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Namibia, Africa hunting experiences

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Chris Farris View Drop Down
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    Posted: February/22/2007 at 18:23

Here are a few of the stories and experiences from my hunt in Namibia to get this new forum going.

 

One of the first things we discussed after arriving was the caliber rifle I brought and my PH was really upset when he found out that I would be shooting a 140 gr. bullet, he lectured and ridiculed me for about 10 minutes on how you should never come to Africa with anything less than 180 gr.  I asked him a few questions about sectional density and ballistic coefficient and could tell that he was not very knowledgeable, so I politely apologized for bringing a substandard caliber.  Next we discussed optics and once he saw that I not only brought a few binoculars, I also brought a spotting scope he was a little more excited.  He informed me that most people don't even bring binoculars and if they do they are 1970's era tasco hard plastic porro prisms, the kind you see 100 of at any sporting event.

 

We did a lot of glassing, tracking and spotting on foot and several times we were in range and he would not let me shoot, citing that my caliber would not do the job at those ranges.  I'm not accustomed to someone telling me when to shoot and when not to shoot but his telling not to shoot saved my life the day before so I continued to do as he instructed.

 

We did not have any particular game plan or list of animals to hunt, we were just looking for anything and everything.  I can tell you that the Zebra were by far the most difficult animals to get and before arriving I had reservations about shooting one because I assumed it would be like shooting a horse out in a pasture.  Where we were hunting lives the most beautiful species of zebra, called mountain zebra.  Their stripes go all the way down their legs and they do not have brown or grey stripes (just black).  Anyway these zebra have some major radar and other animals hang out with them because of it, you can't get anywhere close to them.....if they don't hear ya or see ya then smell ya.  When I took my first stallion, my PH was telling me how hardy they are and how they don't ever go down on the first shot, so I needed to keep shooting even if the first shot was good.  We left the trackers on a hill top in distance because you just can't hunt successfully with more than two people.  They were watching the whole thing unfold and were prepared to watch the zebra after the shot.  We got within a range that he felt comfortable letting me shoot and the zebra took off quartering away and after chasing these guys for days I was ready to sling lead.  I shot in his shoulder area and the zebra went right down.  The PH was shocked; the trackers were so impressed they all wanted to shake my hand.  They don't speak English but my PH told me that they had never seen such a sight.  After the autopsy, they concluded that the bullet entered behind the shoulder passed up his neck and exited between his eyes.

 

My PH could not ask me enough questions about my caliber and bullet after this.  I was his new hero now.  A few more animals went down without incident and his confidence grew.

 

I really wanted a Kudu but we just hadn't seen any until one day we were resting under a shade tree and a nice kudu ran right past us and over a hill.  I grabbed my rifle and we took off running and about an hour later we spotted him.  He had ran over a rocky hill and positioned himself under a shade tree looking back at the hill he just ran over, the same hill we would have to crest in pursuit of him.  My PH knew he would be in the valley looking back, so we crawled slowly to the crest and peeked between some rocks and spotted him.  He was between 300 and 400 yards away and I knew I could make that shot using the TDS reticle in my Swarovski 4-12x50.  You'll never guess what my PH said next.

 

"Chris, normally I would not allow my client to take this shot, but because of your caliber I feel confident".   The kudu never turned, he just kept looking right at us, so I put the bullet right in his chest and down he went.  This was the only animal we were able to recover a bullet from and here it is.

 

6.5 STW 140 grain Swift A-Frame

 

 

 

 

 

We hunted south of Etosha National Park.  Stayed in tents, no running water or electricity......it was an old school hunt for sure.  We saw three of the big five up close and personal the first few days there, never a boring moment thats for sure.

 

My PH and I were tracking a Gemsbok one day, the tracks were fresh and there were no zebras in the vicinity to spoil things so I was excited and so were his two little ferocious companions (Cokey and Badger).

     

These little dogs are not scared of anything, they would run and jump on the downed animals biting them and growling at them, absolutely crazy dogs.  Anyway back to the stalk.  My PH had to keep calling the dogs back because they were getting too anxious, the scent must have been

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/22/2007 at 19:56

 

 

What camera did you use?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/22/2007 at 21:52

Chris,

 

 

What did you think of the 6.5 STW -AFTER- meeting the Lions?

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Anthony View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anthony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/22/2007 at 22:11

A couple of underexposed people, The meter LIES....

 

what is it like in africa? does everyone stare at you?

 

 

 



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/22/2007 at 22:26
Originally posted by Anthony Anthony wrote:

A couple of underexposed people, The meter LIES....

 

 

If you look at most of the shots they are over exposed about a half a stop.  The main problem is that most of the stuff is back lit.  The use of fill flash corrects the that problem.  Only the pick-up truck picture is under exposedby about 2/3 a stop, I'm guessing that is was overcast.

 

Now, the focus must have been set to auto and the f-stops a bit open from the lack of depth of field... Learn to use -P- instead of auto if you don't know what setting to use!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anthony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/22/2007 at 23:29

I meant that the subjects were underexposed, like in the picture of the guy standing in an elephant foot print, the background was overexposed while you could not see any detail on the subject-underexposed. the truck was underexposed because of the sky... I think

 

most of those looked like ideal f8-f4 shots, [portraits] although in the picture of the animal coral, I would have used f16 or f22

 

it is in the nature of point-n-shoot cameras to be constantly set at wide open to make them easier to use.

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lucznik Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2007 at 10:34
Originally posted by Chris Farris Chris Farris wrote:

 

Chris, in this picture you appear to have your binocular in some kind of open belt pouch.  Can you tell us about this?  Do you sell them (or know where we can buy them?) 

 

This appears at least to be a pretty great way to carry the binocular where it won't be dragging on your neck, bouncing on your chest (or the ground) as you move, and where a bino-bra would be too hot for comfort.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2007 at 10:37
Originally posted by silver silver wrote:

What camera did you use?

 

I used a Leica Digilux 1 point and shoot.  I don't know anything about F stops, I just set it to auto and push the button.   So I guess the fact that ya'll are critiquing the pictures is kinda flattering.

 

 



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2007 at 10:47
Originally posted by silver silver wrote:

Chris,

 

What did you think of the 6.5 STW -AFTER- meeting the Lions?

 

Not sure what you are getting at but I assume you are suggesting that the 6.5 STW would not have been adequate to stop two quickly approaching lions at close range with seven more lions in close proximity.  I agree, I don't think any gun or caliber short of a mini-gun would have been sufficient for that particular situation.  So to answer your question,  the lions did not cause me to think anything about my 6.5 STW, they did cause me to make sure the PH carried his rifle from then on. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/23/2007 at 10:57
Originally posted by lucznik lucznik wrote:

Chris, in this picture you appear to have your binocular in some kind of open belt pouch.  Can you tell us about this?  Do you sell them (or know where we can buy them?) 

 

This appears at least to be a pretty great way to carry the binocular where it won't be dragging on your neck, bouncing on your chest (or the ground) as you move, and where a bino-bra would be too hot for comfort.

 

 

The Leica Binocular Holster is THE way to carry binoculars in the field.  Keep them positioned on your side  for walking, then slide them to your back for crawling (if your pants belt loop configuration allows it).  If you don't need them you can quickly unholster them and set them aside while setting up a stalk or shot.  Bad news is that Leica no longer offers them for sale.

 

I absolutely despise the bino-harness systems, they are always in the way and are not easy to get on or off in a hurry and if you like to layer, they are really a PIA.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ROCKMAN57 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/28/2007 at 19:55

DANG

I've never been to Africa but lookin at those pics I can see how it could get in a mans blood.

Beautifull place.

Rock

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigdaddy0381 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/05/2007 at 07:30

if anyone is still looking i found a Binocular case that clips on your belt at triple k brands.I haven't bought or used them just seen them tought i would pass it on.Not sure if they have a web site or not.

 

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lucznik Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/05/2007 at 13:51

Where exactly did you see them? 

 

I've done and internet search and have not found anything.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/05/2007 at 18:28
Great stories and pics, Chris!  Thanks for sharing!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8shots Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/14/2007 at 12:47

I have just joined the forum. I enjoyed your hunting story. I live and hunt in South Africa. When I picked up the threads though I first had to re-check the forum section. For a moment I thought I was on a photographic forum with all the critique on f-stops and exposures etc!

I have some nice hunting pictures but will be a bit carefull showing them to these photographic experts!

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