Africa 2026

[Salmonchaser]

I just returned from my trip to The Eastern Cape, RSA. Hunted last time and this with Crusader Safaris. They have three primary ranches spread from near Durban down to 100 miles north of Port Elizabeth. These three comprise right at 1 million acres of free range hunting. They have been working at expanding their holdings and have been adding ranches the last four years. One of those is a fenced operation encompassing 250,000 acres. Near New London. While I was there my PH took advantage of my enthusiasm for the hunt and walking. On five of the seven days I hunted we went to one property or another that was being considered by my outfitter for either leasing or outright purchase. These were all working ranches, low fence with reasonable game populations. Ranged in size from about 10K to 55K hilly to mountainous. Each had only limited hunting history. To get a good feel for the ground we would leave the rig and take a 5 to 8 mile hike. Just to be neighborly my PH would ask the owner if they needed any bush meat. Got to take a few extra impala, wart hogs and the like. Saw plenty of most of the other species too. It was great fun.
Day one of my hunt started with four rounds from my 300 HH Ruger #1 that P-ham had worked over. First shot on paper confirmed zero 1 1/2 at 100. Banged plates at 200 300 and 400. With out adjusting the scope. PH liked that. Given time, sure I’ll adjust but with little time I’ll just shoot as long as we’re inside 400.
We had driven about a mile from the range when the tracker banged on the top of the Hilex. Lechwe. We dropped into a draw that would allow us to cover the 1200 or so yards putting us close if he stayed put. After a while PH said we should be with in 300, let’s sneak up and have a look. He was still there, quartering too and looking like he was going to take off but only 120 yards away. Broke his neck at the spine shoulder junction. We didn’t have to drag him far, got him loaded in the truck and headed back to the lodge.
After taking care of the Lechwe my PH said let’s go up there I’ve been seeing a real good waterbuck. Saw just about everything in the way of plains game on the way. Looked at a couple of waterbok but was told we can do better. We did a lot of walking that afternoon and finally came up with the big waterbok. Started working closer but he and his cows moved off before we could get in range. Hiked around some passed on several shooter Kudu that didn’t match or better my previous Kudu, saw about 15 different species before making it back to the truck.
Day 2 we went after the big waterbok. Parked a little over a mile form where we had seen him and worked our way closer using the terrain to get in on him. Bunched a herd of eland that ran right at him, poof, gone again.
We used most of the rest of the day making a big loop from on top of the mountain. Saw a ton of game including several decent waterbok but my PH thought we needed to give the big one a little more time. Late that afternoon we wandered back in to have a look but could not locate the waterbok we were after. On the way there we stopped to look at some blue Wildebeast. Mark, PH, pointed out two bulls. I know those aren’t on your list but both those guys will go in the book easy.
On the way back to the truck with just a little daylight we crested a ridge and had the herd of Blue Wildebeast out in front about 200 yards. Mark described how much wider he was than his ears, how heavy his bosses were and the horns swept back noticeably. Ok you talked me into it. Bang flop, 180gr accubond does it again. Green score puts him into the sci book safely.

Day three found us trying to locate the big waterbok. By 0800 or so we had glassed up several but had failed to locate the big one. The tracker came up with him first. The bull was working his way up a ridge about a mile from where we sat. PH and I hustled out of there and had just about accessed the top of the ridge when the tracker called on the radio. Looks like he is getting ready to dive into the thick stuff. We hit the top of the ridge and immediately see the bull. Mark whispers 262 in my ear. Several of his cows had already dropped off the ridge into the thick stuff. Just as he turned to follow his cows I held for a high shoulder and tapped the trigger, He managed one long jump and collapsed.
Minimum score for sci is 67 inches. He green scored 79.

 

[MTpubliclander]

Awesome!!! Keep it coming!!!!!

 

[fishing4sanity]

Lekker! I hope there's a lot more to come. You're sure making me miss the uniqueness and beauty of Africa.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Mark, my PH, was really surprised on the size of the waterbok. This animal is huge, he said. Don’t think I’ve ever taken one with as big a body. The three of us, got him rolled around got some photos and then waited on 6 or 8 guys who were working in the area to show up and get the bull off the mountain. The guys showed up, rolled him onto a 6x4 tarp with handles sewn on and off they went. Later learned he was right at 450 pounds gutted.
I am not a good photographer and struggle to remember to take photos, particularly landscapes. The ground we were hunting on was roughly 450,000 acres. I figured in three days I had seen only a few thousand. It is steep and very rocky ground, the slopes are covered to varying degrees with wild olive and acacia. The tops of these ridges often form flats and benches that are open grasslands. The game is everywhere. Kudu in the thick stuff, Wildebeast on top kind of thing. Buffalo seam to like both.
Mark had a plan for the rest of the morning. We literally saw 100s of impala, blesbok, blue and black wildebeast, Lechwe, sable, eland, mt. Reedbuck, springbok and a few cow gemsbok over the course of a three mile drive. Seemed like every little basin we found there was game.
Simms our tracker shouted in Zulu. We stopped abruptly, Mark bails so I do too. Nothing exciting but a punctured tire. There is no spare. Mark is apoplectic, Simms tells him one of the other PH had a flat yesterday so took Marks spare this morning. Don’t know what it is about guides but I had the same thing happen to me when I was guiding in Oregon and Alaska. It’s universal I guess.
There are 1/2 dozen hunters in camp, in three days I haven’t seen any of them in the field but it’s been a good morning. Anyone who could bring us a tire is involved in recovering or tracking animals. I suggest we hunt instead of walking the two track back to camp, looks to be about 5 miles.
Over the next two hours or so I pass on 1/2 dozen Kudu that are shooters but not any more spectacular than the one have on the wall. Kudu not on my list this time but I’ve kinda decided I’ll shoot a really good one should I get the opportunity. We see quite a few other potential targets, Look at a couple of eland bulls, even three giraffes. The hike does get pretty rough, kind of ground you sweat walking down hill. We pop out of the Acacia thorn Forrest at the lodge. You look a little worse for wear Don. It was a great adventure I said. After a shower and a long lunch and a tic picking session we spent the afternoon checking out a property the outfitter was thinking to acquire. It was well stocked with cattle, sheep and game. We had seen an exceptional Impala that bolted immediately on seeing the truck. Spent the afternoon trying to get a shot at him to no avail. Hell of a bunch of fun.

Day four a plan was hatched to go find a good Gemsbok. Not uncommon for outfits to shoot cows or bulls but my PH told me we would only target bulls. Had good intel from one of the other PHs where they had seen a decent herd with a couple of good bulls the day before. We got into the area just after daylight, Mark figured we were a mile or so from where the herd had been. We grabbed our day packs, I shouldered my rifle, took ten steps and walked right into Mark. The herd is 700 yards away, standing in the morning sun. Unbelievable. We had just started stalking towards them when we bump into a gigantic warthog. Mark points I raised the 300HH and we look at each other and start laughing. I”m about to shoot a true trophy warthog instead of shooting a Gemsbok. Mark offers we are more likely to find the warthog later. So we are back on the Gemsbok, but we both look back at the pig.

We dump into a wash that gets us pretty close to them, just a little over 300 yards. Finally two bulls separate out a little. Mark whispering, the one to the left, head down no looking back, 325. He drops instantly kicks a couple of times, I’m reloading. The dam thing is up and running. I can see the blood as he careens through the Acacia getting close, fast. As he crosses the two track just in front of us I fold him with a good hit on his shoulder. I’m flabbergasted. My first shot had just clipped the lower edge of the spine, there was lung in the exit hole, lots of blood and he probably wouldn’t have gone far but I was disappointed he hadn’t stayed down.

Spent a couple hours after taking care of the gemsbok looking for the warthog with out success. Hell of a fun morning.

 

[Muskeez]

Thanks for the stories, Ive enjoyed reading them. Interesting to see the terrain. Congrats!

 

[Salmonchaser]

The afternoon of day four found us up on top on a giant mesa. I had been up there on our trip four years ago. We were looking for a good springbok. I had taken a very good Blessbok and a Black Wildebeast on the same mesa four years ago. Could have repeated the feat this time as well. We spotted some Springbok some distance off and took advantage of the terrain to get closer. When we crawled over a ridge we were at about 475 from 2 nice rams. We had a little cover and thought about getting closer but we managed one yard. That last little bit revealed a herd of Wildebeast inbetween us. Tall grass prevented prone shooting. Mark said get ready, I’ll set the sticks up you’ll have just a couple of seconds to shoot. I dialed the range, adjusted the paralax setting, slipped out of my pack and binnos and slid into a wrestling crouch. From prone Mark raised the sticks, I sprang up dropped the rifle onto the sticks and the rifle was almost perfectly aligned for the shot. the ram was looking at me and as his head turned away I pressed the trigger. Down he went.

Day five was an exploring day on a couple of potential properties. Picked up a good Impala that was chasing females pretty hard. We had walked a couple of miles bumping game every so often including a couple of sable. Mark commented he was going to come in to this place next week for springbok and Impala as we were seeing very good numbers. We sat on a good overlook and saw quite a few different species across the canyon and out onto a flat. We were just fixing to move when a whole herd of impala broke out across the ridge. There were a couple of good rams. I had decided that if I saw a good impala I’d take one. On cue this guy separates out from the herd. Mark looks at me and grins, 305 from sitting? He’s a good ram. The gauntlet thrown I dropped a round in the chamber let the air out and press the trigger. A smaller ram started goring the one I had just shot, PH offers the land owner asked for a little bushmeat. Another bang flop. We were about 500 yards from the road, our tracker and one supplied by the landowner went and retrieved our truck while we processed the Impala.

We made arraingement for the trackers to bring the truck around in about 90 minutes to a series of ponds over the ridge, 3/4 mile or so from where we were. We hunted our way over there routinely spotting antelope ranging in size from a Diker to Eland. Ultimately was sat covering the water holes. I could have shot several more different animals but nothing I wanted to pay the trophy fees on. Mark directs my attention out about 450 yards. There is a very nice Mountain Reed buck he says. That’s one you havn’t shot he adds. I’m glad Catherine wasn’t with us. What the heck, they eat great I’ve been told. One and done. These Reedbucks are very small, smaller than a Sitka Blacktail. Mark explained that the 61/2 inch horns were very good.
Trackers show up a few minutes later, load the Reedbuck in with the Impala and start heading out.
Tracker calls out that the staff would also like a warthog if I would spare a bullet. As if on cue a moderately tusked boar reveals himself. We’re having all kinds of fun. The springbok; good impala; bushmeat Impala; Reedbuck and bushmeat warthog.

 

[Salmonchaser]

The final hunt was the toughest, taking most of the day trying to close on a Bachelor herd of Red Hartebeest. Tracking with my gps we covered a little over 5 miles before watching them bed and closing to just under 400 yards. The PHam improved Ruger #1 did it again.

 

[Salmonchaser]

This hunt was my second with Crusader Saffari’s. The first was in 2022 just after Covid restrictions were lifted. Wife and I hunted 10 days covering 3 different ranches, spending two days traveling between. These were and are working cattle/sheep ranches and given the covid travel restrictions prior to our arrival, game was plentiful with 30 some species observed.
I was curious what numbers would be like on this trip given so many folks were trying to make up for lost time. I booked to hunt the Baviins river camp with the option of Kei River. I elected later in the week to hold off on Kei River for next year, a combo Cape buffalo and Southern Greater Kudu hunt.
While I like shooting good quality animals I’m not particularly hung up on the measurements. Give me the opportunity to choose the bigger one, of course. My assigned Ph, Mark was amazing at evaluating animals. In particular we evaluated the Lechwe, Waterbok, Gemsbok and Springbok. Those were the four I booked to hunt on my trip. Probable additions were Impala and warthog. Just because I have a unique space for them at home.
The blue Wildebeest and the Red Hartebeest were targets of opportunities.
This outfit practices very strict age class selection and head gear certainly contributes to aging an animal as mature or even past his prime. Other features are important as well.
Mark demonstrated a remarkable ability to evaluate animals. This is free range, the animals come and go off the property. In every case on the animals I shot, his estimate was with in an inch or two. There were several times we arrived at the lodge while one of the other hunters was getting his game up on the meat pole, Mark had a number in mind before putting his rig in park.
On my Gemsbok, Mark looked at him for a few minutes. He is an old bull he said, he won’t make 40, kinda broomed off. He will go 38 or 39. I think you should take him. He did not make 40 inches. He was 37 and 38 inches. The Waterbok came in at 79. Minimum score for SCI is 67. The Blue Wildebeest and the Red Hartebeest crushed the minimum scores by 10 and 12 inches. All green scores. I’ll likely not pay the fees to measure and record them. Don’t really care but mention it as an example of the work this outfit does to selectively harvest animals. They run 1500 people through the lodge every year. Mark couldn’t think of anyone who wanted a Kudu who didn’t get one or have the opportunity to do so. There are some species in lower numbers on some ranches that are higher on others. If you really want a great Nyala or Bushbuck they will start your trip at Umkomass, Kei River. if you really want more open country Baviaansriver or Stormberg Mountains.
I’ve hunted three of the four primary properties. They are adding more ground every year near or adjacent to their existing ground. The accommodations are not four star, they are however well built, warm dry and very comfortable. Daily laundry service and room cleaning. Any requests were handled by end of day. The wife had a job where people would fly her first class all over the world, put her up in the finest hotels kind of thing, She loved the lodges and the people there. You shoot it you eat it. Again not 4 star but good meals. No complaints.

The hunting primarily spot and stalk. On my first hunt and with what I learned talking to others in camp game is typically spotted from either the vehicle or from a vantage point you reach by vehicle, once game is spotted the stalk is on. There is so much game that you can’t help but run into quite a bit of it just moving around. I let Andrew know when I booked the trip I wanted to walk, a lot. Mark was happy to oblige. We averaged just under 8 miles per day. Some times we made big loops other times we hunted through, having sent the tracker around to some pre determined location to pick us up.We got into a lot of country not typically seen up close, still amazes me how easy it is to bump a giraffe.

Towards the end of my hunt Mark and I started working on squeezing a good Kudu into my bag. The average shooter on the ranch I think would equate to a 300 inch 6 point elk. Maybe a touch less. They don’t shoot rag horns or immature 6 points so to speak. Mine a couple of years ago was getting to that 325 class or a little better. We’re talking cape Kudu. The last two days of hunting I was on the sticks looking at 8 or 9 different bulls that were in that age class, mid to high 40s cape Kudu. Definitely 300 + equivalent. All well within my comfort zone. We had one that very nearly gave it up, a very old bull that was close enough his scars and damaged hide were obvious. Mark finally says he is a little bigger than your last bull (the jpeg) but he won’t break 50”. The light was fading, it was in fact time for the fat lady to sing. I clicked the safety on and off several times over the 15 or 20 minutes i had him in the cross hairs. I let him walk.
I got WhatsApp note from Mark today. No pics yet but I was told the last bull came in at 48 inch, missing many teeth.
If you’re thinking about a trip to Africa, please do your homework. You’ll enjoy hunting a large high fence operation and realize that a 20,000 acre operation gives plenty of cover for the animals. Most of the voices I’ve heard here would not like hunting a small high fence operation.
Hunting with Crusader Safari’s you well occasionally see a high fence. Can’t help what neighbors do but it has little impact.
It’s remote, they have good internet, rare you’ll find a good cell signal, occasionally up on top. Remote enough the owners kids go to boarding school almost two hours drive from home.
The average price I’ve seen on some animals seems a little high but I think that reflects managing for better trophy quality. I’m no body special, one guy with a pretty simple wish list. I passed on 8 or 9 Kudu that would equate to a 300 inch elk or better. I shot 4 animals that eclipsed the minimum score for SCI record book. Again that feat simply reflects strong management, I shot well and was in good enough shape to close to reasonable range get on the sticks and shoot. The rest of the animals, if you plug in what makes a good impala trophy will show how big an animal needs to be to be in that “good” range. I’m not unique, every animal that came to the skinning shed that I saw would all have made that age class description as a good representative of the species.
If you’re thinking about Africa and are interested in learning more, reach out. I’m happy to be on the reference list.

 

[Lmartin5]

I just returned from my trip to The Eastern Cape, RSA. Hunted last time and this with Crusader Safaris. They have three primary ranches spread from near Durban down to 100 miles north of Port Elizabeth. These three comprise right at 1 million acres of free range hunting. They have been working at expanding their holdings and have been adding ranches the last four years. One of those is a fenced operation encompassing 250,000 acres. Near New London. While I was there my PH took advantage of my enthusiasm for the hunt and walking. On five of the seven days I hunted we went to one property or another that was being considered by my outfitter for either leasing or outright purchase. These were all working ranches, low fence with reasonable game populations. Ranged in size from about 10K to 55K hilly to mountainous. Each had only limited hunting history. To get a good feel for the ground we would leave the rig and take a 5 to 8 mile hike. Just to be neighborly my PH would ask the owner if they needed any bush meat. Got to take a few extra impala, wart hogs and the like. Saw plenty of most of the other species too. It was great fun.
Day one of my hunt started with four rounds from my 300 HH Ruger #1 that P-ham had worked over. First shot on paper confirmed zero 1 1/2 at 100. Banged plates at 200 300 and 400. With out adjusting the scope. PH liked that. Given time, sure I’ll adjust but with little time I’ll just shoot as long as we’re inside 400.
We had driven about a mile from the range when the tracker banged on the top of the Hilex. Lechwe. We dropped into a draw that would allow us to cover the 1200 or so yards putting us close if he stayed put. After a while PH said we should be with in 300, let’s sneak up and have a look. He was still there, quartering too and looking like he was going to take off but only 120 yards away. Broke his neck at the spine shoulder junction. We didn’t have to drag him far, got him loaded in the truck and headed back to the lodge.
After taking care of the Lechwe my PH said let’s go up there I’ve been seeing a real good waterbuck. Saw just about everything in the way of plains game on the way. Looked at a couple of waterbok but was told we can do better. We did a lot of walking that afternoon and finally came up with the big waterbok. Started working closer but he and his cows moved off before we could get in range. Hiked around some passed on several shooter Kudu that didn’t match or better my previous Kudu, saw about 15 different species before making it back to the truck.
Day 2 we went after the big waterbok. Parked a little over a mile form where we had seen him and worked our way closer using the terrain to get in on him. Bunched a herd of eland that ran right at him, poof, gone again.
We used most of the rest of the day making a big loop from on top of the mountain. Saw a ton of game including several decent waterbok but my PH thought we needed to give the big one a little more time. Late that afternoon we wandered back in to have a look but could not locate the waterbok we were after. On the way there we stopped to look at some blue Wildebeast. Mark, PH, pointed out two bulls. I know those aren’t on your list but both those guys will go in the book easy.
On the way back to the truck with just a little daylight we crested a ridge and had the herd of Blue Wildebeast out in front about 200 yards. Mark described how much wider he was than his ears, how heavy his bosses were and the horns swept back noticeably. Ok you talked me into it. Bang flop, 180gr accubond does it again. Green score puts him into the sci book safely.

Day three found us trying to locate the big waterbok. By 0800 or so we had glassed up several but had failed to locate the big one. The tracker came up with him first. The bull was working his way up a ridge about a mile from where we sat. PH and I hustled out of there and had just about accessed the top of the ridge when the tracker called on the radio. Looks like he is getting ready to dive into the thick stuff. We hit the top of the ridge and immediately see the bull. Mark whispers 262 in my ear. Several of his cows had already dropped off the ridge into the thick stuff. Just as he turned to follow his cows I held for a high shoulder and tapped the trigger, He managed one long jump and collapsed.
Minimum score for sci is 67 inches. He green scored 79.

Looks like a great trip...congratulations!