Redfish Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Awesome trip. Once-in-a-lifetime experience, with the wildlife, the culture, the politics, and of course the hunting. It was considerably more difficult than I anticipated, with long, nerve-wracking stalks and incredible patience required when hunting the waterholes. In then end, I took six animals, four of which will end up in the study: a kudu, two gemsbok, blue wildebeest, waterbuck and eland. I would highly recommend all avid archers to plan such a trip. Not as costly as you might expect. It may be hard to sit in my tree stand this fall waiting on a nice whitetail................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebellab Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Wow, what a trip. Like you said a trip of a lifetime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I've got a friend in Heidelberg wo promises to hook me up if I can get over there. Sounds awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Neutron Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Awesome trip. Once-in-a-lifetime experience, with the wildlife, the culture, the politics, and of course the hunting. It was considerably more difficult than I anticipated, with long, nerve-wracking stalks and incredible patience required when hunting the waterholes. In then end, I took six animals, four of which will end up in the study: a kudu, two gemsbok, blue wildebeest, waterbuck and eland. I would highly recommend all avid archers to plan such a trip. Not as costly as you might expect. It may be hard to sit in my tree stand this fall waiting on a nice whitetail................... What, no cape buffalo or rhino with the bow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 What, no cape buffalo or rhino with the bow? Don't do that...we need his cheat sheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 What, no cape buffalo or rhino with the bow? Saw plenty of buffs, even had one lay down 15 yards in front of the blind for about an hour. I wasn't willing to cough up the cash necessary to take a cape buffalo. I've got a cool picture of the buffalo laying in front of me. There were rhinos in our area, but we never saw them. I don't think I could kill a rhino, too cool. The eland I killed was almost as big as a buffalo anyway, about 1400 lbs. The stick and string made short work of the eland. I watched it go down about 70 yards from the shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Saw plenty of buffs, even had one lay down 15 yards in front of the blind for about an hour. I wasn't willing to cough up the cash necessary to take a cape buffalo. I've got a cool picture of the buffalo laying in front of me. There were rhinos in our area, but we never saw them. I don't think I could kill a rhino, too cool. The eland I killed was almost as big as a buffalo anyway, about 1400 lbs. The stick and string made short work of the eland. I watched it go down about 70 yards from the shot. I hope you are getting the taxidermy work done in the states. Africa taxidermy is inconsistant and sometimes they will even send the wrong animal back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Too cool Redfish, too cool. I never could get into a bow but that's just freakin' awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Too cool Redfish, too cool. I never could get into a bow but that's just freakin' awesome! If one of you could give me a link and a quick tutorial, I could post some pics on some file-sharing site. The trip would not have been the same with a rifle. Having these awesome animals within 30 yards at the blind was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 I hope you are getting the taxidermy work done in the states. Africa taxidermy is inconsistant and sometimes they will even send the wrong animal back. I'm having my work done over there, but we went to the taxidermist's operation. Second largest in South Africa, like 30,000 sq ft of shop space. They make their own forms for each animal individually and they come highly recommended by my outfitter/PH. He uses them exclusively. May be a gamble, but the PH has too much at stake to risk recommending a crappy outfit to his clients. He will also supervise the work himself as he visits the shop. I'm saving about 30% over having it shipped/dipped and sent here to be done by a local guy. Plus, I don't know any taxidermists in OK that have extensive African experience. I'm afraid all my mounts would end up looking like colorful whitetails..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted December 17, 2010 Author Share Posted December 17, 2010 I hope you are getting the taxidermy work done in the states. Africa taxidermy is inconsistant and sometimes they will even send the wrong animal back. I got my mounts back about a month ago. Took 15 months but the taxidermist in RSA did a fantastic job. All of the mounts are spectacular. Shipping cost more than the taxidermy. Both together were still cheaper than having everything dipped and shipped then mounted in the US. I'm very pleased and going back next summer to finish the spiral horn slam. Still need the bushbuck and the nyala. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_gop_liars Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 What, no cape buffalo or rhino with the bow? My wife's boss went on a African hunting trip. They were tracking a cape buffalo that was apparently wounded. He was hiding in some thickets and came charging after them the "pro hunter" the accompanies the group told every body to shoot the beast or he may kill someone. So they shot him but during the chaos somebody also shot the African guide in the leg. The pro hunter told the group to just to leave him there. My wife's boss would have nothing to do with that at got the guy to a hospital in fact two hospital ( I guess African hospital are chit holes) and paid for the guys medical bills. sound like a fun time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 That's real hunting right there. How do you ship a dead animal back to the States? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 The pro hunter told the group to just to leave him there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpwallace49 Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 That sounds amazing! Look forward to seeing some pocs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ts Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 ... I took six animals, four of which will end up in the study: a kudu, two gemsbok, blue wildebeest, waterbuck and eland ... Yeah, but was it a greater or lesser kudu? Either way, sounds like quite an experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big F'n Dave Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 I don't think I could kill a rhino, too cool. So, if the kudu, two gemsbok, blue wildebeest, waterbuck and eland had been cooler, they'd still be with us? Hopefully, that'll be a lesson to all the geeky animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 That's real hunting right there. Is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Is it? depends on were he went in South Africa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 I got my mounts back about a month ago. Took 15 months but the taxidermist in RSA did a fantastic job. All of the mounts are spectacular. Shipping cost more than the taxidermy. Both together were still cheaper than having everything dipped and shipped then mounted in the US. I'm very pleased and going back next summer to finish the spiral horn slam. Still need the bushbuck and the nyala. Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 Yeah, but was it a greater or lesser kudu? Either way, sounds like quite an experience. It was a greater. Not a big bull. In fact, I passed several bigger bulls earlier in my hunt, but ended up taking this one late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 depends on were he went in South Africa. We hunted free range country in the Northern Cape, an hour from the town of Kimberly. Huge 40,000 acre ranches that still run some sheep and cattle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfish Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 That's real hunting right there. How do you ship a dead animal back to the States? 3 month quarantine, then the taxidermy process is completed. They build a huge, custom crate and each shoulder mount is placed in the box, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Each is bolted to the side of the crate which is then filled with some obnoxious stuff that meets Customs requirements. My crate came back with eight heads in it. My friend's warthog, eland bull and waterbuck came back in the same crate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskey Pimp Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Is it? How'z it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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