40 days in South Africa

[calgarychef]

Well I'm finally here and trutfully I only have 20 days let.  I'm going to start sharing a ew tidbits but I'm in the bush and service here is pretty sketchy.

So far I've spent some time on the coast ad in uly magical from a  friend Wayne and I went bowfishing in Durban harbour, something that hasn't been done much or maybe ever before.  I shot a sea pike-about the   size of a hammer handle.  I also got 3 nice mullet
and the locals were a little cheesed because they don't bite hooks, they sure were good.  We brought them to the bush camp and cooked them here.

Now about the bush camp, it's a place called Zingala and it has a website if anyone is interested.  It's on the Tugela river and it's truly magical from a bowhunters perspective.  There are NO fences high or low and the place is teeming with game.  

I got a nice kudu the third day hunting, and the owner says it's the first kudu taken with a longbow to his knowlege.  I'm not sure about that but it sure was thrilling.  

There are no artificial waterholes here and the fiver is an alternate place to hunt so it's strictly fair chase.  The owner, Mark is a great guy and a true conservationist.  Mark is also very keen about bowhunting and the ethics that traditional bowhunters bring.  Right now the camp mascots-two bushpigs are chewing on my sandals.  What a pair of clowns.  

There's so much more to tell but I'm a little tired so it's going to be short.  

I got a chance at a nice warthog today, 18 yards but I forgot my folding stool and couldn't shoot from the ground too well- so I didn't.  We've been experementing extensively with north american techniques and many of them have never been used here.  Scents, calls and some really good "secret" ideas that have worked well.  More on that later.

I can't post pics from here but I sure will when I get home.

The chef

[Bert Frelink]

Sjefke,
Way to go !!!!!! heard from Dennis you were on the way to the "dark continent" I sure want to hear ALL about it.
Enjoy the rest of your stay, have a blast!!!    
I have been reading a lot of Peter Hathaway Capstick lately, is getting me thinking.
Regards, Bert.

That sounds really neat! I leave for SA on June 18th and am chomping at the bit.

Congrats,

Bisch

[Big Ed]

Sound great, keep it coming. Don't forget pics when you return.

[calgarychef]

I'll try and do a post a day, when the net is up.  

Today I slept in, the intentions of going for warthogs-they are fair weather creatures and only come out in warm sunny conditions.  Wouldn't you know it it was overcast, after a great breakfast and some chatting with others visiting Zingala I decided to head out anyway.  The warties were all out on a gravel bar on the river munching on grass.  They look comical as they feed on their knees. Well I simply crawled along pretending to be a warthog, I slowly "fed" my way toward a group of them.  Eventually I was within 20 yards or less, and I could get up and glass the rest of the piggies that weren't as close.  I wanted a nice boar but the pigs close to me were a mother and three young and a great big old sow with respectable tusks.  I decided not to shoot the old one as there are some other tourists in camp and I didn't want to upset them my shooting a "mommy"  A truck went by collecting firewood, probably to warm my afternoon shower (did I mention the fantastic service here?)  Well the pigs scattered in all directions.  

I went back to find my fanny pack that I'd left behind and couldn't find it in the bush, while doing that I lost my head net-essential equipment for this kind of hunting.  So I scoured the whole bush in a grid pattern until I found it-about an hour of sweating and praying.  By this time I was so sweated up and the place was so disturbed that I knew I wouldn't see anything.  I did sit or another hour and a half just in case.

Now I'm back at camp drinking a gin and tonic and having just eaten a nice boobtie (curry).

I'm just so thrilled to have found a place that isn't high fenced and where the owner will bend over backward to accomodate trad hunting.  The game is so plentiful, there are:

kudu,impala,ostrich, giraff, wildabeest (my nemesis), duiker, and nyala.  Nyala are pretty rare around here but Mark has provided such nice habitat that they all thrive.

This used to be a peanut farm but it's been let to go back to it's wild ways.  There is one road in and it's more than an hour ride that a chevy 4x4 couldn't do-they use a URI and toyotas, the short wheel base makes it possible to go over some pretty big rocks.  There is a river on one side and huge hills/small mountains all around. The game can leave if it wants and the giraff travel widely.  I've seen 12 in a group and yes they a huntable species here.  

Someone was asking about wives/families in SA Durbin was terrifying and I'd not drive anywhere without a guide.  In port edward when we were there we got to know the area and could travel by ourselves.  It's a dangerous place and shouldn't be taken lightly.

 Zigala on the other hand is great and really caters to all groups.  There is rafting, absailing kayaking, fly fishing, game sight seeing and all you have to do is ask and a staff member will take you out.  Any family would be in heaven here.  I haven't had such good service in any hotel I've ever been in, and the food is great.  Don't forget I'm a chef and pretty hard to please!

Tomorrow I'll let the hogs relax and hike into the natural waterhole and see what I can find.  I've just been sitting on a little cliff about 20 feet high and although it's a great place to hide I'm having trouble shooting from that high.

cheers for now

The chef

[Wolfkiss]

Hi Chef,
        Is this the place?

 www.zingelasafaris.co.za/default.php

can't see anything on hunting but i think its in the general area. Looks great.

Andy.

[chrisg]

Another great trip, by the sound of it! Natal is a unique area it is so richly diverse. The bush and north coast are special, the Thukela, what a river!Natal has a few others too, like the Umsinduzi,Umkomaas, both host huge canoe races and the Mfolozi with its two main streams joining at the reserve. Try to find some books on the area, ask Mark, there are lots.
chrisg

[calgarychef]

Wolfkiss that's the spot.  Last night it rained like hell or awhile, the frequency o the lightning was beyond anything I've ever seen.  Needless to say things were a little whacked out today.  The warthogs didn't come out too much and I didnt have anything even close.  I did have a close encounter with a monitor lizard at about 8 feet he was the third I saw today and he was absolutely gorgeous.  Totally emerald green and beyond description.  He was a little guy around 40 inches and I hae permission to shoot one as they aren't protected and very plentiful here.

I found a nice tree I can sit in in an open area with some impala close by, so I'll use my secret weapon and see what happens.  They don't use treestands here but I sure wish I had a few of them.  I I come back I'll get some made locally and leave them for Mark.  So the plan for tomorrow is impala very early, warthogs around 10:00-3:00 and then I might go sit in a donga for the twighlight.  I find the heat a little hard to take even though it's not that hot it's pretty humid.  Last night at 3:00 am it was 60 degrees F. very nice.  

We spent the morning looking for bow wood to take back with us....Bert you've met Wayne and he'll have some nice stuff to show you on our return.  I've found some nice wood for knife handles and I also found a kudu skull today the horn "core bone"  is quite dense so it might be nice for handles too.  Mark has a giraff bone here but only one, too bad I'd love to take some of that home too.

Well the gin and tonic is empty so I'm of for more, gotta stay healthy!!

The chef

[Bert Frelink]

Sjefke,
Is that Wayne Nichol guy there with you?? at least tell him Hi, good luck on the warthog, some day I will try for one myself.

Have a great time you guys and keep the updates coming!!!!
     

[Grizzly Adams]

Glad to see you're having a good time.  Sounds like you're making a habit of leaving things lying around and not finding them.  LOL
                            Grizz

[calgarychef]

Grizz, who let you in here?  The web was down last night, so no report.  I seem to have sunstroked myself and not feeling too great tonight....even skipped my second gin and tonic!  I found a nice nyala skull this afternoon.  Saw lots of game as usual today, but the river warties weren't out.  I did see a couple up on a cliff but they were at 8 yards and I wanted them closer...actually they were too close I couldn't draw.

cheers

[Tucker]

Hey Tracy,
 Glad to hear you made it to S.A. and that you're having fun, with the exception of some heat stroke.
I got home to Alberta on May 4th.
Looking forward to hearing of the adventures and photos eventually.
Don't let a wart hog eat you!
>>>>>-----Tucker---->

[calgarychef]

i tried posting last night and it's gone today, the 'putor service here is pretty skethy...this is a test

[calgarychef]

yesterday I went and sat at a natural water seep and the animals came by the hordes.  I was at least 30 and there were probably that many that were close that I didn't see.  We have to be careul not to pressure this spot too much as there are miles and miles of river that the animals can easily go to.  Unfortunately there isn't a really good place to set up and I can't get a shot off.  The angle is always wrong.  My only sure shot would have been a baboon and mark has asked us not to shoot them.  So I got a nice baboon show.

Today I was after warties again.  I went upriver and executed a great stalk-getting better at this stalking stuff.  Unfortunately they had fed fast and passed the spot I came out of the bush at.  I tried a hail mary shot but at the last minute I adjusted my aim and fell short.  I should have trusted my first aim and I bet it would have connected.

Pm I went to "warthog island" down river and on the way in I found a great donga and up one of the many game trails off it I found 3 impala rams.  We had a stand of for about 1/2 hour and it was long as I was holding my bow almost at arms length.  The sweat was just about into my eyes and they winded me.

Back down the donga I went and came out about 20 yards from a nice wartie but he was covered by bush.

That little patch of land has some great feed and I'm going to spend some time tomorrow getting to know it.  There's great sign and I'm feeling lucky.

I sure wish I had a treestand or two or a pop up blind it's a tough go hunting entirely off the ground.  It's easy to get within compound range but that last 20 yards is a killer.  The good point is I'm getting some really great experience with ground hunting.  Wart hog holes make great expedient pit blinds.

Mark is so impressed by our level of dedication and sportsmanship that he's seriously considering converting to bowhunting only.  

the chef

[Tilzbow]

Chef,

Sounds like you're having a great trip and the experience of a lifetime!!!! Enjoy and keep the story coming!

[calgarychef]

Well it's been a couple days since i posted anything.  Apparently i've got tick bite fever and i dont' feel bad today but yesterday was a little rough.  Went to the doc. and got some stuff so I think I'll survive.

yesterday i spent the whole day at the waterhole sitting up on the banks of the donga behind some rocks.  I had presious little cover there but it presented a good shot situation.  Since the rain the waterhole has lengthened from 30 yards to much more.  So there is no guarantee where the animals will come in.


After sitting the whole day in the sun with a fever a whole pack of animals arrived.  There were impala, nyala cows, and  anice nyala bull.  i've been trying for a nice red nyala cow-they're beautiful.  well this bull, the same one I passed on a couple days earlier because I felt out of sorts and lethargic (I know why now) came to the water hole right under my spot.  This spot was just between a couple boulders and not easy to get a shot off from.  Anyhow, he went to the perfect spot and even moved his fron leg forward for me to shoot behind.  When i drew back his eyes didn't even flicker and i knew he hadn't seen me.  Then I shot righ over his back!  
I was a bit bummed but i'm over it now.  

I went to warthog island tonight because lots of game hangs out in that area and other than pigs i haven't hunted it much.  At 6:15 the wildabeest came out and I dearly want to get one.  i always thought wildabeest were like cattle, you know slow and dumb.  Well they've given me quite the education.  And tonight they say me belly crawling from 300 yards with full cammo.  Dumb they aint.  i've made a mental note of the spot they came out of the bush and I'll finish my day in an ambush at that donga.

it rained a bit here tonight and I sure prayed that it wouldnt be a downpour.  When it rains the animals don't move much and i've only got two days of hunting left.  So no time to waste.

it's been so much fun hunting here, there were no permanent blinds set up, no waterhole blind, no treestands, no bait.  just hard and real hunting and I can't be any more pleased with my trip.  

Two weeks of hunting this way would equate to several years of hunting experience in Alberta just from the sheer numbers of animals i've seen and the very close stalks and ambushes I've done.

Well it's supper time and then i'm off to dreamland, i intend to get up at 4:00 tomorrow so I can get settled down nice and early in my new location.  i should be able to see the warthog activity, the impala rutting and watch my new donga for kudu coming in.  Those darned kudu keep warning everything that i'm around.  The baboons are nothing at all compared to the alarm bark of a kudu.

cheers

[Wile E. Coyote]

Thanks for taking us along on your journey. I've blown the perfect setup as we most all have. Lots of fun to be shook up by the game we play. Thanks for the ride!

[calgarychef]

Not much to report tonight. i woke up 2:00 am with the worst night sweats I could imagine, I don't feel feverish but this tick bite thing is kind of interesting.  We Canucks aren't exposed to these things and it's a real learning experience.

Before I forget, and don't tell my wife 'cause she's askeeerd of snakes.  I saw a black momba!!Definately one of the highlights of the trip.  We have a retired "game warden" in camp today and he came and got me to see it.  WOW!!  It was a short sighting 'cause they are fast but by all accounts he was about as long as I am tall 5'6" give or take.


 It was windy as heck here today and like at home the game doesn't move when it's windy.  Once the "tamish" warthogs came to feed on the lawn in front of the camp I knew the others would be up and around too.  I had gotten up early and gone out for a look but the wind sent me back to camp.  Anyhow once the warties were up I went upriver and found a nice big boar.  

For those that don't know it boars have two sets of warts (4 in all) and a "black bag" at their posterior.  It might be common knowledge but I didn't know about the warts....the other end I could figure out 'cause I grew up on a farm.

So i tried my trick of pretending I was a piggie and I slowly "fed" my way toward that nice old boar.  Well he wouldn't have anything to do with me and he took off.  So much for my new technique, didn't work for the wildabeest either.

I called in two nice impala rams tonight but it's so flat where they hang out that it's impossible (almost) to find a good place to sit.  Did I mention that I called in those impalas?  The locals here don't hear their vocalizations much because they blast them from 100 yards with a rifle...I've been learning a bit about them.  I can definately say I've begun to be able to lure them and it's great fun.

Let me go into that a bit more because it's fun to share....  impala rams squeal like pigs and race around and huff and blow like a whitetail does when it's alarmed.  But when they do this it seems it's because they are rounding up the girls, not posturing to the other males. They actually behave a lot like elk with a mixture of antelope thrown in. They defecate in "middens" and once you find a group of middens, which are usually in sandy soil you've found the right place to create a fast and expedient stand.  You need to get it done fast because if they see you before you're set up it's all over.  They can see me at 100 yards but i can only see them at 60 so you can see the fun involved in getting set up.  

I think that with the right techniques impala hunting might take on a whole new meaning.  It's full of action and suspense, even though they are little guys they are a hoot to hunt.  They are also cheap to hunt, good stuff for starving bowhunters.

Tomorrow is the last day and I'm grasping at straws a bit.  I'll try for an impala early on as they seem to be the first to wake up-horny little buggers are in full rut right now.  Then I'm going to sit on one of the donga trails on the way to the waterhole.  

Towards evening I've got a brilliant plan, sometimes I even surprise myself with my uncanny ideas.  I'm going to sit on top of a grader that's been abandoned in the bush.  it's the closest I can come to a treestand and there are impala all around the darned thing.  It's a really long shot but it'll be my last try and it would be a hoot to say I got an impala from the top of a grader!!!

good night all

[calgarychef]

Well today was the last day and I'd like to thank the guys who rode along!!  It's been nice to share my little adventure with others.

i went for broke today and it didn't matter if i spooked every damn animal in the hemisphere....so i staked out the waterhole.  Not one of the trails, no siree I sat right at the water.  I bet there were 40 animals within shooting distance.  It was very intense to say the least.  i was hoping they would come in, in dribs and drabs but no...they all came at once.  I could have shot impala and a nice one at that.  Then there was the nice nyala bull, what a flat skin it would have made in the basement...but it has a broken horn and there was a nice one behind it.  Then the wildebeest came in and i swore this was it, finally a wildebeeste!!   Well the first one was a bit smaller than the next one, so i thought i'd wait for him.  Unfortunatley the first one busted me before the second one was in line.

 Damn i had fun butI still didn't get anything, and i'm still excited and i don't care a bit that I didn[t "score" today. I had a ton of fun and I'd do it all the same again.  I guess that's the difference between trad hunters and the others, we're into the experience not the results.

So the final score was chef-one respectable kudu
7 misses (ug)
2- could have done it but didn't

So in the final results i could have got 10 or more animals if the stars would have lined up perfectly....not bad in my books.

next time I'll:

-Spend more time scouting than hunting
-Spend more time practicing close shots I'm good over 25 yards but i suck at 10 yard downhill
-Spent ime with Mark detailing what bowhunters need.


I'll also drink more gin and tonic, and brandy, and beer, and champagne......these people really know how to live life.  

Pics to follow........in a few days..

Africa is a lot cheaper than a fellow realizes.

the (drunk) chef

[HARL]

I have been with you from the start of your posting.Thanks ! looking forward to the pics.