SOUTH AFRICA: My Hunt With Lategan Safaris 2015

[AfricaHunting.com]

Yes Hey Jerome.....

PM sent!

 

[bluey]

bueatiful lechwe , wes you guys are a freaking good trip ,mate ........

great report
liking the hanging here waiting for next adventure
keep trickling it out , cob

 

[Buff-Buster]

The hunt continues.....


By the time we made it back to Bushman’s we were able to have a late lunch with Eliot and Cathy. They had been having a ball just sleeping late, going on daily game drives and relaxing around the lodge. Cathy was really enjoying taking long walks from the lodge and being able to see all the wildlife. They were really having a good time. I was worried beforehand that they might get bored while I was out on my hunting forays, but this did not turn out to be the case. Eben was there with them at all times to take them around Bennie’s at any time to see what they could see.

After lunch we decided that Sandy and I would hang around with Eliot and Cathy and that afternoon we would head down to the lion enclosures to witness them being fed. Bennie said that they feed them on a five day schedule. Their diet consisted of game taken, chickens and occasional beef as available.

Around 4:00pm we all loaded up and headed down to the lions. Trap by trap we would pull up and the “boys” would toss various parts and pieces over the fence to the waiting lions. It was fascinating watching all of the different reactions from the different lions. Some became extremely aggressive, some definitely subordinate to the others. I was amazed at the way they held the meat as they fed. They do not use their “main” claws, but hold everything with their dew claws or “thumbs” for lack of the correct term. After watching them feed for a while I came to the conclusion that this would be my number one way of NOT wanting to die! (I cannot imagine what must have been going thru Reinhardt‘s mind as he was being attacked earlier this year!) Witnessing the feeding was a fascinating experience that I won’t soon forget.

"Hercules" a 5 1/2 year old

That night after dinner, Bennie and I were discussing the plan for the Vaal Rhebok the next day. During the discussion Bennie was telling me that, in his opinion, the elephant was the hardest to take of the Big 5. This is because of the tremendous amount of walking and tracking required to get on a truly big bull. He also stated, that in his opinion, of all of the non-Big 5 species in southern and eastern Africa, the Vaal Rhebok is by far the hardest due to the elevation and terrain they inhabit. Thinking about that sure made sleep come harder that night.

 

[Buff-Buster]

Hunting Day 5 (Thursday)

Today is the big day. This will be the day we go after the Vaal Rhebok and Mountain Reedbuck. Last night I made sure to go to bed early and not celebrate the Red Letchwe too much around the fire. Honestly, I awoke to being pretty apprehensive about how the day was going to turn out. Today would be a test for me. Not if I could harvest a Vaal. A test if this wore out 60 year old could handle the mountains one more time. Regardless of the outcome, this would be my last time hunting in these conditions and altitudes and I wanted to go out on a high note. I did not want to let my PH’s and tracker down in the process. I did not want to let myself down either. I was already tired from four days of climbing at 4500’. I prayed I could handle one more day at 7500’.

Needless to say, Sandy would not be going with me today. She had decided to stay and she and Cathy were going to have a “spa” day. I wonder if it too late to change my mind and join the girls at the “spa”?????

On the way Bennie was telling me that he had been hunting this ranch for a number of years. In that time, the Vaal Rhebok had steadily increased due to a program of trapping of predators (Caracal & jackals). On a good day we should see 10-12 good rams during a full days hunt. The owner (I hope I get his name right as I did not write it down), Henry was a good friend of Bennie’s and he would be going out with us to help out.

We arrived at the ranch headquarters about 8:00am. Quick introductions were made and Henry loaded up and away we went. This was sheep country. Every cleared area at the base of the mountains and most flat plateaus were planted in alfalfa. We spent the first hour driving close enough to some of these to glass to see if the Vaal’s had come down during the night to feed in them. Wow. This isn’t so hard. Should be a piece of cake!

That’s when we spotted our first good ram. From 500yds, you could tell his horns extended well above his ears. Did I mention he was 500yds up on top of a mountain? So much for being easy.

Unload, grab gear, and away we go up toward the area we saw him last. Climb, climb, climb then finally we reach the top and Bennie and Jacques crawl up to a ledge to peer over while we wait below. After a while, Bennie motioned for us to come up. The ram and his ewes were nowhere to be found. The next three hours were spent chasing this ram all over the top of this mountain. He was always one step ahead of us so we decided to head back to the truck and come up with “plan B”.

After making it back down to the truck we decided to head over to the east side of the ranch. Bennie told me not to worry, there was a road that could get us most of the way to the top of the mountain as long as it wasn’t washed out. On the way, we checked out a couple of alfalfa fields, but nothing but Mountain Reedbucks were in them so we headed up the mountain. The wind had been picking up substantially so we found an area somewhat out of the wind and took a break to have some lunch. Ham & cheese sandwiches, boiled eggs and kudu sausage! Perfect!

After some lunch and a short break to recharge we loaded back up and headed up the mountain. Luckily the road was in pretty good shape so we were able to make it most of the way in the truck. Lucky because by this time I was pretty much exhausted. My legs were jello and the rest of me was feeling pretty much like “Gumby”. The plan was to walk the top and search the fingers and crevices along the side of the mountain for Vaal’s. After traveling about a mile, Bennie spotted a good Vaal ram and a couple of ewes bedded down in a small bowl. The stalk required us to circle around wide to be able to come at them from above. After an hour of maneuvering to get in position, we got down and Bennie and Jacques crawled the last few yards toward the edge of the bowl. After a few minutes, Bennie crawled back and said that there was a really good Mountain Reedbuck in the bowl also. He knew the Vaal ram was there, but couldn’t see him from where we were. We decided that I would take the Mountain Reedbuck and maybe the shot would push the Vaal out so we could also get a shot on him. Let’s do this.

I crawled up between Bennie and Jacques. As I inched up I spotted the Mountain Reedbuck at a steep angle in the bottom of the bowl, facing directly downhill. The reedbuck collapsed at the shot and rolled to the edge of a small cliff. We were searching for the Vaal to come out! He did, but popped out broadside at 380yds. I had to crawl a ways to get on a small rise to get a clear shot. The wind was blowing now at 20mph from right to left so I compensated for drift, held for elevation and squeezed the trigger. The bullet went directly over his shoulder about three inches high!!! The ram and two ewes hightailed it out of sight over a ridge. I know I rushed the shot. No excuses. I had my chance and blew it. Bennie and the team worked really hard to get us to this point and I let them down.

Jacques yelling at me brought me out of my self-pity trance. He was back at the edge of the bowl and was saying to hurry and get over there. I ran over and looked where his gaze was to see the Mountain Reedbuck on his feet and stumbling away! A bad shot and a miss all in a few minutes! The reedbuck made it about a hundred yards to the edge of some brush and laid down. A shot through the shoulder ended the drama. I felt horrible.

I felt like the hunt was pretty much over but Bennie and Jacques felt we had a chance to catch up with the Vaal. They both said that when the bullet hit behind him that he really didn’t know where the shot had come from and they didn’t feel like he and the ewes had gone too far. Henry offered to go down to the Mountain Reedbuck while we continued after the Vaal.

After an hour of searching, we finally caught a glimpse of the Vaal’s going into a steep canyon. We backed up and side hilled around to a gap in the rocks that gave us a view of the canyon. As Bennie and I crawled up to the gap, we could see the Vaal’s at the bottom working their way down thru some thick brush. As I got set up for the shot, the ram came out of the bottom into the sunshine and stopped. Bennie whispered “265 yards”. I put the horizontal crosshairs even with his back and the vertical crosshair even with the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. You guessed it, right over the shoulder into the hillside behind him. What little bit of self-esteem I had left vanished in that moment as I watch the ram bound out of sight down the mountain.

Bennie and Jacques scrambled up onto a rock outcropping to try and keep them in sight. I sat there beating myself up for missing AGAIN! I was physically and mentally exhausted at this point. Not making excuses though. As I played the shot over in my mind, I realized what I had NOT done. I did not pay attention to the steep angles of the two misses and on the Mountain Reedbuck. I know better. At those angles, your bullet drop is reduced substantially. I compensated as if I was shooting perfectly horizontal which caused my shots to be high. I have hunted enough in the mountains in the states to know this. I really blew it this time.

Bennie and Jacques crawled down off the outcropping and convinced me not to give up. We might have another chance. I apologized to them both for my piss-poor shooting. They had worked really hard for me and I felt really bad for not doing my part. Jacques decided to head back to the truck while we made one more attempt at this ram. He felt one less body moving around the mountain would help us during the stalk. Bennie, David and I took off one more time.

The ram and ewes were last seen heading down the mountain, following a canyon. Bennie, David and I backtracked along the top edge of the mountain to be able to angle down the side of the mountain to try and intersect them close to the bottom. The going was pretty slow due to the steepness of the mountainside. There were a few times we had to back-up and take a different route due to unseen bluffs we couldn’t get around. After about 45 minutes we had made it about two thirds of the way down and about a half mile around the face of the mountain when I looked down and saw a Vaal step out below us. I whispered to Bennie and immediately squatted down. Bennie handed me the shooting sticks and threw up his binoculars. As I got set up on the side of the mountain he said “That’s him, he’s at 280yds”. He was facing to our left, slightly quartering away and looking up at us. I would not screw up again. As the crosshairs settled on the crease behind his shoulder and just below his middle, I squeezed the trigger. I heard the beautiful sound of the bullet impact and he collapsed. Bennie and David both let out a holler! A flood of relief came over me. We did it. All kind of emotions were coursing thru me at this point. Relief, happiness, thankfulness, exhaustion, etc. I wanted to stand up and beat on my chest like Tarzan but I was too tired!...LOL. Reality came back when I saw another Vaal run out from the base of the mountain right by the fallen Vaal. For a second, panic set in when Bennie said “Wes, that was the ram, did you shoot one of the ewes???” Then he lowered his binoculars and busted out laughing!

It took a while to work our way down to the ram. Once we got there, more handshakes all around. Bennie and David walked away so I could have my moment with this beautiful ram. The emotions really went wild as I thanked God for blessing me with this opportunity. I have to admit that the water coming from my eyes was not a result of the wind. At that time I thanked Bennie and David for not letting me give up and keeping a positive attitude. What a true friend and professional Bennie is.

Bennie and I with my 8 1/4" Vaal Rhebok

My 7 1/2" Mountain Reedbuck

The mountain where we took the Vaal and the Mountain Reedbuck

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I think our Vaalie's are cousins Wes. I looked at the pic of mine and they're almost identical. Well done figuring out the angles at that distance do affect bullet drop. If you also gained 3000' of elevation from where you sighted in, that was affecting it too. Great job Wes!!

 

[Buff-Buster]

I think our Vaalie's are cousins Wes. I looked at the pic of mine and they're almost identical. Well done figuring out the angles at that distance do affect bullet drop. If you also gained 3000' of elevation from where you sighted in, that was affecting it too. Great job Wes!!

Thanks Phil! And your right, they do look like twins. I should have remembered the angle adjustment. I preach it to guys around here that are heading up to the mountains for the first time. My bad.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Buddy, you just reminded me of one of the worst feelings I ever had when I shot at the largest BigHorn I ever had sights on.
Shot right over top of him. It is so painful.

I now own a 1600B Angle, temperature and elevation are all compensated for in the number that comes up on the screen. Not just line of sight.
When you are tired you forget simple things. Never again. Thanks for the reminder.

Awesome effort to pull it off. That is a set of Trophies your 60 year old worn out carcass can take pleasure in for a long time to come.

Congrats on sticking it out.

 

[Wheels]

"Third times charm"!

Great trophies Wes.

 

[Buff-Buster]

Buddy, you just reminded me of one of the worst feelings I ever had when I shot at the largest BigHorn I ever had sights on.
Shot right over top of him. It is so painful.

I now own a 1600B Angle, temperature and elevation are all compensated for in the number that comes up on the screen. Not just line of sight.
When you are tired you forget simple things. Never again. Thanks for the reminder.

Awesome effort to pull it off. That is a set of Trophies your 60 year old worn out carcass can take pleasure in for a long time to come.

Congrats on sticking it out.

Thanks Wayne. It means a lot when you know someone really understands. Maybe I should have named it "The Lesson in Humility Safari"...lol

 

[Buff-Buster]

"Third times charm"!

Great trophies Wes.

Thanks Bob! You know the old saying..."Sometimes I'd rather be lucky than good"

 

[gillettehunter]

Lovely animals. Congrats. Trophies to be proud of. Bruce

 

[Buff-Buster]

Lovely animals. Congrats. Trophies to be proud of. Bruce

Thanks Bruce!

 

[Wheels]

Buddy, you just reminded me of one of the worst feelings I ever had when I shot at the largest BigHorn I ever had sights on.
Shot right over top of him. It is so painful.

I now own a 1600B Angle, temperature and elevation are all compensated for in the number that comes up on the screen. Not just line of sight.
When you are tired you forget simple things. Never again. Thanks for the reminder.

Awesome effort to pull it off. That is a set of Trophies your 60 year old worn out carcass can take pleasure in for a long time to come.

Congrats on sticking it out.

Your way ahead of me.

Hunting in the mountains is one of the few times each year I use my 8th grade geometry and make an educated guess. At the distances I shoot it has worked fine so far.

If I ever hunt a Bighorn, I will probably buy what you have!

 

[bluey]

the trophies, bennie has put you on this trip , is second to none , BB.........
great effort and hardships , will make your trophies all the better , everytime .....
your gunna enjoy relaxing in that overpopulated ,trophy house of yours ,admiring these new additions.......will make the beer tatse better
knowing the effort that went into earning them
congratulations,mate .......

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Thanks Phil! And your right, they do look like twins. I should have remembered the angle adjustment. I preach it to guys around here that are heading up to the mountains for the first time. My bad.

In the pic above of the hills you were hunting, imagine in the troughs between the hills catching a Vaalie on his way down to the planted fields in the bottom. That's where I shot mine......sometimes being lucky is better than being good!

 

[Buff-Buster]

the trophies, bennie has put you on this trip , is second to none , BB.........
great effort and hardships , will make your trophies all the better , everytime .....
your gunna enjoy relaxing in that overpopulated ,trophy house of yours ,admiring these new additions.......will make the beer tatse better
knowing the effort that went into earning them
congratulations,mate .......

Thanks Bluey! I look forward to the day your sitting in there with me having a brew as we exchange lies...whoops, stories!....

 

[CAustin]

Great report BB! Thank you for sharing thus with everyone. You took some very nice trophies.
I'm glad you got to see the breeding lions. Bet they looked at you like lunch!

 

[Wheels]

Hercules would look real nice in that trophy room of yours!

 

[CAustin]

Great report BB! Thank you for sharing this with everyone. You took some very nice trophies.
I'm glad you got to see the breeding lions. Bet they looked at you like lunch!

Wheels I think that lion belongs in one of our houses!

 

[enysse]

Congrats, on all the great trophies. That steenbok is HUGE. Very exciting hunt, I'm glad it worked out for you.