This past June six Hawaii Chapter SCI members traveled to South Africa for a 10-day cape buffalo, plains game hunt with Infinito Safaris. The plains game hunt was done in the Rooikraal, Limpopo area while the cape buffalo hunt was done at the Selati Game Reserve located at Mica, Limpopo which bordered Kruger National Park. The six of us left Oahu June 9, 2017 and arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa on the morning of June 11. We were greeted by a gun courier who helped expedite our rifle permits along with a representative who would driving the group out to Infinito Safaris. The drive took a little over 3 hrs. upon arriving at the hunting lodge we were greeted by the guides and camp staff. We were then assigned our bungalows and had lunch in the lodge dining hall. Charl Van Rooyen the owner and lead PH had lunch with us and gave a little information on what we can expect during our hunt. Since Chester Ho, Vince Harioka and myself (Jack Covington) were hunting buffalo we were told that we would be heading out that day to another hunting lodge in the Selati Game Reserve to hunt buffalo for the next 5 days. While Eric Harada, Peter Akamu, and Todd Morimoto would remain at Infinito to hunt plains game.
Chester, Vince, and I packed up and got ready for our buffalo adventure. The drive to the Delay I Reserve took another 2 1/2 hrs. to get there. This was a very nice lodge situated in a game reserve with lots of game including a herd of elephants and theatre’s that would roam around near the lodge. The lodge itself was built up high along a cliff that over loved the reserve and large water hole. The bungalows were pretty nice with large glass panel windows. We headed out each morning at 5:30 trying to pick up some buffalo spore along the dirt tracks. The vegetation was pretty thick in a lot of areas. Chester and I was hunting together but would take turns going on stalks after a fresh spore was located. Since the vegetation was so thick the buffalo would see us or pick up our scent before we could locate them although we knew they were close. All we would hear is brush breaking and hooves pounding the earth and a cloud of dust as the buffalo ran off. It wasn’t until the 3rd day I actually saw my first herd of buffalo. Chester and I were hunting cow buffalo on that 3-rd. day Chester decided to stay behind and wait at the truck while my guide, trackers, and I followed the spore. During the stalk the herd kept a step ahead of us always running off before we could get a look at them. We finally got close enough to get a quick glimpse at a cow that was looking over a brush on an incline above us. My guide wanted me to take a frontal shot trying to estimate where to place the shot since the brush had most of its chest blocked. We were about 50 yards away I took the shot the buffalo reared back and was hit. Since I did not travel with my rifle I used Charl’s 375 H&H. After I made the shot the buffalo ran off. It looked good the way buffalo reacted, but it wasn’t good enough to drop it in its tracks. We spent the rest of the day tracking it and came upon the buffalo several times following the blood trail but the it didn’t give any chance for follow up shot. The last time we picked her up she had joined up with the herd again and was gone. A lesson learned was to never take a frontal shot on a buffalo unless you have a complete picture of the chest. Even then I would rather do a broadside kill shot.
The next day was our 4th and we were able to pick up a herd that was in a better area free of a lot of brush we put on a nice stalk where Chester was in position to watch a cow pass broadside about 125 yds. away. As the cow crossed in front of us Chester got off a perfect shot that dropped the buffalo in its tracks. Nice job and no tracking was required here. Vince was successful on getting his cow buffalo but had a mishap on his bull buffalo. Since Chester and I were done we returned to Infinito the next day. Vince stayed back another day to look for his bull that got away. When Chester and I got back to infinito we found out that Eric, Todd, and Peter just about got all their animals that were on their wish list. I spent a few nights hunting bush pig and got on a real nice boar one evening made a hit, but the trackers could not find him. I have never had this happen on any of my hunting trips but that’s two animals that got away, I was beginning to have second thoughts about not bringing my own rifle on this trip.
On the 9th day I finally connected on a mountain zebra that I have always wanted, it was a nice stallion. I Didn’t realize that when hunting mountain zebra, they don’t take the herd stallion. If they did, another stallion would come in and kill the young foals like male lions when taking over pride. Chester continued his hunt and got a nice warthog and eland. Vince returned the next day found out that they were unsuccessful in finding his bull. The next day he was successful in a nice bull sable that scored over 40″. The last night we had a nice barbeque and spent the evening telling hunting stories. The next morning after a nice breakfast we got all packed up for the long drive back to Johannesburg. On the way to the airport we made a stop at a souvenir shop and bought a few nice things to take home. We were flying on Emirates Airlines and our flight would be a long one since we would go thru Dubai before heading back to the U.S. The overall trip was okay with some disappointments for some. But it still felt great to be in Africa among good friends and it doesn’t get better than that.
Thank you Lord for another safe hunt.