The Andrew McLaren Safaris 2009 Free Hunt Competition Winner was Mr. Alex Adkins, known as ChetNC on Accurate Reloading Forum.
The "Current Client" page of Andrew McLaren Safaris' web site is now, after his hunt, used to give background to that hunt, and make the announcement that Andrew McLaren Safaris is again offering a similar free hunt for 2010. Again, hunters that wish to be considered for winning this free hunt will have to enter a simple competition. The "Hunt Reoprt" that Alex posted as part of his commitment to obey the rules for entering the competition can be seen below the announcement, much further down on this page.
The full details of the announcement and much of the discussion about the offer made in 2009 can be read at the URL: 2009 Free Hunt Offer
I am now pleased to announce that a very similar free hunt is offered under very similar competition rules in 2010.
All members of any hunting forum are invited to enter in a simple competition in which the prize to be won is a Free Safari for Trophy and Herd Management, Varmint and Wingshooting Hunting from Mervilla in 2010
On 22 March 2009 I offered for no particular reason, a very basic hunting safari as a free gift for some deserving and very lucky hunter. This offer was publicized on a number of Hunting Forums. A lot of interest was generated by the postings on a number of these hunting forums.
Immediately a posting the offer a period of great excitement and lively discussion on various forums followed. The outcome of all this was that a 'competition' to win this free hunt' was announced. The rules of entry were developed and a judging procedure was devised and overseen by the chief judge of a panel of three, Steve Robinson, who is know on many hunting forums as 'shakari'. It is history that a lucky hunter, Mr. Alex Adkins from North Carolina, known as ChetNC on Accuratereloading Forum, was declared as the winner. It is also known that he and his young son Mason did indeed take up their winning hunt and enjoyed the hunt, and some additional travel to the Kruger National Park, in July.
ChetNC posted his [favorable] hunt report here: Hunt Report - Andrew McLaren Free Plains Game Hunt 2009
What may not be generally known is that I very much enjoyed guiding Alex on his hunt. I also enjoyed the company and enthusiasm of young Mason very much. His well mannered behavior makes me look forward to hunting with my own grandsons, who are all still to young to really remain quiet. I dare not speak on behalf of others, but those that met Alex and Mason all enjoyed interacting with them. Of all the lovely things about the donation, the excitement of receiving the entries for the competition, the final announcement of the winner and the actual guiding and all else the greatest high for me in the whole of this year so far has been the realization that I have GIVEN in such a manner that nothing was expected in return. I trust that all of the sponsors that have also offered additional value for the 2009 Andrew McLaren Safaris Free Hunt have also experienced the great joy of simply giving, while expecting nothing in return.
We, all involved in the 2009 hunt not only enjoyed it, but also learnt a lot. There is much to be thankful for. Amongst others; I will not easily forget the very kind words and thoughts expressed in a PM to me by Claybuster of AR Forum. I formally thank Claybuster sincerely for the kind words and great attitude in his messages to me. I also formally thank every single sponsor involved with the donation of goods or services: Your unselfish attitude had made the humble hunt that I donated into a humdinger of a prize
I now want to make a very similar offer for hunting in 2010 as the one made for, what eventually became, ChetNC's hunt in July 2009.
What is my free hunt offer for the 2010 hunt?
Andrew McLaren Safaris offers to the winner of the 2010 donated Free Hunt all of the following:
1. Free Daily Rates:For arrival and departure days and, by the winner's choice, a minimum of 5 days up to a maximum of 10 days fully of legal and ethical hunting. Any Sunday in the period will be a "go slow" day. Hunting is offered at and conducted from the accommodation facilities at Mervilla and nearby concessions in true grassveld biome hunt in the Free State guided by Andrew McLaren himself, a PH with 27 years of experience as PH. This is really all inclusive of whatever you will need to hunt here: Pickup from & return to Bloemfontein regional airport, accommodation, meals, laundry and beer and sundowners in moderation. Accommodation will be in a private bungalow with hot & cold running water, bath, basin & flush toilet. Meals are to be enjoyed as a guest in my humble home, just about 100 yards from the sleeping quarters. All licenses, permissions and whatever is required to make your hunt possible are all included. The hunting period can be selected from any of the following three time slots, given as the first day of actual hunting to the last day: First slot: 3rd April to 16th April 2010. Second slot: 20th July to 30th July 2010. Third slot: 11th August to 21st August 2010. Only by special prior arrangement can the winner possibly be accommodated at some other time.
2. Trophy animals: The following are included as part of my free hunt offer: One each of the very best trophy quality males of the following species that you can find on Mervilla or any one of the hunting concessions in my immediate area: Springbuck, blesbuck and steenbuck. Add to these a female springbuck and a female blesbuck to complete the list of free antelope. Speaking of trophies: Plan to leave your tape measure at home, and do not bring a list of SCI or Roland Ward qualifying measurements with you. I am experienced enough to know what a decent mature specimen of each species looks like, and that's what the winner will hunt; not inches! All trophies and other non-trophy animals will be hunted by honest walk & stalk methods: A vehicle is only used to get near the general hunting area. Due consideration for any real physical disability will be given and disabled hunters are not prohibited from entering. It is expected that the winner will be an accomplished hunter - anyone that has done enough to help and assist other hunters to gain the judges' approval will be an experienced or accomplished - if not outright a good - hunter(?). A real novice hunter will have hard time to achieve hunting success in the Free State grassveld! You are guaranteed that not a single animal offered for hunting by Andrew McLaren Safaris is ever a 'put & take' specimen; all are fully wild and have grown up and old in the area where they are to be hunted. Now add to these antelope species a whole bunch of non-trophy animals or varmints, such as jackal, vervet monkey, caracal, porcupine, hyrax and springhare, any number of ducks and geese as well as upland birds and doves and pigeons that you manage to hunt in the time spent here. All antelope trophies will be skinned and field prepared and delivered to a good local taxidermist together with the hunters' taxidermy instructions. But taxidermy [or Dip and Pack] and shipping costs are for the hunter's account. Any varmints or birds that the hunter wants to preserve will be chilled or frozen and delivered to taxidermist for skinning and preparation at the cost of the hunter. Alternatively the winner and/or companion can do his/her own skinning of such varmints him/herself! I will help by showing how to and even assist, but there is simply no way that I will skin a stinking jackal or porcupine for free! Now this is just a very modest offer of three low cost trophies and a few females, but it is just about all that I can honestly afford to give away for free with no strings attached. It may bear repeating that any additional trophies offered by sponsors will be included into the hunt.
3. Additional trophy animals: If the winner of this offer, or a hunting companion, feels that he/she wants to hunt some additional larger animal, or more blesbuck and springbuck, I can arrange to have it hunted at be very reasonable cost. Be guided by the prices listed in my web pages for any additional blesbuck and springbuck as well as black wildebeest, gemsbuck, eland, red hartebeest and zebra as examples of the larger plains game species generally hunted in this area.
4. Additional Hunter/Observer: Furthermore if the taker of this offer wants to share his/her hunting with a partner I will host that partner as a 2X1 client at very low daily rates and trophy fees. These will be determined by direct negotiation with the announced winner. In my setting of these fees the idea will be to just be sure that I cover the additional costs of hosting the second hunter or observer. Furthermore if the taker of this offer wants to share his/her hunting with a partner I will host that partner as a 2X1 client at very low daily rates and trophy fees. These will be determined by direct negotiation with the announced winner. In my setting of these fees the idea will be to just be sure that I cover the additional costs of hosting the second hunter or observer
That's it: Free daily rates for arrival and departure day, plus up to 10 full hunting days and a slow Sunday, 3 free trophy animals, 2 free females and a bunch of other stuff, also all for free, the option to hunt some more at low prices and the option to bring along a hunting or non-hunting partner at low costs.
After posting the notification of the 2009 Free Hunt, a number of very generous souls stepped forward and donated various additional trophies, services and goods to the hunt. I again thank those donors for their contributions, which made the modest hunt donated into something quite remarkable. On behalf of whoever will be declared as the winner of this 2010 Free Hunt, I thank any possible donor of trophies, services or goods that you may wish to contribute towards improving the value of the 2010 Free Hunt. Your donations will be gladly accepted and much appreciated.
Should anyone wish to make any donation of an additional trophy animal to this 2010 Free Hunt, please refrain from specifying a trophy animal species, or restrict your donation to true grassveld species. The 2010 Free Hunt is offered in a grassveld area only and any requirement to have to travel elsewhere to hunt animals that does not occur naturally in the immediate vicinity of Mervilla really complicates arrangements. Again on behalf of the lucky winner I wish to state that a donation called, for example ¼ or ½ Gemsbuck trophy, will also be very welcome. Donors of such partial trophies are assured that the winner's hunt report will reflect on how your donation was actually spent.
The following additional sponsorship was recieved by Saturday 9 January 2010.
A very fine gentleman, who wishes to remain annonymous and so not benifit in any way other than his own self satisfaction of having given, has, agin, just like he did for the 2009 Free Hunt, offered to pay the trophy fee for the first warthog. >br>
Michael Muller of Chanstin Safaris is thanked for his generous offer of a non-trophy gemsbuck bull and accommodation to allow for one day hunting on Malalankwe Game Farm in the North-West Province of South Africa. I do hope that this posting of Chanstin Safaris' name on my web site will be good for their business, and that many clients will be booked by them through this generous offer.
Aubrey Kent of Air Charters & Tourism deserves our gratitude for offering the same quality 'country entry assistance' as he did for the 2009 Free Hunt. - pre issued firearm import permits - meet and greet assistance at Johannesburg International Airport - Hotel Accomodation on the first night if required, incl dinner, drinks, etc - Assistance on Departure from Johannesburg - As well as any transfer or Tour within Johannesburg to do some curious shopping, etc.
The final arrangements for taking up all or part of the offer will be made with the actual winner.
My good friend Luan Lombard boldly stepped forward again and offered the winners choice of one big grassveld plains game trophy and one smaller grassveld plainsgame animal that can readily be hunted in the general Mervilla hunting area. This is a most generous offer for which the winner should be very grateful. I thank Luan for making this hunt so much more worthwhile by his generous offer.
I here make a bold statement about Luan: He is IMHO the best person for any hunter wishing to get a really good kudu and/or a really good waterbuck to contact. He really does have very good specimens of both these species on offer to ethical and serious trophy hunters.
An entrant who had to withdraw his name for personal reasons, and is known on the active forums as Badger Matt, has offered the winner a copy of The Perfect Shot, Mini Edition for Africa. Once announced I will facilitate the actual transfer. I thank Badger Matt for this offer: The winner will have plenty time to study his shot placement on the flight, and have no excuse for poor shot placement!
There may be additional items or trophies donated, but as the prize stands now it is IMHO a really worthwhile hunt for some lucky and deserving winner! Watch this space for further announcements.
Strings attached? None! Posting of an honest hunt report on at least the forum on which the winner first saw this announcement is a pre-condition as per rules made by the judges.
Here are the rules of the competition:
Mr. Steve Robinson, known on many forums as 'shakari' will again act as the chief or convening judge of a panel of 4 judges on the entry evaluation panel and help decide the final winner. The three co-judges (at least for the time being) shall remain nameless. All are well known and well respected members of our forum and we have decided that the rules will be as follows:
1. The hunt offered is as described fully in the original posting on this thread. Whatever else may be donated by sponsors will be added to the hunt as part of the prize. Should the hunter wish to be accompanied by another hunter, both will be guided as 2X1hunters sharing one PH.
2. The hunt MUST be taken up during the period 1st April to 30 August 2010. There are a few time slots reserved for this hunt and only under exceptional circumstances will another possible period be negotiated between the announced winner and the main sponsor(s).
3. Only entries received as e-mails at andrew@mclarensafaris.com and copied to shakari3@mweb.co.za before 23.59 on Sunday 31 January 2010 [South African time] with the words "Entry for Andrew McLaren Safaris 2010 Free Hunt" in the subject line will be considered. The email address from which the entry was sent will be regarded as the hunters official email address.
The email message must contain the following:
o The URL of the forum in which you saw this announcement as well as the "Forum Name" or "User Name" or "Handle" by which you are known on that forum, if you are known by any other than your own name.
o Real name, physical residential or work address and day and/or night contact telephone number(s). [All will be kept confidential by judges.]
o A clear statement that entrant has not yet hunted as a paying client in any country in Africa.
o A clear statement to the effect that entrant accepts the rules and has the funds available to buy a flight ticket and has the time in the period of 1st April to 30th August 2010 actually go on the hunt if chosen as winner.
o A paragraph or so in which the reasons why the entrant wishes to go on this hunt are described. [A note particularly for those with poor command of English or poor writing skills: This is NOT an essay writing competition; but merely a brief paragraph intended to convince the judges that you have good and worthy reasons to want to go on a hunt to South Africa. It will be the actual motivation, and not so much the writing flair with which it is presented, that will be judged. Naturally if you spend some time and do a good job of writing, the judges will easily understand what you want to say, and so better judge your motivation.]
o If an entrant intends sharing the hunt with another hunter and/or or non-hunting observer(s) write a brief motivation why you wish and choose the particular person(s) to accompany you.
o Tell of whatever you have actually done to plough back something into your passion of hunting. Just tell the judges what you have done to assist others to also enjoy the sport of hunting.
o Undertake to write and post a hunt report in the appropriate section of at least one hunting forum within one month of returning from the hunt. Even if it is a 'negative' report it should at least reflect if the basic offer was honored or not.
4. The judges will decide on the winner and announce the winner by posting in this thread on or before 7th February 2010. The judges will also select a first, and second runner ups to whom the hunt will be awarded in case some unforeseen catastrophe makes it impossible for the winner to go. [Note: Andrew McLaren will act only in a support role and not as a member of the evaluation or decision panel of judges.]
5. The announced winner has time until 28 February 2010 to convince the judges that he has bought or booked the required flight ticket. Failing to accomplish this will make his entry and the awarding of the hunt to him/her null and void and the first runner up will immediately be given an opportunity to take up the hunt as winner.
That's all I have to say. Maybe I should just mention that if there is anything unclear about the rules and how the 'competition' will be run, there was a number of questions and answers posted under the discussion of the original 2009 Free Hunt for which the URL is:
Original Offer
In good hunting.
Andrew McLaren
http://www.mclarensafaris.com/
Here is the basic Hunt Report that Alex, as CHetNC, posted about his hunt; but with some comment added and with a slightly different selection of photos than those in his original report.
Alex Adkins' Hunt Report
But, before letting ChetNC speak about how he felt they were treated, let me just show the end result of his hunt: He did not pay for any one of these trophies or cull animals!
Naturally there is a story to tell for each one of these, as well as for another 'trophy'; a young warthog shot as a 'meat' animal. They are arranged [almost] in the order in which he hunted them: Starting with his fisrt animal in South Africa furthest away from the camera, with his third last, a springbuck ewe, clostest to the camera, while the black wildebeest was actually his the animal hunted with success on this safari. Quite a bit of effort was put into getting close enough to be able to get a free range white springbuck - all to no avail! Here is the slightly edited version of Alex's Hunt Report:
McLaren Safari Hunt 2009
Alex Adkins
In case you missed the original thread for this hunt, this report covers the free hunt package I won from McLaren Safaris earlier this year. Original Offer This was my first hunt in Africa and I elected to take along my eight year old son, Mason, to share in the experience. I also elected to extend the basic free hunt to include more hunting at other locations and some touring at Kruger National Park as well.
If you prefer short hunt reports, you might as well pull the plug now because I am a bit long winded.
Hunt preps: Besides email communication with Andrew directly, one of my main resources for preparation was Shakari Steve and his wife Susan’s extensive website, Shakari Connection. I referred back to this site multiple times during my short 3 month prep and found the information there to be spot on for a first time hunter in Africa. I can’t overemphasize how helpful it is to have multiple categories of information condensed into a single, useable format by folks that have been doing this for a good while. I would guess that roughly 90% or more of the general information I needed to plan the safari was in or linked to the Shakari Connection website. There is no telling how many email questions were avoided by simply going to the Shakari Connection and reviewing their information. That being the case, I will skip over much of the more typical preps and simply state that every time I followed their advice, I was satisfied with the results while on safari. Andrew, of course, was able to give me all of the specific information I needed for hunting in and around Free State, so I came away from this hunt fairly satisfied with gear selection and whatnot, primarily due to Steve and Andrew’s advice.
Rifles:
#1 I took a left-handed Tikka T3 Lite Stainless in .308Win topped with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x50 with a German #4 reticule, mounted in Talley lightweight rings, for general plains game. It was stoked with Federal ‘s Trophy Bonded Tipped 165 grain load (P308TT2). This is the newer tipped version of the old Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and grouped reasonably well with the Tikka. I zeroed at 200 yards and carried 2 five round detachable mags and the factory three round mag. The detachable mags made carrying spare ammo simple and quick to reload with no loose ammo rolling around in my pockets.
#2 I took a left-handed Ruger Hawkeye African in .375 Ruger, topped with a Zeiss 1.8-5x38 scope in factory Ruger rings, to fill the slot as a big bore. I used the 270 grain spire point/recoil proof soft tip load from Hornady(#8231). I used Cabela’s 10 round leather ammo wallet with the Ruger logo to tote ammo for this rifle. This rifle was also zeroed at 200. (Ironically, both rifle/load combinations had about the same ballistic trajectories: 2” high at 100 yards, dead on at 200, 6” drop at 300. That made things enormously easier on my brain housing group when switching between rifles.) Both rifles were also equipped with Galco’s Safari Ching Sling. While expensive for a sling, I used it multiple times for offhand, kneeling, and prone shots without sticks and the slings worked perfectly to help steady the rifles. I believe I made 3 shots off of sticks during the hunt, and didn’t feel at all disadvantaged. The sling was also as comfortable as any that I have used for shoulder carry.
Other notable gear:
Binos: I used Steiner 12x40 Predators and was glad I did. I primarily hunt whitetail here in the US and rarely if ever use binos in the woods of North Carolina or even in Texas where I was raised (judging whitetail is fairly easy even at long range) . However, in my humble opinion, hunting without binos in SA is simply not an option for plains game. On multiple occasions, I watched game through my binos when they were near invisible to my naked eye and I consider myself to have fairly decent vision. I used the standard, unpadded, narrow strap and had no issues with it, even when I carried them all day. I also dropped them out of the cruiser at least twice that I can recall and they didn’t seem any worse for the wear. Again, in my opinion, a good set of quality binos that have at least as much magnification as your rifle scope, that are easy to carry and can take a beating ARE REQUIRED. The Steiner 12x40 Predators fit that bill.
Boots: I used a pair of Danner Jackals. These are not the typical Danner stitch down, lace-to-toe heavy leathers that I have used in the past. The Jackals are lightweight with no insulation and have a very soft, non aggressive sole. They are very quiet and comfortable but held up well and had enough ankle support for all day walking. They fit more like moccasins than boots and worked well for all the hunting we did.
Air Travel: The trip out on Delta Flt #200 ex ATL to Jo’berg direct was about as pleasant as one could ask for. I can’t imagine that a coach class flight of that length could be much easier. The flight leaves around 9p and arrives around 5p local time the next day (accounting for the 6 hour time change). We tried to get some sleep after the late supper, then the sun came up about the time we hit the Namibian coast and Windhoek and we began our shortest day in Africa. By the time we hit OR Tambo, the sun had set and we were tired anyway from the travel and ready to hit the sack. Besides, my internal clock was still adjusted to the longer days of the North American summer so it felt later than it really was. Neither Mason nor I had any trouble with jet lag on the flight out and I am convinced that this was due to the timing of the flight itself.
We were met by .458aubs of Air Charters and Tourism. .458aubs' Home Page Aubrey is a straightforward, down to earth guy. He offered to kick in meet and great services as well as advance firearms permits for us as part of the prize package. Aubrey walked me through all the SAPS requirements by email and there were no issues. To be honest, without any previous experience hunting and traveling in SA, I really didn’t have an idea what “meet and greet” would be worth to me ahead of time. However, when you come off a 16 hour plane trip with an 8 year old in a foreign country and there is a man waiting for you to not only help move luggage, but roll you in and out of the SAPS firearms office quicker than greased lightning, then drop you at your accommodation without you ever having to do more than sign your name, well, that type of service is worth whatever you paid for it. I think I was the last guy from my flight in that SAPS office. It was packed when we got there and by the time I cracked a copy of African Outfitter magazine (in anticipation of a long wait), Aubrey had my rifle case from behind the counter and we were signing the SAPS book and rolling out. If I am not mistaken, we were the first guys out of the office. It could not have gone smoother. As far as I am concerned, that was our first trophy of the hunt. So, a big +1 thank you to Aubrey and Air Charter & Tourism for their contribution to the hunt package.
Aubrey dropped us at Brookwood Estate Trout Farm Brookwoods Trout Farm which was our home for the first week of the hunt. Andrew and Cecilia McLaren of McLaren Safaris were waiting on us and though Mason and I were still in a fog from the flight, they immediately made us feel right at home and after introductions we were sacked out in warm beds for the night. Brookwood is a small family-owned trout fishing farm. The bungalows are comfortable and ours was a 2BR/2BA arrangement with a common living area, overlooking the ponds. This portion of the hunt was set up as a cull hunt at a property nearby that simply needed some herd management on a few species. Strictly speaking, it’s not free range hunting by any stretch but it wasn’t advertised as such either. It was, however, a great opportunity to make sure rifles, clients, and PH and all in sync. It also gave me a good opportunity to view and hunt multiple species in a short amount of time.
Here we took two impala rams, a springbuck ram, and a young kudu bull. The 165 grain Federals put the two impalas and the one springbuck down clean with no issues and no recovered bullets.
Here is the first animal to fall DRT to the deadly .308 win.
This was the second animal in Africa, like the first, also DRT!
Then, just to show that it was indeed a herd management cull-type hunt, and not intended to get the biggest and best trophies, this impala was killed, also with one DRT shot, within minutes of the springbuck shown above. So, by mid-afternoon of his first day of hunting the 'herd management collection of trophies' looked like this: LTR No.1 , No. 2 and No. 3! Many would call those good trophies,and they are certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but all were taken as herd management animals.
At the property we hunted there was an oversupply of young kudu bulls that were making a nuisance of themselves by going after the alfalfa. We were allowed and asked to take one out. This one presented a broadside shot for the 375Ruger.
The 270 grain Hornady .375 literally split the heart of the kudu in two (broadside) and was also a complete pass thru although some fragments were evident on the exit wound which was not all that big. For that matter, the exits on the impalas and springbuck where also fairly small but internal damage was significant. It looks like both bullets performed as designed: rapid expansion with good weight retention and penetration. Wound channels were the typical narrow/wide/narrow and obviously did just fine with good shot placement. If anything, I came away with more appreciation for good shot placement than bullet design which was boringly efficient.
While some experienced safari folks might scoff at a management hunt in Gauteng, for me and Mason, it was very relaxing to skip a long drive after a long flight and instead go directly into the field day one and start hunting. This was not put and take hunting by any means and the old eland bull that was also on the cull list had other ideas about the affair (we never got a clear shot). But, we also were able to close to 200 yards without much trouble on the others so Mason and I were able hunt successfully right away. Andrew and his wife Cecilia were great hosts and it was a good start to the hunt. Lots of hunting, lots of game, lots of walking and plenty of good company and good food.
Sometimes the walking got very tiring for young Mason. Here he is in position while the hunters were waiting [in vain] for an old eland bull to present a shot!
We also took time to do a little trout fishing one night (they were hitting on “White Death” flies like crazy) and made a quick run to a location in Limpopo to hunt warthog. There, we narrowly missed taking a nice bushbuck on a short stalk and bagged a female warthog which the landowner needed for the meat. Again the .308 made things look easy with a drt shot. I did see one good boar but he ducked out of sight before I could make the shot and never gave me another.
At the end of the first week, we headed to Luan’s for the braai in Mpumpalanga . Shakari Steve and his wife, Susan, and Rudi (375 fanatic) and his wife made it in to Luan’s as well. Luan has first class guest accommodations and treated us like visiting royalty. We toured Luan’s and got a good look at Bushbuck, Nyala, Kudu and Impala before the braai. Steve presented Mason with a Masai kisu knife which Mason has become fairly attached to, literally. Thanks again, Steve, you made his year. (He now introduces himself and the knife simultaneously- “Hi, I’m Mason and this is my Masai knife.” Thankfully, customs and TSA didn’t attempt to handle it or there may have been headlines.) Luan served up an excellent bushpig and springbuck braai, we all told about half of our best lies and a good time was had by all.
Afterwards, we took a short trip to Kruger as well. Every hunter probably has mixed emotions about Kruger. On the hand, it’s nice to see good game. On the other, it’s frustrating to park the rifles and realize that all of these trophies will die from four legged predators, two legged poachers or eventually starvation. I’m no ecologist but hectare after hectare of busted Mopani pretty much bear out the predictions of others. Eventually, the land will not be able to support that number of animals without some type of correction, either natural (a die off) or man made (the highly unlikely prospect of management through hunting). The real shame is not only the future abrupt loss of animals but the dollars from hunting that could have gone right back into the park’s future. If you are headed to SA for your first hunt (especially if it is PG only) and you don’t mind driving/looking versus walking/shooting, Kruger is probably a worthwhile stop if you are close by. Subtract any one of those criteria and you are likely to be bored.
For the last week, we went to Mervilla, Andrew’s home in Free State. This is classic Free State grassveld hunting. The accommodations at Mervilla are excellent and again, Andrew and Cecilia excel at hosting. We were immediately made to feel at home and the warm beds were welcomed after all the driving. Day 1 we bagged a nice 4 ½ inch steenbuck. We executed a short 3 stage stalk (walk, crouch, crawl) and dropped the steenbuck from around 200. The Federal .308 left a fairly large exit wound on a double lung broadside shot. I am guessing that the reduced mass of the steenbuck was enough to expand the bullet but the round left the body earlier than the impala or springbuck. Regardless, it was a drt shot and the steenbuck was unable to give me the weight retention of the bullet before he expired.
Over the next few days, we were also able to bag 3 blesbuck, a female springbuck, and a even worked in an afternoon of wingshooting. (Truth be known, I enjoy mixed bag wingshooting immensely and Andrew has that in spades around Mervilla. Next time, I will throw in the 12 gauge and plan for more of that.) Free State is flat and cover is sparse. Easy hunting? No. Fun? Yes. There are probably a lot of places where a “hunter” who wants a guaranteed kill can go in South Africa and have someone provide that type of service. Andrew is not one of those guys. His concessions in Free State are set up for fair chase and/or free range only. We executed multiple stalks and stands where some might have complained about the lack of success. Me? Any day in the field is better than a day in the office and I want to be challenged when I go hunting. If I wanted guaranteed kills, I would hunt at the zoo. Andrew makes it pretty clear that he will put you in the zip code of the animal but don’t bother waiting for the game to be served up for you at spitting distance without earning it. Andrew expects his clients to hunt, not just shoot and is not real big on shooting from the truck unless it is a cull or something. That is right up my alley so I enjoyed myself immensely.
We were so elated with the steenbuck that we forgot to take photos! Bad mark for Andrew as a PH! Here a posed photo of the 6th animal that was shot in South Africa. Headshot with a .308 win equals dead hyrax [dassie].
Here two of the blesbuck. First one selected for horn size, second one a herd management animal.
Then early one morning a long wait paid dividends resulting in downing this free ranging female springbuck with a looonngg shot!
I should also note that this was Mason’s first hunt with a rifle. The day he took a hyrax with Andrew’s suppressed Anschutz .22, Andrew and Cecilia hosted a candlelight dinner and toast in his honor, along with another knife. Again, some folks might blow that off and say “What’s the big deal?” But, remember, this is my future lifelong hunting partner. His introduction to not only hunting, but killing, is important. And so, when Dad was worn out from hunting and traveling himself and likely to forget such details, Andrew and Cecilia made sure the date was commemorated properly. To me, that goes well beyond a simple client/outfitter relationship. So, another big thank you to both of them for that.
Then, a day or so later Mason's marksmanship did not disappoint! A ground squirrel. Most unfortunately Mason dod not fare very well in his attempts at steenbuck later. Well, there is always a next time?
We got a chance to head to another private reserve in search of black wildebeest. After taking my 3rd impala of the hunt, we located a good bull while running the impala to the skinning shed. We piled out of the cruiser and took high ground expecting to be able to make a plunging shot from there but no dice. We then made a lengthy downhill stalk to 400 yards but we simply ran out of cover. After waiting them out a bit only to have lechwe arrive and mix in with the wildebeest, we decided the best course of action was to bust them out and try again. So, we simply stood up and walked towards them. The wildebeest bolted and we were able to conduct a second walk and stalk after they fled to high ground. The .375 dropped the bull with authority from 215 yds with a single lung hit. This was probably my favorite animal of the hunt. We located no less than 3 white springbok (an interesting color variation) among the herds while hunting but unfortunately I couldn’t close within (my) killing distance. That’s an obtuse way of saying I missed a couple times. Oh well. It had to happen at some point. Still, I’d rather miss than wound on a plains game hunt. But, Free State springbuck are not easy to get. For me, that made the hunt all the better. I left Mervilla already mentally running through my next hunt.
The 3rd impala of the hunt. Thanks to our Argentinian friend your 'warthog' sponsorship was applied for this trophy.
This is what a REAL TROPHY black wildebeest looks like!
In this report, you probably have come to understand a little about what type of hunter I am and what type of PH Andrew is. Was everything perfect? No. But, I do not experience a problem free life here at home and do not expect it on vacation either. Vehicle troubles, animal inactivity, and other minor issues did occur but to me, that is just life. These things happen and I try to form opinions based on how people react to those situations and not necessarily the situation itself. In my view, Andrew and Cecilia made every effort to ensure that we had a safe, successful and enjoyable hunt. In fact, if that was their goal, they far exceeded it. One of Mason’s last comments to me before we left was “Dad, if you want to leave and just come back and get me sometime later, that would be fine.” There really isn’t a higher approval rating than not wanting to leave, is there?
ChetNC [edited by Andrew McLaren]
This report cannot be left without some comment from the PH. Firstly: Mason was a model hunting companion: Well behaved, quiet, inquisitive and tough enough to stay and keep up with us at all times.Alex was one of those "super"clients: Never a complaint. Shots mostly DRT. An ethical hunter that wants to h-u-n-t and not only get trophies. I really enjoyed their company.
Andrew McLaren