African Adventure (pic heavy)

Thanks to everyone that has PM'd about our African hunt this month. Rather than answering everyone individually, I thought I'd post a few pics here. We hunted in Namibia and it was a totally free-range hunt for indigenous animals only and abundant rains made hunting very challenging. The grass was extremely long making spotting difficult and abundant water sources had the game very spread out. But, we still managed to have an awesome hunt and took 12 animals in total. Africa is definitely all it's cracked up to be.

We also worked with the Northern Alberta Chapter of SCI to take 150 pounds of school supplies over to a school in the conservancy we were hunting. It was pretty cool seeing all the kids and the teacher said it was more supplies than they'd seen in the past 50 years. We took a large load of meat to them as well and the rest was distributed to local villages throughout the conservancy. We were in a very remote corner of Namibia and it was amazng to experience a bit of "old" Africa. I never really thought that much about going to Africa but now all I can think about is planning my next trip.

A few more pics

[bonedogg]

from outta nowhere the sheep is back!!!! great pics, please give us the hunt details.

[bonedogg]

love the kudus, but for some reason the cheapest on the list is one of my favs....them ugly warthogs are awesome!!!!!

Details...how long have you got...lol

Hunt was with Boet Nel Hunting Safaris and all of the animals except my warthog were taken on classic spot and stalk hunts. As the grass was so long, hunting warthogs was nearly impossible so we ended up sitting a waterhole for mine but our PH is pretty dedicated to spot and stalk only if possible.

Basically it was just an awesome experience and I'm glad we did all the research that we did and I'm glad we got to experience the remote corners of Africa that we did. It's something everyone should experience!

Ya, warthogs were up there for me as well. Hunting mountain zebra was awesome though and oh so challenging. The gemsbok wins for sheer beauty in my books though.

[Rackmastr]

Awesome lookin stuff TJ!! Cant wait to sit down over a rum and share some stories.....

[getasheep]

AWESOME! Thanks for the post!

[hunt_and_fish]

Good stuff TJ. Looks like you had a great trip.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. All the animals look really cool...but as usual the Kudu are my favorite.

Did you have a favorite animal or a favorite adventure while you were there?

Big congrats on what looks like it was certainly a trip you won't soon forget.

Originally Posted by hunt_and_fish

Good stuff TJ. Looks like you had a great trip.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. All the animals look really cool...but as usual the Kudu are my favorite.

Did you have a favorite animal or a favorite adventure while you were there?

Big congrats on what looks like it was certainly a trip you won't soon forget.

The entire trip was an adventure and every stalk was unique so no, no real favourites....it was all awesome. The red hartebees really surprised me though. They were likely the most challenging of all the animals we hunted but none were easy. I was shocked at how flighty everything was and how in tune with their environment they were. We likely had three or four stalks go bad for everyone that worked out. Seeing actual wild giraffes was too cool as was hearing lions roaring in the distance. We also saw a couple of cheetah that I decided to pass on and that was very memorable as well. The sights, the sounds, the smells and the people, it was all fantastic!

The highlight of the trip was likely taking my kudu on the last afternoon of the last day. I honestly didn't think I was going to get one and suddenly the opportunity presented itself.

[Piker]

Thks sheephunter for the pics It was always a dream of mine to go there on a hunt but let it go to long. It is great to see the perspective thru someone elses eyes. I love the kudu!!!!! Piker

[Rockymtnx]

Awesome pics Sheep!
Looks like you two had a blast.
I love the Gemsbok. The colors are great.

Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

[Statick]

Many thanks for sharing! The pictures are great, it seems to have been a memorable experience.

[nube]

glad you had a good trip. How was Boet Nel? I had heard a few not so good things about him but I have heard quite a few really good things and just wondered what you thought. You can PM me if you would like to keep it private.
That one Kudu looks good for sure. How long of horns did your critters have?
I bet you are itching to go back. I plan on it soon and hope to be booking again for my Buffalo and then onto another area for plains game again.
Congrats and welcome home. I bet you loved the flight.

[Copidosoma]

Looks like you had a great time out there. Congrats. That must have been a heck of an experience.

Any idea how much the taxidermy is going to cost ya?

Originally Posted by nube

glad you had a good trip. How was Boet Nel? I had heard a few not so good things about him but I have heard quite a few really good things and just wondered what you thought. You can PM me if you would like to keep it private.
That one Kudu looks good for sure. How long of horns did your critters have?
I bet you are itching to go back. I plan on it soon and hope to be booking again for my Buffalo and then onto another area for plains game again.
Congrats and welcome home. I bet you loved the flight.

Boet was first rate, a man of his word. Everything was as promised without the slightest hiccup. I could see that hunting with him may not be for everyone but it was the exact hunt we were looking for. He hunts hard and sticks to his principles, which often means doing things the hard way. His camps are comfortable but definitely not luxury. We stayed in two camps with tents on permanent foundations and spike camped out in small tents at another camp. His staff was very experienced and did everything to please.

If you are looking to be pampered and see game around every corner, Boet is likely the wrong choice but if you want to be treated like a hunter and experience a bit of "old" Africa, I know you'd be happy. There's definitely not much of this type of hunting left in southern Africa. We had to look hard to find the right outfitter and we couldn't be happier with our choice.

The kudu were just good average mature bulls. My kudu was 48 1/2" and Vanessa's was right on 50". My gemsbok was my best trophy...a bull of just over 39".

Other than an engine catching on fire on our flight from Frankfurt to Windhoek, the flights weren't that bad although 20 hours in an airplane is enough.

Any idea how much the taxidermy is going to cost ya?

Too much...lol

I'm only doing shoulder mounts on the kudu and gemsbok but Vanessa is doing her one gemsbok, kudu, wildebeest and zebra. We are having several hides tanned and the remainder in skull mounts. Figured if I didn't go nuts with taxidermy that I could go back sooner. Boet just picked up a new concession while we were there that hasn't been hunted for 10 years and it promises to have some huge buffs!

[nube]

Good to hear about him and your thoughts. One of the major problems that I ahd heard about was mostly due to one of his top guides and I had heard a little about him as well but like I said he also is very reputable and has had many, many more compliments than the other.
Yes it is very hard to find the true African hunt experience in South Africa. I try to tell this to people and they do not undersatand. There have been many here who say they can get cheap hunts and yes you can but you will be hunting in a small penned off area with PUT animals to hunt mostly. I won't go back to South Africa unless I make a short stop to get a couple animals that I can not get in other areas on the way back from another hunt.
I have a good conection in Botswana and it has no fences and high quality like South Africa for the same price for most animals and sometimes even cheaper. Hunting is in the tented fashion but like you witnessed it is not really tenting it really.
I plan on hitting Zimbobwe the stop in Botswana and maybe a couple days in South Africa next. I figure it will be a very long hunt but I may as well do it all if I can.
If I may make an suggestion and that is to get your trophies done over there unless you have some conection here. Our prices for taxidermy are extremely high here and my friend had his done over there and it was cheap compared to here at home and the quality was not that bad either. Just a sugestion and my 2 cents worth. MAke sure you write a quick journal as well. I wish I had writen more about my trip and you think you will never forget some things but you do.

Originally Posted by nube

Good to hear about him and your thoughts. One of the major problems that I ahd heard about was mostly due to one of his top guides and I had heard a little about him as well but like I said he also is very reputable and has had many, many more compliments than the other.
Yes it is very hard to find the true African hunt experience in South Africa. I try to tell this to people and they do not undersatand. There have been many here who say they can get cheap hunts and yes you can but you will be hunting in a small penned off area with PUT animals to hunt mostly. I won't go back to South Africa unless I make a short stop to get a couple animals that I can not get in other areas on the way back from another hunt.
I have a good conection in Botswana and it has no fences and high quality like South Africa for the same price for most animals and sometimes even cheaper. Hunting is in the tented fashion but like you witnessed it is not really tenting it really.
I plan on hitting Zimbobwe the stop in Botswana and maybe a couple days in South Africa next. I figure it will be a very long hunt but I may as well do it all if I can.
If I may make an suggestion and that is to get your trophies done over there unless you have some conection here. Our prices for taxidermy are extremely high here and my friend had his done over there and it was cheap compared to here at home and the quality was not that bad either. Just a sugestion and my 2 cents worth. MAke sure you write a quick journal as well. I wish I had writen more about my trip and you think you will never forget some things but you do.

Ya, I guess if you look hard enough you can hear bad things about just about everyone but our experience was 100% positive as was that of the numerous references we spoke with.

We are having all our hides and back skins tanned over there and Boet does the skulls very nicely but from what I saw of taxidermists over there, I wouldn't leave a shoulder mount with them. The big shops just have too many workers and not enough quality control. I'm sure there are exceptions but we are getting our shoulder mounts done here. When you factor in shipping costs, the savings really aren't that great on shoulder mounts and here I know the guy doing the work. They do seem to do a great job of tanning over there though and the prices are about 1/3 what you'd pay here. We'll also save some money on shipping by getting the hides tanned there as they are lighter than salted hides.

Namibia is definitely in my blood now so I'm glad that Boet picked up a new concession with buff in it. Hopefully I can swing to get there some time in the near future. It would be fun to see a new part of the country. The area also has some huge elephant in it but that's not in the cards for me any time soon but seeing them is awesome. Eland and springbok are still on my Namibia list, as is leopard but after that I'll have to explore some other options I guess as that's pretty well all that interests me in Namibia. If I only had money....lol

Seeing all the wild giraffes was totally cool and I can see the allure of hunting them and we actually stalked one to about 60 yards but I decided I really didn't want to kill one. They are a very challenging critter to hunt though.

So many animals to hunt and so little money

[TreeGuy]

Holy smokes! 2009 has been a great year thus far for those following the hunting threads.

We've had the pleasure of reading about Turbo's buff hunt, then 'Slinger's Muskox archery hunt and now Sheep's African adventure! Talk about polar opposites haha. (Pun intended)

Thanks so much for sharing your adventure's with us.

Congrats to TJ and Vanessa on a very cool hunt, doing it as it should be. Awesome. Simply awesome.

Also Kudos (another intended pun) to you and SCI for bringing much needed school supplies to those who dearly need them, along with insuring that the meat from these fine animals was donated and put to good use. Hat's off.

Tree

[nube]

You are right Sheep , it only takes money.
Also as Treeguy stated good job on taking supplies over. I took a suitcase full of candy, pens , paper and odds and ends and the look on the kids faces was priceless.

Ya, SCI's blue bag program made everything much simpler and the airlines are great about flying humanitarian supplies for free so I can't see why every hunter wouldn't put in the effort to take some supplies over. The tent behind the kids is their actual school so it shows just how little these kids have. Our PH's wife is quite involved and she was the one that asked us to bring school supplies and then the Northern Alberta Chapter of SCI got involved. The majority of the school supplies actually came from a couple school classes in Edmonton. The kids in Namibia got a real kick out of seeing the photos of the kids in Edmonton and the school covered in snow.

[gunslinger]

hey great stuff tj awsome photos once again.

[Cowboy Al]

SH, Thanks for the pics. Africa would be a great experience. How were the culinary delights? Any game that surprised you how good of tasting it was?

Originally Posted by Cowboy Al

SH, Thanks for the pics. Africa would be a great experience. How were the culinary delights? Any game that surprised you how good of tasting it was?

Zebra was a total surprise.....the best meat we ate there. Raw kudu liver was part of a tradition but glad it wasn't a regular part of the menu....lol

Everything tasted really good. Most cooking was done over an open fire so how could it be bad.......

[Bobby B.]

Sheep,

Congrats on a fine hunt.

I was scheduled for Namibia this past March but was forced to delay things a year. No big deal because I plan on spending four weeks there next year instead of the original two.

After viewing some mounts over at Dobson's, my perspectives changed on what to look for in a trophy. Brian had a number of kudu, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, etc. in various stages of completion. Your Blue Wildebeest really grabbed my attention due to it's beautiful brindling. An inch or two of horn does not add to a mount what brindling on a Blue does, or a full mane/ruff on a kudu does, or the sharp contrast of stripes does on a Zebra. Gemsbok are just soooo beautiful.

Thanks for posting your trip. I almost forgot you were going.

BTW, did you have a taste from each animal. I've heard that eland is the best. A great reason to go back.

Bobby B.

[FallAirFever]

WOW TJ, way to come back with a vengance!! Hope you stick around and keep posting. What an awesome assortment of animals, congratulations to you and Vanessa. I love the Kudu, beautiful!!

Thanks for sharing and letting us live a great adventure through your pictures and stories!

[altaberg]

very cool story and pictures,

thanks for sharing

[M70]

Hey!!! So that's where you've been. Great pics and good to see you back.

[Castincowboy]

Awesome pics TJ.
Congrats on an adventure of a lifetime.

[wolfboy]

good to see you had a good hunt and share at the same time what type of gun and calber did you use looks like a tika got one myself 300wsm