Hi Guys After a long absence i would like to post some of the pictures we hunted in 2015!! As you will see most of them is with rifles as that is my biggest market at this stage. We had 2 bowhunters looking for specific animals. C'mon guys book an SA trip and we can share the pictures!!!! This wildebeest made the minimum for SCI Gold To be continued
Report from our last bowhunter, on another forum "I spent 6 full days of bow hunting with Bosendal Safaris in the Northwest province in SA. Gerrit and his lovely wife Yolandi were waiting at the airport when I arrived, we went back to the lodge and settled in for the night after dinner. The traffic in Joburg was terrible. Day 1 Gerrit the owner operator was my PH, we settled into a permanant hide overlooking feed and salt. A nice impala ram was the first to show but I only wanted another one if I could get it with my recurve and he was at 25 yards and about 17 is my self imposed limit so I just filmed him. A little while later 3 gemsbok came in a good cow and a large bull, I think he was better than the bull I already have but I'm going to Namibia in 2016 and have one on my package there, but he was very tempting. Ostriches also made their appearance. About noon we went back and had lunch and stopped to get the cards out of some trail cameras, this was the only day that we didn't hunt all day, and then back to the blind, that afternoon zebra came in, 4 mares and three foals and we just couldn't tell which was the dry mare so we had to pass. A while later a large impala ram came walking in and seemed quite calm and started to feed at 15 yards, I debated whether to shoot under him for string jump but as he seemed relaxed I shot for a 3rd the way up and he dropped so fast that the arrow glanced off the top of his back and did a cartwheel and was laying 10 feet behind. We reviewed the footage and when we slowed it way down it looked like his belly was only about 9-10 inches off the ground! That all happened in a 1/4 of a second from relaxed and feeding to that drop, amazing! Giraffe came in and a few other animals circled but did not commit. Just before dark a jackal showed at 60 yards and he looked like he was going to pass us by so Gerrit squeaked at him and start to circle and stopped, I didn't realize he had gotten closer and shot for 60 when he was really only 50 so another miss but what a great day. Back at the lodge we reviewed the trail camera cards and seen a large blue wildebeest at another water hole so we decided to sit there tomorrow. Day 2 Much of the day was uneventful with a few critters seen around the perimeter but very spooky, one kudu cow came in and seen Gerrit in the hide, he realized that he needed to get them painted black on the inside which he said he will do. Just before dark about 25 blues showed up with 2 large bulls, one was a little bigger than the other, when a good broadside presented I put a 100 grain magnus stinger 4 blade just above the center of the heart about a inch. He ran 80 yards and piled up. Total arrow weight was 450 grains, about 14 inches of arrow was hanging out the off side. Don't know if I shot the largest one as I could never see them at the same time. As this was my 5th blue I only wanted a large bull and this one fit the bill. 28 wide and very heavy with good bosses, this will be my last blue. Day 3 I had a different PH today named Frikke. We went to concession that Gerrit has exclusive access to for black wildebeest, the trophy quality was extremely good with a lot of big heavy bossed bulls. We had some super blesbok and one gemsbok bull that was ok come in and zebra. I didn't shoot at the zebra because we thought it would ruin it for the blacks as they were close by. Also the ever present ostriches, Just before dark the wind died down, it had been howling and the blacks started to come, one good bull came to 37 yards and I thought it was going to happen but no they all spooked. Day4 Back in the same hide again, seen the same gemsbok bull and zebra, still had hopes of getting a black but they were spookier today as the gale force wind never died down, should have shot a zebra. Hind sight is so much better. Day 5 Spent the day trying to kill a kudu bull that Gerrit wanted taken and the price was too good to pass up Frikke and I made a brush hide by a feeder and settled in, the bull is using it a lot and in about 3 hours he started to walk in but seen Frikke who did not have a face net on and was sitting in the sun instead of the shadows he wanted to see the bull and moved his head. A large herd of impala came in with 2 small rams, they stayed 15 minutes and spooked and as they left they ran close to the hide, we don't know what set them off, as they left a bigger ram joined them. After a couple more hours the bull came back and stated in when was 35 yards and walking in some cows came in down wind and spooked which spooked the bull too. I think the PH cost me that bull but that is water under the bridge. He just didn't have bowhunting experience that up close and personal with critters. Day 6 was a repeat of day 5 except the kudu circled down wind before coming and caught our wind. Nothing else showed. Got out of the blind at 5 p:m had dinner. Frikke left and Gerrit and I went to set a bait for bush pig and honey badger. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated and it started raining. The bush pig had been on the bait the two previous nights but never showed and I think a cold rain might have been the reason. Just when we were about to call it quits we heard some thing so I drew back and he turned on the red light. 2 honey badgers were there, at first they were beside each other and I couldn't shoot for fear of shooting through one and hitting the other, they only gave us 3-4 seconds before leaving and as I was aiming at one he moved the light to the other and I had to change windows in the pop up blind. We just didn't have enough time, there were things we could have done different but it was new to both of us and there is always a learning curve. Will post pictures soon. Food was very good, accommodations good, trophy quality good, exceptional on black wildebeest, Gerrit and his wife were very good hosts and have a good sense of humor. Am planning another hunt with Gerrit in 2016 to have another try. Honey badger hunt was a real highlight." Would just like to reiterate that Gerrit has very good plains game hunting, they were gracious and accommodating hosts and fun to be with. Am planning on returning with my wife in 2016, still have some unfinished business with some critters there! So if anyone ever considered doing an African bowhunt, please dont hesitate to contact me. All the best
