I wanted to walk and stalk) and headed towards a water hole to see what we could find, we spotted several animals but none of our interest.

When suddenly, Obal stops a herd of impalas is just ahead about 60 meters away, Johan locates a very good one and he says get ready, we stayed frozen until the herd passed and then we tried to find a place where we could shoot, we waited for about an hour for the male to come out from behind some bushes, where he was eating and just before i shot, something scared the herd and they all ran away, we started stalking again, after about 40 minutes we located the herd again in a clearing and Johan told me which male we were following, I prepared myself with the shooting stiks (which were telescopic not the wooden ones that broke) and when I felt ready I shot, I immediately knew that something was not right the shot did not feel safe, we quickly looked for blood but we did not find anything, my wife luckily recorded the shot and we saw that it had hit a tree behind the impala so i had completely failed i couldn't believe i missed an impala at 80 meters i felt like i had failed the whole team by working so hard to get within range and I failed them, Johan told me not to worry that it happens to all of us, but that he would not let me forget that it was a very large impala that i had let go, we got back into the truck and a few minutes later we found a group of oryx with a very large male, we quickly got out and began to follow them as they ran when the truck stopped.

A few minutes later we found the male, standing sideways, it was an easy shot at less than 100 meters, I get ready, I take off the safety, I gently pull the trigger and nothing, it doesn't shoot, again I move the safety back and forth and nothing, Johan turns to me saying why don't you shoot and I tell him that the rifle doesn't shoot, I perform the maneuver several times without success and the oryx finally leaves. I could feel the disappointment of the whole team and especially mine, all my confidence that I had gained with the lion went to waste, I returned to the camp, I slept for a while after eating and before leaving again in the afternoon I told him I told Johan that he wanted to put the check the rifle, we went to the shooting range and the safety was locked again, Johan checked the gun and told me not to use the safety, to leave the chamber empty and if we saw an animal, put one in the chamber and pressing the trigger and then lowering the bolt, by doing this the needle has no tension and cannot fire, the truth is that I did not feel very comfortable with using the rifle like that, but there was no more. (next time I'll bring my ownrifle).

We went out again to walk the roads trying to find something to my liking, obal thought he saw some impalas in the distance so we got out of the truck and started walking, when suddenly on our left we saw a group of oryx walking towards a large pasta , we slowly began a long stalk trying to get as close as possible, when we were about to reach the last group of trees on the edge of the clearing a group of wildbeast that we had not seen ran away, we froze and stopped fortunately the oryx did not matter and they continued eating, again we got into position and Johan and the trackers began to look for a worthwhile male, for about 30 minutes they reviewed the entire herd of more than 20 animals and finally they indicated to me which was the male, now we just had to hope he was alone.

Finally after forever he gave me a shot and just as he stopped I held my breath and fired, the pack ran but I did not know what had happened, we quickly located the male who had a perfect shot in the lungs and after a few steps he lay down, we gave him a couple of minutes and now i had finally get my oryx which was number 2 on my list after the lion, i admire my trophy a great male with a very good mass, we took the photos and johan told me we still have time to hunt a Duiker.

We loaded the oryx, changed trucks in the camp and went to a part of the property which is low fence where Johan told me that there were many duikers and kudus, we began the hunt walking the roads looking for this small antelope, we saw some females but no males, there were less than 30 minutes of light left, when I see something under a tree, I softly speak to johan and indicate that to my left there is a male, at first he did not see him but finally he found him and he told me let's get closer to see him better, and we began to move slowly towards him, each time he low his head we were moving forward, finally we could see him clearly and he said he is very good, get ready, just as he came out behind a small bush Johan called him and as soon as he stopped I shot, the little antelope fell in his tracks, my confidence was back , we ran towards it to take the photos with the last light of the day, I did not know how beautiful this animal was until I saw it up close, it is a very special trophy for me because I found it on my own, that is how my penultimate day ended hunting, after a bitter morning I could go to sleep happy for the 2 great trophies I had achieved.

 

[mikecatt13]

Congrats on some very fine trophies and thanks for sharing?

I have been away from the forums for a bit...is it confirmed that lion hunting in RSA is going away or still in the fighting stages of that argument?

 

[Frederik]

Congrats on some very fine trophies and thanks for sharing?

I have been away from the forums for a bit...is it confirmed that lion hunting in RSA is going away or still in the fighting stages of that argument?

Eventually it will go away and be stopped for CBL hunts so if you can book now and don't wait too long.

 

[Capnjackv]

Congrats on some very fine trophies and thanks for sharing?

I have been away from the forums for a bit...is it confirmed that lion hunting in RSA is going away or still in the fighting stages of that argument?

I was told by my PH in RSA a couple of weeks ago that it is definitely going away.

 

[mikecatt13]

I was told by my PH in RSA a couple of weeks ago that it is definitely going away.

Any details as far as timeline, imminent legal action, etc. or just a general sentiment that it will go away? Trying to get up to speed on the subject and possible timelines etc.

 

[Frederik]

Any details as far as timeline, imminent legal action, etc. or just a general sentiment that it will go away? Trying to get up to speed on the subject and possible timelines etc.

No timeline with current political situation everyone is rather fighting to keep a position as to go ahead with plans that has been talked about.
Greenies wont go away on this one but with election coming next year it might be a breather as the top political parties have more urgent matters than closing CBL hunts.

But if it happens it could happen quick so rather make plans asap or you could be one of those who say I wish I did it.

 

[mikecatt13]

No timeline with current political situation everyone is rather fighting to keep a position as to go ahead with plans that has been talked about.
Greenies wont go away on this one but with election coming next year it might be a breather as the top political parties have more urgent matters than closing CBL hunts.

But if it happens it could happen quick so rather make plans asap or you could be one of those who say I wish I did it.

Appreciate the catch-up. Still going back and forth on what I want to do about a lion hunt, try and find one in RSA that satisfies my standards, or hope the budget allows for wild and importable before that ends too. We shall see