I had some friends who went with Gene a couple years ago, and after a spring of significant rainfall, all the vegetation was still green and there was water still available throughout the habitat. Thus, a low number of animals visited the man-made watering-holes during the day. But for us this year, it was very dry and lots of animals came to water. We hunted out of ground blinds, pit blinds and tree stands. I really liked the tree stands because of great visibility and my familiarity hunting out of them, but they were more challenging than ground blinds in some respect due to shifting winds, noise and movement. Sitting still in a stand for over ten hours per day would make my muscles a little stiff, especially when there were quite often so many eyes looking and watching. It was great fun trying to film many of the animals creeping close for a drink, while at the same time keeping an eye on a mature kudu bull or zebra that seemed to watch at a distance for hours before committing to come in.
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At first, my plan was to take whichever game gave me a good shot opportunity. But, I did not follow my own rules once I got to Africa and saw some individually special animals. My old system of whitetail hunting took over me in that, "If you want to shoot a big buck, don't shoot a younger one." Ha ha ha. I started passing up some very good shots at other game while waiting for a chance at a nice kudu, eland or gemsbok. I just didn't want to disturb the set-up after seeing them in the area.
On day 7 a saw a good kudu bull come into the water area at 7:30 AM. He hung around for 45 minutes, testing the shifting wind, but never committed to drink. After staying in the pit blind for the rest of the day hoping for his return, I passed up many warthogs, impala and nyala. At 4:30 he came in with a group of female eland. Walking behind the water hole at 22 yards he gave me my chance. We tracked him to a bush about 200 yards from the blind just as the sun was setting.
I wanted a nice eland bull but got scolded by the PH after I showed him video footage of a bull I passed up at 17 yards. Ha ha. He said yes they get bigger with dark foreheads and broomed horns, but that is a mature bull for our area. Four days later I was hunting another waterhole 2 miles from where I passed up the bull, but when I saw him come into the area of my blind and noticed his distinctive markings, I remembered the words of the PH. I made the shot. Some folks think of them as cattle, but I have great respect for them after watching and hoping to get one during eight days of hunting. I've seen them blow out of there after smelling my scent, and even jump over brush six to seven feet in the air.
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Good stuff Mike!
Congratulations! Please tell us more!
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Eland meat was some of best eating of the trip, although all of the wild game prepared was great. The eland was surprisingly tender for a mature animal. Mike
Good to see this, I have a trip to South Africa next year in August.
You can't go to S.A. and expect to be independent. Yes you can hunt alone, but you will need help tracking, hauling, skinning and all of the rest. It's their livelihood and you are their guest.... and we were treated very well.
I found out real quick how hard it is to track droplets of blood that have fallen into the red sand. Everything dries out fast, but the tracker's skill can only be appreciated by witnessing.
The reflexes of the impala are incredible, and we all learned to shoot very low.
There were very good rams on this property. I don't know exactly how large the track of land was, but I would not exaggerate in esstimating 100 sq miles.
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Temps were 40 F in the morning, and warmed up to over 70 F by the afternoon. Very enjoyable hunt with highs and lows like most of our endevers with trad bows.
Awesome, congrats on some fine specimens!
Outstanding........ :thumbsup: :notworthy:
Thanks for the story and pictures.
great story Mike
Very lucky man to have such an opportunity. I'm going out and buying a lottery ticket.
Congratulations Mike, thanks for sharing and the awsome photos.
Denny
Congrats Mike!
A most inspiring adventure
Congrats and thank you for sharing.
Those are some fine critters Mike!!!
Congrats!!!
And eland tenderloin is the best piece of meat I have ever eaten, followed closely by kudu tenderloin! The eland tenderloin the PH cooked for us last summer weighed seven+ pounds!!! One tenderloin!!!
Bisch
Awesome
Congratulations on some fine animals!!
What a great adventure you had taking some fantastic animals thxs for sharing mike!
Awesome
Congratulations on some fine animals!!
That looks like a great hunt. Congratulations on your success. What are the particulars of your bow/arrow/broadhead combination?
Awesome story and pics...tell us more about the photo of it in motion after the hit...that is amazing!
QuoteOriginally posted by Captain*Kirk:
Awesome story and pics...tell us more about the photo of it in motion after the hit...that is amazing! Did the PH snap the photo?
Well done Mike....well done. Excellent photos as typical for you. Thanks!
I'm ignorant when it comes to these species. How much would bulls like that weigh? I really like the impact pic. Those feathers are splendid and stand out well. Congrats and thanks for sharing. :clapper:
congratulations!
Awesome Mike!!!!
:campfire:
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Congratulations Mike. What an adventure that must have been. Thanks for taking us along.
QuoteOriginally posted by Herdbull:
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Great shot! Congrats and thank you for sharing!
Thom
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Good job looks like you had a good time. Nice photo of the Nyala fighting. Is that from a video?
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I did not shoot until day five, passing up a lot of animals. I use 32 inch 2219 XX75 autumn orange shafts fletched with custom high-profile swift cut five inch feathers. Gary Hall made up my arrows, and I alwaqys use four fletch.
I knew I wanted to shoot the massive eland with a Tuffhead (total arrow weight ~800 gr), but then kind of matched other animals with body mass and style with the boadhead. I shot the kudu and the warthog (pictured above) with Abowyer brown bear, and for the impala I used a 250 gr Woodsman elite.
A 64" TallTines Recurve at 67# was used to launch the arrows.
Man that makes me want to go more now then ever! What gorgeous animals! Well constructed post too! Congrats all around!
The arrow impact was not a "photo" , but a still-frame from the video I took. Eland bulls are quite heavy, and can weigh up to 2000 pounds, but I don't think this one weighed near that much.
There was plenty of high excitement on this hunt. The all day tree stand sits revieled many mature animals standing back at a great distance or patroling at 200 yards watching and checking the wind, often times never coming in to drink while I was there.
Every evening we circled the fire and told stories of the days events, something I really enjoyed since I don't get to do that on a solo hunt.
Incredible... Thank you for sharing your adventure Mike! :clapper:
Great pictures and story Mike Thanks for taking us along.
Beautiful photography Mike! Congrats on some fine animals my friend. :campfire:
Awesome pictures sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Beautiful pics Mike, congrats on a great adventure!
It patience is rewarded. Great story.
Great stuff - truly some beautiful animals!
Good job Mike. But Carcass and Whitey said they could do better. 8^)
Great pictures! Thanks.
Great adventure Mike! Thanks for the telling and showing.... :thumbsup:
Great hunt Mike. Thanks for sharing the stories. Jeff
Way to go, thanks for the stories and pics.
Congratulations Mike and thanks for sharing the hunt with us. You are so right about the impala. Their reflexes and wariness are unlike anything I've ever seen before. We saw one on one of the first days of our hunt and both ph's in camp said it was the biggest one they had ever seen. Four days later I killed it at a waterhole. I saw it coming into the water about 80 yards out and it took him 4-1/2 hours to make 80 yards. Never lost sight of him and he wanted a drink. Just wasn't in a hurry to die for it......... Almost
Very cool. Thanks for posting. I'm excited for my delayed trip until next year.
Thanks for sharing, ha
Thanks for taking us along, that's looks like a trip of a lifetime.
-Jay
Looks like you had a very successful hunt Mike! Congratulations on some dandy animals!
Well done Mike. Thank you for taking us along and giving a glimpse into the beauty that Africa offers.
MIKE
Judging form the great photos it was a fantastic trip. We all know you thrive on the solo hunts but as you say sharing the experiences of the day around the fire at night has some advantages,
Having help after the kill is always a plus :biglaugh:
The arrow of 800 grains is awesome . Thanks for having confidence in the TUFFHEAD and making it your choice for the big guy.
Like others, I always admired the still pictures that you take along with your videos. I don't know that I have heard what camera you use for the still pictures. Just curious as a amateur !
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S
Joe
Looks like a great trip. I don't know if I could have passed on the nyala though. Very nice pictures.
Sounds like a fantastic African adventure Mike! Beautiful animals and great pictures! Congrats.
Well done sir , Congrats....
,,,Sam,,,
Congrats on your hunt and thanks for posting your story.
Congrats Mike on a very nice African hunt. You took some very nice critters. Thanks for taking us along.
Tony
Awesome story.
Great photos, great story, great memories. Thanks for sharing.
Way cool!
Beautiful pictures and a great story.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
Herdbull,
Thanks for sharing on another one of your GREAT adventures,Congrads on some COOL critters and great photos.
Gene Wensel was the booking agent for this hunt, and there were six of us tolal including Gene (all shooting trad bows). Gene trusts a specific PH who works for or finds special ranches that meet our close range needs.
The nyala I filmed fighting were imature, but two people in out group took exceptianal nyala. I beleive they both kept entire capes for full-body mounts.
For the action shots, I cheated and used my HD video camera Canon XA10a, then downloaded a still shot from paused frame.
Gene has asked me to go for year, so I finally got my chance. I'm so glad I did. It seemed like a very long hunt that moved in slow motion because each day was just so full. The photos don't do any of it justice. I can still hear the breeding roar of the impala rams, and the bark of the kudu after filling his nostrils with my scent. Being in camp with all trad guys who were equally as successful as me was so exciting. We all learned a lot. One theme that remained constant was the statement that, "These animals are so tough!" The reaction time of impala is very impressive, but nothing compared to steenbok. We also saw a lot of duiker.
Another imature nyala
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Big Mike, great pictures and animals. I'm glad you were able to get on some Eland. They are just your kind of antelope.
Wow very cool pictures Mike and congratulations on the success.
I don't know how I missed this post. I loved every picture. You do such a great job telling the story feels like I was there. I am so happy the arrows worked out for you Mike Thank you for using them on such a special hunt.
Congratulations sir looks like an amazing adventure!
Great hunt Mike, congrats.
Great hunt :clapper:
Congratulations . Looks like a fun trip.. A pilgrimmage I hope to make one day.
Great hunt and pics Mike :thumbsup:
It has been 16 years since I bowhunted Africa. Thanks for taking me back!
Very nice,thank-you for sharing.
Leland
Mike I've been checking here every day waiting for this. Thank you for taking the time. I especially appreciate your thoughts on Eland. I agree. They ain't cattle! I hunted them in a gun hunted area in Namibia and they were very sharp! This is good stuff!
Just awesome Mike. Thanks for sharing.
:bigsmyl: :bigsmyl:
Thanks for posting pictures of your adventures Mike, I always enjoy your photos and stories! It is one of the great parts of trad gang to me. To see and read about different hunts in places I've never been.
:campfire: