South Africa 2025

[LDennis24]

Wow! I would say it was worth every penny! That black springbok is awesome looking! Is there anything your leaving without that you wish you had gotten a chance at or did get a chance but it didn't work out?

[Jpmiller]

So was I reading that right that you used the dog to track the springbok and then it bayed it too so you could get a follow up shot? That’s super cool if that’s how ot worked out. I’d love to hear more about the dog, and about the experience of hunting that bobcat looking cat too!

[Rainier10]

Wow! I would say it was worth every penny! That black springbok is awesome looking! Is there anything your leaving without that you wish you had gotten a chance at or did get a chance but it didn't work out?

Number one thing on my list was for my kids to be there and see tons of animals. We checked that box day one and everyday after that.

We bought a package of nine animals and then added golden wildebeest, zebra and warthog to the wish list. All I wanted to shoot was the golden and the warthog. All my youngest really wanted to shoot was the zebra. Then it was basically pick what you want off the list.

We got them all except the warthog. We did see warthogs but mostly sows and most of them had piglets.

There was a sable that I added to the list after getting here and when a private land owner asked us to come shoot an aggressive wildebeest our guide negotiated for us to shoot an extra impala which ended up being a giant.

My wife really wants a black impala and there are a couple more animals I would like to go after as well so I see another trip in our future. Just the wife and I probably.

[Rainier10]

So was I reading that right that you used the dog to track the springbok and then it bayed it too so you could get a follow up shot? That’s super cool if that’s how ot worked out. I’d love to hear more about the dog, and about the experience of hunting that bobcat looking cat too!

Yes you can use dogs to recover game and if the animal is still alive the dogs bay up the animal. They run a little but then turn around in a defensive position face to face with the dog. It works like a champ. We were 80 yards from the springbok but couldn’t see it. We had gotten close twice before we called for the dog and each time we were so slow and noisy the animal jumped before we saw it and was on the move not giving us a shot.

The dog is so small, fast and quiet it was on the springbok before it could even get out of its bed. We were slow looking for tracks and blood. The dog was lightning quick just going off scent. It was amazing to watch.

We had also used the dog on day one for the impala. We thought it was a good shot but wanted to be safe. We turned the dog loose on the blood and it found the impala within seconds dead.

The pictures below are two different dogs from two different guides. Apparently it’s the dog to have for tracking.

[Jpmiller]

Thanks! Hunting big game with dogs is something I’ve always found super interesting and cool. That sounds awesome, didn’t know that was a practice over there. Would have thought they would use a bigger dog considering the size of some of the animals but sounds like they get the job done. What a cool experience.

[Rob]

The little dogs can get into the brush really well.  Also, when going after dangerous game - especially the big cats - they are faster and more agile than larger dogs which makes it easier for them to avoid being hit.  They say a leopard will inflict 60 stiches for every second they are on you!  Jack Russel's are very commonly used over there.  I personally have never seen them work.  Sounds like a really cool experience!

[nwwanderer]

Good job Dad, great pics young lady!!!  Thanks

[Rainier10]

In Johannesburg headed to Doha next then home. What a trip.

Dream come true. So glad my wife and kids were there.

[jackelope]

Amazing. Epic. So many words to describe this. Holy smokes.

The next question is how big is the addition on the house going to be for the taxidermy.

[Boss .300 winmag]

They have the cabin to hang mounts in as well, but yeah hell of a lifetime family hunt..👍

Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

[jackelope]

They have the cabin to hang mounts in as well, but yeah hell of a lifetime family hunt..

Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

There’s no room in the cabin. Maybe for those little critters. 

[Dan-o]

He's gonna need about 5 of these.......

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,290991.0.html

[Rainier10]

Looking at finishing the shop at the house to put them all in. Also looking at options for a new house. I really like our current lot and am not ruling out bulldozing the current house to build a new one. Cabin is already full of Washington mounts.

Leaving Doha now. It’s 8:29am Thursday  here and we land in Seattle at noon Thursday. 14 hour flight but with time change we gain 10 hours.

[bearpaw]

Safe Travels 

[Bob33]

What a trip. Thanks for taking us along!

I wonder how long is will be before one of your family asks "When are we going back?"