Mike Smith's Hunt In The Republic Of South Africa, 2002

This nice old waterbuck was my first African animal taken. Notice my big grin. You can see the tips of his horns are worn down a bit. What you cant see is that his teeth were worn down to nubs. Although he wasn't the biggest waterbuck taken I wouldn't trade him for anything. This was the number one animal I wanted to take. I don't know what it is, they always look regal to me. It looks like they have an attitude. Although it took me 3 shots to put him down it started the trip out right.
 

This was a really nice zebra stallion that Drom picked out for me to take. I made a good shot off the sticks and  he dropped within 30 yards. His ears were all notched up from fighting but the rest of the hide was relatively scar free. He will make a great trophy.
 

Big Bird! Everytime I saw ostriches I made the comment in the tone that my 3 year old nephew uses. It became sort of a joke. I had no intention of taking an ostrich to begin with. I took him on a lark. He dropped like a ton of bricks. I shot him just where the neck joins the body. I will probably have a purse made for the wife out of the leather. After all that is why I went to Africa right?

 

This is my real trophy of the trip. A 17 1/2 inch bushbuck taken after 2 days of walking and stalking on the limpopo. This besides being a great animal was the most enjoyable hunting I did. I shot him through the thick stuff at about 130 yards with the 376 Steyr. He hunched up like it was a good hit then we lost sight of him. When Drom and I got to where we had last seen him there was not a drop of blood to be found. I found one tiny sliver of meat. My heart sank as I started to think I made a bad shot. After hunting for 1/2 an hour we found him almost at dark not 20 yards from where I first shot him laying in the thick stuff. The heart was completely destroyed but not one drop of blood. Who would have thought? All I know is that is one beautiful animal. I don't know where I will put him but he is getting done as a life-size mount.
 

My black wildebeest taken in QWA QWA national park. The scenery was as impressive as the animals. QWA QWA is a name that isn't recognized by a lot of people but it is located adjacent to golden gate national park.
 

My blue wildebeest. This was one tough animal! He took 3 solid hits and still didn't want to go down. This is the one that "got my attention" after he had been pronounced dead. Shots were at 190, 250 and 320 yards with 300 WM 200 gr. A-frames

Nice red hartebeest taken with 7x57 mauser. The horns pull way back like the handlebars on a Harley

Another PIC of my blue wildebeest. Notice the nice boss on the old bull.
 

My eland was taken at 80 yards. This was one of if not the best shot I made on the trip. It made up for a few of my others. I was using the  300 WM.  with 180 gr. bearclaws. He was laying down under an acacia quartering away from me. I took him just behind the shoulder. The bullet went through the heart and lungs exited and came to rest just under the skin on the off side. The old bull never even got to his feet. He  rolled over right in place. I would have never have thought you could kill an animal this size with one shot let alone get a complete pass through with the 300 WM.

 

One of a couple of springbok I took. Notice the direction of his horns to each other. I took him in the neck and messed up the cape a little.  I had a thing for neck shots this trip.
 

One of the blesbuck I took. This one was really angled away from me so I took him farther back than I would have normally. Not the prettiest antelope, but certainly one of the tastiest.
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Last Updated November 10th, 2002