I again bowhunted for plains game in northern Limpopo Province of South Africa and then toured Kruger National Park. Both trips were great adventures and hunts. On both trips I got see different cultures, eco-systems, meet new people, make new friends and hunt different terrains and species of game.
In December of 2012 I developed the “African itch”- the call to return to Africa. I decided that I wanted to see more of the Dark Continent. After doing some research I made the decision to hunt Namibia. I did some background check of Outfitter Reports on Bowsite.com (one of the great features of Bowsite.com.) The one operation that really caught my attention each time I researched was Agagia Hunting.
I contacted several of the Bowsiters who had hunted with them in the past and received favorable comments. I would like to thank Pete Drummond, bowhunter_mh, and Jai Ho for their insights of their experiences with Agagia Hunting.
I then contacted Agagia Hunting and they immediately responded to my emails. Something that ranks high on my list of good outfitters is good and prompt communications with prospects and clients.
Originally, I had planned to make the trip solo, but remembered that my buddy, Steve Zischke, who sits in the pew behind me in church, told me once that if I ever went back to Africa he would be interested in going as he wanted to go with someone who had already blazed the trail. I shared my info with Steve and asked him if he was interesting in bowhunting Africa. Without hesitation, he said that he was in and just let him know what he needed to do next. Our scheduled departure date was July 29, 2013 with hunting to occur August 1-10, then return home.
Wheels were put in motion- we sent our deposits to Agagia Hunting to reserve our requested hunting dates, we both had passports, so all we had to do was make travel arrangements and get current on all out of country travel vaccinations.
We made out travel arrangements through Annelise DuBose of Areva Travel. If the name sounds familiar, her mother owns Afton House in Joburg. I have used Annelise’s services two times prior and have always found her to be polite, prompt and professional.
Our Delta Airlines flight would carry us from Jackson, MS to Frankfurt, Germany where we would rest and refresh a couple of hours in a day room at the Sheraton Airport Hotel directly across from the airport. We would then fly Air Namibia from Frankfurt to Windhoek, Namibia. Agagia Hunting would pick us up at the airport and after a 2 hour ride would arrive on the Agagia property. We had no problems with our luggage as we declared our bows & arrows as “Sporting Equipment” per TSA definition. We did have to pay one-time over weight baggage penalties both going and returning on our travels. For me, is a hard thing to escape over-weight luggage on a 14-day hunting trip.
Agagia Hunting is operated by Tielman and his wife Carin Neethling. It is a first class operation- top notch people and staff, great facilities and equipment and excellent managed wildlife species . For 10 ½ days we shared camp with Gary Shields (“Gobble 50” on Bowsite)and his wife, Mary, from Iowa and Ricardo Pertira, a bowhunter and neat guy from Brazil. The max number of hunters in camp at any one time is four, which allows for so individualized personal service at all times. Tielman and Carin are both avid bowhunters so they understand a bowhunter needs. All of our shot were inside of 20 yards with most shots being in the 10-14 yard range. They made certain that the hide selection was in favor with the wind direction at all times.
For ten and one-half days we took in the mild August temps, bright blue skies and “blood stained” red sandy soil of Namibia. In my 10 ½ day of bowhunting listed below are the statistics of the animals that I personally had within 20 yards of my hides bow shot and photographing opportunities of the following animal, again inside of 20 yards:
Warthog- 550 Blue Wildebeest- 146 Black Wildebeest- 15 Red Hartebeest- 85 Gemsbok 64 Kudu- 50 Jackal- 6 Mongoose- 5 Impala- 19 Waterbuck- 39 Roan Antelope- 4 Zebra- 10 Eland- 91 African Caracal- 1 *African Honey Badger- 2 *African Porcupine- 2
Total animals within 20 yard range- 1089
*- Endangered African specie
Steve’s original plan was to bowhunt 4/5 days then take up a rifle to complete his wish list. Things did not go as planned- Steve hunted 9 days with a bow and 1 ½ with a gun.
Collectively we killed 17animals with a bow, plus Steve killed 5 animals with a rifle. We took high quality animals with most bow kills meeting SCI record book minimums. At the end of the hunt, collectively we had 5 Bronze Medal entries, 2 Silver Medal entries and 2 Gold Medal entries ready of submittal for the record book. We are awaiting scoring results on our warthogs that we took with a bow to see if any made SCI record book minimums. Two of the persons at Agagia are official SCI measurers. Thus animals can be scored immediately avoid the loss of size and length caused the natural drying and boiling of horns during taxidermy work.
During the course of our hunt Steve recorded 3 hours of video and I shot 1700 photographs, plus some limited video. I am very thankful that God allowed Steve and me to have an incredible hunt and such an awesome adventure. Below is a simply a thumbnail sampling of our hunt to share with other Bowsiters.
I see you painted the middle of your face black but painted your Go-t white??? The Zebra camo look! Nice!
What great memories of one great African bowhunt !!!
Black Wildebeest
My PH freaked out when I told him I had better ones on the wall at home!!
These were the last animals I saw on the last afternoon of the hunt- what a memory !!
I tried counting the animals during one of my hunts and quit after the first day...It was pretty easy to sum it up by saying there was ALOT! Africa is an awesome place!
Thanks for sharing.
Bake
I just have to add....Honey badger don't care! Ha!
Ronnie gave us "the grand tour" upon arrival. Ronnie was PH with Gary/Mary. Steve's PH wasd Gustav. Jason was PH for Ricardo. Petra was my PH. All four PH's are excellent PH's and trackers as well.
My gemsbok measured 40 6/8" (L) & 40 4/8" (R). Both bases were were identical- 6 6/8"
If I omitted your name in thank you's, please forgive me. I kept thinking I did talk with you concerning Agagia, but could not find notes in my collection of research info.
