Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Dark Continent => Topic started by: Greg Szalewski on August 29, 2014, 09:07:00 PM
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OK it's about time I get around to doing this. Karen and I got back from our trip of a lifetime to Africa with Dale and Sandie Karch 3 weeks ago. I did not go tOhere with visions of filling the game room that I don't have but ended up shooting many beautiful animals that have great memories to go along with them.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg390.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg390.jpg.html)
I started out with this red hartebeest that Karen picked out for me. He was an old bull.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg534.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg534.jpg.html)
The next day Karen picked out this blue wildebeest. Sharing a blind with your spouse is part of what made this trip so enjoyable. Anyway, he gave me the shot I was looking for and I did in fact shoot him in the heart.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg687.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg687.jpg.html)
The next day Dale was sitting with me jinxing up my blind as he usually does when finally this huge female warthog came in. Dale did a great job getting it on video. Jessie the tracking dog had a short job of finding her.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg838.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg838.jpg.html)
Day five Karen picked out this fine kudu. Actually I was set on trying to get a shot from first sight and had to wait nearly a half hour to get a shot. This one I used my three piece longbow I made with Africa woods(I had to take this bow). I had a double lung pass through and saw him go down after a hundred yards.
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(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg1052.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg1052.jpg.html)
Day six I was left unsupervised when this big male warthog came rushing in with his buddy. I was going to shoot his buddy until he shoved him out of the way. This was another pass through and took off the top of his heart leaving a blood trail I could see from in the blind. He ran full speed forty yards and ran into a ten inch dia. tree putting deep gouges in the bark from his tusks. The tracking dog lept off the truck at the scent of all the blood.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg1159.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg1159.jpg.html)
Day seven was very busy at the water hole when a group of impala rams came in and the big one gave me the shot I was waiting for. He collapsed from the double lung shot on either the last bound I saw or the next making for another short tracking job.
(http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/gszalewski/Africa2014Greg1241.jpg) (http://s252.photobucket.com/user/gszalewski/media/Africa2014Greg1241.jpg.html)
I went back into the blind after the impala was taken away and had this nice gemsbok come in and make me wait for over an hour until I could get a good shot at him. Once again I chose the longbow. I nailed a rib on the way in severely limiting the arrows penetration to just one lung but the dogs did the job in the end of running him down.
We were hunting in South Africa with Stewart Dorrington at Melorani Safaris. It was everything I could have ever hopped for and way more. Stewart runs a very high quality bowhunting camp. All in all it was a fantastic trip. We went to Victoria Falls after the hunt to make more fantastic memories.
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Congrats of these fine trophies. That red hartebeest and kudu are magnificent trophies :clapper:
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Awesome kudu! Congratulations!
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Congratulations! Those are some great pictures.
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Whaou... congrats.
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Awesome hunt, congrats on those fine trophies!
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Goodness that's quite a haul! Great animals and you had a wonderful time with your wife, congratulations!
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Great hunt and well done. Would you list your equipment specs? draw weight? arrow weight and broadhead choice? Thank you.
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Thanks for all the kind words.
Most of the time I was using my RER recurve that pulls about 55# at my draw. On the kudu and gembok I used a longbow that I had made that is also 55# at my draw. That was the Bingham's pronounced design. I used the same arrows with both bows. They were 3Rivers traditional only shafts with tube weights and original Woodsman (250 grn) heads. Total weight 700 grn. The RER sent that at 175fps and the longbow 155 fps. Everything worked fine except the gemsbok. They are built a bit tougher and after hitting the rib on the way in penetration was limited. I was very happy with the set up otherwise and can't stress enough the importance of patience to get that slam dunk shot. Precise shot placement is the most important part.
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Well done Greg !! Nice animals right there mate…
Africa, only 11 more months till my second trip and can't wait!
Nice Kudu also.
Thanks for posting.
ak.
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Very nice animals! Africa is a special place indeed!
Congrats,
Bisch
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Very nice animals! Africa is a special place indeed!
Congrats,
Bisch
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Very good, Greg!
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Congratulations Greg. What a fine adventure!
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Great hunt!!
Beautiful animals!!
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Beautiful animals Greg. Congratulations!!
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Great shooting Greg! Congratulations!
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Hey, that was great! Nice trophies.
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Congratulations Greg on the hunt of a lifetime! I enjoyed seeing your album at the Wisconsin Trad gathering last weekend. Beautiful animals! :thumbsup:
Bernie
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It was a pleasure sharing them with you and Jay. You guys will have to stick around for the rest of the festivities next year.
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Great pics of a great hunt! Well done.
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Wow! Great shooting! Very nice trophies! We are going to SA in August and I can hardly wait!
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Very nice pictures! Glad you had such a great time.