Steve, Todd and Don's Legendary Experience

Hi Guys.

So much has happened this year leading to me not sending out any newsletter. I am going to try and make it up to all of you.

The second hunt of the year was with good friends of mine Steve Persnal and Todd Mikolajczk. They brought a good friend of theirs over Don Gajkowski whom hunted with a great PH and friend of mine Mark Hudson.

The safari started in the Winterberg Mountains of the Eastern Cape and ended in the Karoo of the Eastern Cape. The guys had tough mountain animals on their list such as, Vaal Rheybuck and Klipspringer. I knew we were up to the task of this challenge.

Klipspringer was first on our list and in the misty rain we thought our chances would not be great. We finally spotted a couple of males and made our stalk. After a few hours we could not get any closer so Steve said he would try a 340 yard shot across this large valley. Wow what a shot, it was perfect and down he went. That was one down and one to go. In this weather there would be little to no chance of getting a Klipspringer. Lady Luck had already blessed us with one. What a fantastic start! Later that afternoon, once the wind died down and rain had stopped, Lady Luck was back and Todd had his klipspringer. What a first day, but wait, Don got his first African animal too, a beautiful Cape Kudu.

Day two had us travelling to look for Vaal Rheybuck in a different area. We had spent quite a bit of the day travelling from one mountain area to another. We scouted the surrounds as we did not have enough time to get deep into the mountains to an area where they prefer to graze. With an early start we got into the mountains and soon spotted a group with a very good male among them. The hunt was on and we needed to get height advantage on the group. Steve was going to be in for another long shot. They knew we were there and they kept their distance safely between us, but it was not far enough! Steve anchored him which gave us the opportunity to get closer for the finishing shot. What a trophy!

We then headed back to camp while on the lookout for a lechwe for Todd. Seeing many groups we finally spotted a group of bulls that were worth following. We stalked them for over an hour and finally got a shot at a magnificent bull. With a short run, he went down in a cloud of dust. This was a magnificent trophy! Don and Mark also had a great day and were rewarded with a great Mountain Reedbuck. Great going guys!

The next day had us back in the mountains looking for Vaal Rheybuck. We saw a great Mountain Reedbuck and Steve was on him and down he went. He was a beautiful old ram! We had no luck the rest of the day so we returned back to the camp for cocktails and reminisce about the hunt around a warm campfire. Stories were exchanged with plenty of laughter. What a great bunch of guys.

We woke up to a beautiful morning and we spotted a small group of Vaalies with a good male in it and were on them in no time. However, they saw us coming and were out of there before we could get a shot on him. We left them to try another day as they are quite territorial.

Back down the mountain we saw a magnificent Bontebok. Steve said he would like to try and get him. We stalked around and around as he was aware of our presence. We ducked down and did the oldest trick in the book. Hide from him and after a while he started looking for us. Big mistake, as he went down with a perfect frontal shot. Oh he is magnificent!     

That afternoon had us looking for a black Springbuck for Steve. The herd had saw us long before we had seen them. We needed to put on our thinking caps to get close enough for a shot. It’s a good thing they had a very good guide that out smarted them and Steve made a good shot on him and down he went. Steve was on a roll.      

 


Don was having a good safari with Mark and they were collecting great trophies. It was Todd’s turn and we were after Nyala. We spotted a good bull and missed a few opportunities on him, but we finally got our chance. Todd made a great shot and dropped him in his tracks. Well done old fellow! That afternoon we went back to where we had spotted the Vaalies. There they were, they had already seen us making our way over the mountain top. Todd made a long shot and hit him. We went after him and ran out of day light so we backed out and decided to go back early the next day to try and find him. We gathered the troops the next day and went back to look for him. Where was lady luck when we needed her? We were just about to give up after 4 hours of looking for him. Lady luck graced us with her presence once more and with some young guys after him we finally got him. Wow guys, you would not believe how he covered all that ground on only three legs. A hard earned trophy indeed! Luck and youth were on our side this time. Don got a fantastic Blesbuck and was also rewarded with a great old bull Blue Wildebeest.  

   




That afternoon we packed up and travelled up to the Karoo (a semi desert area) a few hours way, in search of, Gemsbuck, Black Wildebeest and White and Copper Springbuck. Once there and we had settled in, with a few hours of day light left, we decided to go out and look for Black Wildebeest. We thought we would try and ambush them. Mark sat with Steve and I sat with Todd. Our plan worked perfectly as down went the first bull and a few minutes later, down went the other bull. These were both gold medal trophies. What magnificent trophies! Good going guys.

The next day we travelled an hour to another area to look for Gemsbuck. The wind was howling and I thought our chances were limited. We all put our heads together and decided we would try and send some guys into the mountains and get the Gemsbuck to come down to where we would wait in ambush. Mark was with Don and I was with Steve. I heard over the 2 way radio that they were on their way down. We got ready and before we knew it they passed 30 yards from us without a shot. They settled about 180 yards below us. Steve took the first shot and down she went. We called Mark over the radio to move in as they did not know were the shot had come from and had not moved. Mark and Don got into range and Don made his shot and she too went down with a perfect shoulder shot. Little did we think that we would be able to get 2 Gemsbuck, in these conditions but we did. What a morning!

That afternoon we looked for a Copper Springbuck for Todd and after a short stalk along a small river bed we got into a position and a really good male walked right towards us and down he went. Great shot Todd! Steve and Todd were both after Stienbuck and Steve was up first. We had seen quite a few but not what we were after. Finally we got our chance and Steve made a good shot on the little fellow. Down he went just as the sun set.

The next day we needed 2 White Springbuck, both for Steve and Don. The wind was howling again and we had had some more rain that limited where we could go. Steve and I kept in the tree line while Mark and Don moved on the opposite side of the area. We were soon in favour and had our first chance at a really good ram. He moved past us without stopping, not giving us a chance. We moved on and again had a wonderful ram come into range. Steve wasted no time getting ready. BANG! Down he went. What a trophy. We soon heard another shot and Don had his trophy too. They were blessed with really fantastic trophies. That’s the way it should be done!

Steve realised he only had one Springbuck left to complete the Springbuck slam, so we were off to look for Copper Springbuck. It was not going to be an easy task as they were already alert to our presence. We set off on foot as there was no way we were going to get around in a 4x4, as ours was out of action. Mark was able to sink it down to the chassis. Good going lads! We followed a lone ram and finally got our chance on him. Steve was quick onto the sticks and he vanished with the shot. What a way to end your slam.

Day broke and we were after Fallow Deer. We decided to try and call in a rutting buck. Wow, I had no idea they would respond like they did. We had a large buck respond to the call, but could not get a shot at him even at a whole 30 yards . We were all in fits of laughter as he came in from over 400 yards away without stopping to battle this male in his area. He sensed there was something wrong and took off. This was like taking candy from children. We moved areas and we soon had another buck in to 60 yards and Todd dropped him in his track. That was fun! Now I know why the guys love Whitetail Deer hunting.

We had a day left and our host Naasie asked us if we were interested in shooting some racing chickens for the local soup kitchen. Racing Chickens what the hell are those? We had no idea what he was on about, but we soon found out. Ostrich! Ha-ha! This was a blast. Many shots later and we had two male Ostrich’s in the bag for the soup kitchen. That was alot of fun and the guys spoke about it until they flew back home and I am sure they are still talking about it with all their friends.

This was truly a fantastic safari with wonderful clients! I would like on behalf of Mark and myself, to thank you for the fun and laughter we shared during your ten day trip. It’s safaris like these that makes me more passionate about what I do.

Congratulations on the fantastic trophies you guys were able to collect while hunting with us.

Pringle’s Legendary Safaris were hunters become legends. Enjoy your legendary memories

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Regards

Stuart