Lion & Gemsbok (Oryx) Kalahari hunting update from overseas, POV video.

[Ardent]

Kalahari Gemsbok (Oryx) hunt, after two solid days of following tracks and getting busted, stretched the Merkel .375 H&H's legs to ~170 yards over the irons on this shot and dropped a nice bull. Yes, it is indeed the Kalahari despite all the green, the seasonal rains had arrived just prior and were the wettest in almost a decade. We couldn't see what happened with the Gemsbok at that range as the shot rang, Gemsbok ran everywhere and our view was obscured by land / grass / bush, hence the run to the spot, an odd practice for those of us used to NA hunting. We found him down on the spot. Took a big male Lion as well, the double rifle and the .375 H&H did their job wonderfully. Have footage from the same perspective on Lion but requires much more work, as it's hours of footage tracking. This is the Lion as he fell, I always take a pic of that, so not staged or pretty and the only pic I currently have handy. Hell of a creature to hunt and a new respect for many aspects of dangerous game hunting. Got a few screwy edits from youtube on the vid and it will clear up shortly.

 

[Scott_N]

very cool.

 

[Dogleg]

Good job.

 

[tony d]

Excellent !!

 

[HuntNL]

Congrats on the beautiful animals.

 

[fratri]

Very cool hunt....lion looks like a beast

 

[FLHTCUI]

Look forward to the lion episode when you get it sorted out.
Thanks for sharing, looks like fun for sure.
Rob

 

[c-fbmi]

Looks like an outstanding oryx Ardent.......is he 40 cause he sure looks it. Awaiting the lion footage.........

 

[Jay]

Love seeing these hunts! One day, one day...

Now, stay safe, enjoy AND KEEP TELLING US ALL ABOUT IT!!!

Cheers
Jay

 

[waterwheel]

Wow. That oryx is a beautiful animal. I'm not a trophy hunter, but that head would be mounted for sure.

What do you do with the meat? Eat it? Distribute it? Or is this entirely trophy hunting?

 

[speedjunkiesracing]

Great pics. Keep the stories coming.

 

[WhelanLad]

Not a bad little clip, Nice double rifle but spewing about the Go Pros report of the rifle.

Good shooting with irons!

WL

 

[jaydog]

Excellent shot with irons and a double! Congrats on the lion too. Looking forward to hearing the full story.

 

[skypilot]

Way to get it done. Great Pics.

 

[Ardent]

Wow. That oryx is a beautiful animal. I'm not a trophy hunter, but that head would be mounted for sure.

What do you do with the meat? Eat it? Distribute it? Or is this entirely trophy hunting?

Not a scrap gets wasted in Africa, the place is far too hungry. So everything is eaten, right down to the organ meat. We eat some in camp, and the rest is donated to locals, who are very grateful for it. It is likely the greenest and most socially and environmentally responsible business on earth, but nobody realizes it. Money is made off native species, while maintaining the natural environment instead of the alternatives, cattle ranching, industrial farming, and mining. It is a beautiful thing, natural species receive value and conservation attention to maintain that value into the future, the meat feeds people desperately in need of it, and we hunters enjoy a paradise. Best business I've experienced.

 

[scott_karana]

Awesome hunting!

How many lion tags get given out each year? I imagine they're pretty rare, considering the small populations.

 

[reb]

Awsome hunt I bet,nothing like hunting Africa.
Great Job.

 

[Ardent]

Looks like an outstanding oryx Ardent.......is he 40 cause he sure looks it. Awaiting the lion footage.........

You know embarrassed to admit I haven't even found out yet, the guys huddled around it and muttered a lot of happy words so it's certainly "good". Trip quickly turned into the Mrs' trip in the national parks and a kushy lodge, literally hours after that trigger was pulled we were packing to leave the Kalahari. In the whirlwind never heard the verdict.

 

[Ardent]

Awesome hunting!

How many lion tags get given out each year? I imagine they're pretty rare, considering the small populations.

Very tough question to answer only because of all the areas, many places you can hunt Lion (prime in my mind being Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, RSA and for RSA only if you go to the proper places). Lion is actually doing much better than many think, or what one may read on Wikipedia, and this isn't just a hunter's bias. They are increasing presently in many areas, some actively due to human attention as a result of the value on them hunting introduces, others just because. Throughout Southern Africa many hundreds are sustainably hunted annually, so not hard to get a hunt if one wants one. Once that's decided and one decides to go, there's a lot of homework and questions I'll try to cover in my Lion hunt write up to come.

 

[CheeseBurger]

Looking forward to reading your write up, Ardent! Thanks for the update, and nice work on both. I don't know much of anything about Oryx but that is a beautiful animal!