We got home last night from an awesome trip to South Africa. We had an absolute blast with Ingwe Safaris. 5 of us shot 52 animals in 6 days with some exceptional trophies. Can’t wait to go back. Here’s a quick recap of our week.
We started with a pretty disappointing hiccup at the airport. When we checked into the airport in Oklahoma City, the lady with Delta told me that I couldn’t travel with two rifles in the same case. She said it was a new rule for landing in Johannesburg. After a few minutes of arguing and telling her that was absolutely not the case, I figured it was useless to argue with the lady that lets me on the plane and took my 375 back to the truck and continued on with just a 300 Win mag. Pretty disappointed because I bought this rifle and set it up just for this buffalo hunt and am not a big fan or borrowing guns, but oh well. When we landed in Johannesburg, there was plenty of people coming in with two guns and no one there had ever heard of this “new” policy. Oh well, if anyone needs a 375, I have a really nice one I’ll sell [emoji23].
After landing and heading to Afton house we settled in and had a nice dinner and a few drinks before some much needed rest.
We flew to Kimberly the next morning and after an hour and a half drive and a quick lunch, we were at the lodge. We had about 3 hours of daylight so we checked our guns and went out for a quick evening hunt. My wife had a blue wildebeest on her list so that’s what we headed out for. Perry went for a golden wildebeest and Chris and his wife went for gemsbok. Erin and I got on some wildebeest, but with no shooter bulls in the group, I took the rifle and shot a young bull for a rug and euro mount, to officially break the Africa ice! Chris and his wife got on a nice gemsbok and Perry ended up with a red lechwe, a black impala and got a shot into a golden wildebeest at the ranch he went to. Not bad for a travel day quick hunt.
Our first full day started with Chris, Mary, Erin and I heading to a new spot, and Perry headed back to look for the golden wildebeest he short the night before. When we got to the ranch, Chris and Mary took off with their PH and Erin and I headed off with ours. We say a ton of game and almost got a shot at a great kudu, but couldn’t get a clear shot through the brush. I shot a nice duiker and a blesbok that morning. We were on our way to meet the other guys for lunch, when we ran up on a water hole and caught a lone zebra watering, #3 for the day was down. We met Chris and Mary for lunch and got to check out her awesome waterbuck and springbok. We also got a text from Perry that they had gotten his golden wildebeest and a nice impala.
After a nice lunch, we were back at it for something for Erin. We were glassing a huge herd of blue wildebeest, when she spotted this lone gemsbok bull and made a great 260 yard shot on the huge bodied bull.
Chris ended the day for them with a nice duiker.
Day 2 had Perry heading out for buffalo and the rest of us going back to the same place as the day before. The ranch we were hunting was half free range and half high fenced. The owner had a big herd of Hartmann’s mountain zebra on the high fence and told us about a female that had broken out of the fence and gotten into another pasture and he wanted her gone. I really didn’t care to shoot one when we saw them the day before, but he wanted the single female gone and made me a good deal. I told him that if we saw her, I’d shoot her. About mid morning we found her in a thick area and I made a short shot and got her. They are a very pretty animal for sure. Different stripes and a bigger body than the burchell’s I had shot the day before. I also shot a springbok doe that morning for a rug. Chris had an awesome morning too with a nice red Hartebeest, a big roan bull and a cull springbok.
After another great lunch, we were off again. Mary got in with Erin and I and Chris and his PH headed out to track a big eland bull we had seen with a few other bulls. The girls and I were out looking for springbok and Hartebeest an a big open end of the ranch and saw some great animals. I’ll took an old heavy red Hartebeest. After we took pictures of the bull, we got a call that Chris and his PH needed a ride. That were on the eland, but were a long way from their truck. We were hauling butt across the property to get them when spotted a group of kudu in the thick brush. I stopped the PH and took a neck shot at the bull through some thick limbs. It hit him hard and he went straight down, but was able to get to his feet before we got out there to him through the brush. I knew that an animal getting up from a neck shot is never a good sign, but we followed up the faint blood trail for a few hundred yards anyway and never saw him again. I knew the shot was risky, but took it anyway. Hopefully he will either live or the birds will find him and I’ll get the head back. Either way, it put a damper on my evening. We got a call at dark that Chris had gotten his eland and that Perry had wounded a buffalo.
Day 3 had Perry and I headed out to look for his buffalo and find me one and Chris and the girls headed to a big ranch for a mixed bag day.
We got to the buffalo ranch and were able to get on the trail of Perry’s bull quickly and after a bit of a rodeo in the thick brush and several 375 shots later, he was down.
After pics, the whole crew split up and was out looking for a bull for me and a sable for Perry and also kudu for us both. It didn’t take long and they spotted a group of 6 buffalo bulls. One old bull split off alone and headed for a thick saddle between two small hills. We got over there quick and unloaded. Four of us went in and found the bull trying to get back into the thick stuff. At about 60 yards I took a walking shot on him with a borrowed 375 and hit him perfect. He turned and faced us and I snuck another bullet past his head into his chest. He went down and after about 5 minutes of watching him we walked over and he was dead. I can’t describe how massive they are, I was extremely happy with him. He was a very old, and at 41”, an awesome trophy bull.
With the buffalo hunt over, my PH and I headed out quickly to meet up with Chris and the girls and Perry staying to keep looking for a sable. While we were gone, Erin killed a nice blue wildebeest and Mary shot a beautiful kudu bull. We joined up with them and found some eland. Erin, the PH and I jumped off the truck and headed after them. After a long stall over two huge rocky hills Erin made an awesome shot at 183 yards. The bull was broadside and the shot was absolutely perfect, but the big tough bull stayed with the herd and was moving off at a pretty hard trot. The PH and I told her to get another bullet at him anywhere just to break him down. At about 340 yards running quartering away, the PH told her to hold about 3 foot in front of him and she hammered him about two or three ribs from the back. The bullet broke his off side shoulder and he was down. It was a hell of a shot off of sticks. She has killed a ton of stuff, but never takes long or risky shots so I know that was hard for her to want to try that. He was dead on his feet with the first shot, but the PH really wanted another one in him and I was very proud of her holding it together to make that second one. He was an awesome bull. The trackers took one truck with all the animals back and we had a quick break and then went after a big sable bull for Erin. We found him with two young bulls and she hammered him. He was a beautiful bull at 44 1/2”. This was her #1 bucket list animal and I was so happy for her to get such a great bull. Perry ended up with a 42” sable and a very nice roan to wrap up day 3 for us.
Day 4 had Chris, and the girls and I back at the same place looking for a sable for Chris as well kudu for me and a whatever else we run across. Perry headed out for nyala at another place. We were driving back to the back of the ranch to a river bottom area for the sable when we ran up on a big herd of zebra. Chris and Erin both took nice zebra from the group. After pics and loading them up, Chris and one PH took off on foot down the river bed to look for sable and the rest of us kept after the kudu. We got on some, but nothing worth shooting. Chris was able to find the sable on the river bed and got him. We split up for the evening and Chris and Erin went back to look at some impala we had seen and Mary and I went to place that had some good herds of black wildebeest. Right before dark, we got on a group with three bulls and she made a shot on a nice bill. After we made sure he was down, we caught back up with the group and I took another good bull. Chris and Erin got on a few impala, but nothing worth shooting. Chris was able to get a nice blue wildebeest. Perry got his nyala and a nice kudu bull.
The morning of day 5, we all loaded up and went to watch Perry shoot a big giraffe. This was an old bull the landowner wanted gone and was a neat animal to see on the ground. They are huge will make a unique mount and a pile of pillows with all the extra skin. After the giraffe, Chris, Erin and I headed back out for impala and Perry and Mary went to look for golden gemsbok. We got on a group with a big black ram and Chris took him. A few hours later and a quick stalk and I had a great ram as well. Right before dark, we saw another group up on a hill and Chris was able to get a good common ram to go with his black one. We got back to the lodge and saw Mary’s awesome golden gemsbok and a monster 42” common gemsbok that Perry killed.
Our last day we all split up and Chris and Mary went for nyala, Perry went for Hartebeest and Kudu and Erin and I went for kudu and whatever else we could see. Mary ended up with a nice nyala bull and Perry got a great red Hartebeest. Erin and I saw a few kudu bulls, but not a shooter, we also saw a ton of springbok and a old warthog boar that she was able to get a shot on. Chris also shot a good blesbok.
We met back for a great lunch and made a game plan for the evening. We had all pretty much shot what was on our list, so we decided to stay close to the lodge and shoot some culls for rugs. I had a buddy back home that wanted a copper springbok for his trophy room so I took a nice buck for him as well as two common springbok culls and ended the day with another blue wildebeest for a rug and euro. Mary wounded a blue wildebeest cow and lost it. All in all a pretty fun evening and some fun trigger time.
It was a fun trip and I look forward to going back as well sending some customers to him. The operation was first class as was all the guides, accommodations and food. The travel sucks, but is worth it for sure. Here are a few random pics. Thanks for following along.
Not all of them, but a few from the salt pile.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We started with a pretty disappointing hiccup at the airport. When we checked into the airport in Oklahoma City, the lady with Delta told me that I couldn’t travel with two rifles in the same case. She said it was a new rule for landing in Johannesburg. After a few minutes of arguing and telling her that was absolutely not the case, I figured it was useless to argue with the lady that lets me on the plane and took my 375 back to the truck and continued on with just a 300 Win mag. Pretty disappointed because I bought this rifle and set it up just for this buffalo hunt and am not a big fan or borrowing guns, but oh well. When we landed in Johannesburg, there was plenty of people coming in with two guns and no one there had ever heard of this “new” policy. Oh well, if anyone needs a 375, I have a really nice one I’ll sell [emoji23].
After landing and heading to Afton house we settled in and had a nice dinner and a few drinks before some much needed rest.
We flew to Kimberly the next morning and after an hour and a half drive and a quick lunch, we were at the lodge. We had about 3 hours of daylight so we checked our guns and went out for a quick evening hunt. My wife had a blue wildebeest on her list so that’s what we headed out for. Perry went for a golden wildebeest and Chris and his wife went for gemsbok. Erin and I got on some wildebeest, but with no shooter bulls in the group, I took the rifle and shot a young bull for a rug and euro mount, to officially break the Africa ice! Chris and his wife got on a nice gemsbok and Perry ended up with a red lechwe, a black impala and got a shot into a golden wildebeest at the ranch he went to. Not bad for a travel day quick hunt.
Our first full day started with Chris, Mary, Erin and I heading to a new spot, and Perry headed back to look for the golden wildebeest he short the night before. When we got to the ranch, Chris and Mary took off with their PH and Erin and I headed off with ours. We say a ton of game and almost got a shot at a great kudu, but couldn’t get a clear shot through the brush. I shot a nice duiker and a blesbok that morning. We were on our way to meet the other guys for lunch, when we ran up on a water hole and caught a lone zebra watering, #3 for the day was down. We met Chris and Mary for lunch and got to check out her awesome waterbuck and springbok. We also got a text from Perry that they had gotten his golden wildebeest and a nice impala.
After a nice lunch, we were back at it for something for Erin. We were glassing a huge herd of blue wildebeest, when she spotted this lone gemsbok bull and made a great 260 yard shot on the huge bodied bull.
Chris ended the day for them with a nice duiker.
Day 2 had Perry heading out for buffalo and the rest of us going back to the same place as the day before. The ranch we were hunting was half free range and half high fenced. The owner had a big herd of Hartmann’s mountain zebra on the high fence and told us about a female that had broken out of the fence and gotten into another pasture and he wanted her gone. I really didn’t care to shoot one when we saw them the day before, but he wanted the single female gone and made me a good deal. I told him that if we saw her, I’d shoot her. About mid morning we found her in a thick area and I made a short shot and got her. They are a very pretty animal for sure. Different stripes and a bigger body than the burchell’s I had shot the day before. I also shot a springbok doe that morning for a rug. Chris had an awesome morning too with a nice red Hartebeest, a big roan bull and a cull springbok.
After another great lunch, we were off again. Mary got in with Erin and I and Chris and his PH headed out to track a big eland bull we had seen with a few other bulls. The girls and I were out looking for springbok and Hartebeest an a big open end of the ranch and saw some great animals. I’ll took an old heavy red Hartebeest. After we took pictures of the bull, we got a call that Chris and his PH needed a ride. That were on the eland, but were a long way from their truck. We were hauling butt across the property to get them when spotted a group of kudu in the thick brush. I stopped the PH and took a neck shot at the bull through some thick limbs. It hit him hard and he went straight down, but was able to get to his feet before we got out there to him through the brush. I knew that an animal getting up from a neck shot is never a good sign, but we followed up the faint blood trail for a few hundred yards anyway and never saw him again. I knew the shot was risky, but took it anyway. Hopefully he will either live or the birds will find him and I’ll get the head back. Either way, it put a damper on my evening. We got a call at dark that Chris had gotten his eland and that Perry had wounded a buffalo.
Day 3 had Perry and I headed out to look for his buffalo and find me one and Chris and the girls headed to a big ranch for a mixed bag day.
We got to the buffalo ranch and were able to get on the trail of Perry’s bull quickly and after a bit of a rodeo in the thick brush and several 375 shots later, he was down.
After pics, the whole crew split up and was out looking for a bull for me and a sable for Perry and also kudu for us both. It didn’t take long and they spotted a group of 6 buffalo bulls. One old bull split off alone and headed for a thick saddle between two small hills. We got over there quick and unloaded. Four of us went in and found the bull trying to get back into the thick stuff. At about 60 yards I took a walking shot on him with a borrowed 375 and hit him perfect. He turned and faced us and I snuck another bullet past his head into his chest. He went down and after about 5 minutes of watching him we walked over and he was dead. I can’t describe how massive they are, I was extremely happy with him. He was a very old, and at 41”, an awesome trophy bull.
With the buffalo hunt over, my PH and I headed out quickly to meet up with Chris and the girls and Perry staying to keep looking for a sable. While we were gone, Erin killed a nice blue wildebeest and Mary shot a beautiful kudu bull. We joined up with them and found some eland. Erin, the PH and I jumped off the truck and headed after them. After a long stall over two huge rocky hills Erin made an awesome shot at 183 yards. The bull was broadside and the shot was absolutely perfect, but the big tough bull stayed with the herd and was moving off at a pretty hard trot. The PH and I told her to get another bullet at him anywhere just to break him down. At about 340 yards running quartering away, the PH told her to hold about 3 foot in front of him and she hammered him about two or three ribs from the back. The bullet broke his off side shoulder and he was down. It was a hell of a shot off of sticks. She has killed a ton of stuff, but never takes long or risky shots so I know that was hard for her to want to try that. He was dead on his feet with the first shot, but the PH really wanted another one in him and I was very proud of her holding it together to make that second one. He was an awesome bull. The trackers took one truck with all the animals back and we had a quick break and then went after a big sable bull for Erin. We found him with two young bulls and she hammered him. He was a beautiful bull at 44 1/2”. This was her #1 bucket list animal and I was so happy for her to get such a great bull. Perry ended up with a 42” sable and a very nice roan to wrap up day 3 for us.
Day 4 had Chris, and the girls and I back at the same place looking for a sable for Chris as well kudu for me and a whatever else we run across. Perry headed out for nyala at another place. We were driving back to the back of the ranch to a river bottom area for the sable when we ran up on a big herd of zebra. Chris and Erin both took nice zebra from the group. After pics and loading them up, Chris and one PH took off on foot down the river bed to look for sable and the rest of us kept after the kudu. We got on some, but nothing worth shooting. Chris was able to find the sable on the river bed and got him. We split up for the evening and Chris and Erin went back to look at some impala we had seen and Mary and I went to place that had some good herds of black wildebeest. Right before dark, we got on a group with three bulls and she made a shot on a nice bill. After we made sure he was down, we caught back up with the group and I took another good bull. Chris and Erin got on a few impala, but nothing worth shooting. Chris was able to get a nice blue wildebeest. Perry got his nyala and a nice kudu bull.
The morning of day 5, we all loaded up and went to watch Perry shoot a big giraffe. This was an old bull the landowner wanted gone and was a neat animal to see on the ground. They are huge will make a unique mount and a pile of pillows with all the extra skin. After the giraffe, Chris, Erin and I headed back out for impala and Perry and Mary went to look for golden gemsbok. We got on a group with a big black ram and Chris took him. A few hours later and a quick stalk and I had a great ram as well. Right before dark, we saw another group up on a hill and Chris was able to get a good common ram to go with his black one. We got back to the lodge and saw Mary’s awesome golden gemsbok and a monster 42” common gemsbok that Perry killed.
Our last day we all split up and Chris and Mary went for nyala, Perry went for Hartebeest and Kudu and Erin and I went for kudu and whatever else we could see. Mary ended up with a nice nyala bull and Perry got a great red Hartebeest. Erin and I saw a few kudu bulls, but not a shooter, we also saw a ton of springbok and a old warthog boar that she was able to get a shot on. Chris also shot a good blesbok.
We met back for a great lunch and made a game plan for the evening. We had all pretty much shot what was on our list, so we decided to stay close to the lodge and shoot some culls for rugs. I had a buddy back home that wanted a copper springbok for his trophy room so I took a nice buck for him as well as two common springbok culls and ended the day with another blue wildebeest for a rug and euro. Mary wounded a blue wildebeest cow and lost it. All in all a pretty fun evening and some fun trigger time.
It was a fun trip and I look forward to going back as well sending some customers to him. The operation was first class as was all the guides, accommodations and food. The travel sucks, but is worth it for sure. Here are a few random pics. Thanks for following along.
Not all of them, but a few from the salt pile.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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