L 39 goes to the "Dark Continent"

International

Contributors to this thread:

t-roy 31-Jul-15

Jaquomo 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

cityhunter 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

JW 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

JW 31-Jul-15

>>>--arrow1--> 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

JW 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

JW 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

JW 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

JW 31-Jul-15

orionsbrother 31-Jul-15

t-roy 31-Jul-15

HUNT MAN 01-Aug-15

wam 01-Aug-15

rick allison 01-Aug-15

wam 01-Aug-15

t-roy 01-Aug-15

probuck 01-Aug-15

t-roy 01-Aug-15

probuck 01-Aug-15

Rayzor 01-Aug-15

probuck 01-Aug-15

Foot Shooter 01-Aug-15

GhostBird 01-Aug-15

Firehuntfish 02-Aug-15

bird dog 02-Aug-15

BOWUNTR 03-Aug-15

Buffalo1 03-Aug-15

t-roy 03-Aug-15

JW 03-Aug-15

BOWNBIRDHNTR 18-Aug-15

Drahthaar 18-Aug-15

t-roy 18-Aug-15

AZ~Rich 18-Aug-15

Firehuntfish 19-Aug-15

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

My wife & I just returned from Africa & our first Safari. We had an absolute blast! We went with Limcroma Safaris & I cannot begin to say enough great things about them. Every aspect of their services was incredible!

I got ahold of birddog about possibly taking L39 with me to Africa. He sent me the knife about a week before our trip & I packed him up along with a traveling companion. "Buck". Buck is a knife that I bought back in the early '70s with some coon trapping money that I earned in Jr. High. He has been on every bow hunting trip that I've taken since.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

The first animal that L39 got to pose with was a gemsbok. I think they have the coolest markings of all the plains game that we hunted. They remind me of a clown.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Closeup of their face.

From: Jaquomo

31-Jul-15

Awesome! Love stories of hunting tools with a history and purpose. .

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

We got to share camp with some fellow "Bowsiters" during our stay with Limcroma.

The crew is as follows:

Will (wam) aka "The Grim Reaper"!

Bill (Foot Shooter)

Shawn (probuck)

Jeremiah (JW)

myself (t-roy)

Not sure who the cat in the back is!

What a great bunch of guys to share camp with! I had to up my BS game to keep up! Made for some interesting conversations around the fire in the evenings.

L39 made the rounds with these guys as well during our stay so hopefully they will be posting some of their pics on here as well.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

The next animal that I took was a Kudu. They are a lot of fun to watch. They almost seem to have a cocky "attitude" when they are coming into the waterhole. This was the top animal on my African wish list.

I forgot to include L39 in the pic,

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

A couple more pics of Kudus. Beautiful animals.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Another

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

I had a busy day on my 3rd day, taking 3 animals.

First was an impala. Our whitetail does in Iowa ain't got nothing on these guys! Take about jumpy!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Next was a blesbok.

From: cityhunter

31-Jul-15

nice welcome home

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Thanks Lou! Sure hated to come home, but it was nice to get back at the same time.

Finally, after about 45 minutes, this warthog gave me a good shot opportunity.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Forgot the pic!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

L39 getting in on the action on my impala.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Warthogs are so ugly that they're cute.....OK, maybe not!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Impala are so cool that I couldn't resist shooting another one!

I think JW would agree with that statement!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Will didn't have L39 with him the day he shot his zebra so I took a pic of L39 for him at the skinning station. Hopefully he will post a pic of his zebra.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

"Ozonics".....African style!

I think their motto is "Forget the wind, light the dung, then just hunt!"

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Very true Troy! They reminded me too much of a big midwestern whitetail when they walked in, I couldn't resist! My group booked our hunt with Limcroma 2 years ago and through the Bowsite I learned that Troy and his wife would be in camp at the same time. We shared pm's and had some great phone conversations but it was really cool to finally meet them in Africa on safari! They were a lot of fun in camp and just great folks all around. We had a blast! One of my favorite things about this site is getting to know like minded people from all over and I've been fortunate to share hunting camps with some of them.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

My first animal of the trip was this warthog.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Day 2 I arrowed the #1 animal on my Plains game list, Kudu. I think the markings on them are beautiful, and the horns are also very cool.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Looking down the pipe.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

After pics and loading up my bull, we jumped back into the blind and an hour later I took my first impala ram of the trip.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

I had a hard time getting a big warthog in range & standing still long enough for a shot. It was always one thing or another.

As an example, we had a really nice male hog coming into the water hole. All of a sudden, another big male hog comes running out of the bush & they start fighting. Johan, my PH, was filming the encounter. They were really going at it. I made the comment "The way my luck is going with warthogs, the biggest one will probably break his tusk off!"

I had no more than made that statement, when we heard a "snap" & we could see the biggest hog's tusk go flying through the air! I did find his tusk & got a neat souvenir to take home!

They both took off into the brush & disappeared. About an hour later, this hog came in & finally gave me a good shot opportunity.

I was amazed at how tough all of the animals that I shot were. Even after making killing shots, they would often go 200-300 yards after the shot. I hit this warthog in the heart, & he still went over 300 yards. (I stepped it off)

BTW.... The warthog is the one in the front!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Keep the pics coming JW!

From: JW

31-Jul-15

A few days later i took this Blue Wildebeest. I wasn't sure if I'd have one of these guys mounted until I saw how beautiful the hide was and I quickly added to my growing taxidermy bill...

From: >>>--arrow1-->

31-Jul-15

very nice pix..... Congrats !

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

For you guys in the know, here's a pic of a bushbuck that one of the hunters in Limcroma's other camp shot when we were there.

All of the PH's were standing around this bushbuck going on & on about how huge he was. It reminded me of a bunch of midwest guys standing around a 200'' whitetail! I guess big is big no matter the species.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

This guy was very tempting, but true to his word, Johan my PH would not give me my bow back not matter how much I pleaded! What a beautiful animal!

From: JW

31-Jul-15

One night after dinner, Troy gave me L39 to tag along on the following days hunt. I had been getting my rear end handed to me by the Zebra and Gemsbok and was hoping that old L39 would bring me some luck.

Mid morning the next day an entire herd consisting of roughly 20 Gemsbok came in to my blind and I made a perfect heart shot on the biggest bull in the bunch at 25 yards. It was a pretty cool feeling to have this knife by my side, knowing that today's hunt was only one of many that this knife had and will be a part of. The idea of passing this knife around on so many hunting adventures is fantastic and I'm proud to put my name on the growing list of hunters who have taken it afield. Thanks again Troy!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

One of my favorite animals that I took during my trip was this wildebeest. My wife was with us in the blind the evening that I shot him, so I got to share that with her. She's already bugging me, wanting to know when we can come back! That's a good problem to have I guess!

She has plans for a pillow or two with his skin. Just what we need at home......more pillows!

From: JW

31-Jul-15

At this point in the trip I was really concentrating on Zebra, but I locked the willpower to keep from shooting Impala :) This was my second ram.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Agreed JW. VERY cool idea!

So far, according to the list that accompanies L39, it has been to California, Colorado, Alaska, Wyoming, Michigan, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Newfoundland, & now South Africa!

I think BOWHUNTR is next on the list. Not sure where he's going, Nevada maybe, but I'm sure it will be an adventure.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Still waiting for Zebra, the bow just seemed to keep coming to full draw :)

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Also worth noting, on 2 of the 3 impala that I took, when we were bloodtrailing we would run into these guys...

Doesn't really give you a warm fuzzy feeling when you walk past them at 30 yards and your PH doesn't have his .416 Rigby with him. I figured I would stab my PH in the leg with L39 and beat feet outta there with my sub 10 second 40 speed :)

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Saw a few of these guys.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

From: JW

31-Jul-15

From: JW

31-Jul-15

From: JW

31-Jul-15

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

The last animal that I took was a waterbuck. A waterbuck wasn't even on my radar until about 6 months before our trip. They kinda grew on me. I'm sure glad that I added it to my list!

I had few close calls with waterbucks, but could never get a clean shot at one until the second to last day. This bull came in chasing a cow & she dragged him right past our blind. It reminded me almost exactly like a big whitetail buck chasing a hot doe around back in Iowa.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

L39 "hero shot"

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

Sunset on L39's last day in Africa. Hopefully He will be back again in the "Dark Continent" soon.

From: JW

31-Jul-15

I'd like to personally thank Hannes Els and his staff at Limcroma Safaris for putting on an excellent hunt. Accommodations, food and the hunting was out of this world! The PHs we were paired with were very professional, a lot of fun and just great guys to be around.

My friends and I had a terrific time and the days flew by like many people I talked to said they would. It was great to meet Troy and his wife in person and to share a camp with them, really great people!

I'd also like to thank Dan Leahy ( Firehuntfish here on the forums) for promptly answering the many questions that we fired at you. Your help was / is greatly appreciated.

Africa is a special place. I'm a blue collar guy and I always thought it was out of reach for me. I worked my butt off and saved for a few years and made this trip happen. I would encourage anyone who has ever thought about going on safari to do it! My only regret is now that I have been, I want to go back!!!

From: JW

31-Jul-15

Thanks for loaning out L39 Troy, let's do it again sometime!

From: orionsbrother

31-Jul-15

Really cool pictures. Looks like you guys had a great trip.

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

I couldn't agree more about your comments regarding Limcroma, their staff, & Dan as well JW! I'm sure there are some great Safari outfitters out there, but I could not imagine anyone treating us any better than Limcroma. If,....scratch that... WHEN I go back, I know who I will going with!

From: t-roy

31-Jul-15

JW... That buff is looking at you like you owe him money!

From: HUNT MAN

01-Aug-15

Great photos. What a trip. Congrats to all. Hunt

From: wam

01-Aug-15

From: wam

01-Aug-15

Wow.... what an amazing trip. Nothing like what I expected. Thank you JW, footshooter, and probuck for inviting me on this wonderful journey. T-roy it was a pleasure meeting you and your wife. The waterbuck is beautiful. I hope to see you on a hunt again ( muskox maybe ) I'm so thankful that I was able to harvest a zebra. I didn't even see one till 8 days into the hunt

From: wam

01-Aug-15

I was really wanting to shoot a bull gemsbuck until this beautiful female came in.

From: wam

01-Aug-15

From: wam

01-Aug-15

From: rick allison

01-Aug-15

Amazing trip!!! I've never even considered such possible, but you've made me wonder....

Thanks for sharing.

From: wam

01-Aug-15

From: wam

01-Aug-15

From: wam

01-Aug-15

We had a few morning that were in the low 30s. I never though it got that cold in africa. I couldn't resist but to shoot so of these little annoying guineas. There actually harder then they look.

From: wam

01-Aug-15

Forgot the pic

From: t-roy

01-Aug-15

Will, from the looks of you in the pic with the guineas, maybe we should consider the the Fall Muskox hunt instead of the Spring hunt!!

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

Awesome! The trip to the dark continent was a great trip itself but thanks to Troy I got to join the history of the L39 at the same time.

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

Wildebeest my first African big game. Pass through 20 yards shot 150 yard recovery.

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

The kudu probably one of the animal's I was look forward to seeing the most. Think I was driving my PH crazy by this point because where where several other mature animals in that morning but after seeing this kudu I told him that he was the one. I think he was wanting me to take anther one that was already in range. One in the hand beats 2 in the bush kind of thinking. It was only around 10am an told him I had all day. I believe it was a done deal within the hour.

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

Wish I would of thought of taking a picture down the pipe like JW but still a cool pic.

The kudu was 15 yard shot hitting opposite shoulder out of elevated blind. 100 yard recovery

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

The impala has to be the most cautious these s out of all of them think they get scared of their own shadow. Man can they jump I think he was jumping 8 ft in the air after the shot. Shot was 20 yard pass through 50 yard recovery.

From: t-roy

01-Aug-15

Awesome pics Shawn!

I didn't think to take a pic "down the pipe" either. Should have set L39 in the pipe for a pic. That would have looked cool. Maybe we could get Rowdy Dowdy to photoshop it in for us!

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

Again I think I was driving the PH nuts because had several other shooters in earlier but they just weren't what I was looking for. This bull finally came in an I was able to seal the deal. Shot was 20 yards pass through stuck in tree 5 yard behind him an he only made it 75 yards.

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

I acutely got out of the blind a few times an tried to do a spot an stalk on a worthog with no luck. We did stalk up on a bush buck that I passed on that I later had to do penalty shot for back at the lodge for doing such a crazy thing. I think this was the last morning and we were actually after baboon when this sow came in that I couldn't pass on.

From: Rayzor

01-Aug-15

Awesome trophies and pics. I had forgotten about the journeys of L39. It'd be cool to see a list of allt the hunts its been on now.

I hope to have a trip to Africa like that someday.

From: probuck

01-Aug-15

The famous L39 picture! So glad I was able to get this picture with my baboon I think it had to be the toughest hunt. There eyes don't miss anything. I was set up in the back of a blind with a black face mask an black gloves on like a ninja for a few hours after we spotted them until he finally came in.

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

Well I guess I am last to post the pics and add to the story.......... Trip was amazing, back in ohio we see deer, turkey, or trespassers so sitting in a blind in Africa when literally anything could walk in was a completely new experience for me.

My first day was this Impala Ram, shot looked good and was double lung, but this guy was still on his feet an hour later and required another shot.......

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

Day 2 for me (the first full day) was filled with more animal sightings than I have ever experienced short of the caribou migration at the late (tutulik)..... This was the first time that I strayed from my initial list when a blue wildebeest arrived with friends and he stood out from the rest very clearly. Animal #1 from the "add to list" file for me

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

The next opportunity for me (well that I wanted, it seemed like endless opportunities)....... Was my Kudu...... This was my top priority on this trip as I think they are just really cool looking and watching them control a water hole and smack some of the other animals around solidified it for sure.

On this day my shot was back, not real back but more like perfect placement on an ohio whitetail (which is not great for Africa I learned).... Long story on this one but the cliff notes are that we had all of the other shots on video, but missed this one on camera and we should have probably waited a bit longer before pursuing, but man did it make a great experience tracking this animal for roughly 2 miles. The ability of my PH to see this animals tracks and sparse blood drops in the dry earth was truly special. My PH and his dog are in this shot because watching that 10 lb dog fight with a very large kudu and never stop till I could get another arrow (better placed) was really neat to see. This is "impi" or aka "anus eater" as he earned that name during the trip

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

Another shot of my kudu "down the pipe"

This animal will always be special for me as I had the initial thrill of the shot and the high from thinking I had done well, then watching it rise up and run and feeling that certain feeling in your gut that you just know you are about to puke.......... Then the slow and steady tracking blood droplet at a time through what seemed like thousands of animal tracks, where I was sure I just lost my opportunity and injured an animal that we would never find. Then hearing that little dog barking and sprinting for what seemed like forever (I need to go through the sheep shape posts and find something to help with this....). And finally what seemed like forever later getting a redemption shot, and watching the animal fall and the following planning for how to find the best way out from where we ended up. I usually like a little less drama to my hunts, but imam happy at the end result.....

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

A little more like it was my opportunity at this Gemsbok, this animal came in on his own, out of absolutely nowhere. Happened so fast I couldn't even get nervous.

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

My day with L39......

I think all of us on the trip had at one time or another read the "take me hunting" posts, and what a cool concept for people to log, and track the travels and experiences that this knife has followed up till now, and will continue to for the foreseeable future (cough...... Northern BC next year moose hunt in my pack maybe,.... Cough).

My trip saw me hunt for a large (30" was my benchmark) waterbuck for 5 of the 10 days we were there. Today started no different as we got to the waterhole and reviewed trail cam pictures from the night before to see the guy we were looking for still being nocturnal. We were hoping that he would get more thirsty during the day at some point and had to keep after him the best we could. We were seeing several new animals on this day, kudu with busted horns, red hartebeest, giraffes, everything but our waterbuck. Then a great older Impala arrived and started making a show at the blind running off lesser animals and seemingly barking at them non-stop. This Impala had my PH impressed and with the show we were witnessing, and the Impala count for our group already setting a camp record, I could not pass him up.

My picture with L39, not a giant waterbuck, but a pretty cool Impala ram that was a bully to all of the others.

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

Forgot to post the pic with L39, so here is another angle......

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

And last but not least for me was my Zebra. I had actually seen 2 more of these earlier on in the hunt but they were immature and carried some very fuzzy hair and my wildebeest was just too temping that day.

From: Foot Shooter

01-Aug-15

I have to agree with all of the comments by All of the guys above. limcroma is definitely a special place and we were treated like royalty while staying there. Accommodations, food, drink, atmosphere, and animal sightings and quality were all above and beyond what was expected.

It was a pleasure to share camp with T-Roy and his wife, as well as the non-bowsiter's from Texas and Pennsylvania.

We got to take some great animals, and even better memories from our experiences. Some of hunting, and even more of comments and translations from African, to English language. Some really funny one liners that will probably follow a few of us for a while.

I was on the fence about this hunt, JW and I had always talked about it, and always knew we would go but when it was time to put up or shut up the thoughts of Moose, or Elk, or any of the other bucket list trips I have to do someday kept creeping into my head. I am extremely happy that we went on this trip, I will go back and find my giant waterbuck someday, and maybe a few that I left behind......

If you have thought of doing this type of trip, find a way and make it happen. You won't regret it..... Oh yeah here is the cheetah pic from the trail cam at the blind i hunted from most

From: GhostBird

01-Aug-15

Congratulations guys... awesome safari!!! Welcome home.

Really nice trophies all around.

Great looking Kudus & Impalas... I love Impalas!

t-roy - what a warthog.

wam - great Blesbuck.

Foot Shooter - love your Impala.

probuck - way to hold off for a great Kudu.

JW that live photo of the Kudu is awesome , he is a stud... as well as the Bushbuck.

From: Firehuntfish

02-Aug-15

Firehuntfish's Link

Troy, Jeremiah, Shawn, Bill, & Will,

All I can say is WOW and congrats! You all posted some great photos and took some truly exceptional animals. I'm very glad to hear that you all had a great African bowhunting experience. I hope it will be the first of many for all of you. I'm also very happy to hear that it worked out that you all could share camp together. It sounded like a lot of fun... Sitting around the fire in the evenings with a "sundowner" in hand sharing stories with the other folks in camp is one of my favorite parts of the safari....I wish my wife and I could have been there for that.

Also, thank you for posting such awesome reports for us! Happy guests posing with big trophy animals is the best endorsement we can ask for... It was my sincere pleasure speaking & working with all of you prior to your safaris.. Let me know when you are ready to go back!

From: bird dog

02-Aug-15

Awesome job you guys those are some great photos. I'm glad you guys could take the knife along and It got to see lots of use. I'm glad RC gave me the knife last year to do as I wish with and that I continued to send it on some awesome hunts

From: BOWUNTR

03-Aug-15

Outstanding.... Jaw dropping number of animals. Congratulations guys.

L39 is on its way to my place and I will be taking it with me to the high country of Nevada in pursuit of mule deer. Can't wait for the L39 photos. I leave on the 8th and will return on the 19th.... stand by. Ed F

From: Buffalo1

03-Aug-15

Congrats to all of you fellas. It is quite evident that ya'll had an awesome adventure. What great trophies and memories !!! Thanks for sharing.

T-roy I have been following you as you prepared for your trip. You no longer need "Depends" !!! Your excitement is now under control and you have now made your first trip to Africa.

Now, here is the hard question for you- when you going back ??

From: t-roy

03-Aug-15

Greg... My wife is wanting to know that too!! So many hunts, so little time! I'm self employed & super busy with work so it's tough to get the time off to hunt as much as I would like. I do get time to hunt a bunch for whitetails in November here in Iowa, though!

I'm going back to Alaska for moose on a drop camp hunt with my best friend in 2016 & looking at a possible muskox adventure the year after that. Probably won't be for a few years, but I will definitely be going back!

I didn't need "Depends" the first time! My sphincter held up pretty well, though it did get tested a few times;>)

From: JW

03-Aug-15

Best of luck on the muleys Ed. If you look close you can see a really nice P&Y Kuiu hat that a fellow member sent me for signing a new member up :)

From: BOWNBIRDHNTR

18-Aug-15

Hey Troy, looks like the old XT really worked her magic! Great write up by you and everyone else. Congrats to all and thanks for sharing.

From: Drahthaar

18-Aug-15

Glad L39 had a successful hunt. Glad all of you guys had a great hunt. thanks for sharing . Forrest

From: t-roy

18-Aug-15

Was hoping to get to test L39 out on one of these guys. Looks like I will have to go back!

From: AZ~Rich

18-Aug-15

You guys did very well! Very nice trophies and photos. I'm glad you had such a great time at Limcroma as well and thanks for sharing. Yes, those Jack Russells are definitely "Anus Eaters"....however our camp Jack made no distinction, she went after and latched onto any face part or appendage she could bite down on. Now you know what its all about over there and why you are planning already to go back.

From: Firehuntfish

19-Aug-15

Just a follow up on the awesome Limpopo Bushbuck posted by the group... The hunter was 18 year old Blake Duncan hunting with his Dad on their first father/son safari with Limcroma. They took this slob of a bushbuck along the marshes of the Crocodile River. Blake made a perfect 120 yard rifle shot and dropped him in his tracks. He measures just a hair under 18" with nice heavy bases, he is sure to score very well... Congratulations to a fine young man on a great animal!

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