Africa June 2011

[ThePascoKid]

Haven't had time to sort through all my pics and get some decent ones posted, but I had an inquiry from Rob about my trip so I thought I'd put a couple I had handy on my phone up.  The trip itself was a blast everything went off without a hitch, traveling with the rifle was easy, the accommodations were outstanding, the outfitter and ph were great, and the animals were plentiful and high quality.  The only bad thing is I now have an infatuation with Africa and crew cab landcruiser pickups.  Here's my Kudu and impala I also shot a Gembuck and warthog.  I'll try and get some better pics of all 4 posted up soon.

[elkoholic1]

saweeeeet! cant wait for more pics and details

[lhrbull]

which country did you hunt in and what outfitter did you use

[bearpaw]

sounds like you had a great hunt, let us know who you hunted with... 

[ThePascoKid]

I hunted in Limpopo with Kuvhima outfitters.

[bearpaw]

I hunted in Limpopo with Kuvhima outfitters.

Never heard of them, how did you get hooked up with them?

[ThePascoKid]

They donate a ton of hunt packages to be auctioned off at SCI banquets and that's where I bought my package.  It was my first trip so I have nothing to compare it to but they were a real first class outfit the wife and I had a great time we are hoping to go back with our two boys in 4 years.

[Machias]

 
 
Looking forward to the rest of the story and photos!

[carpsniperg2]

Looks like you got yourself some great animals

[HUNT]

Nice!  Cant wait for the rest of the pics....

[bearpaw]

They donate a ton of hunt packages to be auctioned off at SCI banquets and that's where I bought my package.  It was my first trip so I have nothing to compare it to but they were a real first class outfit the wife and I had a great time we are hoping to go back with our two boys in 4 years.

Thanks for the info, I will have to remember that, I would like to go to Africa someday myself.

[Rob]

Beautiful Kudu, and what a bruiser of an Impala!

Can't wait to see the rest of the photos.

You of course know you are totally screwed now, right?  Start selling off stuff now for your next trip!  Where will you be going next time and what animals will you be targeting?

[wsucowboy]

AWESOME!  Looking forward to seeing the rest of the pics

[jackmaster]

looks like you had a great time, and those are the types of bills a guy dont mind racking up, what taxidermist did you take them to if you dont mind me asking

[ThePascoKid]

Here are some more pics.  The warthog and Impala were shot from the landcruiser on game drives not much of a story, the Kudu on the other hand gave me a long sleepless night.  We were in a double bull ground blind over a watering hole, we had only been there 30 minutes when 2 Nyala bulls came in, they circled each other hackles raised trying to show dominance it was a pretty good show until we glanced behind them and saw a small herd of Kudu's coming in.   The cows came first then 3 bulls, 2 of which were shooters.  My buddy and I hunted together on this trip and took turns shooting our animals, it happened to be his turn so we had previously decided that if given the chance we would try and shoot both with the old 1,2,3 method but if not he would take the bigger of the 2 and we would come back for the 2nd biggest the next evening.  As luck would have it a cow stood in front of his bull the whole entire time until a warthog came in and spooked the whole herd.  Fifteen minutes later 2 cows and my bull came back, we wait for quite awhile for his bull to come back with no luck, finally my buddy looks back at the PH and starts asking him questions about the chances of us getting on his bull the next evening.  I knew by the questions he was asking that he was going to let me take the bull that was standing in front of us.  He's a helluva friend.  I get the word and wait for the bull to turn he quarters to me and I squeeze one off hitting him a little high in the front shoulder.  He jumps up and takes off almost running us over in the blind, he turns at the last second and is gone.  I look at the PH and he says it's a good hit maybe a little high but the front shoulder is broke.  He radios the tracker and within minutes he's on blood and following tracks.  We ended up jumping the bull with no shot opportunity.  We press on a little further still on blood but running out of light when the PH decides rather than pressure him and risk jumping him we should return in the morning with the dog.  With this news my heart sank a little, I feel this Kudu bull slipping away along with my $2500.  On the drive back to camp the PH assures me over and over that we will find him and that he hasn't lost an animal in 5 years using his Jack Russel named Spotty.  I know in my head this all sounds good and I shouldn't worry but my heart was still in my throat.  That night at dinner we talk to everyone else and they listen to our story reassuring me that we will find him the next morning.  I sleep lightly going over the shot in my head a million times and then the wake up knock at the door at 5 comes and we are on the road within a 1/2 hour.  When we arrive at the spot we last left off the tracker finds the smallest speck of blood and he's off, they grab Spotty and set him down, he bolts.  I walk up and the PH tells me with a big old grin Spotty just took off.  I say, "this is good right" and he tells me, "yes this is very good."  Within 2-3 minutes you can here Spotty barking off in the distance and the PH says lets go and takes off through the bush like an Impala, I keep up as best I can but end up about 20 yards behind him, I finally catch him and he motions for me to creep and stay down the bull is litterally standing 30 yards in front of us in the bush all I can see is his head and horns and a crazy little Jack Russel running in circles barking his head off.  All at once the bull takes off with no shot and the chase is on again, this time the bull stops in a more open area and I manage to get another round in him and that does it he goes down.  After looking at the Kudu on the ground we realized that my first shot had entered the shoulder high breaking the shoulder but glancing off a large bone and exiting the same side not 6 inches away.  Without Spotty we may never had gotten him.  It was one of the most exciting hunts I have ever been on and even with the sleepless night it was worth it just to see Spotty work, that little dog was amazing.  By the way my buddy ended up shooting his bull from the same blind that evening after we chased Gemsbucks around all day.  Jackmaster I used Trophex taxidermy.  Rob the outfitter told me my Impala was in the top 3 of all the Impalas they had killed on there ranch in 15 years he was 25 1/2 inches tall.  Having never hunted them much less seen one I was pretty stoked to have killed one of this caliber.  I think I will go to the same outfitter next time, I will be after a zebra, black wildebeest, blue wildebeest, springbuck, limpopo bushbuck, and baboon.  Thanks for looking and all the kind words.

[lhrbull]

what was the trophy  fee for his nyala bulls

[ThePascoKid]

Nyala is $3500

[Rob]

Cool story on the Kudu.  I know I learned a lot about tracking and such on my hunt.  Shooting 6-9 animals on a safari is like packing 5 years of stateside hunting into a week.  It's like a post grad course in hunting.

I could tell that Impala was a real monster.  25.5 is huge, congrats!  Was the Gemsbok a bull or cow?  Nice long horns.

Are you doing taxidermy here, or there? 

[Rob]

Also, how big was the consession?

[Machias]

Dang dude you could have smiled a little.        Just kidding, AWESOME animals and thanks for sharing the photos and the story!  SOMEDAY!!!!!

[jackmaster]

dude that looked like a hell of a time, how hot did it get over there? that wart hog looks sweet also

[bucklucky]

WOW! Awesome hunt! One of these days Ill head over there for a hunt!! Nice Job!

[ThePascoKid]

Rob, my gemsbuck was a cow, I am having the taxidermy done over there and their base camp concession was 25,000 acres, with several smaller leased concessions throughout the area.

Jackmaster, it was low 70's during the day and low 30's at night it's their winter right now, very similar to fall in eastern Washington.  Very comfortable weather to hunt in.

[bucklucky]

Thats perfect weather!!

[Rob]

Great, I thought the gemsbok might be a cow, they have those really nice long horns.  I'm thinking should I ever get a chance at another Gemsbok, I'd look for a cow for that reason.