My wife and I just got back from South Africa and had the adventure of a lifetime! We hunted lots, saw some beautiful sights, made great new friends and truly enjoyed ourselves. Our outfitter, Zingeli Safaris, was outstanding and we will certainly go back with them. After over a year of planning I can't believe it's over.
Although it's unusual for people to hunt there during their summer/our winter (everyone always goes March-September), our outfitter was eager to please and really took care of us. We ate most of the animals we took and the rest of the meat went to the locals. We had an amazing chef who prepared outstanding dishes for us each day and night. My kudu tasted the sweetest
I did most of my shooting with my .375 Ruger but also took a couple impala with my .30-06 and another impala with my .30-30. You really only need to bring one gun (a .30-06 with a scope would have done it all) but for sentimental reasons, I brought as many as would fit in my gun case. We also used our PH's .243 w/ silencer for blesbuck and springbuck as well as black wildebeest. My wife used it to shoot a springbuck at 236 yards! I'm so proud of her.
Our trip was 12 days long including a day of travel each way, a half-day at Marakele National Park, a day shopping in town and 8 days hunting. We hunted in the bushveld (bush) for seven days and highveld (open plains) for one day.
The hunting was more challenging than I imagined. In the bushveld, we took a 51" kudu, zebra stallion, blue wildebeest, warthog and four impalas. Out in the highveld, we took a black wildebeest, blesbuck and two springbuck. It was as difficult as hunting here but we got many more chances at game because there was so much more around. Most of the shooting was 100-200 yards, the closest being an impala I took with the .30-30 at 70 yards, the furthest was a blesbuck with the .243 at 343 yards.
THE CONCESSION WE HUNTED - BUSHVELD
THE HUNT CAMP
AFTER A YEAR OF DREAMING....MY KUDU!
RHINOS
GIRAFFES AT DAWN
BULL KUDU AT DAWN
FEMALE KUDU
ZEBRA STAMPEDE
IMPALA FAWN
YET ANOTHER AMAZING LUNCH
CHRISTMAS DAY IMPALA - TAKEN @ 70 YARDS WITH THE .30-30
MEAT COOLER - ZEBRA MEAT ON THE RIGHT RESEMBLES PHEASANT
MARAKELE NATIONAL PARK
A PAIR OF KLIPSPRINGERS AT MARAKELE
BABY SHRIMP IN FRESH AVOCADO - DELICIOUS!
LOUIS BBQING STEAKS
HYENA TRACKS
THE CONCESSION OWNER'S PRIVATE CAMP...NOT A BAD SPOT FOR A HOT TUB!
WARTHOG - DIDN'T ACTUALLY TAKE HIM WITH THE .30-30 BUT POSED THIS SHOT JUST IN CASE I HAD TO CONCOCT A STORY ABOUT USING IT
LEOPARD TORTOISE - ONE OF THE LITTLE 5
BACHELOR KUDU BULLS
NYALA BULL
GO-AWAY BIRD
GORGEOUS LITTLE BIRD, WHOSE NAME I HAVE FORGOTTEN!
NYALA FEMALE
LEOPARD TRACKS
BUSHVELD
ROCK MONITOR
BOW BLIND - THIS CONCESSION WAS A BOWHUNTER'S PARADISE. I COULD SEE MYSELF COMING BACK WITH ONLY MY BOW DURING THE DRY SEASON
BLUE WILDEBEEST
BLACK WILDEBEEST ON THE HIGHVELD - THEY WERE WAITING FOR THEIR LEADER WHO WOULD NOT BE JOINING THEM
...AND HERE HE IS! BLACK WILDEBEEST BULL
MY WIFE TAKING A SHOT AT HER SPRINGBUCK
Although it's unusual for people to hunt there during their summer/our winter (everyone always goes March-September), our outfitter was eager to please and really took care of us. We ate most of the animals we took and the rest of the meat went to the locals. We had an amazing chef who prepared outstanding dishes for us each day and night. My kudu tasted the sweetest
I did most of my shooting with my .375 Ruger but also took a couple impala with my .30-06 and another impala with my .30-30. You really only need to bring one gun (a .30-06 with a scope would have done it all) but for sentimental reasons, I brought as many as would fit in my gun case. We also used our PH's .243 w/ silencer for blesbuck and springbuck as well as black wildebeest. My wife used it to shoot a springbuck at 236 yards! I'm so proud of her.
Our trip was 12 days long including a day of travel each way, a half-day at Marakele National Park, a day shopping in town and 8 days hunting. We hunted in the bushveld (bush) for seven days and highveld (open plains) for one day.
The hunting was more challenging than I imagined. In the bushveld, we took a 51" kudu, zebra stallion, blue wildebeest, warthog and four impalas. Out in the highveld, we took a black wildebeest, blesbuck and two springbuck. It was as difficult as hunting here but we got many more chances at game because there was so much more around. Most of the shooting was 100-200 yards, the closest being an impala I took with the .30-30 at 70 yards, the furthest was a blesbuck with the .243 at 343 yards.
THE CONCESSION WE HUNTED - BUSHVELD
THE HUNT CAMP
AFTER A YEAR OF DREAMING....MY KUDU!
RHINOS
GIRAFFES AT DAWN
BULL KUDU AT DAWN
FEMALE KUDU
ZEBRA STAMPEDE
IMPALA FAWN
YET ANOTHER AMAZING LUNCH
CHRISTMAS DAY IMPALA - TAKEN @ 70 YARDS WITH THE .30-30
MEAT COOLER - ZEBRA MEAT ON THE RIGHT RESEMBLES PHEASANT
MARAKELE NATIONAL PARK
A PAIR OF KLIPSPRINGERS AT MARAKELE
BABY SHRIMP IN FRESH AVOCADO - DELICIOUS!
LOUIS BBQING STEAKS
HYENA TRACKS
THE CONCESSION OWNER'S PRIVATE CAMP...NOT A BAD SPOT FOR A HOT TUB!
WARTHOG - DIDN'T ACTUALLY TAKE HIM WITH THE .30-30 BUT POSED THIS SHOT JUST IN CASE I HAD TO CONCOCT A STORY ABOUT USING IT
LEOPARD TORTOISE - ONE OF THE LITTLE 5
BACHELOR KUDU BULLS
NYALA BULL
GO-AWAY BIRD
GORGEOUS LITTLE BIRD, WHOSE NAME I HAVE FORGOTTEN!
NYALA FEMALE
LEOPARD TRACKS
BUSHVELD
ROCK MONITOR
BOW BLIND - THIS CONCESSION WAS A BOWHUNTER'S PARADISE. I COULD SEE MYSELF COMING BACK WITH ONLY MY BOW DURING THE DRY SEASON
BLUE WILDEBEEST
BLACK WILDEBEEST ON THE HIGHVELD - THEY WERE WAITING FOR THEIR LEADER WHO WOULD NOT BE JOINING THEM
...AND HERE HE IS! BLACK WILDEBEEST BULL
MY WIFE TAKING A SHOT AT HER SPRINGBUCK
Last edited:
