Ray Shepard
Africa Synopsis
Sunday, April 18, 2021, 10:17

As you all have already heard, the travel was long and painful. I was thankful to arrive and return with all my property. But even with all the hassle of travel, I am looking forward to going again. This was my first trip to Africa and I am so thankful Gary invited my wife and I.

Danielle took a blue wildebeest, an impala and a gemsbok. She and the PH stalked up on a waterbuck but it ran off into an area with thick brush before she could get a shot on it. Shortly after we got back on the truck from this stalk and as the sun was setting, an impala ran across the trail in front of us. We jumped off the truck after him. We worked our way up to a tree as the impala stopped. The PH Thulani set up the sticks and called the distance to Danielle, 205 yards. The impala had stopped and turned broadside, his shoulder just barely visible over the tall grass. She took the shot and the impala disappeared. Side note- it was really enjoyable to tag along and watch her hunt and to be able to step back and watch how the hunting team works together to get the shot. Also, our tracker, Kazi, was quiet and hardly said anything at all, but he would always get so excited at the gunshot and have a huge smile. Anyway, we found the impala not far from where he was struck by the bullet, a perfect shot to the shoulder.

I took a gemsbok, red hartebeest, kudu, zebra and ostrich. Red hartebeest are such goofy looking critters. If the planet Mars has antelope, I imagine they look like red hartebeest. We followed them for about 4 hours one morning, up and down dunes, through the sticky grass. We couldn’t get within 400 yards of them that day. That evening I gave an impala a long distance haircut, shooting just over him at 200 yards. The next day we tried to get close to another herd of hartebeest but they just kept moving. Ostriches kept alerting them as well, spotting us from distances where I could barely see them through 10x binos. At one point we stopped the Land Cruiser in the shade of a tree while the tracker ran up a dune to do some quick scouting a little more subtly. As we sat in the shade I spotted a herd of hartebeest about ½ mile away running through the valley we were stopped in. This was the only animal I spotted before the tracker and PH, and only because they were looking the other direction! We believed the herd didn’t see us so we moved along the valley on foot and crested a ridge next to a large bush. Thankfully the herd had stopped in the next valley over. The PH picked out a bull that was grazing away from the rest of the herd. I set up to take the shot, standing in front of the bush to break up my silhouette on the ridgeline, 175 yards, now quartering away, opposite shoulder and touched it off. The hartebeest slammed into the ground and bounced right back up. It ran in tight circles like a WW2 ace that was shot down. It collapsed after a few circles and was done.

Before the trip I asked Gary about writing and what drives some hunters and gun enthusiasts to write. I received a classic GNR response, “cuz wer’e bullshit artists.” Fair ‘nuff, so am I. But day one hunting, before I had even taken any game, it came to me - how could you not write about such a great experience.

A few lessons learned:
I had planned on bringing an Encore in 361 Falcon. 10 inch barrel with a Burris 2-7x32mm. I had an extra scope and worked up a nice load with 232g Norma Oryx bullets. Well within the week of leaving I went to the range to confirm zero. Long story short, a screw on the base came loose and eventually sheared off, leaving the end of the screw in the barrel. With everything else on the to-do list, I did not have enough time to remove it before leaving.

So I ended up just taking my rifle, a Reeder African Classic (on a Winchester 70) in 9.3x62mm with a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40mm. My wife, Danielle, brought her Weatherby Vanguard in 308 Win with a Leupold VX-5HD 2-10x42mm. Loctite was used on screws for the scope rings and bases, but even still, the screws loosened during all the traveling. I failed to check this before confirming the zero on day one and it almost cost me the scope. I planned on doing most of the hunting with a handgun so didn’t bring an extra rifle scope.

I used a good Pelican rifle case (1750 series I believe), but baggage handlers handle it like the opening scene of Ace Ventura Pet Detective. Between all the flights, all 4 original locks were broken off and even had dents in the rifle case. Thankfully Erik thought ahead and gave me some spares.

I can see why Gary has hunted with John and his crew exclusively. They are a great group, professional without being impersonal. And the hunters we had going with were great company as well. We had some great conversation around the campfire.

To anyone thinking of going, do it, and do it sooner rather than later. My wife and I were certainly the most novice hunters there, but we had the opportunity and ability. And in my mind one of the most important aspects of ability is willingness to do it. To get the experience, you have to do the thing. So I was fully willing to go and “fail”. I didn’t grow up hunting but always had a desire to. I have to give a shout-out to Marco Riccardi who took Gary’s advice to invite someone hunting and invited me to the HHC. Michael Mendes reminded me that was about 7 years ago now, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I also am thankful to have a wife that likes hunting and gets along with the rowdy crowd. She plans on taking a handgun next time.