It had been seven years since our last hunting trip to South Africa with Nick Bowker, and my buddy and I couldn’t wait to return.
This would be our second hunt with Nick, and we were excited to pursue some new animals while also revisiting a few we had enjoyed on our first trip. Nick’s plains game hunting packages make it easy to build a diverse and unforgettable hunt.
We arrived in Port Elizabeth where Nick greeted us.
The scenic 90-minute drive to Olive Fountain Ranch was a perfect welcome back to the Eastern Cape. After unpacking, we dialled in our rifles at the private range, eager to begin. Even with a misty, rainy start, a walk through the hills and valleys revealed dozens of trophy-quality animals, setting the stage for the ten full days of hunting ahead.
We started the morning hunting zebra, but found them too skittish for a clean shot. In the afternoon, we shifted to gemsbok. Nick and the trackers positioned us perfectly to take a broadside bull at 220 yards. Later, I dropped a magnificent nyala bull at 100 yards, capping off a successful first day.
The day began in the mountains, glassing for kudu. In the afternoon, I harvested a trophy impala ram at 225 yards. Nick’s Jack Russell Terriers, Blackjack and his partner, proved invaluable by quickly recovering the ram. That evening, a careful stalk on a nyala bull was a thrilling highlight, even though we were busted by a young bull.
The morning brought a superb impala at 270 yards. We returned to the elusive zebra, but a long shot at 350 yards was a near miss. Later that evening, another clean shot off the sticks earned us our second Nyala bull of the trip.
We started the morning hunting zebra, but foua
This was a day of pure African hunting. I tracked and brought down a huge kudu bull from 330 yards away. We then focused on zebra, taking down a stallion at 347 yards, and later, a second at an incredible 548 yards from the prone position. I capped the day with a giant warthog at 215 yards, completing a spectacular three-trophy day.
nd them too skittish for a clean shot. In the afternoon, we shifted to gemsbok. Nick and the trackers positioned us perfectly to take a broadside bull at 220 yards. Later, I dropped a magnificent nyala bull at 100 yards, capping off a successful first day.
We revisited the gemsbok plains, and another broadside bull at 180 yards became our next trophy.
In the afternoon, we had an unforgettable close encounter, stalking to within 40 yards of a young kudu bull. The light breeze, swirling dust, and tension of the moment made the experience truly memorable.
Though we passed on the shot, the encounter perfectly captured the excitement and challenge of hunting in Africa’s wild country.
The breathtaking mountains provided the backdrop for a great blue wildebeest bull at 315 yards. Later, we moved quietly through dense thornbush to harvest a red lechwe at 230 yards – another memorable moment of the hunt.
On our final day, we focused on another big warthog, which we took at 210 yards within 90 minutes. With time to spare, we went after the elusive white blesbok. I dropped the first trophy at an astonishing 608 yards, followed by another at 378 yards, a perfect ending to our hunt.