We arrived in Windhoek, Namibia with unknown anticipation since this was our first trip to Africa. After a good night's rest at the Hilton, our guide met us and drove us two hours to Otjiruze, one of the three large concessions that Otjiruze Safaris has to hunt on. After sighting in my bow, we met our photographer and trackers.
The first morning out, we stalked gemsbuck, eland, and warthog. We had two blown stalks on gemsbuck but arrowed a good warthog. I took a tremendous Nyala bull at 40 yards with my bow that first evening.
That night, we sat in a leopard blind over bait but only saw a brown hyena on the bait. On the drive to the leopard blind, we saw a tremendous gemsbuck bull, which my wife, Helen, took with a rifle at 100 yards. It rounded out at 40"!
On the third day, Alex Rogl, our PH, handed us over to his younger brother, Werner Rogl. We stalked and harvested an old red Lechwe buck at 45 yards with the bow. We had two stalks on black wildebeest but could not get closer than 90 yards before we were picked off.
The next day, we transferred three hours to the Waterburg concession with a beautiful, mountainous plateau on which our majestic estate was situated. This estate is an exact replica of Thomas Jefferson`s Monticello historical home with beautiful gardens attached.
Over the next week, we stalked and harvested a 48" kudu bull with a bow at 67 yards, several warthogs at 50 yards, Damara dik-dik , a 36" gemsbuck at 65 yards, and a black-faced impala at 45 yards, all with bow. The highlight was leopard hunting. During the heat of the day, we checked baits and trail cams to try to determine the feeding patterns of three mature leopards.
On the second night of leopard hunting while sitting in a ground blind, a large male came to the bait. At 90 yards and under a full moon sky, I harvested a mature tom of 58 kg. The roar of this leopard after the shot was the most hair-raising experience I had ever encountered. We then proceeded to stalk for Burchell’s zebra, springbuck, and Steenbuck for the rest of the week with several close encounters. My wife was able to stalk and harvest a magnificent 52" kudu bull with a rifle.
I stalked and harvested an old, worn-down waterbuck. During this stalk, we were threatened by a herd of hippos and rhinos, but after a circuitous stalk, we were able to harvest him at 80 yards with a bow. We stalked in to 72 yards and harvested a huge, old black wildebeest bull and took an old common impala buck at 85 yards.
The final week, we transferred two hours south to the Schenckswerder concession. Here, we stalked and harvested a great 12" tusked warthog and a huge blue wildebeest with a bow. We stalked Burchell's zebra for several days in a row, but we were constantly picked off by these wary animals. The culminating glory was a stalk in to 92 yards on a tremendous 42" sable bull. After a follow-up shot at 50 yards, the sable bull eventually expired and will make an outstanding taxidermy mount.
The wonderful three Rogl brothers (Alex, Werner, and Markus) were extremely accomplished guides. Their various accommodations are 5 star and offer spectacular views of the terrain. The food was outstanding. The trophy care was exceptional, and you “eat what you kill” with all animals superbly prepared.
We were so impressed by all aspects of our Namibia safari that we are actively looking to return to hunt several of the Plains Game species that we did not harvest as well as hunting the nearby Waterburg preserve for buffalo.
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