Took my daughter to the Eastern Cape of South Africa

[HappyGVM]

Hi Everyone, got back a few days ago from a 2nd trip to South Africa. This time I took my daughter. She was using a TC Compass 2 Compact in 308 with a muzzle brake (she just couldn't get decent groups with my AAC can on it) and I was shooting my Gunwerks LR-1000 in 7mm RM with 168 gr Berger VLDs and 175 gr Accubond LRs. She was shooting 150 gr Barnes TTSX handloaded over 45 gr of Varget & Federal GM primers at an avg of 2678 fps. We hunted with Frontier Safaris who books through WTA--the food and accommodations were top notch. We had a great time, other than two (unexpected days) of round-the-clock rain and harvested 8 out of the 9 animals we were after. The one that "got away" was a Bushbuck and they hunt it much like whitetails "sitting on stand" (but not actually in a stand). They rarely come out of the "bush" except for 1st light and last light, and we did see a few does but the one buck that came out never gave her a shot at his vitals. We sat 5 times but it wasn't meant to be.
Anyway she harvested her top trophy that was a "symmetrical" Gemsbok/Oryx at 202 yards and three cull Impalas at ranges from 100 to 160 yards. All her shots were one shot kills and we never recovered any of the bullets even after the TTSX broke both legs on that Oryx.
I was super lucky to take a huge Eland on Day 1 with a 304 yard poke (off sticks) with the AB LR. It ran maybe 50 yards, tipped over, got back up and ran another 50-60 yards before expiring. The front half of the bullet punched through the far side, so we had 2 streams of blood to follow, but the shank got caught under the hide. Sorry I didn't get a chance to weigh it yet. The best part was that the rest of his bachelor group walked passed us at about 40 yards and with the wind in our faces, they gave us a great photo op. The other shots were with the Bergers. It exited/shredded the far side of the Impala ram at 340 yards but didn't exit a Blesbuck cull at 326 yds or a big Waterbuck at 310 yds, in both later cases the lungs were just shredded; everything was shredded in the Impala's chest cavity. All told, including the increased airfare the whole trip cost us just over $10K. I know that's not chump change, and it's not for everyone, but I think it's a tremendous value for 8 days of hunting, 3 hots/day, beer & wine in the evenings, and a lot more than a cot. Would be glad to answer any questions you. Cheers!
PS
Not sure why the last 3 pix are upside down and sideways, I tried loading them multiple times. If you double-click on them they are good.

 

[FrogFire7]

Looks like it was an awesome trip for you two!

 

[Buckfever34]

Fantastic! Amazing memories. Happy Father's Day to you on Sunday.

 

[Baker Alvin]

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing

 

[memtb]

Hi Everyone, got back a few days ago from a 2nd trip to South Africa. This time I took my daughter. She was using a TC Compass 2 Compact in 308 with a muzzle brake (she just couldn't get decent groups with my AAC can on it) and I was shooting my Gunwerks LR-1000 in 7mm RM with 168 gr Berger VLDs and 175 gr Accubond LRs. She was shooting 150 gr Barnes TTSX handloaded over 45 gr of Varget & Federal GM primers at an avg of 2678 fps. We hunted with Frontier Safaris who books through WTA--the food and accommodations were top notch. We had a great time, other than two (unexpected days) of round-the-clock rain and harvested 8 out of the 9 animals we were after. The one that "got away" was a Bushbuck and they hunt it much like whitetails "sitting on stand" (but not actually in a stand). They rarely come out of the "bush" except for 1st light and last light, and we did see a few does but the one buck that came out never gave her a shot at his vitals. We sat 5 times but it wasn't meant to be.
Anyway she harvested her top trophy that was a "symmetrical" Gemsbok/Oryx at 202 yards and three cull Impalas at ranges from 100 to 160 yards. All her shots were one shot kills and we never recovered any of the bullets even after the TTSX broke both legs on that Oryx.
I was super lucky to take a huge Eland on Day 1 with a 304 yard poke (off sticks) with the AB LR. It ran maybe 50 yards, tipped over, got back up and ran another 50-60 yards before expiring. The front half of the bullet punched through the far side, so we had 2 streams of blood to follow, but the shank got caught under the hide. Sorry I didn't get a chance to weigh it yet. The best part was that the rest of his bachelor group walked passed us at about 40 yards and with the wind in our faces, they gave us a great photo op. The other shots were with the Bergers. It exited/shredded the far side of the Impala ram at 340 yards but didn't exit a Blesbuck cull at 326 yds or a big Waterbuck at 310 yds, in both later cases the lungs were just shredded; everything was shredded in the Impala's chest cavity. All told, including the increased airfare the whole trip cost us just over $10K. I know that's not chump change, and it's not for everyone, but I think it's a tremendous value for 8 days of hunting, 3 hots/day, beer & wine in the evenings, and a lot more than a cot. Would be glad to answer any questions you. Cheers!
PS
Not sure why the last 3 pix are upside down and sideways, I tried loading them multiple times. If you double-click on them they are good.

Congratulations going out to both of you! memtb

 

[bamban]

Thank you for sharing. Very nice outing, bonding.

 

[brian11]

Nice! Thanks for sharing!
Do you give all or most of the meat away? What about horns/antlers? What did you bring back? Is is difficult to bring things back? Do you arrange any taxidermy there or here? That big one (Eland?) looks heavy; how did you handle it? Do these animals taste like venison, or does each have its own flavor?

 

[gillettehunter]

I'll answer a couple of the questions. The meat belongs to the owner of the ranch (they call them farms), unless the PH/outfitter has negotiated to keep the meat. The meat is often used to feed some of the farm workers as well as sold. These farms are a for profit venture and bush meat is a income stream as well as trophy fees.
Some do taxidermy in Africa. Most of mine has been done here int the states. Better finished product IMHO. To get to mount in the states you have the capes and horns sent to a company to prepare them for export. Remove all flesh. Then the are dipped in a disinfectant and packed. Then shipped to the USA and your taxidermist.
As long as you follow the rules it's not difficult to bring things back. You can't bring it in your luggage! Curios and souvenirs are usually no problem. No meat or fruits can be brought back.
Eland can be huge. May weigh over 1600 lbs. A winch on a truck is very useful in loading one. In RSA we used a tractor to lift and carry the carcass. My last one was a Livingstone eland in Zambia and weighed considerably more than the cape buffalo I killed a few days earlier.
Different animals have different flavors. Eland and zebra are often cited as favorites by many african hunters. I'm sure that @HappyGVM will chime in about his experiences.
Bruce

 

[HappyGVM]

GilletteHunter is spot on. The camp has a 4-day rotating menu from what is harvested most often. So you'll get Impala, Blesbuck, kudu & beef T-bone. KUDU was my favorite. In the case of Frontier Safaris most of the meat gets sold to a butcher plus what is kept for the tracker & farm hands. I would have liked to try the eland. I've heard other camps/outfitters do a better job of cooking up what is harvested after a day or 2 of hanging.

We didn't weigh it but 1500-1600 lbs is a fair estimate on the eland. They used a winch & a "sail" (heavy duty tarp) just to move it out of the woods where it fell. Then the winch and pulleys over the cab to get into the back but it was still a struggle to get the tail gate closed. The video I have of winching the eland wouldn't attach but I included a couple of pix.

I had my taxidermy done there but my understanding is they are not the usual set-up. One of the sons of the owner runs a Taxidermy shop & you can either dip & crate as GilletteHunter said or have it done there. Their prices have gone up between my 2 trips but it's not much more than here in TX. They were holding on to our trophies from last trip (to send in 1 crate) and had them on display for me so I'll add a couple of pix. Oh & the horns are removed & bubble wrapped in the crate to reduce volume. Thanks for the questions.