The trip started off with much anticipation. All of the members met at my house and had the limo bring us to the airport. After a quick lunch we were on the plane. As we taxied down the runway, disaster struck. Roger became seriously ill and the plane had to turn back. The paramedics took him off the plane and his lovely wife accompanied him. We were told he had a heart attack. The next day was quite somber after our group was reduced to four. We checked in via satellite phone every couple of hours. Thankfully, Roger returned to his home state and was told his condition was not diagnosed, in fact the hospital results were inconclusive. I am going to help Roger and Jonette re-book a trip when he is well again.
The first two days I did not find any opportunity to shoot. I preferred hunting on foot and taking whatever the Hunting Gods presented, instead of focusing on something specific. The next two days were spent hunting Giraffe with Grizzly Mike. So I didn't fire a shot for four days! The others were having great success, which I will post seperately.
On day four, we stalked a herd of zebra through the bushveldt. After 3 hours, we had them at 85 yards and I shot the first one to walk through a small opening. It ran 50 yards and fell over, having been shot through the top of the heart and lungs. Grizzly Cartridge sponsored us with ammo for everyone's gun. the 405gr Kodiak from my 1886 proved more than sufficient with complete penetration and a huge exit hole. The mare was estimated to be 12 years old based on the worn teeth and hooves.
The next presentation was a Common Blesbok. At 150 yards, this ram stood his ground to us. I shot offhand and my PH, tracker and I decided I had missed. As we carried on about 200 yards, here was the ram again, shot through the brisket and mortally wounded. It ran again and I put another bullet in it. My tracker Jonas followed blood and footprints for 300 more yard in the thick of the thick. Another quick shot through brush brought the ram down. I gave Jonas my Rolex Date-Just for his outstanding job.
That evening, OP (using my Savage 99 308 with Grizzly Cartridge 165gr loads) and I hunted and shot a Miniature Kangaroo. The 100 yard shot readily dumped the 16 pound animal.
The next day, I followed Gemsbok tracks from daylight until the last hour of light, finally getting within 175 yards of one that I thought respectable. The 1886 launched the Kodiak bullet true and the Gemsbok hit the ground shot through the heart and breaking the off-side shoulder. At 40", this is quite a good one:
Then my PH and I experienced a buffalo charge while hunting Hartebeest. I was crazy enought to turn and snap a photo before my PH grabbed me by the collar and we ran and made it to the truck that the tracker already had rolling to safety.
More on other animals and the other hunters luck later......
Did you end up soldering it on or tapping in some short screws?
