African Safari - Hunt Day 5 - 22 AUG

Up again this morning at 5:30 am.  Breakfast at 6.  Started stalking at 6:15, before the sun was up.  We did all walking today, no truck.  We crept around the back side of a draw where a protected field also housed a pond.  Exactly the place grazers like wildebeests would like to be.  Sure enough, we found a herd.

Stalking wildebeest as the sun comes up.  Awesome!

It took a while to get into a position that I was open enough to shoot, but not been seen.  Jan called out the one animal I should shoot and gave me the range of 192 yards.  The wildebeest was quartering away, so I shot a little back on purpose.  Dropped it on the spot.  This photo was taken before 7 am.  That's a good way to start the day.

Blue Wildebeest down before 7 am.  Still have my jacket on this morning.

Now for those of you playing the home game, that's three animals each for RePhil and me.  The difference?  I have only fired 3 shots.  All my animals were taken with ONE SHOT each.  I shared this little quote with RePhil and it made Jan laugh:  One shot, one Kill.  No luck, All Skill!  RePhil, not so much.

We took the 'beest back to the lodge for skinning.  We loaded it with the winch.  This animal is larger than our white-tailed deer, but I found it smaller than the elk I took in Colorado.  Best guess is around 500# or so, probably a bit less.

After an early lunch, we hit the range and shot Jan's .375 H&H rifle, made by CZ.  It has open sights and Jan uses it for dangerous game.  He previously used it to kill a lioness that charged him - at 7 yards!  7 freaking yards!  I'm not sure I'm ready for that game.  I hope lionesses like the taste of poop, because that's what I'm going to taste like if she's 7 yards away...

RePhil with Jan's CZ .375 H&H rifle.  Note the cartridge size.

We also shot Jan's 300 Win Mag - with a suppressor attached.  Jan said that this is the gun he lets clients use if they did not bring their own.  Get this, for $250 US, Jan bought the suppressor and had his barrel threaded to fit.  That's TOTAL.  The stamp alone would cost you $250 in the US and the can, probably around $800.  What a crock.  Get your act together US!


We spend the rest of the day driving around, trying to find the herd so RePhil could stalk in for a shot.  We never saw them again that day.  We did get the pleasure of another wonderful sunset from atop the ridge.
Beautiful sunset.
Conversational question:  Wonder where the wildebeest went?
Answer:  several given, none publishable.




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