South Africa Hunting with Johan Botes of Ubathi Game and Hunt
At a Safari Club auction in March of 2007 I won the bid for two weeks in South Africa with Johan Botes who runs a safari business called Ubathi Game and Hunt. The last time I went to South Africa, it was winter and very dry with very little green to be seen. This time, I wanted to go when things were still a little green so had the safari scheduled from the middle to the end of April which is fall in the southern hemisphere. I think the timing was good since things were still a little green, it was still fairly warm during the day though quite cold at night and there was only a day or two when it rained a little bit.
The center of operations for Ubathi Game and Hunt is Kimberly, also home to the De Beers Diamond Mining Company and "The Big Hole” which is a very deep hole, now abandoned, where diamonds were at one time mined. Due to timing of airline flights, my first night in South Africa was spent in the Afton Guest House which, while not extremely glamorous, is a safe, clean place to stay in Johannesburg.
The next day, I few into Kimberly and was met by one of Johan’s assistants, Ruark. After getting settled in a guest house, Ruark took me to the range of a rifle club located on De Beers Mining Company property where I took a few shots to make sure the scope adjustments of my firearms hadn’t come out of adjustment during airline baggage handling. Actually, if a good gun case is used (I used a Strong Case), the chance of gun damage is remote in well constructed firearms built to take heavy recoil.
Having but one medium size gun safe, part of which has been appropriated by my wife for her valuables, and enjoying handloading for and experimenting with different cartridges, firearms with interchangeable barrels hold a great attraction for me. I have almost 30 different cartridges to choose from but with airline weight restrictions (50 lbs. currently unless you want to pay extra), I had to settle on two. I chose a Thompson/Center Arms Encore handgun chambered in 460 S&W Magnum and a Blaser R93 chambered in 375 H&H Magnum both topped with Leupold scopes. I had a fairly cheap 3-9X Leupold scope in quick detach rings on the Blaser which makes for easier packing; taking the scope off the rifle in my opinion puts less stress on the rifle and scope during baggage handling. The Encore was topped with a Leupold 2.5-8X VX handgun scope on a 4 ring T’SOB SSK base which, unlike other bases and scopes I’ve tried, actually stands up to 460 S&W Magnum and 500 S&W Magnum recoil. Both firearms are quite accurate and capable of less than 1 MOA groups.
A short time at the range demonstrated that both guns were zeroed. Ruark took a shot with the 460 S&W Magnum and was impressed with the recoil. I’ve shot the 460 and 500 S&W so much that only the recoil of the 500 S&W impresses me now. How grateful I am to be living in the U.S.A. where I can collect barrels unlike South Africa where I’d be limited to three and that only after jumping through hoops and renewing a license every few years.
The day after my arrival in Kimberly, we went to a game farm. If you don’t want to hunt in a game farm, don’t go to South Africa. At one time, wild game in South Africa was getting to be in short supply. Laws were changed so that if land was appropriately fenced, the game on the landowner’s property was considered to be his/her property. Since wild game then had value, landowners had the motivation to protect the animals. The big difference between farms in South Africa and the U.S.A. is that they consist of thousands of acres instead of the several hundred acres that would be considered a big U.S.A. farm. The first place we hunted consisted of, as I recall, between 6,000 and 8,000 acres.
Several thousand acres is a LOT of ground to cover so vehicles are used. The vehicle of choice in South Africa is frequently the Toyota Hilux or Land Cruiser. I’ve been VERY impressed with the hills these vehicles will climb and the rocks and holes they will go over without damage. The animals we were looking for were Zebra and Red Hartebeest. I wanted to hunt the horned animals with the handgun and made it known what my limits were. Off hand, I would want to be within 50 yards, shooting sticks will do out to 100 yards on the larger animals and for shots up to 200 yards, I would require an extremely good rest; Johan provided a sandbag I could rest on the vehicle.
Initially we saw Zebra but they also saw us. They make a very funny noise. When I first heard it, I thought it was some kind of bird. The Zebra took off so we kept looking for Red Hartebeest. Red Hartebeest have to be about the dumbest looking antelope but they’re not so dumb that they won’t run if they see you. We finally maneuvered within a lasered 155 yards of a bull with a nice set of horns and I took my shot. It was somewhat of an angled shot but the animal was down but not entirely out within 30 to 50 yards. I plugged it again with my 460 S&W shooting Hornady 250 gr. SST/ML (ML stands for muzzleloader) and it appeared to kind of deflate and was entirely still. The owner of the property said that this was the first animal ever taken there with a handgun. He seemed impressed with how well it worked and with the noise thereof (it is braked).
The Zebras inexplicably decided to come our way after I shot the Red Hartebeest. I will blame my poor shooting on adrenaline, i.e., “buck fever” and perhaps because it was moving though not running. The first shot with the handgun passed clear through the abdomen but didn’t slow it down a lot. I finally put a bullet through the lungs at a lasered 156 yards, which put it down promptly. The proper places to shoot a Zebra, by the way, are in the head if you want a rug or at the top point of the chevron on the shoulder (how handy for God to put that mark there).
The next day, we spent all day cruising the veldt looking for Duiker and Steenbok. We saw various specimens but they were either female, were immature or saw us first. Finally, toward the end of the day, a good Duiker ram was spotted at what I understood to be 180 yards. Not being familiar with their size, I guess I thought 180 yards was believable and I was excited. The persons I hunted with were more comfortable speaking Afrikaans than English. Their English is far better than the minuscule amount of Afrikaans I know but the accent can lead to misunderstanding. In any case, the animal was at 80 rather than 180 yards and I shot over it. It gave us another chance at a much closer range but the driver didn’t see it to get the vehicle stopped in time for me to shoot it.
At the beginning of the safari, I had asked Ruark what animal he thought was the most difficult to hunt and he without much hesitation said Kudu. By the end of the safari, he had decided that Duiker and Steenbok were the most difficult animals to hunt. We actually saw several nice Kudu within quite reasonable handgun range but their horns are too large to fit with our home décor.
The next day, we traveled to a nice guest house/farm on the Vaal River. That evening during the next couple of days we did some fishing and hunting. We caught no fish but that’s OK; I was the kind of kid who would try my lures in a swimming pool if no other venue was available. A few hours spent looking at a river or lake and a fishing line are good hours.
Johan said there was a very good European Fallow Deer (an animal introduced to South Africa from Europe) and Impala on the property so the next day we went looking. We spotted the Fallow Deer at the end of a tree line and stalked it. When we got to within shooting range, no Fallow Deer was to be seen even with Johan’s binoculars so we went closer and it erupted from the end of the treeline. Fallow Deer have a brownish coloration with whitish spots that can be mistaken for sunlight going through leaves and hitting the ground. Their antlers also kind of look like branches. These deer exploit this well since their modus operandi is to get in brush and then freeze.
We returned in the afternoon and spotted it again about the time it spotted us and departed. It didn’t go far though; it had stopped in a clump of brush and trees and was standing very still thinking we didn’t see it and we almost didn’t. I put a shot between the fork in some tree limbs into its lungs from an estimated 60 or 70 yards and it expired shortly. Johan said that a few weeks before, another hunter had tried for it at an even closer range with a rifle and missed it. I don’t know how well it will score and Johan wasn’t familiar with the scoring system on Fallow Deer but in any case, it should look nice on my wall. Interestingly, it had a fleshy swelling on the left side of its face which turned out to be from an old and well healed maxillary bone fracture.
And yes, I know it’s a real dorky hat, but it keeps the sun off my neck. The first day I hunted, I thought long pants, a broad brimmed hat and long sleeved shirt was all the sun protection I needed. I was wrong and used sunscreen religiously for the rest of the trip.
The following afternoon, we went looking for the big Impala ram. After some searching, we found and spooked it but it made the mistake of stopping and looking at us. I used the 460 S&W Magnum to put a bullet just medial to the left shoulder which then angled through the chest, penetrated the right rib cage and came to rest in several pieces under the skin of the right chest; this was the only bullet recovered during my trip. It was a “bang flop” so likely the bullet also hit the spine. Anyway, the bullet managed to go through two or three feet of Impala.
Kimberly is in the Northern Cape of South Africa. Other animals I wished to hunt were the Vaal Rhebok, Klipspringer and Cape Grysbok which, according to Johan, are better hunted in the Eastern Cape. Johan, by the way, has a large network of friends and excellent knowledge of the habits and distributions of African game animals.
We traveled to the Hex Valley which is an agricultural area of South Africa; extensive vineyards specifically. Johan’s friend Jacob, has extensive vineyard holdings there and the grapes, of which I had many, were EXCELLENT. Fortunately, being accustomed to a vegetarian diet for many years (yeah, a vegetarian hunter but not an animal rights activist), I can eat grapes, drink apple juice and drink loads of prune juice all without “consequences.”
While in the Hex Valley, I stayed in a guesthouse while Johan stayed with a friend. The guesthouse is worth mentioning. It’s well over 100 years old but is in reasonable repair and very clean. Even when I returned late at night or in the very early morning after hunting, the table was set on a white tablecloth, with a white napkin, silverware, etc. It was very appreciated by this camo clothed somewhat dirty hunter.
Jacob, unlike all other persons I’ve hunted with in South Africa, had a big 4X4 Ford pickup we used for hunting. The starter seemed a bit hesitant at times but it took us successfully over some very rough terrain and we weren’t stranded anywhere. The first animal we hunted around the Hex Valley was for what was rumored to be a very good Vaal Rhebok.
Since property owners in South Africa also own the game animals on their property they, by and large make the rules for hunting it with a few exceptions. For instance, Ardwolves, of which we saw several, are protected and can’t be hunted anywhere. You can, however, use whatever caliber of gun your PH approves of, hunt at night, use a spotlight, etc. We piled into Jacob’s truck one evening to hunt Vaal Rhebok. This isn’t the way I had envisioned hunting Vaal Rhebok but I didn’t think it my place to tell South Africans how to hunt in South Africa.
Anyway, we spotted a herd of Vaal Rhebok. Actually, my companions spotted them and actually knew what they were. I wouldn’t have been able to tell them from Impala. After taking the big Ford Pickup over what seemed to be impossibly rocky ground it was determined that there were no big rams in the group.
We finally spotted a large Vaal Rhebok ram an estimated 120 to 130 yards away. In reality, even a large Vaal Rhebok is smaller than a smallish adult Whitetail Deer so I should actually say that it’s horns were very respectable in size for a Vaal Rhebok. The animal was starting to leave when I put a bullet right behind its right shoulder and stopped it. It pays, by the way, to know your scope well when you have to use it in the dark. Sometimes, width of field is worth more than magnification. It’s significantly more difficult to get a handgun scope lined up so anything can be seen at night than it is during the day. The Leupold 2.5-8X handgun scope is nice in that it has a projection on the power adjustment ring to facilitate movement of said ring. When completely to the right, the magnification is at 8X, with completely to the left it’s at 2.5X and when straight up the magnification is about 4X.
With the Vaal Rhebok in the bag, the next days search on a nature preserve encompassing about 85,000 acres, was for Klipspringer. According to the caretaker of the place, no one had hunted Klipspringer there for about 13 years; thanks to Johan, I got a very exclusive hunting opportunity.
In Afrikaans, klip means rock and springer means jumper. The Klipspringer lives up to its name. It lives in rugged terrain and jumps from rock to rock. They also like to stand on top of ridges where they can survey the surrounding terrain. This penchant for high places turned out to be the Waterloo for the klippie I shot.
Once again, in Jacob’s Ford, we traveled on what South Africans call roads. We spotted my Klipspringer whilst going down what seemed like an impossibly steep, somewhat level in places, “road” littered with small boulders. It was so steep, I told Jacob that once we got down, I would be willing to walk back up and put less strain on his truck. Actually, I was surprised that the brakes and tires (that would be tyres in South Africa) kept us in place and thought we might be all walking out.
Anyway, we spotted a group of three Klipspringer on some rocks about one third of the way up from the base of a mountain estimated to be a little over 200 yards away. By the time I had gotten set up for a handgun shot (picture trying to get a shot with the nose of the truck pointing about 45 degrees down) and had figured out which one I was to shoot, they had disappeared. The ram’s undoing was when it went to the top of the mountain and stood on top of a rock an estimated 180 yards away.
I should say something about the ranges quoted. In all cases, I used the range estimates of a professional hunter. Part of their qualification test to be a professional hunter is in range estimation and since they’re familiar with the animals and the terrain and have shot hundreds more animals than I, I consider their range estimates more valid than mine. In this case one PH estimated the range to be a little less than 200 yards and another said about 180 yards. In any case, after they assured me they wouldn’t laugh if I missed, I took the shot and connected.
Shot placement on smaller animals when using a big bore high velocity handgun or rifle cartridge should be mentioned. If you don’t wish to ruin the cape, it’s best to hit the animal just behind the diaphragm or even in the abdomen. For the smaller animals, a cartridge like the 22 Hornet or 222 Remington would be ideal but those cartridges weren’t one of my choices. With the 460 S&W Magnum, even the abdominal shots on the smaller more fragile animals were rapidly fatal. In the case of the Klipspringer, which has quill like hair and a cape that is easily damaged, I aimed for the anterior abdomen. I was told that the animal moved to the right just as I shot (I couldn’t see the movement because of recoil) and the bullet went through both thighs and still killed it. Interestingly, 460 S&W Magnum shots that went through small animals broadside were extremely effective and the exit wounds weren’t all that huge. Shots that exited after traveling a bit lengthwise (as in a Cape Grysbok I shot) produced huge exit wounds.
Another animal we looked for in the Hex Valley area was Steenbok. Despite covering a lot of ground, we didn’t see any worth shooting. Population density of Steenbok and Duiker is rather low. They’re also small and tend to hunker down and hide easily in tall grass or brush.
That evening after taking the Klipspringer, we went out at night looking for Steenbok and whatever varmints might present themselves. It seemed a pity to take my rifle all the way to South Africa and not use it, so I decided to use my 375 H&H Magnum loaded with Hornady 300 grain FMJ RN bullets as my varmint gun. These bullets loaded over RL-15 give me less than 1 MOA at 100 yards and I thought would be adequate for Jackal and cats.
The first animal spotted was an African Wildcat, which I connected with at a range of about 100 yards. It looks a lot like a domestic cat. In fact, I saw several domestic cats in South Africa, though a little smaller, with very similar coloration so have to suspect there is some illicit interspecies sexual activity going on in the veldt.
The next varmint spotted was a Jackal at about 90 yards. A .375 caliber solid through its chest stopped it in a few yards. I should mention scopes again here. A scope is very nice for aiming and seeing at night but when set to 9X at 100 yards isn’t very good for a running shot on a Jackal. After my shot, the Jackal ran and I attempted to shoot it again not knowing for sure that I had hit it the first time. By the time I was kind of getting things lined up it fell over dead but if it hadn’t, I would have likely missed it.
After our stay in the Hex Valley we headed a bit further south into the Eastern Cape to the farm of Francois, one of Johan’s friends, to hunt Cape Grysbok. Francois’ grows grapes, persimmons, “custard apples” and a variety of other fruits. Cape Grysboks come out at night to feed between the rows of grape vines and fruit trees.
Shortly after we arrived at the farm, the word came that baboons were raiding the grapes and they we were going to shoot some. I will preface this story by saying that South Africans in general are very good and polite drivers. They are much more competent than a lot of U.S.A. drivers I see that have to pass you and then slow down, don’t know how to make a left turn, block two lanes of traffic entering a parking lot, etc. The South Africans do not, however, drive slowly on dirt roads and many don’t wear seat belts. Another guy and I piled into the back of a pickup with Francois driving and headed up a rutted dirt road at perhaps 100 mph (or maybe that was 100 kph). In any case, I held on to the truck with one hand and to my rifle with the other for dear life.
We spotted the baboons and raced toward them stopping perhaps 35 yards away and commenced shooting. Once again, a scope set to 9X isn’t best for shooting running baboons. I had envisioned a more sedate approach with shots taken for a bit longer range. I think my plan would have been better but, in South Africa, do what the South Africans do and learn from your mistakes. In any case, quite a number of shots were fired and the baboons all escaped but were really scared; at least I think they were.
That night, we went out hunting Cape Grysbok. We spotted a number of them but none worth shooting. The theory was that hunting Grysbok with a full moon wasn’t as productive as hunting them with less light. The next night we went out again and had more success.
What appeared to be a good male Grysbok was spotted and I shot it. It turned out that the one horn that had been seen was of very good length but the other one had broken off probably in a duel with another ram. I doubt my wife would be impressed with a one horned Grysbok on my wall so we went looking for another one. We found a good one between rows of grapevines and fruit trees (they plant both trees and vines in some rows). I took it at about 30 yards as it was entering the cover of vegetation. Apparently, a neighbor of Francois wanted to know what we were shooting saying it sounded like a “canon.” I was using E.A.R., Inc. electronic hearing protectors so it didn’t sound so bad to me.
After collecting the Grysboks, we headed to Cape Town for some sightseeing. We had talked about doing some ocean fishing there but that never materialized. The view of Cape Town from Table Mountain is excellent.
After returning to Kimberly, it was time to try for Steenbok and Gray Duiker again. We once again covered a lot of ground and saw Steenbok but either females or rams going fast in the other direction. That evening I did collect a nice ram Steenbok at a range of about 90 yards. I also shot over a nice Gray Duiker at about the same range; no excuse except I was fairly cold and tired. I did, later in the evening, get a good Kalahari Springbok though.
The next day was to be my last day hunting and my last chance at a Duiker. We went to another farm where they were known to be. This farm was near a river and included harvested corn fields and brushveldt. I took a nice Gray Duiker at about 50 yards. Duiker, when alarmed, tend to lay down very still behind brush. Also, somewhat unique for antelope, they’ll also eat eggs and small birds. Mine was behind brush so it was nice to have a 250 grain hunk of copper and lead to throw at it. It was a another bang flop; no big surprise considering the handgun used.
I later took a porcupine at about 90 yards with my handgun; not a very glamouros game animal but the quills should make an interesting display. There were a lot of Spring Hare in the area. We had offered Owen, the tracker/skinner, 10 Rand if he could catch one and he declined. Finally Ruark, demonstrating excellent Rugby type running and diving ran one down and returned with it holding it by the tail. Some black guys took the Spring Hare away for a meal.
The next day, it was back to Joberg and the U.S.A. I got back to Ohio only about 4 hours late despite a power failure at the Joberg airport that delayed our departure there by one and a half hours, missing my first Washington, DC flight, etc. I even eventually got all my baggage in good condition (my suitcase made it to my front porch at 11 PM on the day of my return courtesy of United Airlines).
After the Hunt Impressions of 9/2/09
Well, it has been a bit over a year since I returned from my South Africa safari. When I got home, I shot my 460 S&W Magnum handgun on paper and learned that the scope was on the flitz; it was 9 or 10 inches high at 100 yards which probably explains overshooting a Duiker and poorly placed shots on a Kalahari Springbok towards the end of the hunt. The scope was repaired by Leupold promptly and with no cost to me other than the shipping costs to Leupold; I love that company.
I still don’t have the trophies from my hunt. The mounts are done but the taxidermist still hasn’t received a permit or permits needed for export. It turned out that the Duiker, Kalahari Springbok and the European Fallow deer didn’t make the Safari Club International record book but some of them did very well. As of the time of their entry about mid summer, the Vaal Rhebok was number 2 in the handgun category, the Klipspringer was number 8 in the handgun category, the Cape Grysbok was number 9 in the handgun category, the Steenbok was number 12 in the handgun category, the Red Hartebeest was number 15 in the handgun category and the Southern Impala placed number 34 in the handgun category. Of course, as more people hunt with handguns, I’m sure larger trophies will be taken in the future; perhaps by me.
The Trophies Arrived on 11/25/09
On 11/25/09, which is about 1 year and 7 months after my safari ended, my mounted trophies were delivered to my door. Since, for obscure reasons, it took about 5 months for my trophies to get to Life-Form Taxidermy, that means it took about 1 year and 2 months from the time Life Form Taxidermy got them until I had them. Considering that on my first safari, it took almost 3 years for fewer trophies to be mounted, I consider the promptness of Life-Form Taxidermy to be exemplary. My wife also remarked that these trophies look better than the ones I had done in the U.S.A. and the mounting and delivery of them cost significantly less than the first batch of fewer animals.
For those wanting safari trophies mounted, I would suggest doing some research on taxidermy options. It is especially important to find out from other hunters which taxidermists do good and prompt work. Since some safari operators get a comission from taxidermists for referrals, they are not the ones to get an unbiased recommendation from.
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© Martin J. Lohne 2008. Written 5/5/08. Revised 11/25/09