BackCountryMulies
Lil-Rokslider
Thought I would share my Africa trip with all you Rokslider's, I spent 20 days in Namibia. What a blast, although I don't think my next trip will be so long. That was hard on the checkbook. We went over for mostly plains game although one buddy tried for a leopard with no success had several come in but couldn't get a shot. Another buddy slipped away for an awesome opportunity for another type of big cat and found success coming one species closer to his big 5! (sorry cant share pics yet) I had a great trip in all and ended up with all the trophy species we went over for plus some.
The hunt was pretty action packed from the time we arrived to the morning we left. Started out we booked 2 non hunt days so we could relax after the 2 days of flying. That came to an abrupt halt as we were driving into the lodge and a 9-10" warthog ran across the road. looked similar to a yard sale on the Kalahari as we tore apart our gear and luggage trying to unpack guns and ammunition
by the time we got our stuff together he was long gone so we finished the drive into the lodge and unpacked thinking that was fun our Ph said well grab your stuff I will go get the boys and get them on his track. One thing I learned very quick is Africa is a very target rich environment as I was the first to trip the trigger an hour after arrival on a great blue wildebeest we found while looking for the warthog. Shortly after that we came across a 38.5" gemsbok and my buddy jumped on the gun. needless to say the rest of our days continued on like this.
After 10 days we had pretty much harvested most the animals on our lists and our Ph was impressed with our shooting well enough he invited us on a cull hunt with a few guys that make a business of it.
We lucked out and one of the ranches wanted 20 big culls (gemsbok or kudu) and 50 small culls harvested (springbok or impala) and they had no size restrictions other than adult culls that day was unbelievable we ended up with 3 trophy gemsbok a 39" & 41" bulls and a 46" dry cow and a 55" kudu out of the 3 of us that went on the cull we ended up with 2 Roland ward springbok each. Unfortunately the Kalahari is in severe drought and the ranchers don't have enough feed for the game and there cattle or sheep so the game is the first thing to go. On the plus side there is a great game meat market in Namibia and the farmers will make some money off harvesting the animals instead of just letting them die. It was very interesting to see how the cull hunt was put together by the guys that do it for a living. They are buying the animal from the rancher and then they process the meat for market and make there money there. Obviously this added a twist to the hunt because it was head or upper neck shots only or you payed for the animal!
After the cull hunt we then again got invited to do something that isnt in the brochures and it was honestly the coolest part of the trip. We got to go on a game capture using a pickup a four wheeler and a greyhound. after the capturer would single out the animal from the herd the pickup would move in then release the dog. although the truck I dont think ever got below 30 mph the dog would jump out roll get up and chase the animal that the capturer was haising in with the four wheeler the dog would heel the animal and take it down then hold it by the throat until the capture was on top of it. This process is far more dangerous than the new method of a big corral and a helicopter but par for me I find the rowdier crowds
.
The hunt was pretty action packed from the time we arrived to the morning we left. Started out we booked 2 non hunt days so we could relax after the 2 days of flying. That came to an abrupt halt as we were driving into the lodge and a 9-10" warthog ran across the road. looked similar to a yard sale on the Kalahari as we tore apart our gear and luggage trying to unpack guns and ammunition
After 10 days we had pretty much harvested most the animals on our lists and our Ph was impressed with our shooting well enough he invited us on a cull hunt with a few guys that make a business of it.
We lucked out and one of the ranches wanted 20 big culls (gemsbok or kudu) and 50 small culls harvested (springbok or impala) and they had no size restrictions other than adult culls that day was unbelievable we ended up with 3 trophy gemsbok a 39" & 41" bulls and a 46" dry cow and a 55" kudu out of the 3 of us that went on the cull we ended up with 2 Roland ward springbok each. Unfortunately the Kalahari is in severe drought and the ranchers don't have enough feed for the game and there cattle or sheep so the game is the first thing to go. On the plus side there is a great game meat market in Namibia and the farmers will make some money off harvesting the animals instead of just letting them die. It was very interesting to see how the cull hunt was put together by the guys that do it for a living. They are buying the animal from the rancher and then they process the meat for market and make there money there. Obviously this added a twist to the hunt because it was head or upper neck shots only or you payed for the animal!
After the cull hunt we then again got invited to do something that isnt in the brochures and it was honestly the coolest part of the trip. We got to go on a game capture using a pickup a four wheeler and a greyhound. after the capturer would single out the animal from the herd the pickup would move in then release the dog. although the truck I dont think ever got below 30 mph the dog would jump out roll get up and chase the animal that the capturer was haising in with the four wheeler the dog would heel the animal and take it down then hold it by the throat until the capture was on top of it. This process is far more dangerous than the new method of a big corral and a helicopter but par for me I find the rowdier crowds
On days we hunted out from the ranch like hitting the public areas or other ranches you get up early hit the road and come back late however theres usually plenty of food and drinks packed for the day haha
