Hunting Trip

Last weekend we were able to do what a lot of American Hunters hope to do sometime in their life. We went on a Game Hunt here in South Africa. What an amazing experience.
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Most hunters in America are happy to get a few nice Whitetail Buck to hang on their walls. A few lucky ones will get to hunt for a Moose or a Bear or something else that is a bit less common. But here in South Africa there is such a wide variety of Trophy animals that you can pick from. You can choose from a number of different Bucks (Nyala, Sable, Waterbuck, Impala, Bushbuck, Kudu, Wildebeast, and a lot more), Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Zebra, Rhino, Warthog, Giraffe, and a number of other "exotic" animals.

The Adults (Wimpy & Louis (hunting guides), Etienne and Elsabe (our neighbors), and us)

The Kids

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The place we went to was about 2500 acres in size and had approximately 800 animals. They had Impala, Waterbuck, Zebra, Giraffe, Blou Wildebeast, Nyala, Kudu, Bushbuck, and a few others. We went with the intentions of shooting a Zebra and some sort of buck. I really wanted to shoot a Kudu but they only had a couple of trophy size Kudu on the farm and were not allowing anyone to shoot them. So it was decided that we would go for a Wildebeast, Impala, Waterbuck, or Bushbuck. It really depended upon what we could get a decent shot at.

Our first day was spent sighting in the rifles (.338 and a .243) to make sure we were comfortable shooting them and that the scopes were still on target.

The kids were on top of the safari truck plugging their ears

We then drove around the farm hoping to get a shot at something but mainly to see the farm. They had some really cool areas on the farm including some monster rocks that we climbed on right before dark.

About the time it got dark that night, we finally saw our first Zebra and we were excited to get going the next morning.

Maddie having fun with Scott on the Safari truck.

Day 2 started @ 6:30 am and was a bit chilly. Alex was ready to go and waited in the truck with one of the dogs.

Cutest picture ever!

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We basically spent the first 8 hours (minus about an hour for brunch) driving around, stalking, and tracking animals. Most of our time was spend looking for Zebra and Wildebeast as they were the only animals we were seeing. We would spend 1/2 hour to 45 minutes at times walking through the bush trying to track the animals and stay upwind of them. It was all very exciting! By 2 pm we decided to take a break. We headed out again @ 3:00 to look for some Zebra and ended up seeing a really nice Waterbuck. I got a good shot at it from about 110 Meters with it looking straight at me. I got a good lung shot and it only went about 10 Meter and slowly fell. The Horns measure 27 1/2 inches, 1/2 and inch short of a "Trophy" buck.

Scott observing his buck with Wimpy (pronounced Vimpy)

because it weighed over 500 lbs they used a winch to pull it up on the truck

Alex so proud of Scott (and that he got to hold the gun).
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After spending some time taking pictures and watching them skin it, we headed out to find a Zebra. We found a heard and had a shot, but one of the hunting dogs got impatient and decided it would be more fun to chase some Wildebeast that were close buy than to let Lia get a shot. After we were able to take care of the dog, we went back to look for the Zebra again. We were able to find them and Lia stalked them a bit with the guide. After about 15 minutes of waiting for a good shot, she was able to make an almost perfect shot. The Zebra just turned and fell right where it was hit. Lia still can't believe that she was able to pull the trigger.

Lia's "perfect shot" - inside the triangle markings (the guide told her to aim a little left)

The last day we spent with our neighbors looking for a Wildebeast. They were so jumpy after 4 weeks of heavy hunting on the farm that they were not able to get a good shot at one. They ended up shooting a Kudu cow and an Impala cow so they could have some meat.

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We also spent some more time shooting a wide variety of rifles. The kids had fun shooting their first guns, a .22 rifle. Maddie was able to hit the target @ 50 meters. She was so excited.

Maddie in front of her target
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Alex was so excited to shoot a gun. After his 3 shoots - he wanted to keep his 3 bullet casings. He held on to those bullets the rest of the day (checking every five minutes to make sure he still had them).

notice what eye Alex is using

So proud

Just had to throw this picture in

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Scott was inducted into the 1/2 moon club when he put hit forehead a little to close to the scope, OOPS!

It was a great experience and we both now understand the addiction that may people have with hunting. What a rush. We now have more Waterbuck sausage and Jerky than we know what to do with. Lia donated the Zebra meat. It will go to a butchery where they will use it to feed the locals. Scott is getting a shoulder mount of the Waterbuck and the skin from the Zebra is going to be made into a rug. If we have the time and money, we plan on doing another trip later.