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I went to South Africa on my first plains game safari in 2000 at the Mabelingwane Game Ranch property of Mabelingwane Safaris. I was primarily after Kudu. The Kudu didn't cooperate on that trip and I didn't get one.

Mabelingwane is a game fenced ranch but the property is about 14,000 acres in size. It's located about 10 miles south of the Limpopo River in the northern part of the Limpopo Province. I hardly ever saw the perimeter fence. The animals had plenty of room to move and hide. There were even about 8 White Rhinos on the property. We saw a couple of them the first day and never saw any Rhinos again. Maybe not true fair chase hunting but close enough for me.

Here's an aerial photo (not taken by me) of the property:

I went back to Mabelingwane in 2002 determined to try again for Kudu. The Kudu just laughed at me as they remained well hidden. I felt I had a Kudu curse.

In 2005, I decided to try once more to take a Kudu at Mabelingwane. I was determined! So, on my first day of hunting, my PH and I built a brush blind (hide) and decided to see if we'd get lucky. After a few hours, three bulls were spotted. Two young ones and one mature bull. These guys circled around our blind for about an hour staying obscured from view in the bush. They knew something was up but couldn't figure it out. Finally, the two young bulls stepped into view to cross a small clearing. Then the mature bull followed them and stepped into the clearing.

He was quartering towards me when he stopped and looked straight at me. I put the cross hairs on his chest and squeezed the trigger. Good hit! He ran about 75 yards and was down and out. Here's the photo of him:

Not a great Kudu but a nice one, IMHO. We didn't measure his horns in the field as I didn't care about the measurements. He was my first Kudu and he was MY Kudu and that was enough for me. I've never had him officially scored.

A few days later, after also taking some other game, we decided to try for Blue Wildebeest. Again, my PH and I built a brush blind around the base of a tree that he thought would be a good spot. We waited and waited. Never saw a dang Wildebeest. As the light was starting to fade for the day, my PH touched my arm and whispered to me to look to my right. I turned my head and saw a magnificent Kudu emerging from the bush with what looked to me to be VERY nice horns! My PH whispered to me, "That's a VERY nice Kudu." I whispered back, "Yeah, I know. I'm going to shoot the sonofabitch!"

I was in a bad position to make a shot. I slowly stood up and leaned over and around my PH (who was sitting to my right) and got my cross hairs on the Kudu. I must have made a noise as the Kudu stopped, looked in my direction, then turned around and started slowly walking back towards the thick bush. I tracked him in the scope. At this point, I was leaning over on one leg while aiming over and around my PH's head and shoulders.

The Kudu walked behind some brush and was obscured from my view. I waited for him to step clear of the brush as he continued walking. A few steps later he was clear and he was now about 145 yards away quartering slightly away from me. I put the cross hairs on him, tracked him in scope as he was still walking, held by breath and squeezed the trigger.

Bang! Good hit! I saw him hunch his back and his tail went straight up and then he ran. He got about 50 yards deeper into the bush and that was it. Kudu number two would soon be in the salt.

Here he is:

My PH did a field measurement with a steel tape and he turned out to be 56 1/2 inches on the longest horn. Needles to say I was thrilled!! I've never had him officially scored. He's mine and I'm very proud of him and to me that's all that really matters.

My PH's dog guarding the Kudu while the PH goes back to get the truck.

On the this hunt, I used a CZ 550 American chambered in 9.3x62 with a Leupold VX-II 1-4x 20mm scope. I left the scope set on 3x the entire time. I used a handload consisting of the 286 gr Woodleigh round nose soft point loaded to an average of 2390 fps muzzle velocity (chronographed). The Woodleigh bullets performed great giving complete penetration on both Kudu (and on a nice Gemsbok and a few Warthogs and Impala).

I now have a sentimental soft spot in my heart for the grand and truly classic 9.3x62 cartridge.

Well, that's my Kudu story......

Cheers!
-Bob F.

(Image(s) added to NE server)

Edited by NitroX (13/09/10 10:23 PM)