This blog was written by 15-year-old Brett Tarr, a game hunting enthusiast and conservationist from Johannesburg, South Africa. Discover and relieve the excitement of this Kalahari adventure through the eyes of a teen!
Table of Contents
D-Day At Last!
It all started when I arrived at my friend Logan van Wyk’s house. Having planned this African hunting trip for months, the day had finally arrived! As I walked through the doors of the van Wyk’s house I was kindly greeted by the family, and after I had put all my stuff down, we discussed the plan of action for the day and days to come. That afternoon we made a brief stop to pick up some food and drinks. It is always important to have a bottle of water with you when hunting in South Africa.
When we arrived back at the house, we had a quick cup of coffee while watching the African sunset before the business of packing began. Fitting all the luggage and supplies in can sometimes be a challenge but luckily there was plenty of room to spare. It was an extremely early start to the morning as we found ourselves lying in suspense and excitement. We woke up at 01:00 and were on the road no later than 02:30 for the long journey ahead to our well-awaited African plains game hunting safari.
Our African Hunting Trip begins!
Traveling to the Kalahari, the first few hours of the car ride were spent catching up on some sleep that we missed out on but for Uncle Pierre, on the other hand, it was spent behind the wheel focusing on the road ahead and watching out for South Africa’s infamous potholes. After a 3-hour long nap, we all woke up at the first stop alongside the road in the middle of nowhere, about 80 km from Vryberg, a small town in the North West province. An hour later we found ourselves at a gas station to get some refreshments and a restroom break.
As we were getting some coffee, one of the locals who was also making his way to go on a hunting safari somewhere in the North West Province asked my friend, Slade van Wyk, “Gaan jy links skiet?” which translates from Afrikaans to “Are you going to shoot left-handed?” This was asked because Slade had torn the AC joint and fractured 2 of the bones in his shoulder in a rugby match one month before our hunting safari. Not understanding Slade simply said, “No we are going hunting in the Kalahari…”
From Vryberg we were on the road again heading towards a small town called Tosca where we stopped for another restroom break, got some ice, and met up with the other game hunting enthusiasts joining us on our hunt in South Africa. As we approached the dirt road near a little town called Bray (which is so small if you blink while traveling through it you would miss it!), we turned off. After traveling another 60 miles or so on a dirt road we reached the farm where we would be enjoying our game hunting safari. As we arrived at the professional hunter’s house, we were greeted by him and his four friendly dogs before migrating to the camp where we would be staying for the next four nights.
Our Kalahari Camp
As soon as we got to the camp, we didn’t waste any time; we started offloading our things, packed a cooler box, grabbed the rifles, and headed off to the shooting range to check that the rifles were still sighted in and ready for the African plains game hunt. We were using a 300-win with a Vortex Venom 5×25 and a 30.06 Remington with a Pard night vision scope 5.6×11.2.
We had some challenges sighting in the new night vision scope as it is something that we were not familiar with. We used a lot more bullets than expected and when we looked again there were only eight bullets left: A critical mistake when hunting in South Africa and having many days left on our hunting safari! We decided to bring the night vision along to hunt some of the night critters that Africa has to offer, such as porcupines, springhares, and jackals, but only having eight bullets put us in a hard position having to be decisive about what we shot. This is especially true after booking our African hunting trip a couple of months in advance, you will naturally be selective about what to shoot!
We weren’t planning on doing any major hunting on the first day we were just looking for some warthog and springbok, but when you are hunting in South Africa you never know what will be around the next corner! As we approached a crib (waterhole) there was a young gemsbok bull that was standing broadside at about 100 yards. The shot went off and Isabel, the young huntress that had joined us, had successfully harvested a gemsbok bull. After a few more minutes of driving around, we bumped into one of the most beautiful animals you’ll when hunting, a kudu bull (the gray ghost), browsing at about 120 yards and offering a broadside shot, Logan squeezed the trigger, and the shot went off and he successfully harvested a kudu bull. When hunting in South Africa we have a saying which is to take what the bush gives you, meaning that you can’t always be picky about what animals you shoot.
After a busy and eventful first day, we took the time to appreciate the beautiful Kalahari sunset, and I believe there isn’t a more beautiful setting than an African sunset. As temperatures decreased, we made a fire and spoke about the day’s hunt and all the memories we made. As we got settled into our sleeping bags we were in for a very cold night, waking up with a numb face says it all. During the trip, it got as cold as -6 degrees Celsius which is 21.2 degrees Fahrenheit. if you know anything about a semi-arid climate it gets very hot during the day and very cold during the night. If you are planning on hunting in South Africa during the winter months from May to August, make sure to pack plenty of warm clothes and also normal hunting clothes for during the day.
The Springboks and The Warthog
We were awake before sunrise and met with the cool crisp winter air of the Kalahari. We were filled with anticipation and excitement for the day that lay ahead. We started by getting dropped off at a crib (waterhole) and were very indecisive as to where to sit. We eventually found a spot that we thought would be successful. After only sitting for 10 minutes, we got our first bit of action which was a young duiker ram which is part of Africa’s Tiny 10, a slam you can do when hunting in South Africa, which can prove to be a great challenge and makes a great mount for your trophy room.
Only 10 minutes after two Duiker gracefully walked by, we were surprised with a small herd of springbok, which was one of the animals on my list. After scanning through the herd, I decided to harvest one. She was standing at 120 yards quartering towards me. I was using a 300 Win Mag with a vortex venom 5 x 25 magnification scope. I looked through the scope lined up the crosshairs on the shoulder and squeezed the trigger… The shot went off…and the animal fell straight to the ground with the rest of the herd not knowing what had just happened. They stood again about 5 yards from where I had just shot the first one, there was another nice springbok ewe that stood alongside the one on the floor. Quartering towards me I took an identical shot…And it fell straight to the ground just like the last one. I was planning on harvesting two springbok but not like that! I truly won’t forget that moment and is one of my favorite memories while game hunting in South Africa. I would recommend a 30-calibre rifle for game hunting in Africa. In the Kalahari, I prefer a 300 because it is a flat shooting projectile, perfect for long shots, and packs a solid punch which is a great option for all African plains game hunting safaris.
Just as soon as I thought the day couldn’t get any better, a lone warthog boar came walking towards a small puddle of water! A warthog was also one of the animals that was on my list. After about 5 minutes of deciding whether I should take it or not, I decided to take it. As I slowly positioned myself and put the rifle on the shooting sticks… My sights on the warthog, that was quartering towards me at 110 yards. I aimed in between its eyes…Squeezed the trigger…And the shot went off…The warthog fell…and what seemed to be a good shot turned out not to be the best shot I had ever taken. I Had pulled the shot a bit to the right just enough to knock it out and give me enough time to put a second shot in, at about 30 yards. I am truly grateful to be blessed with the opportunity to have harvested those beautiful animals and to spend time in the beautiful African bush. The Kalahari is truly one of the best African hunting trips that you can do, with a great array of African plains game species to target.
Night Critters in the Kalahari
When hunting in South Africa the hunting doesn’t end when the sun goes down, if anything that’s when the funniest moments usually happen, in my humble opinion. When the sun goes down there are plenty of night critters that come to life such as porcupine, jackals, and springhaas along with many more. Jackals are a big problem to the farmer because we were hunting on a cattle farm that had goats and sheep on it which makes for an easy meal for a hungry Jackal. Moments before heading out for our first night hunt of the trip we quickly put some meat on the braai which is like South African BBQ and packed a cooler box. Driving around in the cold on the back of the vehicle with my hand glued to the spotlight we spotted our first pair of eyes…It was a springhaas! The way we hunt springhaas is by running and catching them, which was one of the many methods to use when hunting game in Africa. Catching springhaas is no easy task. You may be wondering what a springhaas looks like, it looks like a miniature version of a kangaroo with a long fluffy tail. They are very fast and agile creatures, making for quite an entertaining experience for spectators on the back of the vehicle. After all the laughs over the springhaas, we resumed the hunt looking for a jackal. We waited for an hour at a spot we baited the previous day, but came in. The second evening was a bit more interesting…we were only driving around for about 30 minutes when we spotted our first jackal standing and looking straight at us. I quickly aimed through the scope and pulled the trigger…I missed! To this day I still don’t understand how I missed such an easy shot on one of the trickiest night critters there was to offer.
After a few minutes of banter, we turned the next corner and I couldn’t believe it…Another jackal was standing about 40 yards away, I knew I had to redeem myself after missing the previous game hunting trophy. The shot went off and the jackal dropped in its tracks. If you want to hunt and mount night critters that are a bit more towards the small side like your porcupine or genet, I recommend a .223 or .243. On our last and final night, we decided to go on a little drive just outside the camp…and we were surprised with a nice porcupine. Logan didn’t waste any time and took the shot and it fell straight in its tracks
All Good Things Come to an End – Even an African Hunting Trip!
Sadly, all things must come to an end at some point, it felt like the African hunting trip had ended as soon as it started. My least favorite part had come: Having to pack everything up, clean all the rifles, put them away in their cases, and load up the vehicle.
I spent the last few minutes of light taking in my last glimpse of the beautiful Kalahari sunset for the year and thought about how grateful I was for my African hunting safari. I’m thankful for all the memories that I made and the new people I met. We had an early start to the morning; we were on the road by 05:00, dreading the long car ride back to Johannesburg. We got to Vryberg at 09:30, got some supplies, and carried on the long road home to Johannesburg. We arrived in Johannesburg at noon, offloaded all the meat, and made our way home. I can’t wait to go back. Hunting in South Africa is an experience you truly can’t forget.
Author: B. Tarr (Age 15yr)