It feels I have just finished our January / February marketing in the US and yet, we already are in August! What a busy season so far, you’ve seen some of the great results we have had in Zimbabwe with huge tusker elephants, some great leopards and a few very good buffalo’s. We have also been very busy here in South Africa with our long range favorite team of Extreme Outer Limits, filming the next season of long range safaris in South Africa. Chris and Bob Beck were back in the dark continent with producer /cameraman Seth Johnson.

By the time we recovered Bob’s duiker taken at 604 yards, it was just getting dark

We opted for a new area closer to the Indian Ocean where the viewer will be able to discover another side of our beautiful Eastern Cape province. Bob has been working very hard on his guns and let me tell you something, those McMillan EOL rifles can shoot !! To cut a long story short on a common duiker that Bob chased up until the last day, he knocked it down at 604 yards on our last afternoon.

That was just an amazing shot, remember those animals give a very small target, especially when gathering their food between the bushes. They just don’t stand still, adding to the challenge at those great distances. As usual, Chris did extremely well (boy that women can shoot…) with all her shots being between 550 yards on a bushbuck to 753 yards on her gemsbok.

Very nice Cape Bushbuck Ram taken by Chris at 550 yards

Chris took that Gemsbok from the top of a nearby hill, on a slope. It was quite a difficult shot at 753 yards

Furthest shot for Bob this year was on a Cape Kudu at 990 yards. The conditions were indeed extreme with such a powerful glare. I could hardly see that big kudu in the strong Leica scope, Bob had a quick gap in the bushes and he took that shot. I just saw kudu back legs up in the air, that was a good sign… Bob did get a very nice bull, so did Chris at 530 and Seth at 450.

This year, EOL came with another hunter. Sultan was part of one of Bob’s classes back in the US, he is also a long range enthousiaste and has just bought one of Bob’s great rifles. The very first day, Sultan was with us when I spotted a very good nyala bull far away in the hills. Far away ? So the bull thought… too far for Bob to call that shot and for Sultan to take it ?

We often hear about those 1000 yards kill, but how often can one witness such a mythic shot? Let me tell you, when Sultan got behind that EOL rifle the first day and lined up his shot under Bob’s supervision at 1135 yards on that big Nyala bull, over 3 or 4 valleys, we all hoped for the best. What an hysterical explosion of joy when I saw that bull rolling down almost 2 seconds after the shot! Unreal!

Well, 1135 yards is indeed very far… Hardly any wind that day, why not try when you are under the supervision of one of the best long range shooter in the world, with a McMillan EOL range rifle in your hand ? Sultan took that shot…and the nyala dropped in its tracks. 1135 yards, the longest shot I have ever witnessed in almost 20 years of professional hunting. You hear about those shots in the magazine, well, I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes now, this is simply incredible !

Always good fun to hunt caracal over hounds, we are having excellent results in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Gérard and his African Lynx

From long range hunting to pygmy antelope hunting in coastal sand dune forest, Gérard and his well earned Blue Duiker

After all those long range crazy shots, my long time friend Gérard came to visit for some blue duiker hunting.

No mind you, a 25 yards shot on a blue duiker will be seen as a long range shot since we usually hunt them in very thick brushes with a shotgun. Gégé got a very nice blue duiker, along with a beautiful african lynx Caracal and other plains game.

We then spent the last days in Rhodes chasing Vaal Rhebuck in beautiful snowy mountains. Yes, you’ve heard right, we hunted in snow, yet in Africa. As my friend Glen Bishop says at the shows in the US, the real question is not to find out how hot it gets, but how cold it can get in Africa !

How cold does Africa get? Yep, hunting in snow could happen when looking for Vaal Rhebuck in northern part of Eastern Cape Province. We are here just below the Lesotho mountains at 2750m above sea level (over 9000 feet). First time ever I got stuck in snow with my african hunting vehicle!

Snow Rhino? Check the fresh snow on that back mountain, always a first for everything hey!

Sergii and his old Rhino bull. That one chased us up around some bushes a few time before we could line up a shot, very aggressive old bull

Talking about snow, have you ever seen a rhino hunt in the snow ? Have a look at the mountain on the back of Sergii’s old bull, that was in July !

For those of you who follows Ice Hockey back home, you might remember canadian goal keeper Felix POTVIN, we had the great pleasure to introduce Felix and his son Xavier to the African Bush. They got real good animals that week with PH Chris. Always great to have father and son hunting together…

They saw a lot of kudu bulls that week and managed to get a real good one on one of our open areas close to the lodge. Well done guys !

Always nice to have Father and Son hunting together. Xavier and a very nice common Springbok

Felix and PH Chris with a good Cape kudu

Later on, Felix got a nice Cape Bushbuck right in the coastal sand dune forest. This is such a treat to hunt those challenging bushbuck with the waves breaking in the back ground.

Then it was back to Rhino hunting with another good bull, no snow this time.

Dmitri and a very nice Rhino Bull amongst some plains game taken during his Grand Safari

Six years ago, I met Ron and Chris at the Springfield MASS sportsmen show. Every year since, it was a pleasure to meet up again, see the kids grow and the nite was the time for them to visit us in South Africa. What a trip, I don’t remember laughing so much in one trip. It was non stop fun and we did some really great hunting.

First day hunting in Africa and Ron gets a huge Waterbuck, just short of 32”, the second biggest for myself as a pro hunter in about 20 years!

First day, Ron took a monster Waterbuck the second biggest I have ever taken with a client in almost 20 years, just short of 32’’ on the horns.
Then it was the kudu on a freezing day up in the mountains, Chris got a beautiful common blesbok, first kill ever, at 200 yards with my .222 remington. Always such a great feeling to have the privilege to introduce someone to african hunting, thanks for the opportunity Chris, you did very well.

It is truly a privilege to be part of someone first hunting experience. Chris had never killed anything before and she did very well with this 17” 2/8 common Blesbok! Sorry Ron, bigger than yours

So you have a .222 Remington Ron said, how big of an animal can one take with this?

It was not planned to take a Gemsbok with a .222 Remington, but Ron took the opportunity and squeezed one behind the ear. It worked!

Well, a few days later while hunting Steenbuck, we spotted a very nice Gemsbok. Yes, I know, .222 Remington on a Gemsbok is not the preferred caliber…unless you can squeeze one behind the ear Ron… That was the last thing I had to say… and yes indeed, a second ear hole from a .222 Remlington on a gemsbok works very well. Thank you very much !!

Then a monster Black Wildebeest, a great Hartebeest, Chris’s second animal ever an Impala, a few other great trophies and finally a Cape Bushbuck also taken on the coast.

Tracker Gazi and Ron with his huge Black Wildebeest bull. It will score very high in both SCI and Rowland Ward record books

Chris got a nice Impala after quite a long stalk, shot him in the gearbox!

Very old Cape Bushbuck ram with a very thick neck. Look at the Indian Ocean behind Ron, truly a million dollar view

Then it was another rhino bull taken at very close range. Very good stalk ending up with a shot at less than 15 meters away.

Vladimir and his Rhino bull taken with a .375 H&H Magnum

Finally my Canadian friend Michel Langlois, our representative in Canada, arrived with his freshly fixed broken leg. Michel broke his leg while baiting his black bears 2 months ago, he was alone deep in wild forest in Quebec when it happened, it could have had a very bad ending but Michel is fine now, almost ready to chase those huge Moose in the Yukon where he has been guiding for so many years. Michel spends some good quality time with us every year, and we just got a very nice buffalo with his client Bill. Bill and Marsha have been hunting with Michel numerous times in various countries.

Bill and Marsha with an old “Dagga Boy” or Cape Buffalo bull. Thanks to Michel Langlois for bringing them to Grand Safari, hope your leg will get fixed at 100% soon Michel!

Marsha got a nice warthog and a very good kudu, but that will be for the next newsletter…

More amazing scenic images from our adventures

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