Just got home a few days ago from my 10 day South African safari. Definitely an adventure! I booked it through Cabela's WTA. The hunt was about an hour from Port Elizabeth at Frontier Safaris's, owned by Barry Burchell. He had a first class operation. The main ranch was a little over 80K acres, with another smaller local ranch around 11K acres. It was for 6 animals. I took a kudu, gemsbok, warthog, impala, blue wildebeest and blesbok. I also took an additional cull impala. Got the 6 animals included in the package in the first 6 days. Took the cull impala on day 8. I used a Bergara B-14 Ridge in .30-06, topped with a Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40. I was shooting Barnes 180gr TSX.
I flew into Johannesburg from Atlanta, it was almost a 16 hour flight that was miserable both ways. It was a short hour and a half flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, where I was picked up and driven to the ranch about an hour away.
Got my gemsbok the first day with a 105 yard accidental neck shot, which immediately dropped him. It was an old bull, that my PH estimated to be around 9 years old. The top of his horns were broomed off from fighting.
The blesbok was next on the third morning. With a 266 yard shot right in the shoulder. He was laying down when I shot. He jumped up after being hit and ran maybe 15-20 yards, did a flip and was done.
The blue wildebeest was next, taken on the afternoon of day 3. Had a great stalk on this one, as there were about 20 of them in the group. Had to crawl through lots of thorny brush to sneak up on them. Shot was right at 200 yards and was a perfect heart shot. He ran about 40 yards and collapsed. He was also an old bull, with almost no teeth left.
Went to the other ranch on day 5 and got my trophy impala in the morning. The day started off cold, windy and rainy. We found this one with a group of 10 females. Shot was 185 yards in the shoulder. He dropped pretty much immediately. PH said it was the biggest one he's guided anyone on. Measures a bit over 23" long.
The afternoon cleared up nicely and I was able to take my warthog. Shot was 120 yards in the shoulder and dropped him quickly. Was a bit chaotic, as there were several in the group, intermingled with a bunch of cattle.
My kudu came on day 6. We glassed from 2 different mountain tops all morning and were only seeing immature bulls and cows. We decided to take a break for lunch and I spotted a bull running across the hillside beside us. The tracker spotted this bull about 40 yards ahead of the one I seen. We jumped out of the Hilux and got into position. This bull kept disappearing and reappearing into the brush. Finally popped out into a shootable spot around 240 yards. The PH had to yell multiple times to get him to stop. Only had a few seconds to get my shot off. Had a perfect shoulder shot, that dropped him within 30 yards.
My cull impala came on day 8. It was a pretty quick hunt. We were only out for about an hour and had him down. Shot was about 100 yards in the shoulder, quartering sharply towards me. It dropped almost immediately, as the bullet ran the length of his body.
There were 3 other Americans in camp, as well as 6 Russians. The Russians were a total **** show. They drank insane amounts daily. They ended up taking a variety of game. 2 buffalo, a rhino, Sable, roan, zebra and a variety of other plains game. The guy that shot the rhino was under the impression that what he paid for the rhino entitled him to shoot the rest of his plains game free. He got into a big argument when he got his bill at the end of his hunt. The other guy who shot one of the buffalo carried a Glock 17L and got up from breakfast 3 mornings in a row and shot at ducks down on the river below at 200+ yards away. Finally hit one on the third morning. Another one of them got absolutely **** faced one night and tried to fight his PH when it was suggested it was time to go to bed. I walked into the top boma to get a bottle of water from the bar fridge and he was passed out on the floor with his stool flipped over laying in a puddle of his own ****. I was glad to see these guys leave.
Overall, it was a great hunt. My PH was excellent and the entire staff was professional and very welcoming. I was able to try a variety of game meat while there. They prepared impala, kudu, blesbok, zebra, warthog and rhino. All were good, but the zebra was my favorite. I went for a day trip over to Pumba Game Preserve to see some animals not on the ranch. Got close to some rhinos and hippos there and seen several others, but left a little disappointed as I never got to see any lions or elephants while there.
The one thing that really pissed me off was that customs confiscated $50+ in biltong I brought back. It was all commercially produced, in sealed commercial packaging. I'm still fuming over that. They wouldn't even let me sit there and eat it. They also hassled me over some porcupine quills I brought back. I had them in my rifle case, so they wouldn't get damaged. They made me take them to USDA and they just looked at them and said ok. I wanted to put them back in my rifle case and they tried making just put them in my bag. I told them I would go back over to firearms check to put them back in and they finally relented and just let me put them back in my case.
I'm already thinking about going back for buffalo and a few other plains game in a few years. They had some nice buffalo on the ranch and tend to keep trophy quality up well.
I flew into Johannesburg from Atlanta, it was almost a 16 hour flight that was miserable both ways. It was a short hour and a half flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, where I was picked up and driven to the ranch about an hour away.
Got my gemsbok the first day with a 105 yard accidental neck shot, which immediately dropped him. It was an old bull, that my PH estimated to be around 9 years old. The top of his horns were broomed off from fighting.
The blesbok was next on the third morning. With a 266 yard shot right in the shoulder. He was laying down when I shot. He jumped up after being hit and ran maybe 15-20 yards, did a flip and was done.
The blue wildebeest was next, taken on the afternoon of day 3. Had a great stalk on this one, as there were about 20 of them in the group. Had to crawl through lots of thorny brush to sneak up on them. Shot was right at 200 yards and was a perfect heart shot. He ran about 40 yards and collapsed. He was also an old bull, with almost no teeth left.
Went to the other ranch on day 5 and got my trophy impala in the morning. The day started off cold, windy and rainy. We found this one with a group of 10 females. Shot was 185 yards in the shoulder. He dropped pretty much immediately. PH said it was the biggest one he's guided anyone on. Measures a bit over 23" long.
The afternoon cleared up nicely and I was able to take my warthog. Shot was 120 yards in the shoulder and dropped him quickly. Was a bit chaotic, as there were several in the group, intermingled with a bunch of cattle.
My kudu came on day 6. We glassed from 2 different mountain tops all morning and were only seeing immature bulls and cows. We decided to take a break for lunch and I spotted a bull running across the hillside beside us. The tracker spotted this bull about 40 yards ahead of the one I seen. We jumped out of the Hilux and got into position. This bull kept disappearing and reappearing into the brush. Finally popped out into a shootable spot around 240 yards. The PH had to yell multiple times to get him to stop. Only had a few seconds to get my shot off. Had a perfect shoulder shot, that dropped him within 30 yards.
My cull impala came on day 8. It was a pretty quick hunt. We were only out for about an hour and had him down. Shot was about 100 yards in the shoulder, quartering sharply towards me. It dropped almost immediately, as the bullet ran the length of his body.
There were 3 other Americans in camp, as well as 6 Russians. The Russians were a total **** show. They drank insane amounts daily. They ended up taking a variety of game. 2 buffalo, a rhino, Sable, roan, zebra and a variety of other plains game. The guy that shot the rhino was under the impression that what he paid for the rhino entitled him to shoot the rest of his plains game free. He got into a big argument when he got his bill at the end of his hunt. The other guy who shot one of the buffalo carried a Glock 17L and got up from breakfast 3 mornings in a row and shot at ducks down on the river below at 200+ yards away. Finally hit one on the third morning. Another one of them got absolutely **** faced one night and tried to fight his PH when it was suggested it was time to go to bed. I walked into the top boma to get a bottle of water from the bar fridge and he was passed out on the floor with his stool flipped over laying in a puddle of his own ****. I was glad to see these guys leave.
Overall, it was a great hunt. My PH was excellent and the entire staff was professional and very welcoming. I was able to try a variety of game meat while there. They prepared impala, kudu, blesbok, zebra, warthog and rhino. All were good, but the zebra was my favorite. I went for a day trip over to Pumba Game Preserve to see some animals not on the ranch. Got close to some rhinos and hippos there and seen several others, but left a little disappointed as I never got to see any lions or elephants while there.
The one thing that really pissed me off was that customs confiscated $50+ in biltong I brought back. It was all commercially produced, in sealed commercial packaging. I'm still fuming over that. They wouldn't even let me sit there and eat it. They also hassled me over some porcupine quills I brought back. I had them in my rifle case, so they wouldn't get damaged. They made me take them to USDA and they just looked at them and said ok. I wanted to put them back in my rifle case and they tried making just put them in my bag. I told them I would go back over to firearms check to put them back in and they finally relented and just let me put them back in my case.
I'm already thinking about going back for buffalo and a few other plains game in a few years. They had some nice buffalo on the ranch and tend to keep trophy quality up well.
