What a terrific narration of your trip, thoroughly enjoyed it! That’s the closest I will ever get to that part of the world
Thanks for the comments everyone. We radioed the guys to come for the eland with the "meat wagon," to take it back and start processing. The meat wagon is a single cab land cruiser with a gate that lays down to form a ramp that helps hold the animals as the winch brings them onto the bed of the truck. We drove around the rest of the morning and had some other unsuccessful stalks, then went back to camp. As with most hunting everywhere else, the hunting slows down midday. So everyday we took a break for lunch from around 12-3 or so. Eat lunch, take a nap somewhere, or just hang out. I only took a brief nap the 2nd day. Trying to shake the little jet lag that I had. Back at camp we got word that Steve and Luke still haven't gotten anything. Jaco couldn't believe it. I couldn't either. I was having all the luck . I started to get an uneasy feeling. Luke had quite a long list of animals he would like to hunt. Even though hunting was fantastic there, it's still hunting, We went back out looking for wildebeest. While driving it seemed we were seeing eland and gemsbok around everycorner. Jaco commented he didn't know how the other guys didn't see anything the previous day. But that's hunting. We were in an area that was really thick when Little Panga spotted a wildebeest by himself. How he saw it, I don't know. He was an old bull. Jaco said only chance is to wait for him to go through an opening for a shot from the truck because it was so thick. At that point the bull started to run and he stopped in the opening to look back. Around the fire the night before the PHs were saying how tough wildebeest are. They seem to be born sick and each lead pill makes them healthier. When I fired a cheer rang out from the bushmen. The wildebeest dropped where it was. The monkey was off my back. He was scarred up and getting thin. If it wasn't for the good rains bringing abundant plants, Jaco figured he probably would have died this winter. I thought Panga was 10-12 years old. He's actually 17. He has a great sense of humor and would make comments. Translated from bushmen for me of course. During the afternoon Steve finally connected with a kudu. But at dinner Jaco was really talking $hit to his other PHs. I was wearing a shirt with an eland on and he asked me to show them, so they would know what an eland looks like. He said the A team will have to help them tomorrow.
Day 3. 50th Birthday. Usual morning routine. It was decided that all of us were going to hunt the main property and the "A team" would look for fresh tracks and call the other guys on the radio. It wasn't long before we came across fresh tracks in the sand of some eland bulls. Jaco radioed the other guys and I don't think he was even keyed off when Quentin answered. I was feeling bad for Quentin. I knew of him before and he is a good PH. Just wasn't working out for him. We waited for them and then we made our way to another area of the property. All the standing water is from the rains and run off from when the pans overflowed. Jaco said at one point 50% of the property couldn't be accessed. At some points the water was up to the hood of the land cruiser. It was pretty wild! Hard to believe it's the Kalahari. We saw some really nice gemsbok, but thought it may interfere with Quentin even though we were a few miles away. So we carried on. Jaco got a call from Quentin. I asked if they caught up to the eland, he said no. He lost his driver and couldnt get in touch with him! Jaco told the trackers, and we all started laughing. Not only do we need to find animals for Quentin, now his driver. Poor Quentin. I knew the abuse was on the way. We drove around trying to reach the driver by radio. We actually found his tire tracks and caught up to within radio range . While waiting we were off the truck and Jaco was laughing. He said the trackers were trash talking the other trackers and were saying wait until they were at the fire to really give them $hit. The lost driver finally showed up. When he pulled up all the trackers and Tossie jumped on his truck, laughing and saying stuff to him. I could only imagine whay they were saying. Sounds like he took a left instead of a right and got out of radio range. While he was pulling away Little Panga was giving him hand signals like a crossing guard. It was a sight. We continued and found some other eland track. We followed but the wind switched and they thundered off. While waiting for the truck we heard some zebra. After an hour of tracking them we caught up but they were mixed in with eland and wildebeest. Too many eyes and noses. After lunch we went out and found some impala rams running together. They were following a herd. The ram with the herd spent his entire time running around chasing off other rams, which just let others sneak in for the ewes. Defeating the purpose. Two rams already passed through and another was standing off in the bush. I waited for him to step out into a small opening. Walking up we found him piled up in a huge camel thorn bush. We moved him out into an opening. While taking pictures we could hear other rams vocalizing and fighting. The rest of the afternoon was quiet until right at dusk. We saw a busted up warthog and Jaco said for me to take it for the camp staff. That night another delicious meal and the best birthday cake I've had. I wish I recorded Godfrey singing happy birthday. Wasn't quite the happy birthday song, but I loved it. Had several adult beverages around the fire. Talking about all things hunting and life while under the Southern Cross.
Thursday Day 4 At some point on wed Jaco asked what I had in my initial package when I booked. I told him it was a kudu, eland, wildebeest, and 3 cull animals of eland, wildebeest and zebra. He asked if I wanted to switch out the 3 culls for another kudu. Quick math, and I said of course! So thursday we went to another cattle ranch. Jaco considers this his kudu honey hole. Everything is low fence and true free range. I hunted this property in 2023 Im not sure of the size, over 100k acres. It has a pond on it from when the govt was quarrying stone for a highway. Jaco asked if I wanted to fish in it since we got off to a little later start. Sure. How many can say they fished in the Kalahari? On the way we stopped at his Jaco's home to steal some fishing gear from his son. Hard to fish with the high water level. Couldn't get to the edge with every bush seeming to have thorns. Tried some crankbaits. No luck. So I changed up and put one of those ugly corn crickets on. We only fished for 30 minutes or so when Jaco said lets get out of here. We're here to hunt. So off we went. Driving we saw some jackal and kudu bulls run in the brush. It was thick! Then went to a pan that was probably 8 miles across. It was full of warthogs feeding on the sprouted grass. We walked in a tight single file when Jaco said there was a big pig next to a bush. He asked if I wanted to get closer. I asked how far and he said 150 yards. I said Im good. With a shot the pig fell and trackers cheered. It was closer to 180 yards. Warthogs are pretty big. I would say this guy was 200-230# It was close to lunch, so we hung out under what I believe was an umbrella thorn acacia tree. I could get use to this lifestyle.
After lunch we set up at a blind overlooking some corrals. I hunted the same blind in 2023 and shot my kudu here. While we were sitting there, I was enjoying watching and listening to the wide variety of birds. After a bit a cow kudu appeared. Jaco said he was sure there were bulls in the thick stuff watching her. She hung out a little then meandered away. About 10 minutes a bull showed up. Jaco asked me to get on the sticks while we looked him over. We decided he wasn't what we were looking for. At this time I was thinking to myself how cool it would be if a kudu came up along the cattle fence like my other one did in 2023. Just like that, I saw horns coming up the fence row. I had Jaco look and all he said was "get ready." The bull stood behind some trees and all I could see was hia head. He was eyeballing the other bull. He jumped over the corral fence and chased the other bull. Right when I shot he started to jump out of the corral. So my shot was a little lower and back. I reloaded and shot again. All I heard was Jaco say, "oh Bob. You shot the effin fence in front of you!" I never saw it. I moved and shot again. We followed and found the kud staggering and I finished him. We called for the truck. As we waited Jaco used his hands to do a measurement. He asked me what I thought. I said 53". He smiled. Trackers arrived and right away it was, "Tossie. Tape and beer!" The bull measured 57.5". I couldnt believe it. Loading got interesting because the winch was not working. So the land cruiser was backed up and tires were marked. The ground was dug out, so when it backed up to the holes, the rear dropped and the kudu was loaded. Worked great. Until we went to pull out and the soft ground had the land cruiser dug down to the frame. After using the jack and logs, we got free. Driving out I saw lightning in a thunderhead. It couldn't storm. Too late in the season.... Picture before the sky opened up. It poured and then hailed! Blew the top off of my tent over the bathroom. I didn't know it until after dinner. It was a great day!
Sorry for dragging this out. Between work and other BS, I haven't had the time. Friday, Day 5 By now I hunted my initial package (with the swap of a kudu for 3 culls) and added some animals. So the plan was to look for some tracks after the rain. Off we go on the main property. Driving down the road Tossie said something and then stopped. He spotted leopard prints. We got off to investigate. It was a big Tom. We followed it for a little down the two track and found very fresh zebra tracks, with the Tom's print in theirs. Jaco asked, do you want to hunt disco donkey? Might get to see the leopard too. I said let's go. It seems many people have strong emotions when it comes to hunting leopard. My wife, sisters and mom really do. "They're just like horses." I can assure you, they are not! Zebra are wild as can be. Seems zebra are always turned on when you hunt them and are mixed with lots of other animals. Hard to hunt. Plus stallions have a special set of canine like teeth they used to fight one another with, specifically they try to castrate each other. I've never seen horses do that. So off we went with a good wind in our face. About 15 minutes in we ran into a big herd of eland. We were sure the zebra were on the other side. We waited them out and the eland moved off to our left. So we tried to go around while still having the wind in our favor. We came across fresh manure and just like that the wind changed. We all thought there goes that stalk. We still stayed on the tracks when all of a sudden Georgie froze and ducked down. We all ducked and Jaco and I crawled to where Georgie was. I could barely make out them in the bush. Its crazy how they can blend in, even though they're black and white. After a bit Jaco had me move right next to him. I could barley see a leg and a some of a body. Jaco said the shoulder is right on the side of a tree. Not much room for error. I was on my haunches and the shooting wouldnt go that low without Jaco holding them. I shot and all hell broke loose. Thundering of hooves everywhere. Jaco asked how the shot felt because he didn't hear it hit. I said it felt good. Got to where the disco donkey was standing and no blood. Just great I thought. Georgie and New Guy started to do their thing. We tracked slowly for 75 yards or so. I started to get worried. 30 more yards. Still nothing. I started to doubt myself. Georgie was 40 yards off to my left and whistled. Thankfully there the zebra was. No blood, except where he fell. The shot was right where it needed to be. The hole must have sealed up while it was running. About 5 minutes after we found him, we heard other zebras calling for him. Jaco said if we still didnt find him and heard that, we would have kept looking, because that meant he was behind and others were looking for him. He was surprised they waited that long. As we were taking pictures, another heard of eland came by. I actually got on the sticks but no shot on a bull. We never saw the leopard. Afternoon we went to another part of the main property. This area held cattle. We drove around and Tossie stopped. He spotted a tiny bird in the bush along the road. It was some sort of quail (I forget the name) but it was tiny. It had chicks and they were the size of the tip of my thumb to the top knuckle. Later we saw a Goshawk and Jaco said the bushmen believe when you see a Goshawk that it will bring you something. 10 minutes later Tossie stops. Another quail I thought. Nope. A freaking black mamba along the side of the road! It started to cross under the fence into neighbor property. Before I knew it, Jaco grabbed my gun and asked if I minded if I used it. Bam! Missed. That thing was 7' long and fat. I couldn't believe how fast it moved. I never want to get close to one. We kept driving and saw tons of hornbill birds. They were feeding on something in the sand. Then another Goshawk. This time we came upon a lone gemsbok walking down the road. Jaco said let's get a look at him. If he's old or busted up you can get him for the camp staff. He was about a mile and half away when trackers spotted him. The sand road had some dips and hills in it. We got to a dip and started to walk up the road. Finally got to shooting distance. Panga. Always smiling. He shook my hand and thanked me for the meat. Makes one realize how much we take for granted. With every animal I shot, the skinners or Tossie would clean and take the stomach. Tripe. With the gemsbok, he took the stomach but also the colon. He filled it up with blood to "rinse" it out. Then he was going to run water through it and toss it on the fire. Jaco told me this and I made a face. Tossie said something and Jaco said, "he wants to know if you want to join him for dinner." I said hell no! Everyone started laughing. Tossie with the gemsbok colon. Jaco called it "puff adder." I call it, a little disgusting. As we were just leaving we saw a jackal coming in for the gut pile. They're our version of coyotes. I tried to get a shot when he had his head uo but would lose him in high grass when he put his head down. Then we would start to drive off and someone would see him again. Gun went back up and he was gone in the high grass. This game of hide n seek went on for like 15-20 minutes. We all would start laughing when he would go out of sight or I couldnt find him in scope fast enough. Finally it was getting too dark and the jackal won. His prize was the gut pile. When I think back, it's the small experiences like that which become some of my favorite memories.
I'll finish this drawn out saga. Life getting in my way. 2 days were left to hunt. Saturday Luke joined me as his professional hunter was taking a new client. Jaco had a feeling that the new hunter might be a PITA. Since he only would shoot a kudu over 60", which is an animal of lifetime. And he wanted to hunt 2!! Luke still had quite a list of animals he wanted to hunt. I think there were 5 total. Three of them would be a little easier and Jaco and I both thought he be lucky to get 1 of the other 2, as they are harder to find. We left for the property where I hunted 1st day. Luke hunted there earlier as well. I never picked up my rifle that day except to put it away. I was part of one of the best days of hunting I have ever heard of. Luck was with Luke! After finding and having succesful stalks on 3 animals on his list, we found ourselves tracking eland. I was trailing behind, trying to stay out of the way. My mind was kind of wandering and I was thinking of the past week and how blessed I am, when I saw Luke go up on the shooting sticks. He shot and the tracker looked back at me and gave me thumbs up. All of a sudden this emotion came over me. I got choked up and had tears in my eyes. Idk if it was because I was so thankful to be there or I was so happy for Luke, or what. After a little of tracking, we walked up to the eland. I looked at my watch and it was noon. I told Jaco the time and said unbelieveable such success before noon. He just nodded and said "yeah Bobby , I don't know what to say" Everyone just stood there quietly for a little bit. Finally Jaco said, Georgie! Beer!. After lunch Luke was able to connect on his final animal, which I dont have a pic of. Great day it was! Blow out.
