As a boy in country Queensland I dreamt of big game hunting in Africa. Over 40 years passed before the dream became reality. Through a South African mate I met George and Ann, veterans of the Rhodesian war, who have created their own paradise-on-earth in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. George offered to let me hunt on his farm if I was able to get there within the next 6 weeks! A frenzy of activity followed and I was booked on a Singapore Airlines flight from Brisbane to Johannesburg on the first Monday in June. A hint for married blokes – details of a trip like this should be discussed with the ‘trouble and strife’ before making the bookings!

Although I could have used rifles supplied by George and other farmers who had offered their properties for hunting, I was keen to use my own rifle – a Sako Model 75 stainless synthetic in .338 WIN. Armed with some valuable advice from Chris (Bluey) Pritchard of Queensland Gun Exchange, I embarked on the process of acquiring the correct paperwork to export my firearm and ammunition to Africa, obtain a temporary firearms license from the South African Police and import my firearm back into Australia. This involved presenting 100 points of identification to become a registered Client in the Integrated Cargo System, applying to the Department of Defence for a permit to export a firearm (allow 10 working days for this) and applying for a permit to bring a firearm back into Brisbane airport from the Queensland Police. The SAP520 form to apply for a temporary firearms license in South Africa was obtained off the internet, along with instructions on how to fill out the form. I prepared two copies of all documents and carried them separately.

The rifle was packed into a rigid shotgun case by separating the barrelled action from the stock. In this format the case was easy to carry, wasn’t obviously a firearm and wasn’t hazardous to fellow airline travellers’ shins. This case was capacious enough to carry other ‘necessary’ hunting accessories – binoculars, knife, GPS, sling, spare ‘scope etc. The flimsy catch-locks on the case were supplemented with a couple of hasps and small padlocks.

The next task was to select the appropriate projectiles to use in Africa and work up loads, based on the premise that I would use one load for everything. A maximum of 5 kilograms of ammunition is allowable for carriage on most airlines, restricting me to 100 rounds. Since their arrival in Australia in 2005, I had been using Nosler Accubond projectiles, first in 225gr and more recently in 180gr to hunt pigs and goats – with impressively consistent results. I was often questioned about my choice of calibre for pigs and goats as the .338 is a lot of gun for relatively small game, but I have been “practising for Africa” for a long time and I shoot the calibre comfortably and accurately. After discussion with my hunting buddy, Geoff Baker of SLR Coatings, the Australasian agent for CeraKote ceramic firearms coatings, I purchased 100 rounds of Winchester Supreme ammunition loaded with 225gr Nosler Accubonds. A final trip to the range was used to sight both scopes, the primary one a Leupold Vari-XIII 3.5-10x40 and a spare Leupold Vari-XII 3-9x40 in Leupold QD mounts, to be spot-on at 200m and confirm velocity and accuracy – 25mm groups at 100m and average velocity of 2775fps.

The flight arrived into Jan Smuts airport at 7.00am after a gruelling 24 hours of travel. I was unable to sleep on the flight because I was as excited as a 5 year-old on Christmas Eve! I was met by Micheal, my guide for the next 10 days, and warned that processing of my firearm may take several hours. Only 10 minutes later we were walking towards the carpark – it pays to have the paperwork in order! Micheal is a young bloke in his mid-twenties and worked for a number of years as a hunting guide on his father’s game ranch, Panata, and contributed in no small way to making my stay in South Africa the experience of a lifetime. When I explained that number 1 on my list of plains game was a Kudu bull, Micheal cautioned that I may not see a Kudu – many people have sought a “Ghost of the Veldt” for years without success.

We had an early lunch and drove north through Pietersburg and on to the Limpopo River, the border with Botswana. I am a Food Technologist by profession and for a number of years I had been drying ‘biltong’ from venison using a South African recipe for the spice mixture and modestly believed that I could make the best biltong in Australia. In South Africa every small town has a butcher and we were encouraged by an old ‘biltong hunter’ to stop at a one-horse town called Vivo to purchase ‘the best biltong’. Over the next 10 days I purchased Kudu, Eland, Ostrich and Impala biltong, but none was in the same class as the beef biltong from Vivo – my mouth waters at the memory.

An emerald jewel in the brown Winter landscape

As we crested the last hill to look down into the Limpopo Valley, the vast expanses of water that were the aquaculture ponds developed by George and Ann, our hosts for the next few days, stood out like an emerald jewel in the brown winter landscape. In the last hour of daylight George gave us a quick tour of the farm and we marveled at his vision in damming the Limpopo to provide enough water for his aquaculture operation through the dry season. The lush marshes and waterways and hundreds of hectares of irrigated cultivation provide a haven for many species of game, including Waterbuck and Bushbuck, Hippo and Crocodile.

Boss-George detailed Jeshua, a man who had served him for over 25 years, to guide my hunting over the next three days. At day-break Michael drove us to the virgin bush that covered the southern part of George’s extensive farm. We walked into a Mopane forest and soon cut the spoor of a lone Zebra stallion. Over the next 4 hours we tracked the Zebra at a pace not much short of a trot and several times the stallion circled around and back onto our tracks. I was astounded to see not only the zebra tracks over our own tracks left less than 30 minutes earlier, but Impala, Kudu, Baboon and Duiker in serious numbers! As the day progressed, the temperature increased into the 30’s and my standard kit of Camelbak pack with 3 litre water bladder, first aid kit, GPS, meat saw, sheath knife, digital camera, small tripod, binoculars on shoulder harness and spare ammunition (10 rounds on the belt and 6 rounds in a butt sock, 4 rounds in the magazine), and a rifle weighing over 4 kg (8½ lb in the old money), started to make themselves felt. We eventually reached a hill and climbed to the top to glass the surrounding country. We watched a group of Kudu cows and calves feeding and walking away to the west, a family of Warthog with vertical tails trotting south-west, a young Waterbuck bull and two cows feeding to the north-east and then saw a small herd of Zebra feeding to the north over a kilometre from the hill.

I instructed Jeshua to stay on top of the hill, something he was evidently happy to do after the morning’s exertions, and direct me onto the Zebra with arm signals. About 15 minutes later I was able to see the undisturbed Zebra herd through the bush and crept and crawled along behind them for some time trying to select a big animal to shoot. It was then that I saw, at the periphery of my vision, the flicking ear of a huge Kudu bull in the shade of a large thornbush. I was peering from under a small thornbush on my elbows and knees and remember twisting my head back as far as I could to take in the enormity of this animal. When alive these imposing antelope appear much larger than when they are dead.

This was the animal that I had come to Africa for and my heart-rate immediately trebled as the adrenalin hit my system. The bull was nearly facing me at about 50 metres distance. I had been inordinately lucky to have approached this close to this ‘Ghost of the Veldt’ under the cover of the Zebra herd. While attempting to control my breathing and steady my adrenalin-charged muscles, I concluded that any attempt to move broadside to the bull would alert him to my presence. I slowly adopted the prone position, looking up at the bull through sparse grass, formed a mental picture of the antelope’s anatomy and shot him through the chest. The Kudu decamped with staggering speed and vanished in the bush. I was still attempting to pick up his tracks in the confusion of spoor in the dry sandy ground when Jeshua arrived, guided by my Cooee, about 10 minutes later. Jeshua stopped, sniffed the air and listened intently for a few moments and then hared off in the direction of a thornbush whose top branches could be seen thrashing about another 150 metres into the bush. We arrived just as the great Kudu bull expired, a truly magnificent trophy! With mixed feelings, sadness at the passing of such a beautiful animal and delight at the realization of a dream, I prepared to take the requisite photos.

The ‘Ghost of the Veldt’ – where he fell

We then walked back to the ute and Michael drove us to the farm to collect 4 strong workers to help us load the Kudu. While butchering the animal to supplement the diet of the 250 workers who live and work on the farm, Jeshua was able to recover the projectile, weighed later at 141.3gr (62.8% retained weight). The Accubond projectile had performed exactly as promised by Nosler, entering the chest beside the right leg, severing the aorta above the heart, destroying the left lung and coming to rest under the skin behind the last rib on the left hand side.

After a 2-hour siesta, Jeshua drove us back to Zebra country in one of George’s utes. When still a couple of kilometres short of our destination we drove past a Black-backed Jackal crouched about 30 metres off the track. It’s unusual to see Jackal during the day and as Jeshua brought the ute to a halt, I baled out of the cab and chambered a round. The Jackal chose, at his peril, to run directly away from me and at about 100 metres the Accubond entered his right rear leg, traveled through his abdomen and exited his left foreleg. The energy expended into the fox-sized animal by the Accubond spectacularly blew the Jackal about a metre into the air, completely eviscerated him and dumped the (empty) rabies vector onto the ground. George was pleased that I had taken the trouble to eliminate this pest, as most hunters won’t waste the time and ammunition. I explained that it is second-nature to Australian hunters to help landowners with pest control.

My reputation as the ‘Rain Man’ was justified that night by about 12mm of rain – the first June rain in living memory. Daybreak found us back in the Mopane forest chasing Zebra, the overnight rain making tracking easy. We first followed a family of Warthog with a big boar, but lost them and then cut the tracks of 6-7 Zebra. We followed the Zebra a long way over the next 5 hours and came up with them three times, but each time they were alert and galloped off as soon as we spotted them. On the return trek to the ute I spooked a big Warthog boar near the marshes and attempted to chase him through the scrub, but the thornbush does not allow rapid movement, the Warthog escaped easily and I learnt how to dig out deeply imbedded thorns.

We walked the several kilometres back to the house and enlisted Micheal to take us to the south end of the property in his ute. As we drove along the track beside the fallow cultivation where we had seen a Waterbuck family the day before, we were especially watchful in case they had returned. Jeshua spotted the Waterbuck calf at the edge of the rushes, not 20 metres from the track and warned that the bull must be here somewhere. I chambered a round as I baled out of the ute and Michael drove slowly on. Not 5 metres from the track, invisible until that moment, the Waterbuck bull exploded out of the rushes in front of me and ran out across the stubble from last year’s crop. He propped at about 120 metres and turned broadside to look at me. The loud report of the .338 was followed by the distinct crack of the bullet’s passage through the air and the solid thunk of the bullet striking. The bullet knocked the Waterbuck off his feet and he disappeared from sight in the stubble. Along with Gemsbok and Sable, the Waterbuck is one of the most handsome antelope in Africa and this one was an exceptional example with pale symmetrical horns curving to black tips.

Waterbuck bull, author, Jeshua, Micheal

At daybreak the next day we were hunting Zebra again. We climbed a hill to search for them first and saw Waterbuck and Kudu cows and a number of Warthog and Ostrich, but could see no Zebra. Once again the Zebra led us a merry chase through the Mopane forest, this time a group of seven. After several hours of tracking, a number of times doubling back on our tracks, the small herd finally left the forest and trotted into some open country at the foot of a hill. When we emerged from the forest behind them, they spooked and, alarmed, ran diagonally away from us at full speed. In the seconds before they regained the Mopane forest I selected one of the largest animals and fired as the duplex reticle of the Leupold swung ahead of its chest. The Zebra was struck at 220 metres and fell dead after running only a further 50 metres. The bullet entered just behind the ribs on the right side, traveled through the centre of its heart, exited the chest cavity through a rib and came to rest against the bone of the left foreleg. The recovered projectile weighed 144.7gr, retaining 64.3% of its original weight, again exactly as Nosler had promised.

The shot of the trip, a big-bodied Zebra taken after three days of hard hunting

After lunch, we farewelled George and Ann and drove southwest to Leupoort and Panata, a genuine game ranch belonging to Micheal’s father. We enjoyed a great night around the campfire with a group of Micheal’s buddies, including a noisy midnight climb to the top of a rickety game-viewing platform on a nearby hill.

We had a late start the next day and after a breakfast of the customary boerewors (Afrikaans sausage) off the BBQ, I salted all of the skins and capes collected so far (being Sunday the workers had the day off). I then went in search of Eland, the largest of the African antelope. I walked a long way and saw Ostrich, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest and Zebra, but no Eland.

Coert Steynberg, the owner of Panata had recently obtained a rare Black Impala ram and needed two standard rams shot out of a ‘camp’ (a large patch of bush enclosed by 4 metre, 27-strand, electrified game fences) in order to breed Black Impala. I spent the afternoon quartering through the dense thornbush searching for the two rams. I didn’t find the Impala, but in the approaching dusk, spotted a pair of Red Hartebeest inside the tree line, at a range of 200 metres, across a relatively clear patch of bush. The shoulder of one of them was visible between two bushes and a 225gr Accubond passed through both shoulders, grassing him instantly. The Red Hartebeest is a handsome trophy and the meat became some of the best biltong that I have tasted.

Red Hartebeest

The next day in South Africa was to be my last hunting opportunity as we would spend the next couple of nights in the Pilanesberg National Park. I returned to the Impala enclosure at dawn to pursue the two rams. The Mountain Designs (Australian made) boots that I had purchased prior to the trip to replace my aging Scarpa’s proved to be an excellent choice, as evidenced by over 100 comfortable, trouble-free kilometres in the African veldt. I had traversed most of the enclosure before spooking a lone Impala ram from the other side of a thornbush and I shot him at nearly 200 metres as he ran diagonally away through the bush. I found him sprawled in a bush where he had died in mid-leap after the bullet had entered behind his ribs, destroyed heart and lungs, smashed the off-shoulder and surprisingly lodged under the elastic skin of the Impala. The projectile weighed in at 150.7gr, 67% retained weight, confirming the amazingly consistent terminal performance of the Accubonds.

This aged ram was in poor condition and was not one of the two rams that needed to be culled from the enclosure (these were found and culled a couple of weeks later). After field dressing the Impala I had loaded it into the ute and was being driven back to camp when a Jackal ran across the track in front of us. I dived out and took chase but lost it in the dense bush. While searching slowly for any sign of the Jackal a good-sized Warthog trotted into view and, although he had only small tusks, I shot him through the chest at a range of about 30 metres and he dropped, kicking, on the spot. With its sparse long bristles over a leathery skin and gruesome features, ‘Pumba’ will make a fascinating addition to my trophy wall.

‘Pumba’ will look good on the trophy wall

My South African hosts were eager to show me as much of their beautiful country as possible over the next 4 days and I was able to view most wild species at the Pilanesberg National Park (the huge crater of an extinct volcano), the National Zoo in Pretoria and the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Park.

My first experience of Africa exceeded all expectations. I believe that I squeezed the most from every moment and I wish to thank my South African friends and my (long suffering) wife, Judy, and family for helping to bring this dream to reality.

The trophy wall