We just returned from our first hunting trip to South Africa with Pierre Moolman of Sun-Africa Safaris. Ten days of incredible hunting opportunities in concessions ranging from 12,000 to 50,000 hectares and covering a range of "plains" game (BTW, they don't all live on flat land, in fact most of the ones we hunted lived on hill sides and low mountains).
The whole hunt was of a very high standard, the PH's were very professional (incredibly adept at picking out trophy animals), the food and service was excellent and the hunting was "hard" in the best sense of the word. We all worked pretty hard for our animals, having to learn to run over rocky terrain (quietly), keeping the wind in our face and our eyes open for not only the game we were stalking but also for the ubiquitous ostriches, monkeys and baboons who were always quick to blow our cover.
Here goes:
My first animal, a Kudu, shot down a hillside with a 7x57 (using a 140 grain Barnes TSX). There were two shots, the first a raking shot through the chest (back to front), and the second a bit further back. Both shots had complete penetration through the chest cavity.
Range to the fallen kudu was 430 yards downhill (lasered), but he ran about 50 yards from the point where he was first shot. Realistically, the range was a bit over 300 yards at the first shot. You can see the two exit wounds.
My Gemsbuck:
Shot with the 7x57 off sticks unsteadily (out of breath), resulting in a hit way too far back. This resulted in a remarkable demonstration of tracking which led about 2km until we caught up with it. The PH dispatched it with his .300 WM. Lesson learned: Slow down and execute your shot carefully.
Skinning the Gemsbuck:
An Ant Bear hole (lots of these where the warthogs live). Got to watch your step!
My Impala:
Shot with a .270 with a 130 grain TSX at ~200 yards (it ran about 40 yards after a solid chest hit).
My Warthog:
Shot at ~125 yards with the .270 (130 grain TSX) ("bang-smack-flop")
This White Rhino was grazing in the same spot a few minutes before the warthog showed up:
Red Hartebeest, shot with the .270 up a hill at 340 yards (held ~6" down from the spine. It was a "bang, smack, flop". You can see the entrance wound in the picture.
My skinner with the Hartebeest...
I think he's got that "Why did you shoot this so far up the hill?" look
. These guys were troopers. They caped it out in the last 15 minutes of light and brought the cape down in the dark. The rest of the animal was recovered the following morning (they sent up about eight guys to help).
My first jackal, called in with a Foxpro, shot with the 130 grain TSX at about 120 yards.
If anyone doubts the effectiveness of the TSX on varmints, here's what it did to most of the jackals (I ended up killing six):
My Blesbuck:
Again, the .270 at about 225 yards. Interestingly, this was the only animal on which I did not have complete penetration with the TSX. However, the Blesbuck was shot downhill on the right side of the neck at the beginning of the chest with penetration through the length of the entire animal (about 1 metre). The bullet was recovered under the skin on the far side, just in front of the hind (left) leg. (bang-smack-flop)
Here's the sole recovered TSX:
Here's the entrance wound on the Blesbuck (the bullet came to rest on the opposite end of the animal after passing through it length-wise (on the diagonal):
White Blesbuck - shot was ~225 yards with the .270. (it ran about 30 yards)
More jackals...
My PH, John Tinley, skinner "Velapy" and "Stinky", John's 14-month old wire-haired Dachshund tracking dog (in training).
Scanning the area from a mountain top:
And there's a nice Kudu bull grazing 150 yards below!
Right under this cliff ( I sat and watched him for about half an hour as the kudu was sleeping on his feet) He was clearly safe and beyond the reach of most things that might want to disturb his rest.
A Springbuck cull (driven hunt) on our last day:
lunch in the field...
And the results of ten days of incredible hunting in the skinning shed:
Inside Pierre's lodge...
Dining area:
relaxing area:
Now, how to make it back for another one...
The whole hunt was of a very high standard, the PH's were very professional (incredibly adept at picking out trophy animals), the food and service was excellent and the hunting was "hard" in the best sense of the word. We all worked pretty hard for our animals, having to learn to run over rocky terrain (quietly), keeping the wind in our face and our eyes open for not only the game we were stalking but also for the ubiquitous ostriches, monkeys and baboons who were always quick to blow our cover.
Here goes:
My first animal, a Kudu, shot down a hillside with a 7x57 (using a 140 grain Barnes TSX). There were two shots, the first a raking shot through the chest (back to front), and the second a bit further back. Both shots had complete penetration through the chest cavity.
Range to the fallen kudu was 430 yards downhill (lasered), but he ran about 50 yards from the point where he was first shot. Realistically, the range was a bit over 300 yards at the first shot. You can see the two exit wounds.
My Gemsbuck:
Skinning the Gemsbuck:
An Ant Bear hole (lots of these where the warthogs live). Got to watch your step!
My Impala:
Shot with a .270 with a 130 grain TSX at ~200 yards (it ran about 40 yards after a solid chest hit).
My Warthog:
Shot at ~125 yards with the .270 (130 grain TSX) ("bang-smack-flop")
This White Rhino was grazing in the same spot a few minutes before the warthog showed up:
Red Hartebeest, shot with the .270 up a hill at 340 yards (held ~6" down from the spine. It was a "bang, smack, flop". You can see the entrance wound in the picture.
My skinner with the Hartebeest...
I think he's got that "Why did you shoot this so far up the hill?" look
. These guys were troopers. They caped it out in the last 15 minutes of light and brought the cape down in the dark. The rest of the animal was recovered the following morning (they sent up about eight guys to help).My first jackal, called in with a Foxpro, shot with the 130 grain TSX at about 120 yards.
If anyone doubts the effectiveness of the TSX on varmints, here's what it did to most of the jackals (I ended up killing six):
My Blesbuck:
Again, the .270 at about 225 yards. Interestingly, this was the only animal on which I did not have complete penetration with the TSX. However, the Blesbuck was shot downhill on the right side of the neck at the beginning of the chest with penetration through the length of the entire animal (about 1 metre). The bullet was recovered under the skin on the far side, just in front of the hind (left) leg. (bang-smack-flop)
Here's the sole recovered TSX:
Here's the entrance wound on the Blesbuck (the bullet came to rest on the opposite end of the animal after passing through it length-wise (on the diagonal):
White Blesbuck - shot was ~225 yards with the .270. (it ran about 30 yards)
More jackals...
My PH, John Tinley, skinner "Velapy" and "Stinky", John's 14-month old wire-haired Dachshund tracking dog (in training).
Scanning the area from a mountain top:
And there's a nice Kudu bull grazing 150 yards below!
Right under this cliff ( I sat and watched him for about half an hour as the kudu was sleeping on his feet) He was clearly safe and beyond the reach of most things that might want to disturb his rest.
A Springbuck cull (driven hunt) on our last day:
lunch in the field...
And the results of ten days of incredible hunting in the skinning shed:
Inside Pierre's lodge...
Dining area:
relaxing area:
Now, how to make it back for another one...
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