Back from SA

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

Just got back last night from my honeymoon/huntin trip to S. Africa.  Heres a pic of my wife and I sittin in the blind waitin on critters to show.
 
Had a great time and saw lots of awesome animals, but unfortunately my shootin wasnt that great and the animals were good at jumpin the string.  Took me 3 trys before I finally made a good shot on a warthog and had a short bloodtrail to this guy.
 
The centaur big game head did great and I could easily see blood flyin with every step the hog took.
 
Two days after shootin the pig I shot this Gemsbok.  First one I saw in 7 days of huntin.  Havent had my heart beat that hard in a long time.  Unfortunately I shot a bit low and just busted his elbow.  He took off on 3 legs and i was heartbroken.  We got the trackers on the job and trailed him about 300 yds when the trackers jumped back and started hollerin.  I thought they found the gemsbok but instead looked up to see a black mamba about 10 yds away risin up out of the grass.   I knocked an arrow but before i could shoot the PH shot at it with his 45-70. WILD  He hit it but it still took off in the brush.   We quickly scurried by the spot and the last tracker threw my wife out of the way as he spotted the mamba about 3 feet away.  The snake was bloodied up but still comin at us!  We got the hell outta there.
  We only went about another 30 yards and we came up on the gemsbok.  He was standin lookin at us through a lot of brush and the PH blasted him before I could try for a shot.  I was very dissapointed to say the least.  Not at the PH just at myself for the poor shootin.  I always wonder if i could have got him with the bow but the PH had been charged by wounded gemsbok before and wasn 't takin chances.
 
Heres the original shot.  The centaur buried thru the elbow joint and caused some good damage.  i just wish it was through the heart.
 
Heres a pic of the trackers at work.  These guys were awesome!!!!   I watched them sort out some trails that just left me in awe.  They could follow a track for half a mile than pick up a stick or leaf and show me a tiny drop of blood just so I knew we were on the right track.
 
All in all it was a great trip.  I passed up tons of animals cause they were over the 20 yard mark and passed up a couple dandy kudu cause the angle wasn't perfect.  My wife and i hunted together for 10 straight days and she shot 6 critters with her compound.  I punished myself for my shootin and picked up a compound for the last 3 days.  I took 2 shots and made 2 perfect kills.  I never enjoy killin animals with the compound as much as with the longbow but always enjoy a good clean kill much better than a wound.
I have all the shots on film and around 700 still photos.
  Great trip   great honeymoon.

[blaster]

Try again brother!!

[Joseph]

Sounds like you had alot of fun and some excitement as well!  Congrats and thanks for the update.  Africa can consume your thoughts once you have experienced it.

[Ragin Bull]

Congratulations To you both.  It sounds like it was an excellent trip. Thanks for the pics

[Friend]

There was much excitement and what a splendid experience to be shared together as one. Secure the positive memories to enable them to reside within you for the rest of your life.

Congrats to the both of you.

[jeanpaul3006]

thanks for sharing, be sure to post more pics.

[SilentT]

Sounds like you might have chosen a more archery friendly outfitter.

[AKCrazyhorse]

anyone notice the hand position on those trackers?  I noticed on my first trip over that our trackers had a similar habit. Anyone have a rational for tracking with your arms behind your back?  I'm headed over in 68 days with DV safaris, after Gemsbok (again), Zebra and waterbuck.  After some pretty horrific shoulder injuries and surgeries I'll be shooting a little lighter weight than most but augmenting with heavy UEFOC arrows.  Can you post what your bow and arrow combo was?

[SilentT]

Who did you hunt with?

[fujimo]

its more of a natural body posture/ position for african people when they are ambling.
phenomenal trackers. but the white guys learn to track pretty well too- they just dont all do it from a very young age, but some do.- tracking is definately a practice "thing", and more so understanding the psyche of the quarry.
when we were in the army we would bolt a plastic chair(minus the legs!!!!)to the fender of the land rovers- a nice flat spot for it.
this was for the "bushmen"trackers to sit in. and they could follow a human trail almost as fast as you could drive in the bush( which certianally was not that fast- bush pretty dense) but certianally at a good fast"run" -all day.
they can track over, and through anything.
over huge expanses of flat rock called "dwalas", they will crouch down and blow and look for the lichen dust!!! where the spoor had been made.

good luck, and looks like you had an awesome time
regards
wayne

[slivrslingr]

Now that's a honeymoon!  Congratulations on your marriage and a great hunt!

[Siewho]

Thanks for sharing. Congrats on your honeymoon. Africa is addictive!

[TURKEYFOOTGIRL]

I used a 65 lb at 26 inch centaur longbow with 26 inch goldtips with a 100 grain brass insert and a 270 grain centaur big game head. Total arrow weight 600 grains and about 165 fps.  
Choronga Safaris was the outfitter and I definately would still recomend them.  They run a first class show and have some great property and trackers.  I would just make sure next time to let them know not to shoot with a gun unless absolutely necessary. Things happen pretty fast out there. They will shoot these wounded animals on sight just to get them out of the herd.  I believe they probaly deal with a lot of hunters who dont necessarily care if an animal ends up with a bullet in it or not.  But die hard bowhunters certainly do care.

[rushlush]

Congrats!

Congrats on your critters! Africa is an amazing place.

Bisch

[TxAg]

Congrats. Africa is awesome. Heck of a honeymoon!

[JamesKerr]

Congrats on your safari success and marriage.

[LimBender]

Nice way to start off a marriage!

[tradtusker]

That's my kind of honeymoon!

Congrats thanks for sharing