Forums.NitroExpress.com

Pictures hmmm, well this is where I admit that the last computer course I passed had "Punch Cards" Ive read the posting instructions and still cant make sense of it. As for the hunt it was our honeymoon. First a week for the hunt then 3 weeks touristing and shopping.

We landed in Jo'burg and spent the night in a guest house the flew to Kimberly for the hunt. Ive been asked not to say exactly where because of the political issues; but the PH was KMG Safaris. Marius is an amazing PH and has ruied me for all other PH's. I did a plains game hunt with him in 2012 and have pretty much decided to only hunt with him.

So when we decided to do the hunt for our honeymoon, KMG was my first and only call. The first day in camp was the usual sight in and settling in. The staff knew this was our honeymoon and went out of their way to make it feel spectacular. On the morning of the hunt the whole crew was assembled. We had arranged a Videographer to film the hunt. Our crew included the property owner, his camp manager, our PH plus a friend of his as an "extra gun", the Game Officer, and tracker.

It was a constant drizzle of rain as we started; but pushed on nevertheless. The cat we were hunting had gone rogue. We drove from section to section looking for tracks and the rain worsened. Finally about 9am we took shelter in a cabin on the ranch. Thats where a lot of gun talk started, who had what and why a 45-70 meets the legal specs for DG and a 9.3x74R doesnt and so forth.

When the rain didnt look like it would stop, we decided to head back for an early meal; and of course when we were halfway back the sun came out. On route we spotted a lion. I was sure it couldnt have been "my cat" because mine was a female and the one we spotted was huge. We drove about a mile further then stopped and started the hunt.

We had spotted the cat on the right side of the trail and started in that direction. About 20+ minutes later I noticed we were angling left. I didnt say anything figuring I was in good hands and had never tracked a lion before. A few minutes more and the "Xtra Gun" who had been in the trail position, ran up to say the lion was right F-ing behind us. I had just gotten set up on the sicks when she came out of the brush headed for us. It wasnt a charge but she was definitely looking for us. I made the shot at 20 yards. She flipped and ran back into the brush. Not wanting to loose her I started forward only to be stopped by my PH. He said it was a good hit and we'd smoke a cigarette before following. The wait seemed like hours but was probably less than 10 minutes. We found her lightsout maybe 20 feet in the bush.

Thanks to a certain dentist who had to post about a lion hunt on Facebook and President Obama for outlawing the import of lions, I have a lovely lion rug waiting for me at a South Afrikkan taxidermist...and just one more reason to think more and more about moving there.

The rest of the trip was spent in Rhodesia with a trip down the Zambezi river and a day at Victoria Falls. Then back to SA for wine tours and Table Mountain and of course gem shopping and yes, looking at the real estate options. Thats when I fell in love with Cape Town.

Oh and as for my rifle it was a 470 Merkel Double loaded with a solid and soft point but only one was required

--------------------
If it's not custom, it's just borrowed

Post Extras