Semi-Live South Africa Plains Game (mostly archery) with the family

[jpc01101]

Will use this thread to post Pics and stories as I experience my first African hunting experience. Hoping to get a good Kudu, Gemsbok and Red Hartebeest with my bow. Excited to see my son get a warthog and likely an impala and my wife wants to kill a Zebra. Should be a blast! Tag along if you want. We leave in 10 days for Johannesburg and then off to Limpopo!

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Have fun! Sounds like a great adventure.

 

[jpc01101]

Coverage has been spotty and @bigfin and crew blocked access from some of the providers I was on but I’m sitting in a blind and figured I’d spend a few minutes typing up a first report.

Last Saturday (7/12) 12 members of my family (my Wife, Son, Dad, Stepmom, Brother, Sister and their spouses and kids) loaded up and went to Cincinnati airport to start a grand adventure. Quick hop to ATL then 15+ hrs to Joburg. The flight was terrible, I can only afford coach so it is what it is, sitting essentially straight up I can’t sleep so I watched movies and stared at the airplane circling the globe on the screen in front of me. We landed in South Africa at around 7:30 pm local and went to the first lodge for dinner and to crash. The place was pretty sweet, the food was great and the beer was cold. Next morning we left at 6 and drove to Northwest province where we immediately started hunting. The women and the little kids followed after breakfast in the van. The first day was a lot of fun. There is a quote somewhere that says “the man I envy most is the one about to see Africa for the first time” (or close to that) and it is true. Driving on the truck and seeing Rhino, Giraffe, Cape Buffalo and so many other species was an amazing experience. My Dad and Nephew harvested some animals and I got busted on 3 stalks trying to get a hartebeest and kudu. There are so many eyes it is tough. That evening we drove to the new lodge (called Woodside) which was absolutely beautiful and had a late dinner and a couple beers then crashed. Another early morning started with a successful shot on a Springbuck. We found a ram and I got to within 25 yards and sailed a 125 grain Beast broadhead at him and the damage was impressive. He was slighting quartering to and I ripped a hole approximately 4” across through this boiler room. He ran 15 yds directly into a tree and died. We took pics, loaded him up and took off. An hour or so later we spotted a Kudu Bull that we had spotted the day before all alone. After a short stalk I was 34 yds from one of the top animals on my life hit list. I shot him with a 125 grain Kudu fixed blade single bevel broadhead with a bleeder and got a complete pass through. He ran about 50 yds and stayed wobbling on his feet so I hit him again with a Beast and it made a massive hole, he dropped within 10 seconds. The rest of the day was great my Brother in Law got a Black Wildebeest, Blesbuck and Gemsbok. The next day we decided that everyone would go out so the entire family squeezed into and on top of the 2 land cruisers and off we went. It was on this day that the highlight of my hunting life took place. My 8 year old loves to shoot and hunt. He got his first turkey this spring with my Dad and I both being there and he said he wanted to hunt Africa. We found a group of Blesbuck and the PH picked out a great ram and we got to within about 150 yards. The only gun available was a suppressed 30-06 that he shot earlier in the day with no issues. The suppressor really tamed it nicely. He got in the gun and started his breathing. He didn’t rush but wasn’t slow either. He asked me to help him adjust the bags so he could make a comfortable confident shot. He asked “right on the shoulder” and as soon as I said yes he made an absolutely perfect shot. He heard the impact and said “I Hit It!!” And we all watched it go down about 15 yards from impact. Everyone started cheering and he was so overwhelmed that he kind of collapsed into his Moms arms and cried, honestly, we all cried Including my Brother and his wife. It was as joyful an event as I have experienced in my life. We walked up together and put hands on a great Blesbuck and I tried to step back and take a minute to soak it in. I have this all on video and will share when I get home. I have watched it 60 times probably. The joy in his voice and on his face are something I will think back on often when I need a pick me up. More to come as time allows…

 

[jpc01101]

 

[jpc01101]

The trend of late nights and early mornings continued into the third day. I decided to take a nice Red Hartebeest with the gun. I shot it at about 80 yds slight quartering away put it right behind the shoulder, textbook, but it ran off looking strong. We followed blood for a bit (about 30 yds) then couldn’t find anymore blood. Started grid searching for probably an hour. In the end we found him 50 yds from the shot location folded up neatly under a large tree. We had all walked past him probably 10 times, LOL. That’s hunting I suppose. Took some pics and off to find a Zebra for my wife. Backstory is my wife doesn’t really hunt much. She is the type of wife who says “you should go” and means it, no tit for tat. She goes with me to Montana for months each year and we chase bear, deer and elk sometimes together and sometimes she stays back while I hunt. All that to say, she is more than I deserve. During all the planning for the trip the only thing she mentioned wanting to do was to shoot a zebra, so we made it a priority. She missed high at 200 yds and the video showed a nervous trigger jerk. Easy to understand. They didn’t spook far and we took off after they on foot. We stalked them at about 300 yard distance for over a mile. They were content to let us follow them all day at that distance and there were Blesbuck and Black wildebeest with them. Which, if you have seen Wildebeest, is like trying to stalk up on a group of things that randomly jump, buck and run constantly which keeps everything else on edge. We made our way around for another couple hours and finally found a small group of Zebra with a nice stallion that had a tail and hadn’t had it bitten off in a fight since she wanted a rug. She made a great shot and the Zebra took off limping bad and we found him dead in about 80 yds. Beautiful animal and a different hunting experience than I expected. I suppose I thought it would be like shooting a horse in a field…it was not.

 

[jpc01101]

 

[Forkyfinder]

Cool pics and story!

 

[Hawk Tuah]

So awesome!! Great photos and story!!!

 

[gonhunting247]

I really like the Red Hartabeast. If I ever make it to Africa they will be high on my list of game to hunt!
Congrats, looks like a great adventure!

 

[Salmonchaser]

Outstanding!

 

[jpc01101]

Spoiler alert..

 

[jpc01101]

 

[jpc01101]

On the third hunting day we met up with the rest of the family (split between two trucks and PH’s) for lunch at a camp on a lake inside the hunting area. As we were finishing eating one of the kids spotted a herd of Hartebeest about 600 yards away, they were working toward the water. One of the PH’s pulled up his Binos and said there was a nice one in the group. My Dad had been wanting a Hartebeest so we all got quiet and went back under a roof in the shade and waited and they came in for a drink. After some time the largest male offered a broadside shot and Dad made a perfect shot in front of his wife (first time she had ever been there when he harvested something) his sons and daughter, grandsons and In-laws. The crowd went wild when the animal dropped, it was another core memory for sure. I have digiscope video from a tripod so super good quality. Will upload after I edit.

 

[jpc01101]

I guess I’m a whitetail hunter at heart because I was looking forward to sitting in a pit blind for a bit just to see what I could see. The morning of day 4 started with me getting dropped off on a water hole with one of the trackers. The morning started kinda slow then we saw Cape Buffalo, Kudu, Eland, and more Impala females and guinea fowl than you could shake a stick at. We were about to call the PH to grab us when a nice impala ram walked into the water. He ran everything else off and got a quick drink then went to a salt lick. Watched him for about 15 minutes and decided he looked like one I would take. I set up cameras and slowly opened the window to get ready for a shot. The shot was about 25 yards and I must have been excited because I hit a touch back with a sevr 2.0, still got both lungs and a good wound channel. He didn’t go 50 yards.

 

[jpc01101]

 

[jpc01101]

 

[jpc01101]

After lunch my wife came to the blind with me. We had a huge group of Cape Buffalo which my trusty tracker Trymor attempted to convince me to shoot. I tried to explain that I only had 450 gr arrow/broadhead and wasn’t interested in injuring a 10k animal…not to mention I couldn’t afford it even if I had the right setup. He was really putting on the hard sell “that is a huge buffalo, you will never see one as big” LOL. Was hoping to see a Gemsbok or warthog come out but never did see a shooter of either species. I was, however, tempted by a very nice Impala ram that was fighting everything and everyone. Finally at last light I slowly opened the window and hit the trigger on the release and completed a two impala day! Had to track this one about 80 yds in the dark and actually required another arrow to finish killing him. He was very nice and I was grateful to get a chance at two nice rams in one day with a bow.

 

[Badknees104]

wow!! thats a dandy. congrats

 

[jpc01101]

The next morning we left early to the next lodge. Anyone hunting left around 6 and the others had brunch and left afterward. One truck (the truck I was in) headed to the new place while the other went to look for a Blue Wildebeest my brother had hit the night before. It was about a 2.5 hr drive and we got there and started hunting. I was dropped at a water hole with a skinner. We sat and watched some waterbuck, a nice sable, some kudu and a warthog. The closest the warthog came was 90 yds or I would have shot him, he was very big. After about 3 hrs heard something behind me, like within 4’ of the back of the blind. I snuck a look and it was a nice Gemsbok. He came around to that water and I set everything up to get video. His spidey sense must have been tingling because he turned and started to walk away. I had to quickly reposition to another window and luckily he stopped. I hit him right on the shoulder with a 125gr beast at about 10 yards and watched him run about 50 yds and bed down. I sat and watched him until his head fell about 3 minutes after laying down and that was 2 of my life list animals down with a bow (Kudu and Gemsbok). We got him loaded up and headed back to the lodge for the evening. It was the first time I had been at a lodge in the daylight to relax so I took the opportunity to just soak it all in a bit. The next day we were going to be on Impala patrol with my son!!!

 

[BAKPAKR]

The next morning we left early to the next lodge. Anyone hunting left around 6 and the others had brunch and left afterward. One truck (the truck I was in) headed to the new place while the other went to look for a Blue Wildebeest my brother had hit the night before. It was about a 2.5 hr drive and we got there and started hunting. I was dropped at a water hole with a skinner. We sat and watched some waterbuck, a nice sable, some kudu and a warthog. The closest the warthog came was 90 yds or I would have shot him, he was very big. After about 3 hrs heard something behind me, like within 4’ of the back of the blind. I snuck a look and it was a nice Gemsbok. He came around to that water and I set everything up to get video. His spidey sense must have been tingling because he turned and started to walk away. I had to quickly reposition to another window and luckily he stopped. I hit him right on the shoulder with a 125gr beast at about 10 yards and watched him run about 50 yds and bed down. I sat and watched him until his head fell about 3 minutes after laying down and that was 2 of my life list animals down with a bow (Kudu and Gemsbok). We got him loaded up and headed back to the lodge for the evening. It was the first time I had been at a lodge in the daylight to relax so I took the opportunity to just soak it all in a bit. The next day we were going to be on Impala patrol with my son!!!View attachment 379061

How many different broadheads did you take with you?