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Hunting in South Africa: The Annual Chaos Continues

Sunrising in the Kalahari desert

This blog is written by Logan van Wyk, a 15-year-old game hunting enthusiast and conversationist.

A man with his prized porcupine trophy

Table of Contents

The Hunting Safari Begins

The hunting safari began with a close friend of mine, Brett, being dropped off on a Tuesday afternoon. Brett was set to accompany my family on a safari in the Kalahari region, hunting African plains game trophies. Shortly after his arrival, we headed to the nearby stores to stock up on supplies for the upcoming African hunt. After completing the necessary shopping, we sat down to discuss our strategy for the upcoming safari. The time flew and once the discussion was completed, it was slowly getting darker, so we decided to enjoy our final moments of daylight before gathering ourselves to pack the vehicle. After a pain-free half hour of moving around, packing, repacking, and slowly filling the back of the game hunting vehicle, we were finally all packed and ready for our South African hunting trip! We grabbed a bite to eat before we went to sleep but we were all too filled with energy and excitement to quickly fall asleep.

Land Cruiser Vehicle used on hunting trips
Packing and repacking the Land Cruiser to ensure nothing gets left behind!

And We’re off…Kalahari Here We Come!

After talking for most of the night with little to no rest it was time to wake up and leave. The clock read 01:30 and within the next hour, we had done all the additional packing and were all ready for the hunting adventure that lay ahead. And we were off! When preparing for hunting in South Africa it is always recommended to get a good night’s rest, so we seized the opportunity and slept for the first three hours or so since we were passengers on this exciting hunting adventure. After the first three hours we decided to stop for a quick bathroom break in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the road in the cold temperatures…a chilling experience to say the least! The time sped by as we chatted and soon we were making a stop at a gas station in Vryberg to restock on some refreshments and a nice warm coffee which we all so dearly craved in the icy cold weather.                                                                     

About two hours after that stop, we were heading towards one of the smallest towns I’ve ever been in, namely Tosca, in South Africa’s North West province. We stopped at a small corner shop to pick up some ice to fill the coolers and made a second stop to refuel once again before doing the final stretch to the hunting farm. As another hour and a half went by, we found ourselves traveling along a long gravel road near a town called Bray. We approached the white gates that belonged to the farm we were heading to and nerves combined with excitement started to settle in, as our South African hunting trip had begun!

A hunting location shown via map

The Kalahari Hunting Grounds

We knew the way as was our second-year hunting on this farm, and the previous year saw us doing a lot of African plains game hunting which we hoped to be successful with again. We decided to go for a drive around on the vehicle for the afternoon and would do any walking or other methods during the three hunting days ahead. Firstly, we did what is wise to do before doing any physical hunting, we went to the shooting range to make sure all the rifles were still accurate and to sight in our 3006 Springfield, equipped with a brand-new night vision scope. I had watched a couple of videos and read the manual for the scope but was still confused when trying to sight the rifle in. Unlike a traditional scrape with clicks left and right, this one used an X and Y axis. I did not think to bring any more than 20 bullets because I figured that any African plains game hunting would be done with the 300 Win Mag and the other rifle for during a night hunting adventure. By the time we had sighted the rifle in, only eight bullets were remaining which ultimately did not last us very long.

3006 Springfield with night vision scope mounted
My 3006 Springfield with the night vision scope mounted.

After finally sorting the situation, nine of us somehow managed to squeeze onto the back of the vehicle before some of us would get dropped off and be on foot. After driving for 30 minutes, we stumbled across a group of kudu cows. Immediately the huntress who had joined us was up and for a couple of minutes with everyone sitting dead still, she sat ready, but the kudu was not giving her any opportunities to take a shot. They briefly had a headshot opportunity through some brush, but it was by no means an easy ask. Unfortunately, the shot was missed but at the end of the day, a kudu hunting safari can be extremely challenging. After driving around another half hour or so we came across one of Africa’s toughest animals, the gemsbok. Unfortunately for us, these animals are incredibly intelligent and alert, so they took off quickly into the distance. I quickly followed them with the professional hunter, but they proved their skills and had seen us long before we had seen them. Stalking these animals on foot is not an easy job and is certainly the most challenging method to choose from while gemsbok hunting in South Africa.

After spooking those gemsbok off we decided to keep on walking for a little while and see what we could find. We were just walking hoping to see something in the distance and then walk and stalk it from there. While along this casual stroll, we were spotted by a springbok ewe which is just what we were looking for. As I tried my best to set the rifle on the shooting sticks, I realized that I was unfamiliar with that specific type of stick, and I had rested the rifle incorrectly on them. Regardless of that, I still pulled the trigger… and unfortunately missed. However, I would rather have missed that shot and known for sure that it was a miss than have spent the whole trip tracking a wounded and suffering animal. We made the call to radio the vehicle to come pick us up on a nearby dirt road on the farm.

As we just briefly settled on the road the professional hunter said to me that there was a springbok ewe around 250 meters away (273 yards). He asked me if I wanted to take the shot but having gone from completely missing a much closer shot to attempting a much further shot would be a little bit out of my comfort zone. In some cases, while on a game hunting safari, it is better to take the time and think about your shot if you are lucky enough to get that opportunity. I took a moment to think and decided that I would take the shot even after missing the previous one. This time I made sure to rest the rifle on the shooting sticks correctly which immediately felt one hundred times more stable and reliable when done the proper way! I squeezed the trigger a little bit behind the shoulder to get minimal meat damage, after the shot went off, I was immediately told that it was a good shot and that the animal wouldn’t have run far at all. Luckily for me, the flat trajectory that the 300 Win Mag has to offer saved me from hardly having to compete for the bullet drop. We took a walk down to where the springbok was standing where we quickly spotted her no more than 30 yards away from where the bullet had impacted. I had unfortunately pulled the shot to the right meaning that the bullet would make direct contact with the shoulder, but I was still extremely grateful to have successfully taken down my first animal for that South African hunting safari.

Man with springbok hunting trophy.
Logan with his springbok.

A Prized African Plains Game Trophy: A Kudu Bull

After taking a couple of pictures and loading the springbok we were on the vehicle again. While hunting from a vehicle is not my preferred method, I was still happy to shoot especially knowing that it was our first day and we were hunting purely for meat. We kept driving around for a little while before finally stopping at a waterhole. There were kudu cows to the right of us and some more kudu up ahead. After a small discussion as to whether the other hunters wanted to shoot a Kudu bull, my father told me to shoot a bull that was browsing between 110 and 120 yards away. I took the shot and unfortunately hit the bull really low, breaking only one of his legs. Although we didn’t know this at first, we thought it would only be a matter of seconds before he fell a passed away. The further he got away from us the more nervous I became, jumping over fences and showing no signs of stopping! A kudu hunting safari isn’t always as perfect as we’d imagine it to be…

As we drove a little further, we stopped and waited for him to appear from behind a bush, and then he suddenly appeared, after which l took a rather nerve-racking recovery shot. Once again, I hadn’t put a good shot in, this one hitting further back and gut-shooting it. Finally, the bull had taken a brief stop, looking straight at us I was instructed to take a headshot. After having placed two poor shots on this bull, a shot with a much smaller target seemed increasingly more intimidating I aligned the crosshairs with my target and gently squeezed the trigger, the shot went off and suddenly I was filled with relief after seeing him drop on the spot and knowing that his suffering was now over. Even though the shots were not all the greatest I had still completed my first bull on this African hunt.

man posing with kudu bull he shot.
Logan with the kudu bull he targeted on the African plains game hunt.

It’s Cold Out There!

After arriving back at camp before sunset, we were lucky enough to have a fire burning and ready. After settling down and getting the food out, we sat around the fire and spoke while enjoying a truly spectacular Kalahari sunset. As the sun got lower and lower, the temperatures did the same thing and dropped substantially. Little did we know that the first night we were there would be the warmest of them all! That night it was still warm enough that you could sleep in just sleeper shorts in a sleeping bag without getting too cold.

Man lying in sleeping bag, covered against the cold
Us? Cold on our hunting safari? What gives you that idea?

For the nights that were to follow it was a hundred times colder (or so it felt!), with temperatures reaching up to -6 degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit). We were not so kindly reminded that you need to be well prepared for the colder weather while hunting in South Africa with adequate layered clothing. You know it’s cold when any drinks left the night before are frozen and the water in your taps is completely frozen! Frozen taps for us meant going without our morning coffee to not only wake you up but also warm you and no water to keep you going throughout the day.

Temperature gauge in the land cruiser
A chilly -6'C (21.2'F) to start the day!

The Tale of The Warthog’s Tusk

For the two days that followed we did most of our plains game hunting in a location near a waterhole that we chose to sit by. After being dropped off early in the morning we spent a while constantly moving around and being indecisive about where to sit. With one spot having good wind but bad sun positioning we had to choose one or the other. We settled on a spot where the sun was in our favor, we could see the water clearly along with the rest of the area, but the wind was blowing from our backs down to the water.

Originally it was just Brett, the tracker, and I who were sitting there. Within the first hour, we were lucky enough for Brett to have shot two Springbok ewes with the second one circling back after the first one had been shot. But the real fun began when my father knocked out a warthog which would make for one of the best stories for this South African hunting safari. The rifle had issues firing so my dad had the rifle shoulder for around two minutes before he fired while the pig was looking at us. After the escort went off the pig dropped in its tracks, with all of us assuming that it was a perfect headshot. While walking up to the epic African plains game trophy, my brother picked up one of its tusks which made us realize that this warthog was actually only knocked out. My father handed me his knife and asked me to go and slit its throat which I agreed to. I walked up behind it and started to slit its throat but was not doing well because the knife was blunt. The tracker took over and my dad told me to stand on the warthog’s snout just to make sure it wouldn’t stand up and hurt the tracker. As my foot touched the animal it immediately stood up and thrusted its head into my leg. Beyond startled I was full of adrenaline and all I could do was run! Luckily for me, I had been hit by the tusk that had just been shot off meaning that there was no penetration, only a cut and bruising for a couple of days. This is hands down one of the scariest and most thrilling moments I’ve ever experienced while hunting in South Africa!                                             

Two men with a trophy warthog they shot.
Logan and his dad Game Hunting Safari's Founder Pierre van Wyk, together with the warthog Pierre shot.

South African Hunting Safaris: Always An Adventure!

Hunting in South Africa is always a thrilling experience and will never leave you disappointed. It will find its own way to give you the good times and memories that you look for and can reflect on for decades that follow. These hunting safaris truly are special, sharing it with special friends and family, a variety of African plains game trophies, unforgettable memories, and stunning scenery, all of which make a South African hunting safari unforgettable!

If you enjoyed reading this blog, check out our previous Kalahari hunting safari in my blog entitled “African Plains Game Hunting in the Kalahari.” 

Author: Logan van Wyk

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