We did not hunt on Sunday August 10th. We had a day of rest. On this day we went to a place called the “Ox Wagons”. It took us about an hour by truck through rough mountain trails to get there, but boy was it beautiful!!! And the Lamb Chops, Chicken and Bacon over the open flame was awesome!!!!

Here was our view from the Ox Wagons!

I hiked up this hill above and took a photo of us cooking at the OX Wagons

Here is Aubrey Cooking lunch!

And Here are the Happy Campers on one of the Ox Wagons!

This w

I’m sitting in the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. I’ve been traveling for 7 hours so far. 4 hour truck ride and the rest by plane.  I have a 4 hour layover here and then the grueling flight to Washington, DC.

The internet went down the last few days at the lodge so when I get home I will post about the last few days in camp.

We went hunting for Sable this morning. The weatherman said the wind was going to pick up late morning and start blowing about 40 MPH and it did. 

We spotted a group of sable this morning at 8:00 and moved in on them. We followed along with them until finally at 11:15 Pam took this nice Sable with her Matthews bow.

One of the most exciting hunts I’ve ever been on. 

It’s been a long day and I have to get up in 4 hours so I will post a story later, but here is a picture for you guys!

Today we went after Black Wildebeest and Springbok and just happened to harvest a nice Mountain Reedbuck that we came across while we were after the Springbok.

It was brutally windy and very cold yesterday. We hunted some tough terrain and were up and down 6,000 foot mountains all day. Talk about wearing me out!!!!! Plus I have several blisters on my feet as trophies of my hunt. I have been wearing flip-flops the past 5 weeks and I sure paid for it yesterday!

We had a great time and Kandi made some awesome shots.

Kandi’s Black Wildebeest

Kandi’s Mountain Reedbuck

Kandi’s Springbok

The terrain we hunted in

Kandi Kisky is on her first African hunt and Friday we went out after Blesbuck.  This terrain was more open than the Waterbuck hunt that Pam did. We glassed until we found some Blesbuck laying in the shade. We stalked from bush to bush until we got to within 200 yards. After we set up one of the, Blesbuck spotted us and stood up and looked at us for a couple of minutes. Then it snorted and the one we were after stood up. That’s when Kandi drilled him!!!!

Here is a picture of Kandi’s Blesbuck

We have been having some excellent luck in South Africa. The first afternoon we hunted Kudu for a couple of hours and saw several, but not any mature bulls.

The First full day of our hunt we started out with Kudu in the morning and once again we saw plenty of game, but no mature bulls. After lunch we headed an hour North to hunt for Waterbuck. The brush was very thick and looked like some areas I’ve hunted in Texas. We rode around for a couple of hours and then we spotted a mature Waterbuck. We drove to the backside of a hill so we could try and come up on top of the hill to be able to get a shot across the valley at the Waterbuck. While we were doing our stalk our PH (what we call guides in the U.S.) spotted some fresh elephant tracks. After a few more yards he heard a limb snap and then he said he could hear one breathing. He said that these elephants were grumpy and that we needed to back out and make a wider swing to get after the Waterbuck. 

Once we got set up on the side of the hill we started glassing for the Waterbuck. We could not find him and after 40 minutes our PH spotted him standing in some thick brush. Before I could get the camera on him good he stepped back in the brush and we waited. A couple of minutes later her appeared half way up the hill. I got the camera on him and Pam DRILLED him!!!!!

Here is a photo of Pam with her Waterbuck.

I got a call from my PH (Professional Hunter) and he is picking me up in an hour. We are going to be picking our hunters up at the airport and then off to hunt Kudu this afternoon. It’s time to get to work!!!!

I look forward to this hunt and I hope we have some success. 

I will keep you posted.

Well I’m finally here!!!!  I’m in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This is not my final destination, but it is home for a couple of days until the rest of my hunting party arrives. 

My trip took a total of 30 hours 31 minutes and 26 seconds to get from my house in North Carolina to the hotel in Port Elizabeth! I took my truck, 3 air planes and a taxi cab to get here.

This is a beautiful town and I’m glad I get a couple of days to get over the jet lag and do some site seeing.

THE PLANE FLIGHTS

The plane flights were smooth. A short 1 hour flight from Raleigh to DC, a 20 hour flight from DC to Johannesburg with a refueling stop in Dakkar, Senegal, and then a 2 hour flight from J’Burg to Port Elizabeth!

The flight from DC to J’Burg was not as bad as I anticipated, but I did have 2 screaming kids that sat behind me on that flight. They were both under 2 and they were both screaming before the doors on the airplane were shut! I watched 3 movies from DC to Dakkar and then I took a sleeping pill and slept for a while on the next leg of the flight. After I woke up I still had time to watch 10,000 BC before we landed in J’Burg.

Here was my home for 20 hours of the trip!

I think if I had one more flight I might have gone POSTAL on somebody!!!! Like I said, it was a lot of traveling, but not as bad as I had prepared for! Still, I had not done that much flying in 2 days since I was in the Marine Corps back in the 90s.

Once I got to Port Elizabeth I had to catch a cab to the Hotel. The driver told me to hop in while he loaded my bags. Well I did and to my surprise I hopped in the driver’s seat!!!!! That’s when I found out that they drive on the wrong side of the road down here!!!  Since I’ve been here I’ve also found that they walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk also!!! If I die on this trip it will not be from an animal mauling!!! I am sure it will be death by vehicle. I keep looking the wrong way thinking the coast is clear when I’m trying to cross the street. The cars are coming from the direction I’m not looking. I have learned to find someone else who is crossing the street and walk beside them. This will probably save my life!!!

My hotel is Ocean front. I have a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean. Even though it is winter time down here, I have yet to put on a long sleeve shirt. The locals are walking around all bundled up like they are going to freeze to death, but it is a nice break from the 100 degree weather we’re having back home.

The city is beautiful and I’m going to go do some exploring while I have a chance. I’ll leave you guys with a few pictures of the sights.

Sunset over Port Elizabeth

Shark Rock Beach

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Well my 2008 Fall hunting season will start off in South Africa next week. I will be leaving my home tomorrow (Saturday) at 10:30 a.m. and without any delays I should reach my final destination Sunday night around midnight!  I don’t care who you are, that’s a lot of travel.

I am supposed to have an internet connection while in Africa so I am going to try to give updates daily if possible!

Please Check back starting Monday for the African Safari!