Outfitter: AAA Serapa Safaris, South Africa
PH's: Gielie Uys and Pule Claassens
Location: Northwestern South Africa
Hunt: 14 - Day Lioness / Plains game Safari
Dates: May 16 - 29, 2013)
Equipment:
Rocky Mountain Rifle 375 H&H, Zeiss Duralyte 1.2-5x32 shooting 250 grain GMX handloads
Tikka T3 30-06, Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 w/Rapid Z 600 shooting 165 grain GMX Superformance ammo
Vanessa and I were looking for something a bit different on this African trip. Our first trip to Africa was to Namibia and it was a tent safari that took us across a good chunk of the country. This time we wanted to enjoy a bit of luxury and have access to a wider variety of plains game. After meeting with Apie and Yolande Reyneke at the African Hunting Expo in Calgary and then again in Reno, it seemed like they had everything we were looking for although we must admit that we were a bit sceptical that their lodge could really be as luxurious as it looked in the brochures. Mark and Cindy Zimmermann, Canadian reps for Serapa Safaris assured us that the facilities were everything portrayed and more and that the quality of game available was incredible and that it would offer a real quality hunting experience.
We wanted to stalk on foot and shoot off sticks like a more traditional African hunt and were assured that they could tailor the hunt to our exact needs and wants. We met with them a few more times and finally settled on a 14 day plains game hunt with the addition of a lioness for Vanessa. Serapa is well known for their lion hunting and doing a hunt tracking on foot with the possibility of some extremely close range shooting had us sold. Mark and Cindy also decided to join us for the first part of our trip.
Our Chalet
We flew Calgary to London to Jo'burg where Apie met us and flew us to the lodge in his Cessna 210. We were totally blown away by the lodge. The brochure didn't come close to doing it justice. The sheer grandeur and elegance can't be described. After settling in and having a shower, Gielie suggested we go sight our rifles in. Everything was still bang on so Gielie suggest we go for a quick drive before dark. We ended up spotting a absolute stud of a black wildebeest bull and after a lengthy stalk, I put him down on the spot with the .375. What a start!
On day 2, we were hunting with Pule and we got our first real look at the massive 47,000 acre property. Game was abundant and we ended up playing cat and mouse with a herd of Burchell's zebra for most of the day. Finally with about 10 minutes of light left, Vanessa made an awesome 250 yard shot and put a zebra down for good.
Serapa has a very healthy population of red lechwe and it was on the agenda for day three. We looked over a large number of males before setting our sights on one particular specimen. Vanessa hit him just slightly too far ahead with her 30-06 and a long tracking job with no blood ensued. Watching Pule and his tracker unravel the trail from the myriad of tracks was unbelievable but after several hours Vanessa made good on her follow up shot and had an incredible trophy lechwe.
That afternoon after lunch, we were headed out to look for an impala when we spotted a huge sable bull. Sable was tentatively on my list and after one look at the bull we were planning a stalk. Pule got us top within 150 yards and I punched a 250 grain GMX right through the bull's heart. He reared up on his hind legs and hit the ground hard. What an incredible trophy!
We were awoken nearly every morning by the sound of roaring lions and we constantly seeing tracks in the sand but we had yet to find a track from a big old female but with lots of days remaining were weren't worried. Vanessa ended up taking an ancient old blesbok just before dark on Day 4.
Both Pule and Gielie were with us on Day 5 and we spotted a huge gemsbok bull. While not on our wishlist, it was on Mark's and he took the massive 40" bull with a well placed shot to the chest. In the afternoon, we spotted a monster of a steenbuck and Pule managed to get Vanessa in position where she made a perfect shot.
Day 6 we must have looked at over 100 impala rams but there just wasn't one that had everything Pule was looking for.
On day 7 we spotted some vultures in the morning on what appeared to be a kill and upon closer inspection, it was a lion kill. Gielie felt the there was a female and a smaller male on the kill and suggested we track the female. After several hours, we got our first look at the lioness. She was lying in some heavy cover about 40 yards away and offered no shot. After what seemed forever, she got up and slipped out the back of the bushes. We were on the trail again. We caught her in a small opening and Vanessa hit her hard with a 250 grain GMX. The lion ran into some heavy cover and we knew we had to follow. At eight yards Gielie spotted the female lying in wait for us and Vanessa as cool as ever shot the lion again and her dream had come true. Lion hunting on foot is an incredible experience and Vanessa had a very well-earned trophy and the respect of her PH for staying so cool under pressure.
Day 8 saw us tracking eland for the entire day and despite getting close to the herd numerous times, a shot at the biggest bull in the group never presented itself. As we were just about to give up, Gielie spotted a big impala ram and a quick stalk resulted in a head on shot. I placed the 165 GMX in the impala's heart and I had a great ram.
On day 9 we took up the eland trail again but by noon realized they were pretty spooked so decided to get off the trail for a bit. We were treated to an incredible bush lunch by a water hole and it was off hunting again. As we were looking for eland again, we spotted a great nyala bull. This was tops on my list and I think a bit of buck fever got the best of me. I missed a 150 head on shot on the bull. We tracked him for several more hours before losing his track among a bunch of fresh eland tracks. With my confidence shaken from the miss, I really took my time when the big eland bull we'd been chasing for two days offered a broadside shot at 150 yards. There was no mistake this time. The bullet slammed through his shoulder and into his heart. He barely took a step.
On Day 10, we spotted the nyala bull from the previous day and this time me shot was true and the 165 grain 30-06 bullet took his heart out. I finally had my nyala. That afternoon Mark took a great steenbuck just before dark. As it was Mark and Cindy's last day in camp, a great celebration was held in camp that night and Vanessa had to do the dance of the lion hunter.
We'd been keeping an eye on a large group of female waterbucks and on Day 11 a big bull finally joined them. We took up the track and after several hours and several miles, the bull offered up a 200 yard shot and the 30-06 was true again. I hit him right in the heart. The mass on his horns was spectacular!
That left only springbok on our list and while they were plentiful, getting in range on foot was a completely different matter. After a dozen or so blown stalks in two days, Vanessa was finally able to put a big male down with her 30-06. When a nice duiker presented a shot later on, I couldn't resist and added one more species to the list.
We spent the final few days photographing and saw an incredible array of game including a couple monster cape buffalo, a huge male lion, giraffes, ostriches, a monster kudu bull and an amazing array of other game. It was with heavy hearts that we got back into Apie's plane for the beginning of our journey home.
Serapa really is a spectacular destination for the couple or family in search of an upscale lodge with an incredible hunting experience.
PH's: Gielie Uys and Pule Claassens
Location: Northwestern South Africa
Hunt: 14 - Day Lioness / Plains game Safari
Dates: May 16 - 29, 2013)
Equipment:
Rocky Mountain Rifle 375 H&H, Zeiss Duralyte 1.2-5x32 shooting 250 grain GMX handloads
Tikka T3 30-06, Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 w/Rapid Z 600 shooting 165 grain GMX Superformance ammo
Vanessa and I were looking for something a bit different on this African trip. Our first trip to Africa was to Namibia and it was a tent safari that took us across a good chunk of the country. This time we wanted to enjoy a bit of luxury and have access to a wider variety of plains game. After meeting with Apie and Yolande Reyneke at the African Hunting Expo in Calgary and then again in Reno, it seemed like they had everything we were looking for although we must admit that we were a bit sceptical that their lodge could really be as luxurious as it looked in the brochures. Mark and Cindy Zimmermann, Canadian reps for Serapa Safaris assured us that the facilities were everything portrayed and more and that the quality of game available was incredible and that it would offer a real quality hunting experience.
We wanted to stalk on foot and shoot off sticks like a more traditional African hunt and were assured that they could tailor the hunt to our exact needs and wants. We met with them a few more times and finally settled on a 14 day plains game hunt with the addition of a lioness for Vanessa. Serapa is well known for their lion hunting and doing a hunt tracking on foot with the possibility of some extremely close range shooting had us sold. Mark and Cindy also decided to join us for the first part of our trip.
Our Chalet
We flew Calgary to London to Jo'burg where Apie met us and flew us to the lodge in his Cessna 210. We were totally blown away by the lodge. The brochure didn't come close to doing it justice. The sheer grandeur and elegance can't be described. After settling in and having a shower, Gielie suggested we go sight our rifles in. Everything was still bang on so Gielie suggest we go for a quick drive before dark. We ended up spotting a absolute stud of a black wildebeest bull and after a lengthy stalk, I put him down on the spot with the .375. What a start!
On day 2, we were hunting with Pule and we got our first real look at the massive 47,000 acre property. Game was abundant and we ended up playing cat and mouse with a herd of Burchell's zebra for most of the day. Finally with about 10 minutes of light left, Vanessa made an awesome 250 yard shot and put a zebra down for good.
Serapa has a very healthy population of red lechwe and it was on the agenda for day three. We looked over a large number of males before setting our sights on one particular specimen. Vanessa hit him just slightly too far ahead with her 30-06 and a long tracking job with no blood ensued. Watching Pule and his tracker unravel the trail from the myriad of tracks was unbelievable but after several hours Vanessa made good on her follow up shot and had an incredible trophy lechwe.
That afternoon after lunch, we were headed out to look for an impala when we spotted a huge sable bull. Sable was tentatively on my list and after one look at the bull we were planning a stalk. Pule got us top within 150 yards and I punched a 250 grain GMX right through the bull's heart. He reared up on his hind legs and hit the ground hard. What an incredible trophy!
We were awoken nearly every morning by the sound of roaring lions and we constantly seeing tracks in the sand but we had yet to find a track from a big old female but with lots of days remaining were weren't worried. Vanessa ended up taking an ancient old blesbok just before dark on Day 4.
Both Pule and Gielie were with us on Day 5 and we spotted a huge gemsbok bull. While not on our wishlist, it was on Mark's and he took the massive 40" bull with a well placed shot to the chest. In the afternoon, we spotted a monster of a steenbuck and Pule managed to get Vanessa in position where she made a perfect shot.
Day 6 we must have looked at over 100 impala rams but there just wasn't one that had everything Pule was looking for.
On day 7 we spotted some vultures in the morning on what appeared to be a kill and upon closer inspection, it was a lion kill. Gielie felt the there was a female and a smaller male on the kill and suggested we track the female. After several hours, we got our first look at the lioness. She was lying in some heavy cover about 40 yards away and offered no shot. After what seemed forever, she got up and slipped out the back of the bushes. We were on the trail again. We caught her in a small opening and Vanessa hit her hard with a 250 grain GMX. The lion ran into some heavy cover and we knew we had to follow. At eight yards Gielie spotted the female lying in wait for us and Vanessa as cool as ever shot the lion again and her dream had come true. Lion hunting on foot is an incredible experience and Vanessa had a very well-earned trophy and the respect of her PH for staying so cool under pressure.
Day 8 saw us tracking eland for the entire day and despite getting close to the herd numerous times, a shot at the biggest bull in the group never presented itself. As we were just about to give up, Gielie spotted a big impala ram and a quick stalk resulted in a head on shot. I placed the 165 GMX in the impala's heart and I had a great ram.
On day 9 we took up the eland trail again but by noon realized they were pretty spooked so decided to get off the trail for a bit. We were treated to an incredible bush lunch by a water hole and it was off hunting again. As we were looking for eland again, we spotted a great nyala bull. This was tops on my list and I think a bit of buck fever got the best of me. I missed a 150 head on shot on the bull. We tracked him for several more hours before losing his track among a bunch of fresh eland tracks. With my confidence shaken from the miss, I really took my time when the big eland bull we'd been chasing for two days offered a broadside shot at 150 yards. There was no mistake this time. The bullet slammed through his shoulder and into his heart. He barely took a step.
On Day 10, we spotted the nyala bull from the previous day and this time me shot was true and the 165 grain 30-06 bullet took his heart out. I finally had my nyala. That afternoon Mark took a great steenbuck just before dark. As it was Mark and Cindy's last day in camp, a great celebration was held in camp that night and Vanessa had to do the dance of the lion hunter.
We'd been keeping an eye on a large group of female waterbucks and on Day 11 a big bull finally joined them. We took up the track and after several hours and several miles, the bull offered up a 200 yard shot and the 30-06 was true again. I hit him right in the heart. The mass on his horns was spectacular!
That left only springbok on our list and while they were plentiful, getting in range on foot was a completely different matter. After a dozen or so blown stalks in two days, Vanessa was finally able to put a big male down with her 30-06. When a nice duiker presented a shot later on, I couldn't resist and added one more species to the list.
We spent the final few days photographing and saw an incredible array of game including a couple monster cape buffalo, a huge male lion, giraffes, ostriches, a monster kudu bull and an amazing array of other game. It was with heavy hearts that we got back into Apie's plane for the beginning of our journey home.
Serapa really is a spectacular destination for the couple or family in search of an upscale lodge with an incredible hunting experience.
... well done!
