Hunting Story: Namibia

I don’t travel well, like a cask of real ale I am a bit sedentary in my gait as far as hunting trips go, being happy to travel within the British Isles. However as one gets older the desire to tick off that bucket list has meant me venturing to Germany, the Czech Republic, America and South Africa of late. Friends who had travelled to S Africa said that Namibia would really suit me as it is vast, only has 2.5 million people, that people are friendly and the game are excellent quality, numerous but still there is that sense of an authentic hunting trip yet good banter.

RECOMMENDED

Choosing a reputable outfitter is also very important to get the experience you expect. My friend Charlie Harriman, of Chinese Water deer fame, had been visiting Namibia for five years and always to the same outfitters, SMJ Safaris, now that tells you something. SMJ is headed up by Stephen and Anza Jacobs who were born in Africa where their family farms of 30 years offer some of the best plains game hunting and birds in Namibia. There is a strong ethical vibe and fair chase policy that I like and assures a real hunt.

Stephan’s farm, based in the Northern Territory is 6 hours NE from Windhoek (airport) and his vast concessions span some 150,000 acres, that’s just greedy! It holds more than 16 different species of game to hunt. You have en-suite accommodation, excellent food, dining hall and lounges to relax after the hunt and sit around the camp fire in the evening to regale your hunting stories and love of haggis as it turned out! With a rifle range next door to test your kit, it’s heaven.

GETTING STARTED

They also have some superb Professional Hunters (PHs). Not only are they professional in hosting and making you feel welcome, but their local knowledge of game life and trails is crucial to spotting and shooting your quarry. You also have the pleasure to have Kalahari bushmen as trackers. I travelled with four friends and we were instantly all laughing and joking with our host and PH’s as though we were old friends, I knew it was going to be a great 8 days.

Derek, Bruce (another Bruce - that’ll be confusing) and Charlie were assigned CJ Steenkamp, whilst Julian and I hunted with Jacob van der Merwe and Douw Schoonbee. This turned out to be a perfect combination.

GAME A PLENTY

In the Northern Territories, Stephan’s farm, our first hunting area is 44,500 acres owned and 50,000 acres concessions. This area has 14 different game species with a further two being hunted on neighboring family farms. These are Giraffe, Kudu, Eland, Waterbuck, Burchells Zebra, Oryx, Blue and Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Impala, Blesbok, Warthog, Steenbok, Duiker, Dik-Dik and Klippspringer.

Julian and I were after Blue and Black Wildebeest first and a natural history session with Jacob gave us the heads up as we both admitted to being novices. The Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) is more common than the Black (Connochaetes gnou) but both are from the antelope family and the word Wildebeest literally translated means ‘Wild Ox’. They are synonymous with the grasslands and scrub areas and found in herds together, which makes sex determination difficult as both sexes have horns.

The Blue and Black species look totally different. The Blue has out swept horns that turn up with a brindled pelage and beard and black tail. The Black has horns that face forward and then turn up, has a black pelage with a white tail and are smaller. Julian opted for the Blue while I went for Black.

UP EARLY

Daily routine was the same, up at 5.30am, breakfast, cooked or continental breakfast then off out in the pickups to spot for game in the veldt. This morning I had a superb traditional breakfast of Mealipop (like porridge) with fried livers and onions in a sweet gravy cooked by Stephan’s Mum, lovely, move over haggis! I digress, we had sighted in the rifles and in fact we borrowed Jacobs Ruger Hawkeye All Weather in 300 Win Mag with factory 180-grain Barnes VOR-TX loads that shot a straight inch group at 100 yards so we all felt confident. Early mornings in Namibia are beautiful, fantastic sunrises coupled to a cooler clime whereas mid day by contrast is 30°. We made our way slowly through the endless thorn bushes and acacia trees that form the landscape for much of this area. It’s flat so there are few vistas to determine location but Jacob, Douw and Oscar our tracker inched ahead as though on sat nav. It’s amazing how they can determine which animal is which from the numerous tracks left by the herd that leave their slots in the hot soft sand.

But that’s what you are paying for and soon a small herd of Blue Wildebeest were spotted amongst the thorns and we stopped dead. Julian was beckoned up front and he , Jacob and Oscar proceeded ahead. From a small mound I could just see the Blue ahead that were slowly milling around about 85 yards through the dense scrub , god knows how the PH’s saw them, they are good. Hand signals from Jacob now indicated a change of tack as he had spotted a lone bull lying in thick cover preparing to chew the cud after a morning’s feed.

Slowly and at a crouch Jacob and Julian both inched their way forward freezing at every ear twitch and eye gaze from the bull, trouble now the rest of the herd were getting closer at every foot step. That Bull was in there tight and well concealed so a clear shot was very hard, at 30 yards! Jacob deployed the quad sticks and Julian slipped the Ruger into its cradle for a steady shot. He had to aim through a fork in an ill placed tree and place a Barnes TTSX bullet into a four inch opening!

The muzzle report muffled by the A-Tec moderator was instantly followed by the meat shot, a good hit but a quick reload and another shot as the bull raised itself sealed the deal and Julian had his first Namibian game species.

MY TURN

I fancied a Black Wildebeest as I really liked the unusual horn orientation and I wanted a hide for photographic purposes! Again an early start which I like and the same crew but in a different area. Douw had spotted a small herd in the distance, he had razor sharp eyes, so Jacob and I in tow stalked slowly in across a small dust track between trees and then in to a more open area of scrub. They were slowly grazing ahead but heading for cover so Jacob beckoned to step lively as we weaved between thorn bush, scrub and termite mounds. These proved very handy as Jacob would skin up them to get a better bead on the game and on the three mound a flat hand towards me told me to stop and then slowly crawl to its base. He slowly slip back down and I raised myself and in unison the Ruger was resting against the termite mound and the Swarovski Z3 scope had its cross hairs square on the Bull looking right at me at 85 yards. I was just about to shoot and he moved behind a bush so I re-sighted and then a keen eyed cow spotted me, grunted and they were off, bugger!

SUCH IS LIFE

That’s hunting, a great stalk, in nice and close but this time the game won and that’s what I really liked about SMJ Safari’s and Namibia - it was real hunting, not just a walk around a deer park. You had to work for it. We moved onto another area were the brush was even thicker and my shirt was torn to shreds on the thorns and here the Wildebeest were literally all around us with young bulls clashing horns in play and changing direction instantly. Here the range was down to 20 yards but no suitable bulls this time, Jacob was good and he wanted me to get a good bull and was working hard to do so.

A third area and this time open farmland ribboned with, yes you guessed it thorn scrub. Jacob had spotted an old bull sitting under an acacia tree 50 yards into one of the fields so we stalked along one scrub edge to align with him. The ground was sandy and despite Pottsie’s crunching along Jacobs’ skilful noiseless approach had positioned us 150 yards broadside along the bull only after a resting Steen buck had got up in front of me and got the heart pumping a little faster.

Again those quad sticks were a god send and cradled the Ruger snugly as the trigger broke a single Barnes 180-grain bullet struck home. On a Wildebeest it is important not to aim high as the hump on the back can mean you want to aim to that bit higher. It struck home and he darted off for about 10 yards then spun around and dropped dead. A fantastic old bull and unique trophy with a lovely hide with white tail.

CONCLUSION

Wow! That’s it, Namibia is my official favourite destination for overseas travel. You pay a fixed fee that includes all pickups/ travel from airports, accommodation, food, drink and PHs talent. Then you experience really excellent hosts and game species that will make your eyes boggle and you are made to feel part of the family, which to me is everything. I left Stephan’s farm and his staff behind the scenes not to mention his very talented and let’s face it good laugh PHs with a heavy heart as I really want to return and that’s from a chap who hates travelling!

To me that’s it, if you click with the people you hunt with, you experience a time line that no other can imagine and with SMJ Safari’s they offer true hunting, professional PHs but have a laugh with you and do their absolute best to get you a trophy animal. I came away after an extended week with five trophy animals, 2 gold’s, 2 silvers and a bronze, need I say more?

CONTACT DETAILS.

SMJ Safari’s,
email :[email protected]
Mobile +264811288053
Landline +26367232678
Website : smj-safaris.com
English Agent Charlie Harriman
07702 886137