Kamchatka Brown Bear

My friend and European agent for World to Africa Safaris, Eugenio Franzoni, just returned from Kamchatka in Russia last week. He hunted a brown bear and as seen from the photos below he is very happy!!

Well done!!

Brown Bear Hunting

Eugenio with guide

If you would like to book a hunt with World to Africa Safaris please visit our website now: www.worldtoafricahunting.com

Africa Hunting Safaris for unforgettable experiences

An Africa hunting safari offers unique opportunities to come in close contact with some of the most extraordinary animals on the planet. The sheer tranquillity offered by the untamed bush makes for an unforgettable experience. Combine this with the thrill of stalking your prey under guidance of experienced professional hunters and you have a dream come true.

Selecting the best Africa Hunting outfitters is of paramount importance for the success of your safari and also the safety of you and your companions. As such hunters all over the world rely on our expertise at World to Africa Safaris and in-depth knowledge of the wildlife of this rugged continent. They appreciate our candour about the importance of wildlife conservation and safety at all times.

As a sport which also ensures that more animals can be conserved in Africa, Africa hunting under our guidance is done according to strict government and environmental regulations. The outfitter are in control of your safari and we at WTA Safaris always make sure that every safari are planned according to the needs of the client. The role of the professional hunter can be divided in 2 basic functions, firstly to guide his client while hunting for the game he is after and to protect him from any danger. The second function is to make sure the client understands the laws in Africa while hunting and to make sure they abide by that. This does not however, mean that you will not have your fair share of bush experiences and close encounters with dangerous animals. It does mean that we care about the animals and such promote responsible hunting. We always make sure that our client is part of the whole experience from planning to the actual hunt.

You will find our packages to be exceptionally well priced and the accommodation offered to be superior. Whether you are interested in Plains Game or Big Five Game hunting, you will not be disappointed by the opportunities on offer by WTA Safaris. We personally guarantee to plan your Safari to the last detail and always be professional and ethical in what we do.

Whether you prefer wing shooting or plains game and dangerous animal hunting in one of the Southern African countries we are able to provide the packages to suit your requirements. We will take care of all the arrangements from flights to top accommodation at one of our lodges and all transportation during your stay.

If you would like to find out more about the great packages on offer by World to Africa Safaris please visit our website www.worldtoafricahunting.com

Good friends and old clients John & Julie arrived in South Africa to hunt with us again in 2010 on the 24th March after a misunderstanding and waiting for them at the airport the previous day!!

We planned the hunt to start in Limpopo at Waterberg proceed to North West to hunt rhino and ending in the Western Cape at Bergplaats Hunting Farm. I visited John & Julie earlier this year at their beautiful vegetable farm in Minnesota and most of the planning for the hunt was done then between hunting and snowmobiling while there.

The hunt started early the morning of the 25th after sighting the rifle and having a few good laughs about John missing the target twice!! (all planned to see the reaction of the PH’S)

While hunting at Waterberg John bagged a few good trophies including warthog, jackal, nyala, common reedbuck a huge blesbuck and baboon. Please see photos below:

On Monday the 29th we transferred to NorthWest to green hunt a Trophy Rhino Bull the next day. We had a few very exciting and close encounters with the rhino and at one stage John was less then 10 yards from the rhino before he took off!! (The rhino not John) It took us a few hours and a lot of running and stalking to get close enough for the shot and he eventually took the shot at about 25 yards. The bull was very big with a 28″ length and it all ended very well.

The crew with Rhino

On Thursday the 1st of April we first headed off to the shooting range to see if the rifle was still sighted in and after a few shots and a few small adjustments, we went off for Gemsbuck (Oryx), & eventually bagged one late the afternoon.

Trophy Gemsbuck

On Friday the 2nd of April we started the day brilliantly by bagging a good Klipspringer,only an hour after we set off, but the day was far from over. Later that afternoon we bagged a good Mountain Reedbuck. 

Klipspringer

Mountain Reedbuck

                                          We decided to go try for Springbuck before Lunch and with everything going our way we quickly bagged a Kalahari Springbuck and after taking photos we went to have lunch. After lunch we headed out for Springbuck again and late the afternoon we managed to bag a great Common Springbuck.

Kalahari Springbuck

Springbuck

On Saturday the 3rd of April Julie went off to the KKNK in Oudtshoorn to see some of South Africa’s art talent, but the hunting continued with John and the morning he bagged two Common Springbuck and late the afternoon he bagged a good Grey Duiker.

Trophy Duiker

On Tuesday the 6th of April we headed out for the last Springbuck of his package and soon bagged a good Springbuck with skew horns, that afternoon we decide to rest and have a good night session that night. We started the night great by bagging two Bat-Eared Foxes and to our luck the Jackal decided to come out this night, we must have seen at least 8 Jackals but unfortunately John didn’t manage to bag one.

Bat Eared Fox

Camp meat Springbuck

On Wednesday the 7th of April we started looking at where John had shot at some Jackal for any tracks but without luck. After lunch we took John and Julie off to see God’s Window and on our way we spotted a massive Steenbuck and after John asked Willie if he can shoot it he bagged this monster Steenbuck.

 

Monster Steenbuck!!

World to Africa Safaris - US & Europe Tour 2010

We are busy with the final arrangements for our International shows and visits for the 2010 season. The itinerary will be as follow:

16 February to 3 March - United States of America

Gary Power and I will be in the Minnesota area from the 16th to visit clients and attend the SCI Minnesota chapters annual EXPO at Northland Inn, Brooklyn Park on the 19th & 20th of February. We will have a booth and donated x3 hunts to the chapter to assist in their conservation projects. If you are in the area please come and visit us.

Gary will leave for South Africa after the Expo on the 22nd and I will leave for Phoenix on the 25th to visit a few clients.

4 - 8 March - Europe, Madrid Spain

I will attend the FICAAR show in Madrid with our European agent, Eugenio Franzoni, from 5 - 7 March. This is our 1st visit to Spain and we hope to introduce our company to the local hunters.

February - Moscow, Russian Federation

Our new partners Premium African Safari will attend 2 shows during February in Russia, they are based in Moscow and recently opened a new branch in South Africa. They have exclusive rights to market our hunts in these part of the World and we wish them all the best with the efforts!!

10 - 14 April - Italy

We will attend the annual EXA SHOW in Italy with our agent Eugenio Franzoni. Eugenio is based in Italy and a well known hunter in his Country we also plan on attending this show every year.

Together with the shows above we also expect hunters this year from Australia, Dubai and United Kingdom.

If you would like to visit us at the shows or would like to meet with us personally please contact me directly at a.nortje@icon.co.za

For more information about World to Africa Safaris please go to www.worldtoafricahunting.com

Have a great hunting season and 2010!!

Andre Nortje

AJ & Aaron’s Hunting Safari in South Africa

The 2010 hunting season was of to a very good start with clients AJ Pierzynski & Aaron Rowand from the United States arriving in camp on Thursday 7 January 2010. Their busy schedule only restricted them to almost 2 days of hunting.We decided to hunt near Baltimore in the Limpopo Province of South Africa to increase their chances of getting a few good trophies in the short time allowed.

After a quick lunch at camp on the 1st day and going over the planned hunt we were of to the shooting range to check the rifles. Their luck already started here with AJ shooting a Trophy Waterbuck within the 1st few minutes of the Safari.

Their shooting ability was extremely good as they quoted themselves: “WE ARE PROFESSIONALS” and that showed as they bagged 12 trophies in 2 days and we didn’t even track or loose 1 animal.

It was a really successful hunt and we hope to have them back in Africa for longer soon. Below are photos of the trophies they hunted.

AJ with Trophy Waterbuck

This was AJ’s 1st African animal hunted with a well placed double lung shot and a good follow-up shot it still took a few hundred yards before going down. The big horns that curl towards the front makes this a special unique trophy. Well done AJ!!

2nd Animal Trophy Impala

AJ took the “McDonalds” of Africa a very nice Trophy Impala with a well placed frontal heart shot at almost 200yards. The animal went down after about 15yards.

Blesbuck

Steenbuck

This beautiful little antelope are family of the tiny 5 in Africa and the only antelope that groom’s themselves like a cat. AJ couldn’t believe that he shot a Steenbuck the photo session made for some good laughs as ants was crawling everywhere while taking photos.

Zebra on day 2

Day 2 started early after a not so successful Eland hunt we spotted some Blue Wildebeest and “I” decided to go after them to have a look as AJ wasn’t interested at that stage to hunt one. After walking for a while we spotted some Zebra and being a trophy that AJ wanted he shot a Zebra with a very well placed shot again.

AJ

Later the day I decided again to go after Blue Wildebeest we didn’t go very far when we found a herd of Kudu, but the bull had very straight narrow horns, we decided to leave him for another hunter. We walked into a Waterbuck bull as he decided to lay down for the afternoon and circled around not to disturb his Siesta time. We then found a herd of bulls and after some confusion AJ took the best shot I have seen with a client in a long time. The bull went down right in his tracks we were all very happy after a good hunt and great shot!!

Trophy Eland

This was AJ’s last animal that he wanted to take and it almost didn’t happen. He shot the Eland just before dark the shot placement was a bit back, but with a second and back-up shot he didn’t go far. This is the biggest antelope in Africa a really big trophy to take. Well done AJ!!

Aaron with 1st Animal

Aaron opened his account on day 1 with a Trophy Blesbuck the animal didn’t go very far with the shot. For a hunter that didn’t plan on shooting a lot it quickly changed the rest of the Safari…

Trophy Blue Wildebeest

This old “poor man’s buffalo” the Blue Wildebeest was taken later the day and was Aaron’s 2nd animal. The horns have a lot of character and will make a great trophy.

Trophy Kudu

After a good stalk and great tracking skills from Steven they got close to a herd of Kudu. Aaron could barely see the vital area and took the shot. His PH Wiehan wasn’t so confident with the shot and double-checked on Steven’s tracking skills before moving towards were they stood. After only a few yards the big Trophy Kudu bull was down with a perfect shot and the PH’S confidence in both his client and tracker was re-confirmed.

Aaron with Impala

Day 1 ended for Aaron after a lone Impala ram gave him the run around until he finally got a shot just before dark. The ram also went down in it’s tracks and it was a great day hunting!!

Aaron closed his account early on day 2 as they were on Zebra tracks when they found fresh Eland tracks. They followed the tracks and found a herd of Eland the big “Blue” bull finally gave him a opportunity and the trophy was his. This Trophy are a very old bull and he joined AJ the rest of the day hunting.

It was a very short and exciting Safari we hope to have the boys back soon in Africa!!!

Pieter Kok - October 2009

Pieter Kok and his wife,from Holland, arrived in the Limpopo camp end of October 2009. Pieter wanted to hunt a Trophy Kudu Bull on his 1st African Hunting Safari. He only booked for 3 days and felt that if he can’t hunt it in the allowed time, more days won’t help. This positive look on hunting the “Grey ghost” paid when on the 1st morning Pieter took down an old Kudu bull with a frontal heart shot!!

The next day he shot a record trophy Red Hartebeest measuring over 23.5″!! This turned out to be the biggest one a client of World to Africa Hunting took in the past 2 years. Well done Pieter with this beautiful animal.

Record - Trophy Red Hartebeest

That same day late afternoon they decided to hunt a riverbed for Bushbuck, Warthog or Common Reedbuck. Just before sundown a big Common Reedbuck ram presented himself and with another good shot of 180m, Pieter took a very good Trophy Common Reedbuck.

Pieter with Common Reedbuck

On day 3, the last day hunting, Pieter took an Impala ram to conclude his 1st short Safari in Africa with 4 plains game trophies. It was a real pleasure to have Pieter and his wife in camp with us and hope they return soon!!

To book your Safari of a lifetime, please contact World to Africa Hunting to design your adventure.

Monte,Bill & Randy arrived at Johannesburg International Airport on Sunday evening 13 September 2009. We cleared the weapons and transferred South to World to Africa’s Hunting lodge in the Free State. We had a late dinner and the next morning we checked the rifles and discussed the plans for the week ahead of us.

Bill & Randy hunted in Africa many times before over the past few years and they were looking for specific animals to compliment their trophy rooms. They were very well prepared and informed about hunting conditions in Africa this could be seen in the hunting grounds and with their shooting ability at close or far range.

Monte was new to hunting in Africa, but addapted very quickly and bagged his 1st trophy animal a magnificent Black Wildebeest bull the Monday morning. He went on and bagged a total of 10 animals in just 7 days. The “Grey Ghost” or Greater Kudu,got the better of him on his first safari, but that is a very good reason to return soon for more adventures in Africa.

Below are photos of the animals they took on the Safari.

We had a great hunt with them and hope that they will return to Africa soon. From all of the WTA Hunting staff thank you again for your friendship and all the best for you the rest of 2009!!

Avalene and I arrived in Africa the morning of July 19th and after a little issue of our firearm not arriving were on our way with Andre to the Limpopo camp on the way we stopped at Andre’s home to pick up a rifle to use until mine arrived at which time we were able to meet his family which was a special treat as they were a delight to visit with as Andre rounded up the items needed then we were off to camp again. (on the firearm, make sure you check every time you change flights to make sure it is coming with you I had mentioned to the airline personnel in London about one of my checked baggage being a firearm but they did not have me fill out the proper paper work and that was why my gun was late getting to camp.) On arrival at camp we met our PH Wiehan and after getting to know each other we were off to the shooting range to try out Andre’s rifle which proved true to the mark. Next was some socializing and dinner then to bed to dream of what morning would bring.

Day one had us in search of Blue Wildebeest which after about an hours walk in the hills we spotted a heard of 8 a careful stalk brought us within 100 meters at which time we decided that the bull was a shooter a little more positioning and we were in position for a shot the bull was quartering slightly to us and I centered the cross hairs on his left shoulder and carefully squeezed the trigger. (To be continued)

The afternoon of day one put us in search of Blesbok where we set out on the property right behind camp after locating a herd and a stalk of about 200 meters in the shadow of the only cover in the open grassland we were in range the shooting sticks were put up and a shot of about 150 meters brought down the Blesbok after a short run of about 30 meters.

Pictures were taken and our first trophy brought back to camp where John the skinner took over and great care was taken with the skinning and caping.

Ron with Trophy Blesbuck

The next trophy on the list was the Impala where we hunted a property about 3km down the road from camp after spotting a herd which were traveling in thick cover we set up down wind and stalked our way to within 75 meters and in heavy cover with lots of moving around to get a view with no bush in the way a shot was place behind the shoulder of the Impala and our second Africa trophy was on the ground. 

Avalene and Ron

Next our focus turned to the Gemsbok the first day we spent scouring a mountain side where some animals had been spotted but all our efforts turned up no gemsbok but we did run into several other species such as Zebra, Eland, kudu and Baboons. The next day we headed to a different area of the same property and soon had some Gemsbok in sight so a stalk was underway, however after getting nearly into a shooting position they winded us and were on their way so we started to head down the mountain when we came across a herd of buffalo in the bush which was to say the least a little exciting. We then moved along the lower portion of the mountain and soon spotted the Gemsbok again and they were within range the shooting sticks were put up and a shot of approx 200 meters anchored our beautiful Gemsbok bull.

 

Ron with Gemsbuck

The next animal on my list was the one I had came all the way to Africafor the Kudu. We traveled approx 100 km to the property we were to hunt so early mornings were the norm. The first day several Kudu were spotted and approx 14 nice bulls but these animals don’t get the name grey ghost for nothing and the day came up empty handed. Day two put us stalking through the heavy bush cover they like to call home and about an hour into our stalk we spotted a nice bull who had no idea we were there so we quickly got into position and after about a 5 minute stand down he finally moved into a open area for a shot and my life long quest was filled and the nice 49 1/2 inch Kudu was ours.

 

Ron and the Grey Ghost

This brings us back to the start of my story where I left off with the Blue Wildebeest the first shot in the shoulder did not anchor the bull and we spent several hours through out the week in search of the wounded animal and finally on day six of our stay as we were sitting on a hillside in the area where we had wounded the animal, glassing for any sign right at last light out of nowhere appeared a nice bull with a very noticeable limp on his left leg. We quickly set up with a nice rock for a rest and three shots at approximately 300 meters were fired and the bull moved off and out of site we decided to leave him over night and in the morning we located him only 20 meters from where the final shot was fired and when skinning was complete all three shots from the night before were found to have hit the mark. Wiehan told me an old African saying that all wildebeest are born dead and every time you shoot them they gain more life and I would have to say I believe it. But after wounding this animal on day one and then finally being able to have an opportunity to finish the job made this one of my most satisfying animals to obtain.

 

Ron and Wiehan

This finished off my wish list for Africa so we turned our sights on something different and with the lend of a bow from Wiehan we set out after warthog with the bow we were unsuccessful but still experienced some interesting wildlife viewing. The rest of our trip was spent with some touring and day trips which rounded out our African experience. 

 

For anyone looking to book a hunt in Africa I would strongly recommend World to Africa Hunting as Andre’, Wiehan and all the camp staff were nothing short of delightful and made mine and Avalenes stay everything we had expected and more and a very grateful thank you go’s out to all who were involved with our stay.     

 

If you want to contact any of our previous clients to get references please contact me directly at:  andre@worldtoafricahunting.com

 

Andre with Blue Wildebeest

The past weekend I went with some friends to hunt in the Limpopo Province. I decided to do some bow hunting while my friends took up their rifles. We arrived on Thursday at the lodge and the afternoon I shot this good Blue Wildebeest with a perfect heart shot. The bull ran for about 150m before going down, I used a Concept 99 bow, with 125grain Spitfire mechanical broad-heads, draw length 31.5″ set at 74 pounds.

On Friday afternoon I shot a warthog also with a heart shot and it went down after only 50m. The weather wasn’t very good on Saturday and the animals didn’t come to the blinds and the rifle hunters only shot 1 Blue Wildebeest the whole day.