First Safari!!

gadget

gadget

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After not being able to go in 2008 due to an ongoing illness, I have finally been able to co-ordinate a Safari hunt with 5 other friends in South Africa. I took a while for me to chose my rifle & I finally settled on a Steyr Mannlicher Luxus in .300 WinMag, optics are the Schmidt & Bender Zenith FlashDot 3-12 x 50 with FD9 Reticle LM. The rifle has the ability to remove the barrel and change caliber, based on what we are hunting I feel comfortable with .300 WinMag & using the Hornady .300 Win Mag 165 GR InterBond Superformance.

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Special thanks to Jon at North Sylva for suggesting this rifle and being patient with my endless questions, Daniel at Wolverine & Paul at Target Sports Canada for ordering my Schmidt & Bender optic, and last but certainly not least Casey at Tactical Ordance for shorting the stock and mount a new recoil pad & mounting the optics and zeroing everything.

gadget
 
The Steyr looks great. Awesome looking wood. I leave for my first safari on the 19th of April. We are heading to Namibia. I am shooting a X-bolt 300 WinMag and I am shooting Fedreal Premium Vital Shok 180g Nosler Partitions. Just a heads up with the inter changeable barrels on your Steyr. If you are going to SA, make sure the serial # on the receiver matches the serial # on the barrel. My understanding is if they don't match you may have a problem trying to get your temporary import permit in SA.
 
durnet said:
The Steyr looks great. Awesome looking wood. I leave for my first safari on the 19th of April. We are heading to Namibia. I am shooting a X-bolt 300 WinMag and I am shooting Fedreal Premium Vital Shok 180g Nosler Partitions. Just a heads up with the inter changeable barrels on your Steyr. If you are going to SA, make sure the serial # on the receiver matches the serial # on the barrel. My understanding is if they don't match you may have a problem trying to get your temporary import permit in SA.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up

gadget
 
Best of luck to you Gadget, I've been seven times and have the big five and most of the tiny ten. I hope you are a young man because it is addictive and you won't quit Africa till you have everything the continent has to offer. I don't personally like your choice of rifles but the caliber is excellent for a plains game hunt. May I suggest 200 gn Accubonds or partitions from experience, these animals are very hard to knock down and keep down.

Douglas
 
I'm heading for my third trip in May. I agree with c-fbmi use a heavier bullet, you need the mass for penetration. Also you want the best bullet you can get. Nobler,Barnes or Trophy bonded bear claws.
 
I can still feel your excitement, having just returned from my first safari a couple weeks ago. Your rifle and cartridge is a good choice and should work well. The only tips I'd suggest is to use a bullet that is more likely to penetrate deeper than the 165 IB - good ones have already been suggested. Heavier bullets are a clear benefit. Your PH is unlikely to let you shoot at ranges more than 250M anyway and your .300 is plenty flat enough with 180's or 200's at that distance. If not going heavier, consider the 165 TSX. My brother and I shot 16 head of game with the 165 TSX and their extra penetrating ability was very welcome, especially for Zebra, Wildebeest and Eland. They also opened up quick enough on smaller stuff like Springbok and Mountain Reedbuck. There is no tracking snow in Africa, and many animals run in herds. An animal that runs any distance after the shot is a high risk for being lost. And once you draw blood you still have to pay whether you bag the animal or not! We seldom found much blood spoor from good hits, and multiple tracks confused follow ups. So, holes both in and out are a big help.
Practise shooting quickly, standing up, and using shooting sticks! Reload instantly. - And listen to listen to your PH, they know their business!
Happy Hunting!
 
+1 on the shooting sticks. Practice with them here, because the odds are that you will use them on almost every shot over there. They are an "acquired" talent!

Best of luck, and congratulations in advance. This trip will blow you away!
 
The excitement before your first trip is something else, but you should see how excited you'll be after you've been once and are going back. I imagine that you get more excited every time.
 
Even the plains game in Africa seem tuff.300 is a great choice for plains game.
I would load it with Barnes TSX 180-200gr.If you do not handload I think Federal loads them.
And yes practice with shooting sticks.
Good Luck.
 
Agree with the comments of those who have been to Africa before it is very addictive, fortunate enough to been to South Africa more than once. Suggest you opt for the 180 grain bullet or heavier as you can never have enough bullet mass for the tough ones like a blue wildebeest or a gemsbuck. And yes practice shooting from the sticks as the PH will probably have a set of real stooting sticks and not a Bog Pod. The Bog Pod works but I would prefer to have a set of actual African sticks as they are most versatile. Have yet to run across a PH who would sell me his sticks to bring back to Canada. Enjoy your trip it will be very memorable.
 
Have fun, and a big congratulations you're about to have the time of your life, I'm back in 2014 myself.

Only tips I have off the cuff are:

-Don't pay for a firearms import service, the paperwork is very easy and the firearms office just off and to the right when you enter the main terminal in Jo'burg.
-Drink / administer plenty of Lion Lager, and Castle, good beers.
-Plan trip #2 & 3 asap. ;)
 
Shooting sticks used to be called "Grass sticks", and originally were used for hunting in tall grass where shots needed to taken standing, ranges were long and there wasn't a rest to be had. Over time they become popular in other areas, to the point where they are frequently used when its teetering on stupid. Some people will benefit from their use, and others who have a grasp of basic shooting positions and field rests are better off without them. Better off, until they have to take a long standing shot in chest high grass.

There's two designs, two legs and three.
 
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