PDA

View Full Version : Namibia 2007



DieselDog
06-17-2007, 09:48 PM
Arrived home from hunt in Namibia, Africa saturday night. What a incredible trip. I've never seen so many animals in my life. I will post the report from my journal here over the next couple of days as I'am still suffering from jetlag(30 hours of flying and 9 hour time change will do that) In the mean time I've posted a few of the all the all important photo's in the gallery.(hope you enjoy). The trip was a huge success as far as hunting goes, I was able to take 2 oryx, 4 springbok, a kudu,warthog,blesbok, zebra, and a record book red hartebeest that wasn't even on my wish list. The PH's and there assistants were top notch, they taught me a incredible amout about hunting in Africa, and the country of Namibia itself. I got to taste the meat from every kind of animal I shot, including Zebra wich was one of my favorites, and to top it off I washed it all down with some of the best beer and wine I've ever tasted.:-D I kept a daily journal of my hunt and will reproduce it here if your all intrested. Its to bad it had to end:( but I'am aready making plans and saving penny's for the next trip. I was told by many people before I left, that you can't go to Africa once, and they were right. I've caught the sickness:twisted:

BCBear
06-17-2007, 10:26 PM
Checked out your gallery...simply phenom! 6/49 and I'm there! Hope you got lots of wall ready8)

boxhitch
06-18-2007, 08:47 AM
Glad things went well. Journal should be a good read. Also interedted in how the financials works out.

Bow Walker
06-18-2007, 08:52 AM
Great pics! I'm looking forward to the story.........

WoodOx
06-18-2007, 08:58 AM
Heading to South Africa almost exactly a year from now. Pictures tell a great story, thanks for posting!

Any tips for the trip? I am already booked, but if theres anything you can think of it would be appericiated.

Stone Sheep Steve
06-18-2007, 09:23 AM
Beautiful pics!
Looking forward to the journal8)!

A friend is going to Africa this Sept for the second time in two years. You seem corect in that you can't go the just one time.


SSS

ohno
06-18-2007, 10:29 AM
Those are some amazing photos and incredible animals.
I can't wait for the stories. The Aardvark was cool.

O.

jjensen20
06-18-2007, 11:37 AM
Unreal pics it must have been a blast cant wait for the stories!!

Gateholio
06-18-2007, 12:05 PM
Namibia has long been one of the places in Africa I'd liek to hunt, always seemed very "African" wiht the wide open deserts etc.

I'll check the pics out when I get to work on Tuesday and have high pseed.:mrgreen:

I'd like to get to Africa in the next 2 years, with a little work I think I can do it..8)

bruin
06-18-2007, 04:09 PM
Great pictures, can't wait for the story. What was your favorite species?

NaStY
06-18-2007, 04:16 PM
Very nice. Looks like a trip of a lifetime..........

mainland hunter
06-18-2007, 11:22 PM
very cool. hoping to get the chance one year. looks like you had a great trip

Elkhound
06-19-2007, 10:56 AM
gonna check out those pics now.....glad you had a good time

DieselDog
06-20-2007, 08:10 PM
Sorry for the delay in getting this out, but have been busy with work!
June 3rd - Arrived Windhoek Airport and met up with our first guide (without luggage - long flight delay in Frankfurt)
June 4th - First Hunting Day: Woke up at 6:30 AM for 7:00 AM breakfast. We go over to the main house and there is no one up? What the hell? My girlfriend forgot to reset her watch to the local time, nothing like losing another hour of sleep! After a great breakfast of smoked Kudu, warthog sausage, the guide (Immo) and I go through his gun cabinet and find the rifle I was most comfortable with. I chose a BRNO in 30-06 with 180 gr. soft points, that are manufactured in South Africa. He assured me that these bullets would perform. Off to the range we went for some shooting. The first 3 shots off the bench at 100 meters were 1/2", the next 2 were for sight in and we were ready to go. What a sweet shooting combo. After sighting in we went back to the ranch and picked up my girlfriend and off hunting we went. The first animals we saw were some dik-diks but we were not hunting them. A short distance down the road we spotted a herd of cow and calf Kudu, and two small bulls, no shooters. Not 2 kms down the road the tracker spots a Oryx bull walking through a opening in the bush. Immo and I start stalking the bull but he is out of sight. Then six Oryx step out into the opening at about 300 meters and one was a good bull. Immo and I got in behind a line of trees and tried to close the distance. At 200 meters, we had no bush left so up went the shooting stick and got ready. Immo pointed out the bull and to shoot when ready. Boom, down he goes in this tracks as I hit him in the spine. We walked up to about 50 meters and I put a finishing shot in his heart. Immo looks at me and says "You just shot one hell of a bull!" After some pictures and a traditional german hunting blessing (dipping a twig from a local bush in the blood of the beast and presenting it to the hunter), we load him in the truck and head back to the ranch. After the ranch hands finish gutting, skinning and caping the Oryx, Immo put the tape to it and then disappears. He came back about 10 minutes later and told me that I just shot the second biggest Oryx in the 25 year hunting history of the ranch. It scored 93" SCI, with both sides 38.5" long, which is good for a very high gold medal. After lunch we head back out. Right away we start seeing a lot of warthogs, and some small Kudu. About 1/2 hour into the hunt I spot a warthog under a tree at about 150 meters. The tracker says it is a big one. I get out of the truck and it starts running across the road and I am not able to get a shot as he disappears into the bush. We were at a fork in the road, so I got ready in case he came across the second road and sure enough he did. He stopped in the middle of the road at 100 meters broadside. I took aim and fired and the warthog disappeared. Immo then gets the tracking dog out of the truck and off we go after it. We did not have to go far as it was dead 20 meters away from where I shot it. Immo says to me "you just shot your second gold medal trophy of the day!" After some pictures we gutted him and loaded it in the truck and off we went. Approximately 45 minutes down the trail we spot a herd of Kudu on the side of a hill and start glassing. We find 2 bulls in the herd but they are not big enough. Another 10 minutes down the road and we spot a huge herd of Kudu. As we glassed this herd 2 huge bulls stepped out of the bush. We decided to make a stalk even thought the wind was bad and we got busted! They were gone. We hunted the rest of the afternoon without any more chances, although we did see lots of game. We arrived back at the ranch at dark and had a copule of beers before we sat down for some red hartebeest stew for dinner. After dinner it was time to celebrate the hunt. Out comes the traditional schnapps and Immo and his wife Almut sing a couple of traditional hunting success songs, then some more schnapps and we talk about the day's events and plan for tomorrow. Not bad for my first day hunting in Africa!!
June 5th - Was woken up in the middle of the night by a vicious wind storm. When we got up to go hunting it as still very windy and cold (4 degrees). We stalked a couple of Kudu in the morning, but were busted by the swirling wind. Spotted some red hartebeest and black wildebeest, but the herds were too big, therefore too many eyes watching us. Didn't take long to be seen. We had Kudu for dinner that night. No celebration!
June 6th - Woke up this morning to -3 degrees. Began to wonder if I was really in Africa. I had to show my PH Immo(professional hunter) how to scrape frost off the windows. It was a cold ride out to where we were hunting as the tracker and I ride in the back of the hunting truck (Toyota Landcruiser). We ran into a lot of different game in the morning including zebra, springbok and blesbok, but no shooters. Made a couple of stalks on Kudu, no luck. In the afternoon, we saw a lot of game but not a lot of chances at mature bulls. We had barbecued Oryx for dinner. I can get used to this food! No celebration.

DieselDog
06-20-2007, 08:27 PM
June 7th - Woke up this morning and found it not quite as cold as yesterday. After a quick coffee we loaded up and off we went. Spotted a herd of hartebeest, right off this get go. We stalked in about 50 meters and the whole herd filed by us one by one, but no big bulls. About an hour later, we are driving along a fence line, when we came to a corner and the PH jams the rig into reverse. After stopping, the PH jumps out and says to me "Now we must attack!!" in his German accent. So off we go in the bush along side the trail. After we had gone 400 meters, the PH puts up his glasses and says there they are. I said "I hate to ask a dumb question, but what are we stalking?" as I had never seen or heard what he had spotted. Anyway, after I could finally see them, we quickly set up the shooting stick. At about 120 meters I could see 2 bull hartebeest behind a tree but I could not get a shot. After fifteen minutes of waiting for them to move I looked to my right and here is 2 Oryx bulls watching us 10 meters away! The bush exploded with animals. We bolted through the bush and across a dry riverbed and into a clearing just in time to see the ass ends of the hartebeest disappear into the bush on the other side. The decision was made that the tracker, Simeon and I would keep walking through this section of bush and the PH would fetch the truck and drive around and meet us. We barely walked 50 meters into the bush when Simeon spotted the hartebeest at 80 meters. Up went the shooting stick. I couldn't see the head as I located the sweet spot behind the shoulder. I asked Simeon if it was a good one. Boom! Hartebeest in the salt. We had a hell of a time getting the truck close. After unloading the hartebeest for the skinners, Immo measured it and checked his record book. He said "What are you trying to do, break all the ranch records? You just shot the largest red hartebeest in the ranch's history!" It scored 72.5" SCI. In the afternoon, we went for another try for Kudu. Right away we ran into a large bull on the side of a mountain. We stalked him to 200 meters straight uphill on a hogsback. I got set and fired. The bull stumbled as if it were hit good and disappeared over the hill. We climbed to where we last saw the bull, expecting to find him lying dead on the other side of the hill. When we got there the bull was nowhere to be seen or heard. The PH, tracker and I started tracking it, we also had a tracking dog. There was only a couple of drops of blood. After 4 hours of tracking we had to quit because of darkness. Because I was changing areas the next day, I was not able to go after it the next day. The PH took 3 trackers and a tracking dog the next day to try and find it, but could not catch up to it. The following day they went after it again, they were able to find it but not get a shot. The PH was able to see it with his binoculars and noticed that the shot had only grazed the hump on the Kudu's shoulder and would survive.
I will continue this thread in a day or so, as we will be moving to another ranch to hunt zebra.

Bow Walker
06-20-2007, 08:38 PM
Super first 4 days...................can't wait for more!

loki
06-25-2007, 11:58 AM
Good read, now where do I find the pics??