Double Lung Hunts Africa

My plan to hunt in Africa started taking shape about a year ago. I had been introduced in a way, to a Safari Operation from South Africa, Infinito Safaris. The directors, Charl and Frederick and I emailed back and forth for several months and I finally met with Charl last January in Ohio while attending the annual Archery Trade show.

Charl and I were working on more than just a hunt. We were also building a business relationship. My hunt was the final step in becoming the Bowhunting Rep for the U.S. for their safari operation.

So, we chose the dates for the hunt.

A few months ago a customer and friend, Dennis Obadal expressed interest in an African hunt and soon, he was going too!

Here is a day by day account of our hunt. I hope you enjoy.

Day one

We meet at Double Lung Archery so we can leave at 10am. We get a great start, pretty much on time! Just before we got the the Center Point exit, I saw that I had forgotten to swing by the Post Office in La Porte to mail a used bow to PA. We had to make a slight
“detour” into Center Point and find the Post Office and I get the bow on it’s way. Back onto 380 and we are still on time. We grabbed some lunch right before we went to the Moline Airport. We got to the airport in plenty of time and proceeded to the Delta counter. Got our bags checked and boarding passes and then headed to security. Of course, Dennis cruised right thru while I got pulled aside for the “random” security pat downs.

 That was just the beginning of the schedule of the flights started going bad. The Moline flight was delayed by a thunderstorm. The plane was late getting there and then we had to swing around a storm on the way to Minneapolis. We made our connection by minutes!

Good thing that plane was late too! Before we got on the plane, once again, I get a “random” security check of my carry on bag. 9 hours later we are in Amsterdam but instead of having a 2 hour layover we have about 20 minutes to make our flight! One more trip thru security and we are on the way to South Africa.

 10 hours later we land in Johannesburg, too bad our luggage didn’t! We talk to the airline people and they are telling us we will have our bags delivered to camp by noon Friday. Because of the flights running late our bags didn’t make it onto the plane in Amsterdam but will come on the next flight.

Frederick is waiting for us, we tell him about our bows not being there and we head to the parking ramp. We load into his truck and head north, a 4 hour drive gets us to camp at about 2am in the morning. We decide we will sleep in a little, get bows sorted out so at least Dennis can start hunting Thursday afternoon.

Day 2       

As planned, we slept in til about 9am and then set about getting a bow that Dennis could shoot. We tried Ryno’s Hoyt but the peep was way too low for Dennis. Charl’s DXT was almost a perfect fit and within a few shots had Dennis drilling the bulls eye on the target. We then headed to the blind, I went along, just to sit and watch. The blind we hunted from is an elevated hut. Plenty of room for the 3 of us (and more). It is positioned overlooking a water hole. Right away we had a young Impala ram come by. Later 3 cow and 1 bull Waterbuck came in. The bull was not a shooter. Just before dark a Duiker showed up about 30 yards away. Soon it was dark and Frederick and Ryno came to pick us up. We drove back to camp where Erika was busy cooking chicken on the grill! We all enjoyed an excellent meal and they even had ice cream for dessert. My kind of place! After dinner we gathered around the campfire talking and laughing til about 10:30. It was time to try to get some sleep hoping tomorrow would be more productive and our own bows would show up so I could begin hunting.

Day 3        

I went with Frederick to take Charl and Dennis to a different elevated blind to hunt. I went back to camp to wait the arrival of our bows. This is where Frederick really went the extra mile. He was on the phone, not only with the airline but with the delivery courier so I had an hour by hour update of where our bows were and when they would arrive. It made the waiting almost bearable. Erika cooked us up some bacon and eggs and soon after we ate we got the call, our bows are here! Whooo Hooooo! We drove out to the main gate to get them from the delivery driver. I looked over my bow and everything looked fine. I shot 3 arrows just to make sure nothing got bumped off on the plane. I then asked Erika if she had time to shoot her new bow I had brought for her. She, of course had been waiting for about 3 months for her bow so I couldn’t just go hunting before she got a chance to shoot a few arrows too. She was on the target on the very first arrow. I had her shoot a couple of groups so I could adjust the sight a little. She was hitting pretty good when Ryno pulled up to take me to the blind we had been in the night before. We got settled in the blind at about 1:30pm. Like the previous night we had Waterbuck, 2 females and 2 small males come into the waterhole. Later a larger bull showed up but Waterbuck was not on my hit list. At dark Ryno pulled the truck up to the blind. Charl, Dennis and Solly were with him. Dennis had shot an Impala at about 1:00! First real day of hunting and we already have 1 down! Dennis was proud as a peacock and rightfully so. He was hunting with a borrowed bow, in borrowed clothes and still made the shot.

 We went back to camp and Ryno took us to the meat processing building so I could see the Impala. They already had it all skinned, caped and the carcass hanging in the walk in cooler. The skull was already salted down. These guys are on top of things.

Back in camp there was lots of congrats to Dennis for overcoming our lost bows and getting it done. After another great meal, including an African dish called Pap (pronounced Pop) and Bush Pig chops and homemade brownies we sat around the fire listening to the jackals howl and stories from Charl, Frederick and Ryno. These guys have seen it all. I could sit and listen to the stories of past hunts for hours. Too soon it is time for bed as we will both be able to hunt all day tomorrow. We are going to hunt 2 different pit blinds and am hoping some more Impala, Warthogs and Wildebeest will show up.

 After just 2 days of being in camp with the people of Infinito Safaris I am convinced that this is going to be a trip of a lifetime for me. These people are just great. Professional, friendly and just fun to be with. It feels like we have all been friends for years. They truly LOVE what they do and it really shows.

Day 4

We head out to the pit blinds before first light. Charl was not feeling well so Solly, their head tracker went with me. Dennis was teamed up with Frederick. Solly and I got all settled in and waited. At about 10am 4 warthogs came in! A sow with 2 little one and a nice boar. I picked up my bow and waited. The sow and piglets came right into the water hole and started drinking. I checked with my rangefinder, 18 yards. I thought “this is going to be perfect as soon as the boar comes in” I waited, and waited. Where did he go? I moved a little to the side in the blind and there he was. Now he must be related to my dog buck because evidently he preferred drinking out of a muddy puddle too, just like Buck. He was only 20 yards away but facing the blind so I had no shot. When he was done drinking, he stood up and turned broadside. I went to draw my bow and moved just a little. The sow busted me and they all took off at warp speed. Damn! The rest of the day was slow, nothing came in until about 4pm I spotted 3 Impala rams about 60 yards away in the bush. I picked up my bow and waited, hoping they would come in. They milled around for almost an hour. I kept repositioning myself in the blind so I would not get busted again if they did come in. At one point I was just about sitting on Solly’s lap.

The Impala never came closer than 45 yards and I never had a clear shot. Right as it got dark they just went on their way.  Shortly after dark we could hear Ryno’s truck coming down the lane to pick us up. My first full day of hunting was done.

On the way back to camp Ryno asked if I would be up for some “spot and stalk” the next morning. Of course I quickly said “hell yeah”!

 When we arrived back in camp Dennis told me of his day. He had seen some warthogs, a Nyala bull and his first cape buffalo. It was funny because just the night before we were looking at trail cam pics of a rouge cape buffalo bull that was causing problems with the other buffalo. He was just extra ornery and they had decided he needed to be taken out of action. They had a hunter coming later in the week to hunt him. Dennis had made the comment that night, while we are looking at the pics that the buffalo didn’t look that mean and “looked like a tame cow”. Tonight, after seeing him in person he had a whole new perspective. He told me the buffalo knew they were in the blind and just stood there for about 45 minutes just glaring at them. He told me the buffalo stood there, like a big bully, just daring them to come out and fight. Dennis now knew why they call the Cape Buffalo “Black Death”. I am hoping to see him too, just not tomorrow while Ryno and I are stalking thru the bush!

 Dinner tonight was a special treat! Chicken fried Impala loin with cheese sauce over it. Yes, it is from the Impala Dennis shot. It was delicious. Thanks to both Dennis and Erika for this meal.

We didn’t stay at the fire for long tonight as we were all tired and had a busy day planned for tomorrow. As Ryno left to go to his house on the property I bid him goodnight and “tomorrow we hunt”! I just hope I can keep up with him? And that we don’t run into the rouge buffalo.

Day 5       

What a day! We headed out early to take Dennis and Frederick to the blind I had hunted yesterday so they could try their luck. Charl, Solly, Ryno and I were off to spot and stalk some Impala and Wildebeest! We only drove a short distance and spotted a nice Kudu bull. On the next lane we saw a nice Eland. We took another turn and there they are, a herd of Cape Buffalo! We stopped the truck and I grabbed my camera to get a couple quick pictures. They were only about 30 yards away on another lane. They were giving us “the look”. Not much scares me but these animals are something else. They are not afraid, at all. Then to my surprise and shock, Ryno backs the truck up and turns down the lane they are on! I thought “what in the hell is he doing?”The buffalo begrudgingly give way to the truck but there was one cow I was sure was going to ram the truck, flip me and Solly out of the back and stomp us to death!  We got past the buffalo and not a ¼ mile away spotted a group of 3 Impala rams. We got out and started to try to put the sneak on them. I was watching my back, for the buffalo! We played cat and mouse with the Impala for about 45 minutes and then they just disappeared into the bush. The wind was wrong to try to follow them so we abandoned the stalk and headed back to the truck. I joked with Ryno that after we got past the buffalo I had wanted to tell Solly that I had dropped one of my gloves back there by them and ask if he would go back and get it for me. Hahah. Ryno laughed, Solly, he told me is deathly afraid of the buffalo.I told him that just shows me that Solly is a smart man. I could’ve dropped my bow back there and I wouldn’t have walked back to get while the buffalo were still around. I might be a little crazy but I am not that crazy!

 We headed down yet another lane and spotted a couple more Impala. Back into the bush Ryno and I go. I have never witnessed anyone that can go thru that thick of cover as quickly and quietly as Ryno can. I was trying my best to keep right behind him and not make any noise. Well, those Impala gave us the slip too and soon we were headed back to the truck. Next we decided to still hunt thru the bush country that lines the dirt airstrip on the property. We hadn’t gone very far when we (ok,Ryno) spotted a Wildebeest the problem was they had already seen us too. They stood there snorting at us, much like a whitetail does only much louder and deeper. They work their way away from us so we circled deeper into the thick bush to try to get around or at least even with them and try another stalk. It is hard to imagine that it is that hard to see a bunch of 500-600 lb animals but it is so thick you can’t see much more than 40 yards, sometimes even less. We sneak to the edge of the bush and there they are, out on the airstrip. Game over. There is not way we can get closer. The huge bull of the herd is 74 yards away and I was thinking I can make that shot. I do it all the time at Hickory Hills 3d shoot on the 75 yard moose target. We sit there for a while and decide it is just too far, with the cross wind to attempt a shot. About that time the Wildebeest are tired of our game and head into the bush on the opposite side of the airstrip.

 Back to the truck we go. That stalk was awesome even if we did not get the job done. I will never forget my first stalk thru the bush in Africa.

We head off and jst a short distance away we spot 2 more Impala rams. Back into the bush we go. We never saw the Impala again during the stalk but when we were ½ way back to the truck one busted out of the bush and ran right down the lane. Right past the truck! I guess I should’ve just stayed with the truck! Haha

We climb back onto the truck and head off on yet another lane on the property. Up ahead, 9 Impala! One of them is a really nice ram. Ryno tells me to nock up an arrow and hand him my rangefinder. He then tells Charl to drive up to them. We drive up and all but 3 rams take off. The big one is still there! I come to full draw, Ryno tells me 47 yards. I have no shot as they are facing away from us. They turn a little but now a smaller ram is blocking my shot. I stayed at full draw and within a minute the smaller ram moved ahead enough to offer me a clear shot. I asked Ryno “how far?” he says still 47 yards. I squeeze the trigger and my first ever arrow in Africa is on it’s way at 318 FPS! I love fast bows!

Whack, I hear the arrow impact as the Impala turns on the burners and heads into the bush. Ryno asks me, “did you hit him?”  “I couldn’t see the arrow”

To be continued

I tell Ryno I am sure the shot was good. We wait a few minutes before going to find the arrow. Solly finds it, stuck in the ground beyond where the Impala was standing and it is soaked with blood. We wait a few more minutes before taking up the blood trail. Charl and I wait where we found the arrow as Ryno and Solly head into the bush. Not 5 minutes later Ryno gives the “we have it” whistle and Charl and I head into the bush to see my first Africa kill. Ryno and Charl whistle back and forth to each other like homing beacons so we can find them and my Impala. The Impala went about 60 yards, which is about 10 seconds for an Impala, they are FAST!  I am JACKED! My first arrow in Africa and it was good, not perfect, the Impala ducked about 6 inches in the split second it took the arrow to travel the 47 yards and since he was quartering away slightly it went thru the front of the stomach, liver and far lung. Ryno carries the Impala out of the bush to avoid damaging the hide(I offered to drag it out myself as that is what I am used to) and do the photos. We then load the Impala into the back of the truck and head back to camp. Solly went right to work gutting and skinning it and getting it in the walk in cooler. We stayed in camp for about a ½ hour and then Ryno asks me where would I like to hunt the afternoon? I tell him he is in charge so wherever he thinks will be fine with me. He tells me he would like to put me in a spot that has not been hunted before, he set it up a few days before we arrived. He then tells me is it is a hang on treestand. I am glad to hear that since I really do not enjoy hunting out of blinds of any sort. Ryno then tells me “the only problem is it is a single stand” and asks me straight up, “are you afraid to hunt here, ALONE?” I tell him no, I am not afraid. He smiles and says “good” and we head off in the truck to the new stand. We arrive and get settled in, he gives me a 2 way radio and tells me just to radio him when I shoot something or he will be back to get me shortly after dark. He leaves and I rig a makeshift bow hanger since the stand is so new it isn’t completely set up for hunting out of. I like the location and set up and settle in for the next 5 or 6  hours or so. I saw NOTHING! I mean NOTHING just a few birds. About 15 minutes after dark, Ryno is at the bottom of the tree and the days hunt is over. 3 more days to go!

 We get back to the truck and I climb into the back with Dennis. He had a nice Wildebeest bull come in but it came in and left so fast there was no time for a shot. That is all they saw all day. Slow day for both of us.

 For anyone that thinks hunting Africa is a “fish in a barrel” type hunt I have to tell you that nothing could be farther from the truth. At Infinito Safaris anyway! Yes, there are plenty of “Put and take” hunting operations in Africa where they buy animals, take them to a small property with 1 or 2 waterholes and vitually no food source other than what they put out. At that type of operation the animals have no choice but to come to that water and food.  That is the type of operation you usually see putting out videos that show animal after animal coming to the water hole and being shot. They make it look easy and it is. Like fish in a barrel. None of the animals at that type of place are born, live, breed and die there. If that is the kind of hunt you are looking for then Infinito and I can’t help you.

 The property we are hunting is 10,000 acres and they manage the herds with quotas of how many of each species can be taken each year. The animals have many sources of water and food is abundant in the bush as well as the supplemental food they put out. In 4 days of hunting the 2 of us have only shot 2 animals. This is hunting and a hard and challenging one at that. Long hours in the blinds or stands. There are plenty of animals but it comes down to being in the right place at the right time. This year it is a little more difficult since they have had more rain and later into the fall/winter than normal. Giving the animals even more options and ways to elude us.

 Infinito Safaris is for HUNTERS that love the HUNT not just the kill. It is my kind of place and after spending 5 days here with all the staff I am proud to represent them here in the States.

Well we all get back to camp and of course Erika already has the campfire going and dinner almost ready. After dinner we all decide to turn in early, we are all tired. Tomorrow we are going to go about 10 miles away to hunt a different property. This new property is about 15,000 acres with it’s own mountain! I can’t wait to go. 3 days left and I still have Warthog and Wildebeest on my hit list. I am also looking for another Impala if I can find one bigger than the one I shot today. He measured 23 1/8”, they only measure the right horn and 23” is the minimum to make the book so this one made it but I’d like a bigger one!

Day 6       

We got up early and were on the road by 6am to go to the new property to hunt. We dropped Dennis and Fredrick off at an elevated blind and helped them get all their gear up and in place. Ryno then drove Solly and I to a ground blind. We got settled in right at first light. The wind continues to hinder our hunting. Just like deer, when the wind is blowing the animals are extra nervous and just don’t want to travel around. We see nothing until about 9:30 when I spot a Wildebeest about 150 yards down the lane. First 1, then another, and another until there are 6 headed our way. One of them is a really nice bull and I can tell Solly is excited too. If they continue down the lane they will go by at about 18 yards. I am thinking “YES, this is going to happen”! They are grazing along, coming down the lane slowly. I watch them for about a ½ hours, all the while closing the distance. Then as luck would have it(bad luck) the winds swirls a little and though they do not sound the alram by snorting, they head into the bush, one by one. They got with 60 yards and then were gone. My heart sinks, so close, another 20-30 yards and I may have had a shot. I hope that they are just taking a detour and will come in for a drink but they do not. They are gone for good.

 About 11am a lone Warthog boar is headed our way. I glass him and he is just not the size I am looking for. He gets to about 50 yards away and the swirling wind takes our scent to him. He veered to the left and kind of circles around us. I have already decided I am not going to shoot him and within a few minutes he re emerges at about 30 yards. I double check him and decide to stick with my decision and pass him up(in hind sight I should have shot him).

 The next several hours are dead, nothing moving. Solly and I have our lunch and hope the wind will die down for the afternoon. It does not. About 1pm Solly spots a Baboon coming down the road. I look at it with my binos thinking that is pretty cool, to see a wild Baboon. I put the binos down and get my camera, I look back and now there are about 20 of them, then 30,then 40 I stopped counting. Within a few minutes there are aprox 75 Baboons coming our way. While it was great to see you really do not want that many around your blind as they will chase off other animals. It looked like I was on the Planet of the Apes! A few of them came in for a drink and were only 18 yards from the blind. That first one that came in must have been the forward scout for the group. He never left the area he originally stopped and kept a lookout while the rest of the came thru. Only then di he leave. I do think he got fired later that day since several that came in to drink knew we were in the blind and since the scout did not see us he has probably been demoted. That blind will always be known to me as the “Baboon Blind”.

 About 2pm Solly spots an Impala coming down the lane towards us. He is a DANDY, with 25” horns. I am going to shoot him if the opportunity comes. But, at about 100 yards away he decides to go a different direction and disappears into the bush. The wind is strong now and the fabic blind we are in is flapping like a sheet on a clothesline. Not good. The wind is sure playing havoc with our hunting.

 We see a few more small warthogs and a small bull waterbuck before dark but all too soon it is dark and I can hear Ryno coming down the lane with the truck to pick us up.

 We load our gear and head off to pick up Dennis and Frederick. They had not shot anything either but they did see lots of game, kudu cows and a herd of Impala but no shooters. We head back to camp knowing we only have 2 days left to make it happen.

Back at camp we drop our gear in our cabins and meet at the campfire. Everyone is getting frustrated, the wet windy weather and 12 hour days in the blinds with no results are wearing on everyone. We all know, as hunters, that there is nothing to do but keep at it and hope the weather and our luck will change before the hunt is over.

Our spirits pick up a little when we see Erika is grilling T bone steaks and baking bread for dinner! Yum!

 We all feast on the great food and then gather around the campfire to make plans for tomorrow. We decide that Dennis and Frederick will go to a pit blind and I will go to a hang on tree stand and will be hunting alone. Sounds good to me. Tonight is going to be the coldest night so far, getting down to about 35 degrees F. Glad I brought plenty of layers!

 We all want (need)to get some sleep so we turn in early so we can be ready to go at 6am tomorrow morning.

Day 7

We are staying on Ryno’s  property to hunt today. They take me to my stand first. As we climb out of the truck, Solly starts to hand me my cooler with soda, Monster energy drink and my lunch in it. Ryno tells us there is no room in the stand for it. He tells me that I should have something on the ground no later than 1pm so I grab a 20 oz Diet Pepsi and a Monster, put them in my pack and am ready to go. Ryno leads me to the stand and helps me carry my gear up, I really need to get theese guys some bow/gear ropes to pull stuff up! Ryno leaves to take Dennis and Frederick to their pit blind and once again, I am alone in the wilds of Africa!

I really like this set up and have a good feeling about it. The stand is about 18 feet up in a tree overlooking a mineral lick, 23 yards away. They have cleared out some of the bushy stuff so you will have a clear shot. I am happy to be back in a tree stand. The morning is beautiful and I am really enjoying myself. I had gotten up real early this morning because I had a plan to foil the wind that had been cursing us. I had brought a package of Dead Down Wind concentrate to make some scent elimination spray. Too bad it got punctured in my bow case somehow. So, with no spray and several animals avoiding me in the past few days due to the swirling winds taking my scent to them I was ready to try an old “Indian trick”. I got up early, took a shower, got dressed and then went to the fire ring. I got the firs smoldering thick smoke and stood in the smoke with all my gear. My pack, my bow and me slowly rotating around in the thick smoke. The smell of smoke does not alarm animals nearly as much as human smell does. You’ll see later that this tactic did work and pay off!

 So I am settled in my tree stand before first light. In the wide open tree stand I can see all around me and I am really glad I wore some extra layers as it is the coldest morning so far. The wind is finally a constant from the SW and only about 5-10 mph. I kicked back, opened my Monster Energy drink and settled in for the hunt. Sitting there, high in my tree I just drank it all in. The land, the people, the hunt, life is good! I am having the time of my life even though in 6 days I have only shot 1 Impala.

 At about 10am a Steenbuck came in to the mineral lick. I thought it was a female Impala but when I showed the picture I took to Charl he told me it was a Steenbuck. He stuck around for a little while and then meandered off. A couple hours later a Kudu bull came in. Those Kudu are BIG, this one had about 46-48” horns and he is lucky Kudu wasn’t on my list because he offered me a perfect 23 yards shot. I found out later that this was a small Kudu and you really want to hold out for a 55” or larger. I am learning a lot about hunting Africa.

 Well, 1 oclock came and went and no Warthogs or Wildebeest. Ryno had not called me on the radio or come to get me so I figured I am going to hunt the whole day here. That was fine with me as I said before, I really liked this set up. The only issue now is I had my last drink of liquid at about 11:30, thinking I would be done by 1:00 like Ryno said. Last time I listen to him! Hahahaaha.  I thought about calling him on the radio to see if he wanted to change my location or to have him run out a Diet Pepsi or 2 but decided I didn’t want the traffic and would just hunt this out. Good thing I did!

 At about 3:30 I spot a Warthog about 50 yards away. He is grazing on grass and slowly working his way to me. He is about the same size as the one I passed up before but there are no free passes now with only 1 ½ day to hunt. After about ½ hour I am offered a 30 yard shot and I take it. The arrow zips thru the pig like he is warm butter and off he runs into the bush. I hear him go down. I look thru my binos for the arrow and there it is, laying on the ground beyond where the hog was and it is soaked in blood! Perfect! I radio Ryno and tell him I just shot a Warthog. I tell him I am positive the shot was good and the pig is down. I ask him if he can NOT come get me right away since I want to hunt this stand til dark to see if the Wildebeest will show up. He, kind of reluctantly, agrees and says he will come at last light. I settle back in to wait. I did not have to wait long. An hour or so later the first Wildebeest comes in. It has brown on it’s head so I know it is not a mature one. I take a quick picture of it. The 2^nd one that comes out has all black head and cracks by the bases of it’s horns. This might be the one! I look it over with my binos. I can hear more of them in the bush but I really do not want them all out there at once since it may be hard to get a clear shot. I decide this one is big enough for me and come to full draw. I have a 23 yard, slightly quartering away shot. It could not get better. As I am at full draw I notice movement to my right, it is another Kudu Bull, a big one coming in. I switch my attention back to the task at hand, to put a perfect shot on my Wildebeest. I settle the pins forward and low, just like they told me and squeezed the trigger. The arrow hits and the shot is perfect! The wildebeest, all of them and the Kudu take off. I am stoked! I wait a minute or two to calm down a little and grab the radio to call Ryno. I tell him they can come any time now, I just shot a Wildebeest. He is excited too and asks if the shot was good? I tell him I smoked it. He asks me “how are you doing?” I tell him I am fine but the tree won’t stop shaking! Hahahah I also tell him to not forget to bring me something to drink since it is way past 1:00 and I am thirsty! Hahahahahah.

 About 20 minutes later he and Charl come to the base of my tree. Ryno helps me get my gear and bow down as it will be all I can do to climb down myself with my knees still being a little rubbery. What an adrenalin rush!

 I climb down and Charl has both a Monster and  Diet Pepsi for me. I grab the Monster and chug about ½ of it. Then it is High Fives, Hand shakes and even a hug from Charl!

 I tell them we should go after the pig first since I shot it 2 hours ago and they agree. I take them to my arrow and Ryno’s dog picks up the trail and in less than 50 yards there is my pig! Cool!

We drag the Warthog back to the tree and put it with my bow and gear. Then it’s after the Wildebeest. I stay at the first blood while Ryno, dog and Charl take up the trail. I am working on the Diet Pepsi now as I am really dehydrated from a long day with nothing to drink or eat.

 After a little while Charl comes back and tells me the Wildebeest is running strong! I think What? I tell Charl the shot was good. He can tell my concern and tells me that is normal as they are really tough animals but it is leaving good blood, lung blood and we will find it.

 Solly and another tracker show up with the other truck and game cart. I take this as a good sign that they are confident, as I am that the shot was good.

 Charl leaves with the first truck to go collect Dennis and Frederick from their blind. Ryno, his dog, 2 trackers and I head into the bush tracking my Wildebeest. The dog easily finds it, about 600 yards away. I walk up to it and notice it is a COW! What the Hell? I start to apologize to Ryno for my mistake and he is laughing, telling me lots of people make that mistake and it is hard to tell a mature cow from a slightly less mature bull. I tell him it checked for the black head and cracked horns before I shot. He assures me it is ok and that he has made the same mistake a few times. He tells me this is cow is about 7 or 8 years old and fully mature. A trophy for sure.  He reminds me that I have hunted hard, not been afraid to hunt alone (many are I guess) made good shots and have earned their trust as a hunter and now an African Hunter and friend. 

 The fatigue of hunting hard for 6 days and today, going most of the day with nothing to drink and all day with nothing to eat is now well worth it. In a couple of hours I accomplished 2/3rds of what I came to Africa for and have completed my hit list of Impala, Warthog and Wildebeest.

 We load the Wildebeest onto the game cart and push it back to the lane to hook it to the back of the truck.

 Back at camp we unload my animals and get the trophy photos. I get everyone in on the action as I want photos of everyone, they all made this possible.

The shot on my Wildebeest was a perfect “Double Lung” shot and also clipped the top of the heart. Hard to believe it could go 600 yards with a shot like that but it is a testament to how tough an animal they are.

 We head to the campfire to celebrate, Charl is making plans for tomorrow, our last day. We will be going back to François’ property to hunt. He is trying hard to put Dennis on a Kudu as they did not see anything today and think it is because they had a Leopard in the area of the water hole they were hunting.

 Charl then tells me that instead of being done hunting, I am hunting tomorrow and can shoot another Impala or Warthog since my Wildebeest was a cow instead of a bull. He also tells me that if the big bull we saw the other day shows up I can shoot him at a discount. I am still hunting! Whoooo Hoooooo!

Now, remember when I told you about me “smoking” myself this morning? Lots of you were probably thinking “Man is he dumb” to intentionally smell like smoke while hunting, he is crazy! I think not.

 Throughout the day I had a Steenbuck, a Kudu bull and a herd of Wildebeest ALL come in and they all crossed my wind. Had I smelled like Dave instead of smoke I am positive they would’ve winded me and not came into the shooting lanes. Sometimes old tricks still work.(smile)

To be continued

Last day,

We left early again to go to François’ property to hunt. Dennis and Frederick head to their double set tree stand to try for a Kudu bull. Charl and Solly drive me to the blind we hunted on Monday, the one with all the Baboons and the nice Wildebeest bull we saw. They drop me off and I get settled in for the day. At least I have a cooler full of Diet Pepsi and Monster today so I won’t be going thirsty! I have decided that if no Impala or Warthogs show up and the big Wildebeest bull does, I am going to shoot him and just pay an extra fee. Ok, who am I kidding? If an Impala or Warthog shows, yep, I’m going to shoot one of them too! The day starts out slow, really slow! I did not see a single 4 legged animal until about 3:30 when out of the bush comes a really nice Impala. He has horns that are in the 25” (each horn) range, a true trophy for sure. I get my rangefinder and he is standing 31 yards away but is nervous. I grab my bow and slowly work myself into position in the blind for the shot. I settle my pin on him, forward and low and squeeze the trigger. I hear the arrow strike him and he wheels around and heads off into the bush. I am thinking to myself, “What a way to finish!” I nock up another arrow in case a hog or my Wildebeest come in yet today. I try to call Ryno and let him know I shot an Impala but the radio is not working. Oh well, they will come get me eventually, I hope! Haha.

So I kick back and wait, reflecting on the past week. What a trip it has been. About an hour before dark 7 Kudu, 2 Waterbuck cows and a male Waterbuck come in. I sat and watched them as the sun set on my last day. I hear the truck coming down the lane so I gather my stuff and unzip the blind door. Ryno and Solly come to the blind to help me carry my stuff to the truck. Ryno asks how I did since he had not heard from me all day. I told him about the Impala I shot and how the radio did not seem to work. He tells me the radio repeater was busy as they were radioing each other while tracking a HUGE Waterbuck that Dennis had shot at about 11am. Cool! They tracked it for 5 ½ hours and ended up having to finish it off with 2 well placed shots by Charl and his .308 rifle.

Ryno says it is the largest Waterbuck ever taken there and is a real trophy.

François then shows up as well and we begin to track my Impala. We put Ryno’s dog on the trail but he is, well, Dog Tired after tracking the Waterbuck. He tried his best but he is pooped. We found my broken off arrow but very little blood.  We decide to call off the search for the night and we will come back in the morning when it is light out. It kills me ot wait but I know it’s the right decision. We head over to where Dennis’ Waterbuck  is and man, it is HUGE! We do the photo session and then load it up on the game cart and take it back to the processing building. Solly gets it caped out and the meat in the cooler so we head back to our camp for a late dinner. Since I need to go back and look for my Impala, they decide to put Dennis and Frederick back in the stand for a last chance for a Kudu. After dinner we all head off to our cabins, we will be up early again tomorrow.

Final day,

At 6am we head over to François’ property. We take Dennis and Frederick to their stand and then head over to the other end of the land to look for my Impala. Francois, myself, Wimpie(pronounced Vimpie) and Peter, along with Heidi (the dog) begin to look for sign of my Impala. We found very little to go on. He have until about noon since our flight leaves tonight and we have 4.5 hours of driving to get there. We look, look and then look some more. No luck. I am bummed. Francois assures me that they will find my Impala eventually and will save the skull and horns for me. The only bright side is that much like anywhere else, in nature, nothing goes to waste. I figure I just fed the jackals and leopards some real expensive meat! All we could conclude is that in the time it took my arrow to travel 31 yards at 318 FPS (which is over 216 MPH) the Impala ducked about 9 inches and made about a ¼ turn. They are that fast!

 We head out to pick Dennis and Frederick up, they did not see anything all morning near the stand but did see 2 nice Kudu bulls working their way along the side of the mountain.

On the way back to camp we got the chance to take some pictures of 4 Giraffes that were grazing along the lane. Giraffes are one crazy looking animal with their 10 foot long necks.

 We say our goodbyes to Francois and his crew and head back to our main camp. We only have 2 hours before we have to leave for Johannesburg to catch the plane home. Ryno has a guy hunting the rouge Cape Buffalo but they haven’t had any luck so far.

Dennis and I pack our cases and then go to the dinning hut to settle our accounts with Charl. That part taken care of we get some group photos, say our goodbyes to Charl, Erika and Ryno and load into the truck with Frederick and head for the airport. The ride to Johannesburg is interesting as this trip it is daylight so we can see the land and people. We stopped at the Crocodile River and take some pictures, there were no crocodiles though.

 Frederick gets us to the airport in plenty of time, we say goodbye and head to customs, security and then to our gate. The flight home was a little shorter, 18 hours in the air to Atlanta Ga where since we are re-entering the US we have to go thru US customs and security. A short layover, I called my Mom and Dad to let them know I was back on US soil and had not been eaten by a lion (smile). I am 47 years old but they still worry about me (can’t say I blame them, I’ve been known to do some adventurous stuff from time to time)  A what seemed like a quick 2 hour flight and we are back in Moline. Of course, our bags were all there this time. They never lose you stuff when you are on the way home!

All that is left of our trip is a 2 hour drive back to Waterloo. I am soooooo glad to get back in my own truck, a FORD, that has the steering wheel on the correct side of the vehicle and do my own driving again.

 Back in Waterloo I drop Dennis off at his house and head to Hudson to pick up my dog Buck from his “second home” it was great to see him, I missed having him with me while I was gone. I tell Larry (Buck’s “uncle”) all about the trip and then we head for home, the trip is officially over.

In all we were gone for 11 days, traveled over 18,000 miles, hunted hard for 8 days, shot a total of 6 animals, met some awesome people and generally had the time of our lives!

I can’t wait to go back next year!

This hunt was kind of my “final exam” to become the Bowhunting representative for Infinito Safaris for the United States. To be one of their reps, you have to have hunted with them. I have been working on this project for almost 2 years, emailing back and forth for months, meeting Charl in Ohio last January, more emailing back and forth, booking the hunt and then going.

From here on, I will be handling all bowhunt bookings for US hunters for anytime of the year they want to hunt. We can handle up to aprox 100 bowhunters per year!

 In addition, I will be taking 2 separate groups of up to 10 bow hunters with me to South Africa in late May/June every year on the “Hunt with Dave, Double Lung Archery Hunt”

I will go over with the first group, hunt and help with that group, then when their hunt is over they will head home. I will stay for the second group and when that hunt is over I will return to the US with them.

We feel many will be interested in the special group hunts. If, after reading this story you are interested in booking a hunt or joining the group hunts please contact me at

Double Lung Archery Inc.

La Porte City Iowa

319-342-4550

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