Glad to have you back WR - really missed your postings!
Looks like a great hunt by all accounts. You've taken some simply amazing specimens (regardless of points and headgear mass) - thanks for sharing your hunt.
Please excuse my ignorance, but do you get to eat/taste any of these critters?
You bet we did, prepared several different ways including some of the best sausage you could ever eat, and grilled in various ways. Afrikaaners also have a semi or fully dried way of preparing meat similar to jerky but not heavily salted called "Biltong". We ate a good bit of it prepared from the wild meats
I noticed you mention of carrying your .375 Ruger. Would you mind sharing what other hardware/optics/chamberings/loads you used?
I shot all factory ammo. Unfortunately the 300gr DGX did not group well at all once the suppressor was installed so I shot the 270gr spire point. It shot extremely well and killed very effectively but the 2850fps was too much for the non bonded cup and core bullets and had a tendency to break apart. Seeing how it performed I'm glad that our Cape Buff hunt fell through. If it hadn't I'd have had to borrow my buddy's .416 Rigby.
Also, what was it like shipping/sending/bringing your irons (I've never travelled/sent anything like that so am quite curious)?
Minor pain in the butt. Next time I will ensure that my luggage is tagged and ticketed all the way through so I don't have to handle the gun case at all except for departure and arrival. For some reason the travel agency didn't do so, so I had to pick them up at Dulles, then take them back through security before continuing along to SA. Had the same issue on the return flight.
You also have to go to US customs before leaving the country and get a special form filled out and carry a copy with you for the SAP's going both ways (RSA National Police) and yet another copy to hand back over to the CP&B boys on the way back into the country.
I've travelled enough in the last 12 years that if I don't see another airport for the next 10 I'll be more than happy. That said, I'd like to try to hunt caribou in AK or Canada some day.
Lot's of people skip carrying their own and instead use "rented" firearms from the outfitter and/or PH.
Being a gun nut though the weapons used are part of the story and the legacy of the hunt so I will continue transporting mine back and forth. Using someone else's rifle on a hunt like this is just not something I want to do.
The 300wm actually did an outstanding job although again, I had the wrong bullet. I was shooting 180gr Siroccos and they reacted in some strange ways on the big beasts like the Blue Wildebeest. On him for example the first shot penetrated about a foot separating the heart from the lungs almost completely but then turned about 90 degrees to exit through his left shoulder. You want a bullet that simply stays together and follows a straight path all they way through or at least deep into the body core.
Strangely enough we picked up some Privy Partisan 300wm with a bonded bullet that performed very well on the Kudu and Black Wildebeest for example.
Optics wise I made a mistake. Most of the places we hunted shots over 300 yards are very rare and shots well under 100yds are quite common. The Leupold 6.5-20x50 Mark 4 was just too much scope. When I go back the .375 will be carrying a new 1-6x24 Trijicon Accupoint TR25 probably with the German #4 and Green Dot and I'll most likely put a 3-9x50 or 2-10x on the Sharpshooter 7mm STW and take it or similar on the .300 if I take it.
It's just way too easy to find yourself in a situation where you need 3x or less and a very wide field of view.
