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Hunting Story: Spring Bok in the Kalahari

Hunting Story: Spring Bok in the Kalahari

Having toured the Northern Territories with SMJ Safaris and achieving Kudu, Black Wildebeest and Red Hartebeeste trophies of a lifetime, we were off south to the Kalahari Desert! Situated a further 6.5 hours south of Stephan Jacobs’ farm, he has a concession here for Springbok, Gemsbok, Mountain Zebra, Duiker, Blesbok and Steenbok. Here we traded those thick thorn bushes and acacia trees intertwined with flat land farm bush, with that of the long rolling sand hills and ridges of the Kalahari and more heat, great! We arrived at another concession 200 km from the Botswana border in Southern Namibia, on a 25,000 acre farm owned by Gustaf Holtz and his wife who were our hosts.

Locale

The open ground undulated rather than high peaked dunes in this area, which made stalking a bit easier and the peaks and troughs had a vivid red sand topsoil, with enough thorn and acacia trees for cover but not enough to cut you to shreds at every step! But it meant you could spot your game and then stalking in close using this cover and use the high ground to good advantage. We had planned a two pronged attack on this trip, one hunt for trophy beasts but more importantly cull the herds of springbok that proliferate at this time of year.

Gustaf explained this ground had just passed the rainy season that was early this year and thus the small dunes and plains between were covered with grasses. This in turn attracts game and so large numbers of Springbok could be seen roaming the savannah, with pockets of Gemsbok and those lovely smaller species, such as Duiker and Steenbok.

 

North To South

The dune ridges all laid North to South, as Gustaf explained, this area was once under water, millions of years ago and it gave the area a unique shooting set up, as you could walk the ridges zig zagging the crest to look left and right to spot game in the valleys on both sides.

Yes, being sand, the going was a bit more difficult and temperatures during the day rose to 30-35 degrees (early winter) but Gustaf had a solution to that, we rode 50% of the way in his custom made Namibian Dune Buggy.

4.6 litres of Lexus engine, auto gear box and two wheel drive, the custom built frame and body work was designed to sit above the knee high grass and brush and the front end had radiator, axle and sump guards to push away larger bushes as we ‘surfed’ the dunes, great fun!

 

Springbok

Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) the symbol of Southern Africa and the Rugby team and the name means Jump Buck, these are to me like Roe Deer, midsized antelope with very characteristic antlers and superb pelage. However, here their numbers compete with the cattle, so culling and management is necessary.

In Namibia, the Kalahari species is Antidorcas marsupialis hofmeyri and is the largest species both in weight, up to 100 pounds and horn size, which makes them quite large, certainly when compared to their South African cousins and also to our own Roe Deer! They are both grazers and browsers, so perfectly suited to the Kalahari terrain, as they are not dependent on water on a daily basis.

Again, both sexes carry horns, so your PH is invaluable at sex and age determination; Jacob was spot on every time. However, a big ram looks big, with typical Lyre shaped horns that are thick, ridged and often swept back. They also have a superb pelage of brown top, dissected by a mid-ribbed dark section and white under belly. They are very wary and naturally nervous and so long shots are usually the norm, so a flat shooting round is advised.

 

Me, Happy and Jacob

Again, usually found in small groups dotted around the valleys between the dune ridges feeding on the grasses, Jacob van de Merwe, ‘Happy’ a Kalahari bushman who was always smiling and me slowly edged along the ridge height, stopping at intervals to take in the vistas between foliage. Again; boy do these game species have good eyesight, the slightest movement or glint from a binocular lens and they are off, usually the ewes were straight onto you.

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We had groups come off the valleys to transverse the dunes to reach the other side literally at 25 yards from us, which was fantastic and only hastened the heartbeat and anticipation. Jacob was an ethical hunter and although he spotted some large Springbok rams, if they were alone with a group of ewes, we passed them up to avoid causing a void that would be filled by an inferior male; I like that, my type of hunting.

We spent a morning working the ridges backwards and forwards and then walking the troughs to reappear on the adjacent dune to spot and stalk again. We saw a lot of game and a monster Duiker nearly gave me a heart attack as it waited right up until the point I was next to his resting spot under a thorn bush to explode out of this cover and leg it!

 

Afternoon Stalk

We re-grouped after lunch and tracked a new area and Jacob soon spotted a lovely ram but 300 yards away and so we slipped off the ridge and begun the slow and low stalk in. It was low too; the grass height here was only knee deep and very few trees to hide behind. Jacob suggested we crawl and this is where I was glad of the moleskin trousers, although the PHs in shorts seem impervious to the hot sand and thorns.

We inched our way forward on hands and knees, and belly at some points, only rising to keep pace with the grazing Springbok in front. At 100 yards, and after 35 minutes crawling, Jacob gestured to get ready; so I slowly rose to my knees, when gazes from the game were averted. I lined up on a nice Springbok, then Jacob said, “wait there’s an older male coming, a much better choice”

So I hung fire and sure enough an old ram, with thick and really hooked horns at the tops, emerged through the thorn bushes. Before he could make another step I was on him and one shot in the brisket from the Ruger 300 Win Mag and he dropped straight away without knowing we were there, perfect. Though hunting is about killing, there is also great pleasure in a perfect shot such as this, as it probably means your quarry does not know what hit them and the transition from live to dead is near instantaneous!

We hurried to take the photographs as Springbok have a characteristic set of hairs that rise after death on their back like a dorsal fin of a fish that emits a scent like honey and makes for an interesting picture.

 

Cull Stations

We had all collected some nice trophies but culling the Springbok was actually taking preference as it helps the farmer, gives the hunter cheap sport and provides excellent meat into the economy. My hunting buddies, Charlie, Julian, Derek and Bruce senior all took some cracking shots at springbok for the pot from static positions on the sand dune ridges up to 400 yards. Here CJ’s (PH) 7mm Rem Mag Ruger Hawkeye, they like Rugers I have found, shot really flat with the factory 165-grain Barnes bullets.

Here several shots were taken on suitable cull animals, then the pickup was called in to collect by the bushman and hung up on the back on racks to cool. The hunters moved on to another ridge and started again, so you could cover a good amount of ground. In between the cull animals each member also took a trophy beast and in the evening we feasted on Springbok steaks, although I declined the local delicacy of stuffed Springbok anus!

 

Conclusion

Another great experience with SMJ Safaris, with a cracking trophy Springbok coming back to Blighty and some well earned cull animals to help with the management programme. To complete my Namibian adventure I will be after Gemsbok/Oryx, a species I have always wanted to hunt, especially in the Kalahari dune scape.

Stephan can arrange not only traditional Safaris but also specialised big game hunting, mountain concessions, wildlife photography tours in some of the best hunting grounds in Namibia. With all prices up front and excellent value with all the comforts of home or true back breaking wilderness hunts with the Nyae-Nyae region for the more adventurous.

 

Contact

SMJ Safaris on
email :[email protected]
Mobile +264811288053
Landline +26367232678
Website: smj-safaris.com
English Agent Charlie Harriman
07702 886137

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