07 Limpopo Safari

[bpnclark]

Here are my pictures of my safari in South Africa. I hunted with Phillip Bronkhorst in the Limpopo Region. The trip was bought through a SCI dinner and my brother and I had no info on him before we left. I’m glad to say everything turned out great and we both did very well. I took 6 animals and my brother took 8. The only bad part of the trip was British Air lost our luggage when we arrived home at SFO. They said it never left Johannesburg so I’m guessing I’ll never see it again. I’m just glad I got my rifle back. I recommend Bronkhorst Safaris to everyone and if you have a chance to buy a trip at a SCI dinner, you will have a great time.

As for bullets, I used 180 Barnes Tripe X. I loaded them for my 300 Win Mag and I had a little problem. All bullets went right through most of the animals. The only animal it did not go through was my Warthog. I shot him at 80 yards when it was running away. I hit him right in front of his rear leg and the bullet stopped right behind its opposite front shoulder. He dropped about 10 yards later and died right way. All other animals the bullets went right through and left no blood trails to follow. All animals died and were found less than 100 yards from where they were hit. I’m used to shooting 165 grn Swift Siroccos and seeing large exit wounds. My PH said my gun was a little too fast for Barnes but he was glad that I was using them. (It’s the only bullet they recommend for plains game rifles) You can see the two exit wounds on my Red Hartebeest. He was shot at 260 yards. When the first one hit it, I heard a loud ricochet and I thought I missed. The first shot hit it behind the shoulder and exited near its rear leg and made a hole about the size of the bullet.

The toughest animal to drop was my springbuck. I was really surprised how much tougher African animals are compared to every animal we have in the States. I guess it’s all those animals trying to eat them everyday and every night.

Here are the pictures of my animals. I will be posting my brothers and more on my website in a little while. Now that I have some pictures to work with, I will be changing everything around. If anyone is interested in post their photos please send them in.

Thanks,
Ryan Clark

www.safarilist.com

 

[jjhack]

Nice photo's

The TSX bullets should be driven as fast as possible to assure they open with as much force as possible. This newer bullet design is misunderstood by many people. Your experience with lack of blood is common in Africa with most bullets, especially the TSX. African game has much more rubbery or elastic skin then what you find in the USA. I have always felt it was due to the thorn bush they live in and the amount of puncture wounds they must get.

You mentioned hunting the Limpopo, that is the same Province as my consessions. However the Limpopo has no springbok or Black wildebeast, the Black Wildebeast is native only to the Free state primarily around the Drakensburg Mountains. You must have driven or flown pretty far south of the Limpopo for those animals?

One other thing about the TSX for future use. Try stepping down one weight and increase the speed of them. I do field work for Barnes in Afirca on these bullets. It's strongly recommended that you shoot them faster with a lighter bullet, then slower with a heavier bullet. They are slightly longer compared to the same weight bullet made with a lead core. As an example if you shoot a 180 at 3100fps with the magnum, you would be far better off shooting a 165 at 3400.

This past season we used the 165 to take almost 100 animals in my little 30/06 up to eland in size. Faster is better with the TSX bullets. I have some new Barnes bullets here that are not on the Market yet. I've been loading the developing them for the next sesaon. These are what Barnes will call the TTSX. They are the TSX bullet with a Plastic tip like a Ballistic tipped bullet would have. This tip will get pushed into the cavity and accelerate the way they open for longer shots or slower velocities. I think I will be dropping down one more weight class with these in the 30/06 to shoot 150, or even 130's.

 

[bpnclark]

The Black Wildebeest, Springbuck and Red Hartebeest were taken at the same place. It was a 4 hour drive from camp. I slept most of the way and have no idea where we ended up. I thought I was in the same region but I guess not.

 

[bpnclark]

Here are a couple of pictures of my brother’s animals. He got a little lucky with his Gemsbok. The second shot hit a horn. Its still on and hopefully can be fixed.

 

[BigSwad]

Nice trophies bpn. Looks like you guys had a good time. We flew on SAA and had no issues with baggage surprisingly. We also handloaded our .375 H&H loads with Barnes TSX 270 grain and on some animals we didnt get pass thru, with little blood, but all fell less than 50 yards from where shot. Most of the bullets we retrieved had mushroomed and looked the same. We shot our springbok and blesbok in the Free States near Boshof, at distances of up to 200m and the bullets performed quite well. Pretty much dropped them in their tracks.

Hope to see some more pictures. Are you having your taxidermy done over there or here in the states?

 

[bpnclark]

We are having them done in S Africa by Bullseye Taxidermy. Even with shipping it’s still a lot cheaper to get them done over there. My Dad’s animals are coming in next week from his trip last year. I think his shipping cost on 5 shoulder mounts is $1200 and another couple hundred bucks for shipping to his house and paperwork.

I’m planning on buying a CZ 375 H&H this year. I’m planning on going back in 09 and taking a Kudu and Eland. I followed a 54” Kudu around for 2 days and never got a shot. I want to do it again with a bigger gun.

 

[bpnclark]

I saw this small guy on my first day.

 

[Rick]

We saw several mother white rhinos with calves. There was one bull calf that was very aggressive, ramming everything in sight, including cape buffalo.

Of course, even as a baby, he was about equal in weight with the buffalo!

 

[BigSwad]

BPN, thats the same gun I have. The CZ in Safari Magnum. Great gun. I would highly recommend it. As a side note, I added a Zeiss Conquest 3x9 on and used the Talley detachable scope rings. I carried the scope with me as carryon, then when we got to the places to hunt, reattached the scope. Worked well and didn't really need to adjust, except for here in the states I sighted in for more like 100m and the first place we went to told us to sight in at 200m.

I am also having my taxidermy done in South Africa by Kwiktan. I am supposed to get mine back sometime around January 2008. They had good pricing for the mounts and we toured their facility and met them while there. As a bonus, they also do tannery so they are taking some of the extra backhide I had left over and using that to make a rifle case, rifle slings, pillows, wallets and a few other things.

 

[DEERSLAM]

Very nice!! Congrats

 

[One Track]

Great photos and critters! What outfitter?

I'm going in '08! Can't wait.

 

[bpnclark]

We hunted with Phillip Bronkhorst. My brother bought the trip at a SCI Dinner. I guess Bronkhorst donates a lot of hunts with SCI and Dallas Safari Club. If you’re ever at one of those dinners keep an eye out for his name.

I finished adding the pictures to my website. I’m going to do a little more and still need a lot more pictures. If anyone has any pictures of these animals (even pics of them just walking around) please send them in. The goal of the website is to list every African Game Animal by photograph by hunters.

Thanks again –

Ryan Clark
http://www.safarilist.com

 

[AZ Jim]

Congrats to you and your brother !

Nice animals !

Have you thought about the new .375 Ruger? I don't have one myself, but I have been reading many good things about them.


AZ Jim

 

[D3Lifer]

Ryan, congrats on your hunt, and on your great website! I really enjoyed browsing the photos. Well done

 

[bpnclark]

Thanks D3Lifer - Hopefully one day the website will have every African game animal identified by photographs. The next thing I’m going to do is list what makes up the Big 5 and 6 (which most people know) and the African 29. Hopefully this can get some more people interested in hunting Africa.

Safari List

 

[Gray Ghost Safaris]

Nice trophy's bpn. You and your brother have some great times to remember. I've used the .375 CZ 550 on Lion. 300 grain Swift A-Frames. That's the only time. Every other medium to large animal I've taken with a .280 shooting 160 grain Nosler Accubonds. For Bushbuck and smaller, I use a .223 w/60 grain Nosler Partitions. I did take a Zebra in Zim with my .300 RUM and 180 grain Barnes. Post a report when you get your .375 CZ.
Good hunting,
GGS