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.

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

 

John & Julie Svihel, Hunting in Africa March/April 2009

The hunting season of 2009 started with clients John & Julie arriving at the Free State Lodge on March 26 and John hunted 6 species in only 2 days!! They included Black Wildebeest,Blesbuck,Springbuck,Bontebok,Red Hartebeest and White Blesbuck.

Black Wildebeest-Free State

This is the first African animal that John shot on his South African safari. This big Trophy Black Wildebeest male will score right up there with the best of them, well done John.  John’s wife, Julie, accompanied him on the hunt. 

Blesbuck Hunting-Free State

A good mature Trophy Blesbuck, brought down with a very good heart shot. 

Springbuck-Free State

A common Trophy Springbuck hunted just before sunset, good ram for the Free State area. The Springbuck is South Africa’s national animal.  What a great way to end the first day of hunting in South Africa!

Bontebok Hunting-Free State

A good 16″ Bontebok, very big for this antelope.

This was on of the trophies that John hoped to bag on his hunt.  John mentioned that it is even more beautiful in person than any picture that he has ever seen.

Red Hartebeest-Free State

A magnificent big Trophy Red Hartebeest bull with extremely heavy horns.  This Hartebeest was hunted in a very open country, and made for an unique hunting experience.  While John was hunting, Julie went to Golden Gate National Park, Basotho Cultural Village, and to Clarens art village.

White Blesbuck-Free State

This Trophy White Blesbuck was hunted in the Free State the horns and body for this specie are exceptional.

The hunting continued to the Limpopo Province of South Africa on the 29th of March and up to now John managed to hunt a Trophy Blue Wildebeest and Impala. They are going out again in the morning and we will update this Safari daily for you on the blog.                        

Blue Wildebeest-Limpopo

A Blue Wildebeest bull with beautiful horns and extremely big body.  The Blue Wildebeest is considered to be the poor man’s buffalo, which John dually experienced.  John placed his first shot to far behind the shoulder, and it took six hours to bag this tough animal. 

Impala-Limpopo

John bagged this extremely large Impala with a well placed heart shot at 400 yards.

Julie visited the Marakele National Park.  Julie saw her first wild African elephant.

Zebra-Limpopo

John and his PH, Phillip

Eland-Limpopo

 Theologo, made a very exciting and perfect stalk.  There were five white rhino’s which they had to maneuver around to get close to the herd of wary zebras.  They managed to bag this beautiful stallion at 40 yards.

The Eland is the world’s largest antelope, can weigh over 2000 lbs.  John was glad that he placed the shot in the vitals.  After the shot, three rhino’s were spotted close by, and as they approached the downed animal they could hear hooves pounding and branches breaking coming their way.  The next moment the trackers, ran for their lives, with John very close on their heels.  This turned out to be a funny moment because it was a herd of zebra. 

Nyala-Limpopo

What a way to start out a morning of hunting.  This Nyala was shot very early this morning.  Julie joined John on this hunt and enjoyed herself very much!  This is a truly unique animal, as it varies in skin colors.

Kudu-Limpopo

 This is what plains game hunting is all about, the Kudu. John spotted this magnificent “grey ghost”.  As Kudu was running, John’s PH said that this was a trophy Kudu.  John made the running shot and downed him.  This was truly an adrenaline rush for him.

 

 

 

 

 

Waterbuck-LimpopoThis is one of those animals that is very understated. John was skeptical of taking a Waterbuck, until he saw this one. The Waterbuck is a very majestic animal. John was surprised how beautiful this animal really is. He felt lucky to shoot such a fine specimen. This was John's 13th animal in 8 days of hunting. Giraffe-Limpopo

Waterbuck Trophy.

John bagged this good Giraffe bull on his last day of hunting in the Limpopo province. This was one of John’s priority animals and after three full days of hunting he finally got his Giraffe bull, it was not easy going as the Giraffe was hunted in mountainous terrain. He took this bull with a .416 Rigby and with a well placed shot the Giraffe went down after covering a mere 20 yards. The shot was an excellent heart shot. It was John’s first animal with a big bore rifle and he really enjoyed himself and is already contemplating getting himself a big bore rifle for future hunts in Africa, possibly hunting the Big Five.  

Giraffe Limpopo

De Wildt-Cheetah Centrum

Julie went Elephant back riding in the Wild earlier the week and saw alot of game including a Rhino, the ride was about 1.5 hours in the Shwambala Reserve close to World to Africa’s main Limpopo Lodge.

Julie, Helen, and Liza visited the De Wildt -Cheetah Ranch.  They saw many different species of animals, that included the African Wild Cat, Wild Dogs, Lynx, Warthogs, Cheetah’s and many others.  In the late afternoon they went hunting.  The spotted numerous wild game and had lots of “roadies”.  Life is good in Africa!!!

John concluded his Safari in Africa on a high note when he hunted a non-trophy Elephant bull in Zimbabwe. World to Africa Hunting and Maduna Safaris from Zimbabwe arranged this hunt on very short notice for John and I accompanied him on this 5 day Safari close to Hwange National Park.

Andre & John

We made a Video of the hunt and will place it on You Tube and our blog by the 8th of May.

My wife, my 17 year old daughter, and I, hunted with what is now World to Africa Safaris (WTA) in July of 2008. For me, it was a lifelong hunting dream, for them it was an exciting adventure, combined with what turned out to be some unfounded trepidation. My wife is not a hunter, but has a love for the out of doors and wildlife, and as it turned out an obsession with Giraffes. My daughter had never hunted anything larger than a prairie dog prior to our African hunt. As a wildlife biologist/ enforcement officer, as well as a big game guide in Arizona, I was very concerned that we all have a safe, and ethical, fair chase hunt. I had heard a lot of stories about some of the safari companies in South Africa, and knew this could end in disaster if we picked the wrong one. I have guided a lot of people over the years and know how some guides or Ph’s think about, and deal with, clients. The thought of putting some of those guides in charge of what may be a once in a lifetime event was a little unsettling.

Before we left, I talked to Brad Johnson about my concerns and the fact that I did not want to just whack & stack a bunch of animals; I wanted my daughter to be introduced to hunting in a positive and ethical, as well as moral manner. In other words, I wanted us to hunt not kill. He took my concerns very seriously, and told me he would make sure the PH my family was assigned met all of those requirements. We were not disappointed.

Our hunt was booked to be eleven days in the Limpopo province. We arrived late the night of June 30th, ready to start hunting July 1st. The accommodations were as described and very comfortable, with the exception, according to my family, of the fact that there was no heat in the room. While I didn’t find it to be too cold, I guess they did, it was the only criticism I heard from them. My daughter, who is an incredibly picky eater, was scared to death to eat anything, and actually wanted to take all of her own food. Well suffice it to say, she ate everything they put in front of her, and more times than not, went back for seconds!! I don’t think there is anything I can say that would be a better testimonial to the wonderful meals we enjoyed.

We spent six or seven days hunting the different properties that were open around the camp to WTA, my daughter took her Zebra, which turned out to be a lot harder animal to hunt than we ever would have guessed, as well as a Klipspringer. I took a few species, and hunted fairly hard for others with no luck. Our PH Wiehann then started making calls and obtained permission for us to hunt on two more properties about two hrs north. There, I took a very nice Kudu bull and my daughter took her Impala, and a beautiful Waterbuck. After about day seven, I was beginning to dread the day we had to leave and this incredible experience would be over. We all talked about it, and decided that I should stay longer if possible. As it turned out, WTA accommodated me by first giving me a rate I could afford, and second allowing me to keep Wiehannas my PH. If I would have had to change PH’s I probably would not have extended my hunt. While there were other very capable PH’s I felt like I clicked with Wiehann, and he had a lot of the qualities I appreciated and respected in a PH.

When Wiehann found out I had extended my hunt by ten days, he took it upon himself to find other places in South Africa for me to xperience. This turned out to be an eight hour drive south to the Free State. Not only did that give me the opportunity to hunt the one species I was very interested in taking, a Springbuck, but also to meet a number of other people, and see a lot of the African countryside I would have missed out on had we just stayed in the Limpopo. This was something that he certainly did not have to do, but made my experience 1000% more memorable.

My hunt finally ended on July 21st. The trip consisted of eleven days for my wife and daughter, and 21 days for me. During that time my daughter took her Zebra, Klipspringer, Impala, and Waterbuck. I took an Impala, Blesbok, Red Hartebeest, Common Reedbuck, Kudu, Springbuck, Duiker, Gemsbok, Bushbuck, Warthog and two Black Backed Jackals. I took my warthog, the last animal on my list, at the last possible minute of the last day. Wiehann never gave up and worked incredibly hard to make our hunt a wonderful and successful experience. It was much more than we had ever expected.

For me and my family this experience could have only been improved by extending our time with the WTA family. We can not express our appreciation enough to this entire group. We have a very special place in our hearts for all of the great people we met. To Wiehann, Andre and his family, Athian, Carlos, Hendrick and especially to Stumpy a wonderful person who’s smiling face met us every evening on our return to camp, and who we shared some wonderful memories with around the camp fire every night, we say thank you to all, and we can’t wait to see you all again, hopefully in the not to distant future..

Larry, Dianne and Shelby Holland