Headed to South Africa in 2007

[BigSwad]

Well my friend and I are planning a trip to South Africa to hunt. He is a native of South Africa and used to book safari's to there and still has contacts there for hunting. I work with him currently and we were discussing it and we just decided to do it. for me, it is the chance for a hunt of a lifetime. We are looking at several ranches in the Pongola/Ellisras area to hunt at. I am very excited and it is still probably a year away.

We are also going to do some visiting with his family while there and also visit Kruger Park as well for a few days. We plan on being there about 16 days in total. Lots to learn and lots of questions. I have read all the past posts and have been able to learn alot from JJhacks and JamesV's posts. We will be sticking to plains game as this is my first hunting trip out of the states and I am not up for any of the Big 5 yet.

I also joined SCI to get some more information. Anyway, looking forward to more interesting topics and posts. JJ, hope your season is/did go well this year.

 

[Lan-Lord]

Congrats on the Africa opportunity BigSwad!
I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

 

[BigSwad]

Yeah I need to talk to you about photography and what would be good to take with me. Since your pictures are always so good, would like to be able to take a digital camera and do well with it. So will probably ask you some questions concerning that.

But I am really pumped about it. Lots to learn before I go.

 

[bpnclark]

My Dad just got back from S Africa on a combo bow/rifle hunt. It was his 3rd time to Africa and he finished getting the rest of the animals he wanted. If you would like to talk to him, e-mail me and I'll give you his phone #. He could give you the names of the PHs he used. I'll post his pictures soon. Good luck.

 

[James Vee]

Digital, digital, digital!!! If/when you are bringing a camera it is the only way to go. If you're lined up with a good PH, he will photo all of your trophies, and copy all of those photos onto a disk for you to bring home. I'll be headed back to Vaalwater, SA in Sept of 2007.

 

[BigSwad]

Thanks James. That is what I was thinking. And more along the lines of when I go to Kruger Park and/or if we go to Victoria Falls. Would be looking for a camera around $250 that has some zoom to it and can work off of AA batteries. I am guessing that I can pick up AA batteries in Johannesburg upon arrival.

Also I noticed on the American flight side that you are limited to 11 pounds for ammunition. I know that you can only bring in 200 rounds per caliber per SA import rules. But I didnt notice any weight restriction for ammo for South African Airlines. I guess they just go by regular baggage rules concerning weight?

 

[Speckmisser]

BigS,

Congrats on making to South Africa for a hunt! It's an on-again-off-again dream for me... so probably one day.

Anyway, as for a camera, go ahead and spend a little more ($400) for a good digital with a little more zoom power. I just picked up a Sony Cybershot DSC-H2 that offers about 16x plus digital enhancement. It's a decent, and light camera that takes really nice pix. The H2 is 6 megapixels. The newer model, the H5 is 7.2, which isn't a ton more for most digital photography, but the digital stabilization is supposed to be better. That one is sitting in Best Buy now for about $499. Check online, and it's probably on sale.

 

[BigSwad]

Thanks Speck. I consider this myself a hunt of a lifetime. Even tho I have heard once you have been there, you always want to go back. And maybe I will. But for now it is just a one time thing. Something I have always dreamed of but never thought possible. But I will say, after reviewing several sites and things such a JJhacks site and others, an affordable trip is probably alot more realistic for most people then they think.

But thanks for the camera info, I will look into that one. That sounds about what I was looking for. The big debate I have now is whether I want to go ahead and get a 375h&h or just take my 7mm mag remington. Or maybe both...LOL At least its a good excuse for an upgrade!

 

[jjhack]

I wish more people would read this then the few who will likely find it here. I may need to post this as a separate topic here as well.

You have to consider that in my business the more game shot the more money the business makes. So what I'm about to tell you is a bit of a contradiction where the benefit to my business is involved! However I feel so strongly about this, that the benefit to the hunter and the enjoyment to the others in camp exceeds any financial gain I might have from you spending more money on trophy fees.

To put this into perspective, most outfitters would suggest you bring what ever rifle you have and don't spend a dime on anything to improve or change that gun. That would leave you with more money to hunt with! In theory anyway.

When I have a group of........say four or five hunters in camp. They are on about the 4th day and all of them are happy and having the time of their lives with great success and plenty of fantastic trophies. Then that afternoon one guy shoots and we cannot find the animal. We return to the lodge and sit around the big table for dinner. Everyone is again laughing and joking and having a few drinks life is grand! The PH's and staff are also having a great time. ............One hunter is somber and a bit depressed, he's just returned from the bush after having lost an animal. He is not sure we will find it. It's stressful for him, and for me too. I can not really join in to the jokes and laughter with the group with any hunter in my camp sad and depressed and stressed over the events of the evening.

By the middle of the evening the whole group is a bit down because it's difficult to enjoy yourselves when one guy that is probably a good friend, or family member is down in the dumps. The evenings around the fire telling the stories of the hunts and sharing the time with the group is without question one of the most entertaining parts of each day, and without a doubt one of the best parts of the safari experience. Yet that time can also be one of the worst periods for the hunter who has lost game.

Over the years now we have seen hundreds if not thousands of game shot on our safaris. During this time for me, I would say that 70% of the game my hunters have taken has been in the evening hunting period. Sometime from 4 to 6 PM. Of that amount half has been killed within 30 minutes of total darkness. Herd animals in very dry conditions typical of mid winter hunting seasons May through August will kick up massive amounts of dust at the sound of the gun shot as they gallop away into the bush and vanish. When this happens you lose sight of them with the dust in the air and the fading light. By the time you walk over to the site, blood trails are very difficult or impossible to locate and sort out for tracking. There may be a few drops, but that trail has been stomped over by hundreds of individual hooves now. Not to mention you're tracking a herd of game not a specific animal, without that blood trail.

For this reason I very strongly prefer calibers .308 diameter and over. Sub .308 caliber holes do not bleed much, and almost never without an exit hole. .308 caliber don't always bleed either but there has to be a minimum someplace and I have found that the .308 diameter is the minimum size you can expect some blood to flow, and they exit far more frequently then smaller diameter usually much lighter bullets. Bigger then .308 diameter gets better and better the larger you go.

30/06 exit hole

.375 entry hole

Over .308 exit hole

.308 exit hole, African game very often does not bleed much, such a big hole and no blood flow!

I could post up photos like this showing the difference for the rest of the day. However this is the typical "look" from the game shot with the calibers above and below .308 diameter.

I would prefer you guys all come with a minimum of .308 diameter. However if you don't have one it's not a deal breaker so long as you shoot good, and understand the dynamics of the event that will follow the shot you take. If anyone is on the fence regarding a new rifle, then buying a serious big game cartridge of .308 or larger is prudent for all the big game hunting you will do in your life. As I said in the beginning of this post. You spending more money on a gun is not in my financial best interest as that money could be spent on trophy fees. However it is in the overall business’s best interest when everyone around the campfire each evening is laughing and having a wonderful time. I like when this happens after we find all the game that was shot each evening, before returning to the lodge!

As a side note on this topic, I've had several people lose game with sub 30 caliber cartridges in my career, in fact the majority of lost game has been with .308 and under. It has happened to several people over the years that then refused to shoot at anything within the last 30 minutes before dark for fear they would lose another animal. Yet that is the absolute most productive time to hunt.

My opinion is based on a heck of a lot of experience here but each hunter has his own confidence level in his rifle and knows the risk of pulling the trigger each time. So in the end it's really up to the hunter to choose what he wants.

 

[BigSwad]

I agree with that. If I shoot something that I am paying for, I want it to go down. I dont want to chase it all over the open range and waste good hunting time. I guess growing up primarily deer hunting when I take a shot I think about saving meat and getting the animal down. In SA, I want to make sure it goes down and dont have to worry about the meat so much.

I have already seen the CZ550 american safari and would like to get that in 375h&h. Would a wood stock be okay to use there? That was the only problem with it for me, that it came with a wood stock only. I prefer synthetic and stainless, but this looks like a real nice gun. I figure if by some lucky chance I could make it back and do some more hunting, that with the 375, I could hunt just about anything.

Thanks for the info though JJ. That is helpful as sometimes it is difficult to tell just what to bring. Many opinions on this from what I have seen. My thought was maybe on the smaller plains game(impala, duiker, blesbok) i could use the 7mm mag then use the 375 on the bigger stuff(kudu, gemsbok, wildebeast). Or I could just use the 375.

Also, JJ does barnes and noble carry your book or would it be better just to order it directly from you?

 

[jjhack]

Amazon and Barnes and Noble both sell it. It may not be a highly stocked item but they do have access to it. I have about 20 left here at my office if you can't find one.

The 375HH is all you need. Wood stocks are fine, almost all RSA rifles are wood stocked. It's a very dry climate.

When you get home you can send it to Robar for the Roguard treatment to make the metal completely rustproof and then slap on a Mcmillan or Rimrock synthetic. You're good to go!

I will take a wild guess that the 375HH will be more comfortable to shoot then the 7mm mag. After you put a Decelerator magnum recoil pad on.

 

[James Vee]

Plus, the 7mm is not a very popular cartridge for safaris.

 

[mbcijim]

Bigswad - I just got back on Friday from my first Safari (Bosbok Safari's) near Phalaborwa in South Africa.

Some comments for you regarding Kruger. We did 10 days hunting then 3 days in Kruger. JJ is right, do Kruger first! I can't emphasize that enough. This was my first safari - and I couldn't see animals 40 yards away! It takes time for your eyes to adjust. I can find a whitetail in the woods at 300 yards here in Pennsylvania but I can't find a zebra at 40 in SA. It was frustrating for me. JJ's other point is also good - you will have jet lag. So there are 2 reasons why to do Kruger 1st. #1 get your game eyes adjusted and #2 jet lag wore off. Don't get me wrong it won't be a disaster if you hunt first, you'll just have a better time.

My other recommendation for Kruger was we booked 3 days, but 2 was enough. You'll see a lot of game while hunting and Kruger is just an extension of that - other than all of the big 5 are in Kruger and they probably won't be in your hunting area. That's just my personal opinion based on one trip.

 

[BigSwad]

Thanks for the info Jim. Hope you got what you went to get.

As for the days, we are going to be planning on 18 days total. Besides about 2 days for travel, when we first arrive we will probably visit with my friends family for the first couple of days. that should be enough to get me over the jet lag. I have travelled internationally alot the past couple of years (Singapore & Japan) so I understand what the lag will do with you. We will be hunting somewhere around 7-9 days, and whatever time we have left we will visit Kruger. I guess depending upon how well the hunt goes, will really set the days for Kruger and any other sight seeing we do. That gives us a two day float for travel and other stuff.

Also, if you get a chance, post some pictures of your trip! I see you are new so welcome to Jesse's as well.