Post by Randominator on Apr 15, 2023 7:40:52 GMT -5
I just returned from a 10 day hunt in the Limpopo region of South Africa. An African hunt had been on my bucket list since the early 80's. I was hunting with Madabula Safaris out of the Bandur Lodge which consist of a total of 10,000 acres. There were a total of five of us on this trip, four hunting with handguns and one rifle hunter.
Upon arriving in Johannesburg late Saturday evening, we spent the night at the airport hotel and departed for camp Sunday morning. Two of the hunters headed to Bella Bella as they had tags for Hippo and Hyena while the rest of us took the five hour drive to the lodge just outside of Alldays. The lodge has great accommodations, and we were treated like kings from the time we arrived.
My home for the next 10 days.
It had been raining almost every day for the previous two months and the terrain was very thick and green.
After eating lunch on Sunday, we checked our guns and headed out into the bush. We were immediately on a group of Impala and tried a stalk to get a shot. The wind swirled and the Impala spooked, so after a short 30 minute stalk we returned to the truck. My PH pointed out a set of tracks upon returning and said that a Leopard had crossed over out tracks in the short time we were in the bush.
We woke each morning at 5:00 am and were out of camp by 6:00 am just as the sun was coming up. We would hunt for 7 hours each morning returning to camp at 1:00 for lunch. We chased after Impala and Gemsbok for the next three days, but was unable to get a shot. There were only a few Gemsbok on the property and they were older mature animals and very elusive. On Tuesday as we were heading back to the lodge to eat lunch, one of the trackers started beating on the top of the truck to signal the PH that he had spotted fresh track in the dirt. We got out of the truck and headed into the bush and discovered a nice Blue Wildebeest in a thicket about 100 yards out. He was watching us and slowly started to approach. My PH set up my shooting sticks and told me to hit him just below the chin. Upon the shot, he turned and ran back into the thicket. The PH, the tracker and I pursued and found him about 20 yards from where I shot him standing broadside under a tree. A second shot through the shoulders and he was down for good. My first African animal!
I was using my Freedom Arms 454 with 300 grain Speer Deep Curl bonded bullets at 1605 fps.
You can see here the front entrance hole and the finisher through the shoulder.
The recovered bullets weighed 283 and 285 grains.
The next day found us about 1-1/2 hours south of the lodge hunting a large farm for Blesbok. The farm had several large open fields of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes while the remainder was bush. The entire farm was probably close to 3,000 acres. There were a couple of groups of Blesbok within the fields, but approaching to get within handgun range was going to be a challenge. My PH spotted a lone male bedded down in the harvested corn field about 300 yards out. The PH, tracker and I slowly approached from downwind and was able to get to 100 yards. I set up my shooting sticks and got the Blesbok in my scope and waited for him to stand up. After about 3 minutes without the Blesbok moving, the tracker moved 30 yards to the left. The PH signaled for him to clap his hands and when he did, the Blesbok stood up. I was shaking like crazy and the crosshairs were bouncing everywhere. I managed got on his chest and fired. The shot went over his back and he took off like a flash. I checked my scope and I had it dialed to 5x and should have had it lower. Lesson learned. We headed over to another field and when we emerged through the brush that separated the fields, there was another nice male standing at 80 yards. His entire chest was blocked by a small bush and he was quartered towards us. My PH said to shoot through the brush, something that I'm not accustomed to doing. This shot went to the left in front of the animal. The PH said, "We need to check your gun". We went to one of the farm buildings and found a white cardboard box with a red triangle on it. We set it at 100 yards and I proceeded to place three rounds within the triangle. I looked at the PH and told him it was me, not the gun. Upon returning to the fields, we found a group of three Gemsbok had separated themselves from the group and were slowly feeding towards the edge of the field. They got within range and my PH said the one in front was the biggest. At 98 yards I sent the 300 grain Speer through his chest right behind the shoulder. He ran a short circle about 10 yards and went down. Upon approaching, we saw two animals running away and one walking. Looking through my binoculars I could see blood pouring from both sides of the Blesbok. He only took a few steps and expired. These African animals are tough!
I had redeemed myself for the poor shooting!
More to come.
Upon arriving in Johannesburg late Saturday evening, we spent the night at the airport hotel and departed for camp Sunday morning. Two of the hunters headed to Bella Bella as they had tags for Hippo and Hyena while the rest of us took the five hour drive to the lodge just outside of Alldays. The lodge has great accommodations, and we were treated like kings from the time we arrived.
My home for the next 10 days.
It had been raining almost every day for the previous two months and the terrain was very thick and green.
After eating lunch on Sunday, we checked our guns and headed out into the bush. We were immediately on a group of Impala and tried a stalk to get a shot. The wind swirled and the Impala spooked, so after a short 30 minute stalk we returned to the truck. My PH pointed out a set of tracks upon returning and said that a Leopard had crossed over out tracks in the short time we were in the bush.
We woke each morning at 5:00 am and were out of camp by 6:00 am just as the sun was coming up. We would hunt for 7 hours each morning returning to camp at 1:00 for lunch. We chased after Impala and Gemsbok for the next three days, but was unable to get a shot. There were only a few Gemsbok on the property and they were older mature animals and very elusive. On Tuesday as we were heading back to the lodge to eat lunch, one of the trackers started beating on the top of the truck to signal the PH that he had spotted fresh track in the dirt. We got out of the truck and headed into the bush and discovered a nice Blue Wildebeest in a thicket about 100 yards out. He was watching us and slowly started to approach. My PH set up my shooting sticks and told me to hit him just below the chin. Upon the shot, he turned and ran back into the thicket. The PH, the tracker and I pursued and found him about 20 yards from where I shot him standing broadside under a tree. A second shot through the shoulders and he was down for good. My first African animal!
I was using my Freedom Arms 454 with 300 grain Speer Deep Curl bonded bullets at 1605 fps.
You can see here the front entrance hole and the finisher through the shoulder.
The recovered bullets weighed 283 and 285 grains.
The next day found us about 1-1/2 hours south of the lodge hunting a large farm for Blesbok. The farm had several large open fields of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes while the remainder was bush. The entire farm was probably close to 3,000 acres. There were a couple of groups of Blesbok within the fields, but approaching to get within handgun range was going to be a challenge. My PH spotted a lone male bedded down in the harvested corn field about 300 yards out. The PH, tracker and I slowly approached from downwind and was able to get to 100 yards. I set up my shooting sticks and got the Blesbok in my scope and waited for him to stand up. After about 3 minutes without the Blesbok moving, the tracker moved 30 yards to the left. The PH signaled for him to clap his hands and when he did, the Blesbok stood up. I was shaking like crazy and the crosshairs were bouncing everywhere. I managed got on his chest and fired. The shot went over his back and he took off like a flash. I checked my scope and I had it dialed to 5x and should have had it lower. Lesson learned. We headed over to another field and when we emerged through the brush that separated the fields, there was another nice male standing at 80 yards. His entire chest was blocked by a small bush and he was quartered towards us. My PH said to shoot through the brush, something that I'm not accustomed to doing. This shot went to the left in front of the animal. The PH said, "We need to check your gun". We went to one of the farm buildings and found a white cardboard box with a red triangle on it. We set it at 100 yards and I proceeded to place three rounds within the triangle. I looked at the PH and told him it was me, not the gun. Upon returning to the fields, we found a group of three Gemsbok had separated themselves from the group and were slowly feeding towards the edge of the field. They got within range and my PH said the one in front was the biggest. At 98 yards I sent the 300 grain Speer through his chest right behind the shoulder. He ran a short circle about 10 yards and went down. Upon approaching, we saw two animals running away and one walking. Looking through my binoculars I could see blood pouring from both sides of the Blesbok. He only took a few steps and expired. These African animals are tough!
I had redeemed myself for the poor shooting!
More to come.
