Back from Dries Visser Safaris

[jpomai]

Just returned from Dries Visser Safaris. Had an amazing time and met some fantastic people. Everyone in camp was a pleasure and easy to get along with. All the PH's were awesome as well. I would of been happy to have been paired up with any of them. This is a bow only concession and these guys know what there doing. Was especially excited as this was not only my wife's first bowhunt but her first hunt period. Willem was are PH and he was just incredible in his attention to detail and willingness to do or get whatever we needed.

 

[jpomai]

The lodge and accomadations were 5 star. I'm a detail guy and I love the fact that they had a welcome letter in the room as well as monagramed hats with your names on them as well as bow racks. Little things like that add up to make a big difference from being a good operation to a great operation.

 

[jpomai]

Day one found us in a pit blind which is the norm. We saw an incredible amount of game. Took a poke at a jackal first thing in the morning. Those guys are wound tight. Couldn't believe he jumped the string at 15 yards. Got it on video and he ducks down right under the arrow. We saw impala, warthog, waterbuck, kudu, eland, gemsbok, blue wildebeest, monkey, vulchers, zebra and red heartebeest during the day but couldn't manage a shot at anything we wanted.

 

[jpomai]

Day 2 and we headed back to the same blind as we had seen a ton of game there the day before. Around 11 AM a nice warthog came in and it was the wife's first shot opportunity on an animal. Got very excited and shot a bit far back so we decided to give it some time. Around 3pm a herd of 20 eland came in with a huge old bull that Willem said was the oldest on the property. Estimated him at 15 years of age. Had a huge dulap and tuft of hair on the forehead that indicated maturity. Horns were well worn and weathered. Not on the top of my list but couldn't turn down a trophy opportunity like that. Hit him right in the crease where I wanted. Got out and tracked both the warthog and eland. Warthog ended up only going maybe 100 yards and was stiff as a board. Eland ended up going a couple hundred yards. They are big, tough animals.

 

[jpomai]

Day 3 was action packed. My main animals I wanted were gemsbok and zebra. Had a tough time on a gemsbok that kept coming in. Got to full draw on it 3 times before finally dropping the string. They like to video everything so it can screw you up sometimes. You don't have to wait for them if you don't want but I was willing to spend the extra time and effort to try and get it on film.

 

[jpomai]

Day 4 we returned to the blind we were in the previous day after spending an hour in another blind where the wind wouldn't cooperate. About noon three zebra came in. One stallion and two mares. All lined up at the water with the stallion sandwiched between the mares. The mare on the far side took off and then finally the remaining mare and stallion went to leave. Got to full draw and was praying that the mare would clear out of the way and the stallion would pause for a shot. Thankfully he cooperated and stopped at 20 yards quartering away. Smacked him with a good shot and he was dead on his feet going down within a couple hundred yards. Only four days into it and I have my top 2 trophies. Couldn't be more excited. Turns out this is my good luck blind as well as being the famed black mamba blind. Pat Lefemmie owner of the bowsite had a black mamba crawl in this blind a few years back and got it all on video named Beyond Adrenaline.

 

[genesis273]

That is a heck of a first hunt for your wife.
Congrats to both on the hunt and nice trophy`s.

 

[jpomai]

Day 5 returned us to the bad wind blind from yesterday. Had a nice blue wildebeest come in but didn't offer a shot before scattering when a bunch of Cape buffalo came in. Lone impala ram came in close to noon and it was the wifes turn. Hit him absolutely perfect and he piled up after 70 yards.

 

[MNHunter]

Wow! Congrats! Looks like you guys had a great hunt. All your animals are great but I love the gemsbok! How long was he? That zebra is pretty sweet as well.

 

[----]

Awesome looking animals. Is that a really good impala? looks huge to me.

 

[Missoulaz28]

great story and awesome that your wife got such a great experience on her first hunt.

 

[jpomai]

Day 6 and 7 were action packed but no shooting. Looking for Blue Wildebeest and Red Heartebeest. Had other opportunites but didn't want to mess it up for what was high on my list. On day 8 were sitting in a bling and Willem (PH) says, theres a snake. I figure he's screwing around and finally look at the water hole and sure enough there's a snake on a log with a frog in it's mouth. Willem thinks he's probably hibernating in the log and is finally getting around. It's a Mozambique spitting Cobra. We film it and my blood thirsty wife who is terrified of snakes asks if we can shoot it. It gets between two rocks and I lay one on it. Missed him but awesome film footage as he jumps up and hoods at my arrow. Goes back in the log and we figure that's it. Not ten minutes later he's out again on the log. I tell the wife it's her turn and she lets fly and nails him. Blood streaming down the log. We wait a while and go out and look. Willem figures he's under the rocks dead but we'll wait for the trackers later and they can turn over the rocks. Get back in the blind and half an hour later 23 blesbok show up. Only one ram but he's nice. Figure it's a good opportunity for the wife and she takes him. Got the tracker and started searching for the Cobra. Not under the rocks. There talking African so I don't know what there doing. Figured they were wondering off looking for blesbok tracks. Next thing I know the tracker (Jack) is running towards the water. Turns out the Cobra spit at him from about 10' away and hit him right next to the eye. Washed it out and was fine but if it gets in your eye it stings like pepper spray. Ended up having to stone him to finish him off.

 

[TOM IN TENNESSEE]

Great story and some mighty fine animals!

 

[Buschy]

Thanks for sharing. Great animals and story. I plan on making a trip over there before I give up the ghost!

 

[nr8l]

jpomai. awesome hunt. Let us know how your trophy's look when you get them.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Wow, Those are some great trophies. Congrats to you and your wife.

 

[Oak]

Great photos, thanks for sharing. I've heard that they are one of the top places to consider if you're taking your bow over there.

 

[TOM IN TENNESSEE]

The Afrikaan I hunt with in South Africa is a bow hunter at heart. He took his 90lb Long Bow to an elevated stand with me in Mpumalanga (sp?) Province for Bush Pig. I passed and the Bush Pig jumped the arrow in the moonlight. While I was hunting with his wife as driver and boys as extra eyes and missing a damn good Kudu, he killed one with his BowTech compound. We took six on the meat hunt with the boys taking two apiece. It was a "family" campout just like we would do here for Elk or Deer. Great fun! Friends are a good thing. This was 5th time I "hunted" with Kruger. We have killed everything from pigeons to Nyala together. He is currently pizzed at me for the economy not letting me stop and visit for a few days on my hunt in Zambia. He had a Sunni hunt lined up and we have already spent over a week without even seeing one on two hunts. Family and friends call me "Uncle". He is also my very reasonably priced taxidermist.There are some great folks in South Africa!