Bob's South African Safari

Day One: April 24, 2005

Our first day of hunting was Sunday, April 24th.  I used Johan’s 8MM by 68MM S.  This was a great cartridge.  It is truly the 30-06’s big brother.  We went to the range to confirm the sights were on.  Martinus wanted us to zero our rifles for 60 yards.  I thought that quite odd.  Since I was using Johan’s gun, I left the scope where it was set because the 60 yard target was right on.  Johan’s 8 MM had a cheap Tasco 4 power scope.  It was surprisingly clear and I had no problems shooting it out to 200 + yards with great effectiveness.  After confirming the guns zero, we started hunting.  Bob and I were in the same vehicle.  Sam Fadala and Chris were in the other vehicle.

After about 30 minutes of driving about we encountered a large group of gemsbok.  I shot one at 160 yards.  One shot and it went down. Great cartridge! I did not hold down on the rifle with enough firmness consequently the rifle scope cut my forehead above my nose.  It bled quite a bit.  The shot was a through and through.  It passed through the shoulder as the gemsbok was standing broadside.  I wanted to shoot a different animal one but Martinus wanted me to shoot this one.  When we walked up to it, I was a bit disappointed with the length of the horns and chose to not do a shoulder mount.    Later Martinus told me that I could have another gemsbok free of charge because I was disappointed in the one he picked for me.  I think he was a bit disappointed too. 

Within another 30 minutes, Obed our tracker spied a beautiful Kudu bull.  I dropped him at 80 yards with one shot. He was a nice bull with long horns.  He weighed at least 600 lbs.  His neck was so large that he looked deformed.  His neck was nearly as wide as his shoulders.  He looked like a large horse with an unusually large neck.  We had to use a winch to get him in the truck.  Bob shot a great Impala at 211 yards just before dark.  Johan did not want to go and check to see if the Impala was hit.  He was sure that Bob missed it.  Bob knew he hit it.  Obed ran over to the next hill and checked.  He waved back that we should come over.  Instead Johan walked over and Obed carried the 150 lb Impala back across the canyon for us to photograph and take to the skinning building.

That evening on the way back to camp after dark, I shot a jackal with the 8mm.  I had about 2 seconds to identify the jackal and fire.  Martinus was happy that I did.  They want to drastically thin out the jackals. 

The rifles came late in the evening. The airlines sent them out by currier to the bush at our camp. 

First Gemsbuck

Kudu

Jackal

Travel from Kansas City
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Days Nine, Ten, Eleven