BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
I met with the Safari Classics guys in Reno at SCI. Great bunch. Worth giving them a shout and talking to them. I thought about Mozambique too but that tall grass scares the sh*t outta me.
Africa
- Thread starter samdunc
- Start date
I met with the Safari Classics guys in Reno at SCI. Great bunch. Worth giving them a shout and talking to them. I thought about Mozambique too but that tall grass scares the sh*t outta me.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
The tall grass can hide all sorts of things . . .
And it can add a level of excitement as you follow up a buffalo track. . .
But there is a solution, our trackers set fires everywhere we went . . .
After burning off the grass, the ground greens up quickly, a couple of days only, and it is much easier to spot game that comes in to feed on the new growth.
But you haven't lived until you've been soaked down in warthog blood, then walked through lion infested tall grass! I'm 6'3" and the grass is easily 12' . . .
This was early July 2006 in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve.
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- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Glad you enjoyed them.
When you go take your wife or girl friend to share and record your adventure.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
And none of them good! But nothing gets your heart going like long grass.
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
Great pictures Boomer and thanks for sharing. I can only guess at how unnerving the long grass could be. Pretty close quarters so 'things' would happen fast. More within my 'means' would be Alaska and while it's very unlikely I'll ever make the Africa trip, my Daughter and Son In Law were there for the better part of a month in 2009. A run down of the trip with pictures was posted by graylake, 1st Trip To Africa...... Dial Up Bewarned, 08-26-2009, 08:16am. During their absence we had the pleasure of babysitting
and spoiling our Granddaughter. Quite a trip and I think they started getting some of their trophys back a short while ago.
- Location
- Cochran, Alberta.
Guns
I am surprised at the degree of attachment many seem to have to their own guns. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised though as this is, after all, a gun nut forum.
A safari is a difficult thing to organize and guns just make it more so. I say leave the gun and hassle in your gun safe at home an go to your chosen country and borrow a gun from your ph. They usually have a variety to offer and very cheaply.
I am surprised at the degree of attachment many seem to have to their own guns. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised though as this is, after all, a gun nut forum.
A safari is a difficult thing to organize and guns just make it more so. I say leave the gun and hassle in your gun safe at home an go to your chosen country and borrow a gun from your ph. They usually have a variety to offer and very cheaply.
As I mentioned above, I had no choice but to do that on my hunt last year. Although the Shultz and Larsen 7 X 64 was very accurate (quarter size groups at 100m), I had three issues with the gun.
1. The scope (Lynx brand) refused to hold zero after bouncing around in the rifle rack. The PH had hoped to have it replaced before my arrival but the replacement was stolen from the US hunters who were there the previous week. In Namibia, a new Leupold VXII was $1800US in the Windhoek gun shop which is a prohibitive expense for a PH. Nothing like having your own glass that you can trust.
2. The PH usually used Norma ammo but when we went to the gun store to purchase ammo for my hunt, the only stuff available was some Privi Partisan in a much lighter weight than the PH usually used in the gun. Not only that, we found out later that several bullets were "loose" in the necks and could be easily pushed in or pulled out of the case. Not one of the cup and core bullets exited even on close up finishing shots. This would haver been a real problem if a marginal shot had required tracking.
3. When I needed to return a shell from the chamber to the magazine, my fingers were not small to fit through the side slot to hold down the cartridges and follower as I moved the bolt forward on the empty chamber. I had to find a stick to push this down or give it to the PH who had a way of turning his little finger to accomplish this. Luckily I didn't have to clear a jam, etc. If I am hunting DG I want a rifle I can manipulate with my eyes closed.
In hunting Africa, there are already enough variables beyond your and the PH's control (you will hear the phrase "It's Africa" used not without reason). IMO for the little additional planning, having your own firearm is a way of removing a lot of variables adding to your confidence when you make the shot.
I want my hunting free range and I want to use my own rifles. All my rifles except my SKS and my new Safari Express have taken animals. Even my 22 rimfires are used for hunting hares. I love to look at my rifles and let them take me back to hunts in the past. No, I want to use my own rifles. I also want to take an O/U. When I go to Africa I will bring my 375 H&H and my Citori.
regards
Dan
regards
Dan
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BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Mozambique is probably your best bet. Either way you won't be disappointed.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
You can certainly do it that way, but it adds a degree of uncertainty to what represents a pretty big investment, so its not how I would recommend doing it. Depending on the safari company, you might end up with a a better rifle than you could hope to own yourself, or you could end up attempting to hunt with a club that is totally unsuitable for you or for the task you face.
In my case, I didn't find out about in-transit permits until it was too late, and our travel agent booked us through the States. I didn't want to risk loosing an expensive custom rifle, so I left it behind, and I gotta tell you; I felt sick about it.
The PH had a John Wilkes .500 Nitro Express double rifle for me to use. That rifle oozed class and would have easily been equal to the cost to a new 4X4 with heated leather seats. But it wasn't the gun for me, and frankly I wouldn't have traded my Brno ZG-47 for it, never mind my bear gun. Lets just say that it was fortunate that I had some experience with big rifles, because the 100 year old rubber recoil pad on this thing might as well have been made of poplar; yes it was softer than the walnut stock, but it was close thing. After a short test drive, I'd had enough shooting for a while. Me and that rifle didn't see eye to eye, and frankly I was turned off doubles for life after hunting for 10 days with it. The rear sight was a narrow deep V rather than a shallow wide leaf that one tends to expect in a modern express sight, so it was nether fast or precise. At close range the .500 was alright, in fact it was right comforting in the tall grass with a herd of buffalo, but did I mention it only had 2 shots! The loads for it (89 grs of 3031 behind a 580 gr X bullet) were heavy enough to make the action stick, and due to my inexperience with doubles was often slow to reload. It had extractors instead of ejectors which did nothing to endear it to me either. By the time I had developed some degree of comfort with it, it was time to go home.
My saving grace was our companion client who was very generous with the use of his custom shop M-70 .375 H&H. I was usually much happier when I packed that rifle, but it too had an issue. The custom shop part of the rifle was that the LOP was for a long limbed guy who stood a head taller than my 6'3". It is possible to shoot a rifle with a 16" LOP, but chances are if you aren't built on the particularly long side it will shoot low for you. It did, and I didn't have any opportunity to shoot it other than at live targets, and I certainly wouldn't have been able to adjust the sight to my advantage. I finally got it figured out though, the bullet would usually strike midway between the cross hair and the top of the bottom post. My wildebeest and my buff, the first two animals I took, were all hit too low, but the impala and the warthog were bang-flops, although in truth the impala was hit lower than I intended, but it was a heart shot. The shot on the warthog was a bragging shot, as it was running full out, 150 yards quartering to my right, and I dumped him with a left hand shot. He never twitched.
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