CALI... We miss you !!!
- Thread starter Moosie
- Start date
Calif. Hunter
Active member
I'm having trouble posting more pictures in the Trophy Room, and I'm still tired from jet lag. The brush is very thick, and everything has thorns. The weather was - very cold (below freezing) at night and up to 85-90 degrees in the middle of the day.
I ended up using Dave's .375 H&H for most of the animals. The long shots were about 130 - 140 yards, so extreme velocity is not needed or wanted. A heavy bullet at 2400-2700 FPS is very effective. A fast magnum is not needed, as you want an exit hole to let more blood out if you have to track the animal at all. The brush is so thick and in dry dirt, one track looks much the same as another. In addition, there may be 10 or more animals in the group, all taking off at the shot. You REALLY want a blood trail. Plus, since in South Africa the animals belong to the landowner, you pay for something you shoot, even if you do not recover it.
In other areas, other guns or bullets may work better. But where we were, a big heavy bullet at moderate speed so it does not upset to fast or shed weight too quickly is the most effective. (Sorry, Moosie - match bullets from your .300 mag won't cut it here!)
I ended up using Dave's .375 H&H for most of the animals. The long shots were about 130 - 140 yards, so extreme velocity is not needed or wanted. A heavy bullet at 2400-2700 FPS is very effective. A fast magnum is not needed, as you want an exit hole to let more blood out if you have to track the animal at all. The brush is so thick and in dry dirt, one track looks much the same as another. In addition, there may be 10 or more animals in the group, all taking off at the shot. You REALLY want a blood trail. Plus, since in South Africa the animals belong to the landowner, you pay for something you shoot, even if you do not recover it.
In other areas, other guns or bullets may work better. But where we were, a big heavy bullet at moderate speed so it does not upset to fast or shed weight too quickly is the most effective. (Sorry, Moosie - match bullets from your .300 mag won't cut it here!)
noharleyyet
Well-known member
What a hunt Cali!..thanks much for all the pics. Truly awesome.
Delw
Member
Cali Awsum pics man. sounds like one hell of a trip.
If you ahve picture problems email me
Delw
If you ahve picture problems email me
Delw
AZ402
Well-known member
That's awesome Cali, congrats & great pics!
Moosie
Grand poopa
We missied ya bud... welcome home !!!! Thanx for the pics, we'll wait till you upload the rest.
Calif. Hunter
Active member
The only animal I am having a shoulder mount done with is the wart hog, because it will go with my wild boar. Since I have a couple big elk, an antelope, a ram and a couple European mounts of deer, I don;t have enough room for more shoulder mounts. The rest will get the European treatment. Besides, I can afford to go back sooner by saving on the taxidermy bills!
Bambistew
Well-known member
Congrats! Some nice animals there, that warthog is dandy!
IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Great pics Cali. Thanks for sharing.
Bambistew
Well-known member
Cali,
Don't feel bad, I had a similar situation as your kudu with a gemsbok. He absorbed quite a little lead from a 375 before he finally accended to the big sand box in the sky. On the other hand quite a few other critters flipped over dead with shots from a 280 rem...
Don't feel bad, I had a similar situation as your kudu with a gemsbok. He absorbed quite a little lead from a 375 before he finally accended to the big sand box in the sky. On the other hand quite a few other critters flipped over dead with shots from a 280 rem...
Calif. Hunter
Active member
As far as the rifle goes, it was my fault. When we test-fired the rifles the first day to ensure they were still zeroed after the long flights, I left my bolt open. I hung it on my right sholder by the sling, and the bolt release hit my belt. The Montana action has a simple push-button bolt release, so the bolt felt in the very fine dust. Several times, the dust caused the striker to fall too slowly to ignite the primer. The firing pin would only slightly dent the primer and the round would not go off. I tried taking the bolt apart and cleaning it out, but no one had any Gun Scrubber or such since aerosols are not allowed in your luggage anymore.
I could have tried taking apart the bolt as far as I could and swirling/rinsing it in very hot water, but I just decided to use the PH's .375. It hit a couple of inches high for me, but by holding a touch low, everything went down with one shot.
While I WAS disappointed in the performance of the 225 gr Partition, the .358 as I loaded it it was a dead ringer for the .350 Rigby, which is a proven plains game round. In hindsight, I should have gone with the 225 gr Triple Shocks as the difference between a half-inch group with the Partitions and a one-inch group with the TSX mattered only to me since the longest shot was about 140 yards.
I could have tried taking apart the bolt as far as I could and swirling/rinsing it in very hot water, but I just decided to use the PH's .375. It hit a couple of inches high for me, but by holding a touch low, everything went down with one shot.
While I WAS disappointed in the performance of the 225 gr Partition, the .358 as I loaded it it was a dead ringer for the .350 Rigby, which is a proven plains game round. In hindsight, I should have gone with the 225 gr Triple Shocks as the difference between a half-inch group with the Partitions and a one-inch group with the TSX mattered only to me since the longest shot was about 140 yards.
Calif. Hunter
Active member
Here is what the brush was like - everything has thorns, byt the way. You can see why some of the pictures were taken elsewhere.
You would drag or carry your animal to an area like this for a nicely posed portrait -
This was about the only area where you might get a long shot in the early morning or late afternoon -
You would drag or carry your animal to an area like this for a nicely posed portrait -
This was about the only area where you might get a long shot in the early morning or late afternoon -
Calif. Hunter
Active member
Here is our group - standing, left to right = Moe, Chris, Hanou, Dave and Jorge. Sitting/kneeling are me, Jim Hackiewicz (JJHack) and Hank. Dave is David Tennent, who hunted with me. Hanou hunted with Moe, Jim with Chris and Hank with Jorge. Hanou, by the way, is 7 feet tall and is/was the South Africa Ultimate Fighting Champ. (For comparison purposes, Chris is 6'2") He was in negotiations for a fight in the US, but had to miss a fight due to broken ribs. A very nice guy, but he has wrestled African game from boyhood and has some real stories to tell about his wild "pets" - crocodiles, various antelope, leopards, hyenas, etc.
Don't let me forget Michael, the Wonder Dog. He is worth his weight in gold if you have a wounded animal to track. We didn't use him, but he helped recover animals for all the other guys. He's missing an eye. He barks his head off when he finds the wounded game, and you have to get there quickly as whatever he has found is trying to kill him.
Don't let me forget Michael, the Wonder Dog. He is worth his weight in gold if you have a wounded animal to track. We didn't use him, but he helped recover animals for all the other guys. He's missing an eye. He barks his head off when he finds the wounded game, and you have to get there quickly as whatever he has found is trying to kill him.
Tom
New member
No kidding that little dog goes after big stuff and survives. That's amazing.
Calif. Hunter
Active member
His size is an advantage, in that he is very fast on his feet and makes for a small, difficult target!
Here are some more pictures of birds and stuff for Oscar -
Guinea fowl were everywhere - you could figure that impala would follow shortly if they showed up at a waterhole -
A nice kudu bull at a waterhole -
A herd of sable -
A couple giraffe -
A bird by one of the old homesteads -
Most animals shared the waterholes, but buffalo or rhino showing up ran everything else off -
Here are some more pictures of birds and stuff for Oscar -
Guinea fowl were everywhere - you could figure that impala would follow shortly if they showed up at a waterhole -
A nice kudu bull at a waterhole -
A herd of sable -
A couple giraffe -
A bird by one of the old homesteads -
Most animals shared the waterholes, but buffalo or rhino showing up ran everything else off -
AkBearHunter
Member
Damn fine photo's Calif.Hunter, congrats on what looks like an awesome hunt!!
CH- That's a bummer on the bolt thing. Which reminds me, I really need to learn to field strip the bolt on my Ruger .338. Suprised you had bad luck with the Partitions as they are the gold standard. Anywho, thanks for sharing the pics. A trip to Africa for plains game is definitely on my "To-Do Before I Die List".
Calif. Hunter
Active member
The best part of the trip was that you saw hundreds of animals in a day - especially impala and warthogs. I would see perhaps 8 -12 kudu, a half dozen nyala, a few waterbuck, wildebeest and hartebeest every single day. I should have held out for a bigger kudu, but width was more important to me than length...so when I saw a wide one that was "big enough," I took it. In hindsight, I saw wide ones that were several inches longer that I could have taken if I had held out. (I could have taken another kudu if I was willing to pay the extra trophy fee, but I was still hoping for a gemsbok....up until the last minute of the last day!)
The impala were in rut, so they were barking or grunting all day and night long. I thought it was leopards or something! I had no idea impala made so much loud noises!
The impala were in rut, so they were barking or grunting all day and night long. I thought it was leopards or something! I had no idea impala made so much loud noises!
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