African Safari 2012 - The update thread

[lhrbull]

yes poorly stated question on my part. what i really wanted to know was did you use a firm that you already knew about or did your ph set that up for you in Africa. depending on who he uses over there. if i get all the animals in my package I would like to full body mount the nyala, ereo mount the kudo, bushbuck, impala and blue wilderbeast. then a full skull of the wart hog.

[Rob]

Got it

The PH arranged shipment from the field to the US.  My taxidermist arranged for everything from the US border to my house.

It is not cheap, but I'd look into a pedestal for the Kudu.  They are such spectacular animals.

Nice thing about the way they do the animals is, the skulls come back totally clean so 90% of the european work is done when they arrive.

Full body Nyala will be outstanding.  My dad is going to do a half body mount-quartering out of the wall-if he is lucky enough toto connect.

-

[Michelle_Nelson]

Rob I am so envious of you right now getting to go over to Africa for another hunt.  One of these days I'll make it over there.

Of all the animals over there the Nyala is #1 on my list.  It will deffinatly be a Life Size. 

2. Zebra.  Will be a Wall Pedastal
3-4. Blue & Black Wildebeest. 
5-8.  One of each of the 4 different color phases of Springbuck (White, Black, Copper, Normal)  All 4 will be a combination floor Pedesatal. 
9. Female Lion.  Will be a Life Size.  Might end up being a combination piece with the Nyala or Zebra (if I do a L/S)

[Rob]

Well, it is not wtihout sacrifice, that's for sure.  I will have been saving for over 3 years before this is all done!


I'm really hoping Dad gets his Nyala.  I expect he will.  The legs and mane are so unusual that a full or half body is the only way to show them off.

I have seen some neat color phase mounts of Springbok-combining all 4 into a single clustered mount.

Interested in a lioness huh?  What is the draw to a lioness?  (not being critical, I just enjoy hearing what attracts folks to specific animals, and lioness is an unusual one)

Here are the quartering wall mounts I was refering to.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Well, I can't afford what they want for a Full mane mature Male.  The cheapest I've seen is around $25K.  You can get a less mature one for around 18K but it's just not the look I am looking for.  Females I've seen are around $6k.  I can do a pretty nice attack display with a female and one of the other animals I'd harvest.

[Rob]

Yeah, lions are out of my price range.  That said, the lionesses are amazing looking animals.

I have toyed with tuskless elephant for the same reason.  They are about the same price as a bull cape buff.

If I am lucky enough to make it back for a 3rd trip though, leopard will be the target.

Would love to get a hippo some day too.

[Rob]

Update to our trip planning.

My buddy Kirk and his Wife have officially decided to join the trip and sent in their deposit!  Kirk will hunt, but he plans to hunt with a Bow, not rifle.  So that will add a new dimension to the trip.

Kirk's wife is going to come along as a non-hunting observer.  They are combining this trip with some touring they want to do.  He is retiring from the Marine's the end of September, and they will board a plane shortly after the ceremony.  As such, they are going to join us a little late and do a 7 day hunt rather than our 10 day hunt.  The plan is, they will arrive the evening of October 3rd, and hunt the 4th through the 10th. 

On the 11th, they will travel from our camp to Hwange Park and spend the evening of Oct 11th, 12th, and 13th at Hwange Park on a photo Safari using a mobile camp (i.e. they will stay in luxury tents and stay in the field )- this sounds outstanding by the way!

On the Oct 14th they will go to Victoria Falls, and spend a couple days touring the falls.  They will depart from Victoria Falls on the 16th and head home.

I'm very happy they have decided to come along!  This brings our party to a total of 6 people - 4 hunters, two non hunters.

I am very interested to see how the bow hunting is run.

[h20hunter]

Rob.....know any of the specs on the bow?

[Rob]

I took a first cut at making a packing list.  I did this only partially due to my anal retentive/ADD nature - I was getting lots of questions from the folks in the party asking about things they should bring on the trip. 

I expect this list to have a few more items added, and several to go away as we get closer to departure (Just 6 months out now!)

Backpack-Carry on   24 items
•   Book   2
•   Carry on Backpack   1
•   Copy of passport   1
•   Form 4457 (copies)   1
•   Kindel   1
•   Kindel Case   1
•   Laptop   1
•   Laptop charger   1
•   Lieca Range Finder   1
•   Maps   1
•   Movies   1
•   Camera   1
•   Noise reducing headphones   1
•   Power strip   1
•   SA currency 200   1
•   Shaving Kit (+ SF Deod)   1
•   Shot records   1
•   South African rifle Permits info   1
•   Sunglasses   1
•   Travel Agent contact info   1
•   Travel Schedule/confirmations, etc   1
•   USB card reader   1
•   Vital e-mails   1

Carry on suitcase   39 items
•   ACR PLB   1
•   Camera charger   1
•   Carry on Suitcase   1
•   Foam Ear plugs   2
•   Goo Chomps   12
•   Hunting socks (Pack)   2
•   Long Sleeve Safari Shirt   1
•   Phone Charger   1
•   Picture transfer cable for Camera)   1
•   Poly Short Sleeve T shirt (pack)   2
•   Russel Mocasin boots   1
•   Short Sleeve Safari Shirt   1
•   Tan brush cargo pants with zip off legs   2
•   Viva Starbucks instant coffee   11

Large Suitcase-Check   158 items
•   375 HH Ammunition (CEB NonCon 275 grain)   40
•   375 HH ammunition (CEB Solid 300 grain)   10
•   375 HH Belt Shell holder   1
•   450 Dakota Ammunition (CEB NonCon 450 Grain)   20
•   450 Dakota Ammunition (CEB Solid 480 Grain)   10
•   450 Dakota belt shell holder   1
•   Addidas Sandles   1
•   Backpack emergency-kit   1
•   Baseball hat   1
•   Black stuffsack/daypack REI   1
•   Cabelas Brush daypack   1
•   Cheap hunting knives for gifts   4
•   Cipro   1
•   Cloth tape measure   1
•   Converter   1
•   DEET   1
•   Duct Tape   1
•   Extra AA Batteries   6
•   Fenix light (PD30) with headband, extra batteries and red filter   1
•   Gun light   1
•   hand lotion   1
•   Hard Candy for gifts   1
•   Hiking Boxers (Pack)   2
•   Hiking Sticks   1
•   Large Suitcase-Check   1
•   Lens brush   1
•   Leupold compact spotting scope   1
•   Luggage Strap for large Suitcase   1
•   Malaria pills   1
•   Manual Predator call   1
•   Mesh face net   1
•   Olive Northface micro fleece jacket   1
•   Optical wipes   10
•   OTIS cleaning kit   1
•   Pipe   1
•   Portable Drugstore kit   1
•   Rino 530 (charged)   1
•   Safari Sticks   1
•   Soft knee braces with stocking   2
•   Tan gaiters   1
•   Thin Leather Gloves   1
•   Tick treatment spray   1
•   tripod:  Slick   1
•   Wet wipes-individual wrapped for Backpack   20

Pelican Rifle Case   13 items
•   375 HH (Monique)   1
•   450 Dakota (Bethany)   1
•   Extra rifle scope   1
•   Form 4457 (copies)   1
•   Leatherman Skelatool (with case)   1
•   luggage straps for Pelican case   2
•   Pelican Rifle Case   1
•   Quail Knife with case   1
•   Rifle Bipod   1
•   Rifle Sling for Bethany   1
•   Rifle Sling for Monique   1
•   rifle tool kit (winchester)   1

Wear   12 items
•   Cash   1
•   Day Hikers   1
•   Hiking Boxers (Wear)   1
•   Hunting socks (Wear)   1
•   Long sleeve Cabelas safari shirt    1
•   Olive brimmed Hunting Hat   1
•   Passport   1
•   Phone   1
•   Poly Short Sleeve T shirt (wear)   1
•   Quick Dry zip off pants   1
•   REI Leather Belt   1
•   Travelers Checks   1
Grand Total   246 items

[Rob]

Rob.....know any of the specs on the bow?

Do you mean on the bow it'self, or specs on how the hunt will proceed?

[Rob]

Last update for a while.  I am in a quandary.  In Dallas last January, I found out that I could bring more than two rifles with me.  As a refresher, I am bringing a 450 Dakota and a 375 HH as my primary and backup rifles.  These are both legal for Buffalo in Zimbabwe and I figure if soemthign happens to my ammo, I can use the 375 HH as a backup as it should not be an issue to find 375 HH ammo in camp.

I would love to have a small caliber varmint rifle with me too.  I have a 223 Remington that would be nice to have with me. 

I decided not to bring a third rifle when I found there was no way I could get three rifles in my Pelican case, even if I took off the scopes for transport.  Well, last weekend at the Hunters Education In-service Training meeting in Yakima, I saw they were auctioning off a tuffpak rifle case. 
http://www.nalpak.com/Tuffpak-1050-Gun-Case-BLACK-w-Cushioned-Handle
The Tuffpak case is a pretty cool concept.  The case is hexagon shaped and kinda looks like golf clubs.  It has no padding inside.  The deal is, you pack your guns in regular soft cases and stuff those, and enough other stuff, into the case to keep the contents from shifting in transit.  These have plenty of room in them for three scoped rifles.

I started a thread on the AR forum to see what folks thought of them.  Very positive reviews.
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1411043/m/7211021371

Now the question is, will I have enough quota in my ammo allowance to bring enough ammo to make it worth while?  (There is an 11 pound limit in ammo – I am not sure if that is ammo only, or ammo and cases).  I sat down this evening and did some quick math.  I have been thinking that I’d like 30 rounds of 450 Dakota ammo, and at least 50 rounds of 375 HH ammo.  Based on this I built a little table to see how many rounds of 223 ammo I’d be able to take.  I thought a minimum of 20 rounds would be needed to make it worth while.

The table is at the end of the post, and it looks like I can bring 30 rounds of 450 Dakota, 52 rounds of 375 HH and still have room for 32 rounds of 223 Rem ammo.

The downside is that I’d need to drop another 400 bucks on a rifle case.  I’ll need to think on this and see if it is worth 400 dollars to bring a varmint gun.  (I thought about a 12 gauge, but the ammo is too heavy to make it worth while)

[fvh40]

Hello Rob

Time is flying and soon it will be departure time. I'm looking forward to see some pics and you hunt report.

Regards

Ferdi

[Rob]

Ferdi,

I must say, time is NOT flying!!!

[Michelle_Nelson]

Rob,

I havn't kept up with this entire thread.  Mostly just glance through here and there.  I may have missed this but which animals do you plan on taking this trip?  What are your plans as far as mounts go for each animal? 

[Rob]

Hi Michelle,


The thread is pretty long, I am cursed with being a fast typist with a very small content filter…

I have my animals grouped into 3 categories.  Primary, secondary, and animals of opportunity.

Primary:
-Cape Buffalo (primary goal of trip)
-Crocodile.  This was a late addition, but I am very much looking forward to it. 

Secondary Animals:
-Giraffe
-Waterbuck

Animals of opportunity
-Bushbuck
-Impala (I have one already but they are so dang pretty!)
-Misc. Varmints
There is a chance I won’t shoot the Giraffe as my wife really does not want me to shoot one and she has NEVER asked me not to do something in the 20 years we have been married.  So if she really pushes the issue, I’ll probably pass on it.

My Dad is looking for Cape  Buffalo and Nyala as his two main animals.  With Waterbuck as a third priority.  He has unfinished business from our last hunt and wants to get a wildebeest too and would like to get a bushbuck and various varmints.

Ray and Kirk are looking for a combination of Kudu, Warthog, Zebra, Eland, Wildebeest, Impala and probably anything else unlucky enough to walk by!

For my mounts, assuming I am lucky enough to connect:
Cape Buffalo – Pedestal mount

Giraffe – just tan the skin – European for the skull, and bring some bones back.  I’d love to mount the head/neck in telephone pole fashion, but don’t have a place to put it, and it is pretty expensive

Impala – wall pedestal

Bushbuck – I’d love to do a full body with it laying down, but I think that will be too much $ so I’ll do a wall pedestal.

Waterbuck – wall pedestal

Croc – this one is hard to describe.  I want to do 1/3 body mount and have it quartering out of the wall.  I want the 45 degree cut to start just behind the right armpit, and move towards the snout so that only one of the front legs is in the mount.  Probably with the mouth closed with some habitat under it. I’ll have the rest of the skin tanned.

Dad has an unusual mount planned if he connects with an Nyala.  Similar to my Croc mount, he wants to do a half body mount with it quartering  out of the wall

I went to capital forest last weekend and did some shooting at the gravel pit with the 375 hh.  In attempt to simulate my crocodile shot, I shot prone off a small unstable sand bag at some 1.5 to 2 inch diameter red potatoes sitting 50 yards away also on the ground.  I felt pretty good that I hit about 11 for 12 on them with a splitting headache and only just missed the 12th one. BTW, red potatoes make great reactive targets – they are pretty cheap, and when hit with a 275 grain HP, potato mush flies a good 25 feet in the air!  Biodegradable too.  I was looking for walnuts, but they did not have any at the store. 

Again, fast typist, no filter.  Sorry for the long reply!