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This video is a summary of our 2023 Big Game Hunting Podcast African safari hunt where I hunted South Africa with two podcast listeners.
Email me at [email protected] and let me know what you'd potentially like to hunt if you're interested in joining me on a hunt in the future with other podcast listeners. If I get a lot of solid interest from other people who want to join me, that will make my decision to plan another podcast hunt that much easier.
Or visit https://bestsafarihunt.com to learn a little bit more about these hunts or book a trip over alone or with a few of your friends and family.
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0:37
Hello, my name is John McAdams, and I am the host of the Big Game Hunting podcast, where my mission is to help hunters like you prepare for the big game hunting adventures you have always dreamed about
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many people dream about hunting Africa. After all, Africa has something of a mystical appeal to a lot of serious hunters as an exotic land of unique animals, different cultures, and fantastic hunting, where it is still possible to have a true hunting adventure
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However, many of the same things that make a hunt in Africa seem so appealing can also make the process of planning a hunt in such an exotic location seem pretty intimidating
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as well. With that in mind, I had an idea to host a hunt for a couple of listeners to help them
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achieve their hunting dreams. I did this for a number of reasons. I wanted to get to know some of my
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listeners on a more personal level. I wanted to help them prepare for their hunt in a more
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hands-on manner to ensure that they felt comfortable and 100% ready for their hunt, and I also
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just wanted to share that experience with them. C.J. McElroy was the first head of
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Safari Club International, and he once said, The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa
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for he has so much to look forward to. Just being in Africa is always great
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But this hunt was wildly successful. We had excellent companionship in camp and a field
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beautiful scenery, amazing interactions with wildlife, both game and non-game species, and of course, excellent hunting
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Now, two podcast listeners join me on this trip, Mike from Canada and Fernando from Mexico
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Both were experienced hunters in their home countries, but neither one had ever been to Africa before
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I remember how special my first trip to Africa was, and it was a privilege to share that with these gentlemen
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Both were very solid guys, and I genuinely enjoyed hunting with each of them during the day
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and then swapping stories with them around the dinner table and around the campfire each evening
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Johann Seifert, Kubuscock, and Christian Vendor Vistausen were our P.Hs for the duration of this hunt
3:14
with assistance from our trackers, Philemon, James, and Ernest. I invite you to join me for the next few minutes to see some of the highlights of our safari
3:24
We hunted together for certain parts of the trip, but we also hunted separately for large portions of the safari as well
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For that reason, we don't have video of every single noteworthy event from the hunt
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Even so, I think this video still does a really good job of showing what our hunt was like overall
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Now, the hunt began on 18 May, 2023. Fernando arrived first, so after a quick trip to the range to verify Zero on his beautiful Blosser R93 rifle
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and he brought both 300 wind mag and 375 H&H Magnum barrels, we started off hunting together
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We quickly spotted and pursued a very nice buffalo shortly after daybreak that morning
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But he gave us the slip. The two of us alternated unsuccessful stalks that morning where we couldn't quite close the deal on Blue Wildebeest, Zebra
4:16
Eland, Wartog, and Blesbach. However, we caught a break later that morning when Christian spotted a bedded Blesbock
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After a short stalk, Fernando made a great shot and we had our first animal in the
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salt. We split up that evening as I pursued Blue Wildebees unsuccessfully once again
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However, Fernando hit the jackpot and took a gigantic sable. I'm not joking when I say he took
4:44
one of the biggest sable I have ever seen that evening. All in all, it was a wonderful day
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and a fantastic start to the hunt. Mike arrived in camp later that evening. Now, he did not want
4:56
to deal with the hassle of bringing a rifle, so he was using one of the camp rifles
5:01
similar to the case with Fernando Mike also wanted a Cape Buffalo and indeed that was his number one priority on this hunt For that reason we set Mike up with a Ruger guidegun in 375 Ruger
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Christian took him to the range the next morning to let him get familiar with that rifle before they started hunting
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So the next day was 19 May, 2023. Now, while Christian and Mike were at the range, Fernando and I went out again together
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We spotted a giant herd of blue wildebeest almost right off the bat
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So I tried to make a stalk on a big bull in that herd with Philemon and Johan
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While we were doing that, Kubis continued driving down the road with Fernando to get out of our way and to avoid spooking the wildebeest
5:48
We were just about to get into position for a shot on a nice bull in that herd when things started happening fast for Fernando and Kubis with an unplanned encounter with a big
6:00
Cape Buffalo. As the saying goes, life comes at you pretty fast sometimes, and that is exactly what happened
6:09
with Fernando, Kubis, and this buffalo. Now, because he wanted a buffalo, and because it's possible to encounter a buffalo, almost
6:17
anywhere in that general area where we were hunting, Fernando started off his hunt with the
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375 H&H barrel on his rifle, and that is actually what he also used to shoot that
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Blesbach with the previous day. It's a good thing Fernando did that because he ended up shooting that bull at just 13 yards very early that morning
6:37
Buffalo? Yes. He came straight past. He was there. Fortunately, he made a couple of good shots with his rifle
6:50
Fortunately, he made a couple of good shots with his rifle. His first shot was a 300-grain trophy-bonded bear claw
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and then the next two shots were trophy-bonded sledge. hammer solids from his 375, and the bull just ran 25, 30 yards afterwards
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And just like that, we had our first buffalo down. Oh my goodness, it was a nice bull, too
7:13
Sometimes you just have to take what the bush gives you, and Diana really smiled on Fernando
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that morning. Fernando's luck continued later that day when he got a chance encounter with a very nice enniala
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Now, at that point, he had switched over to his 300 windmatch barrel, and a 200-grained terminal ascent bullet did the job on that enyalla
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While Kubis and Fernando were taking care of things with that enjala
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Mike and I went off our own separate way with Christian and Johan to see what we could find for Mike
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We encountered a couple of groups of Blesbach and unsuccessfully tried to stalk those different groups a couple of times
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but they ended up giving us the slip without offering a shot
7:57
However, it did not take long for our luck to change when another big Inyala bull offered Micah shot
8:04
A 270-grain Barnes TSX from his 375 Ruger really did a number on that enyala
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And just like that, Mike got his first African animal. The three of us split up after lunch and we all went our separate ways
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I hunted with Kubis and Philemon that afternoon and did some serious walking
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After a couple of hours, we spotted a big herd. of Impala, but a female in that group spotted us and spooked the rest of the herd
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As it turned out, there was a big blue wildebees nearby that also spooked when the Impala took
8:37
off running and we didn't even know he was there until we saw him running off with the rest
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of the Impala. But that's how it goes sometimes. However, things finally came together for me a couple minutes later when we bumped into
8:49
another big group of Impala. A big ram near the back of the herd appeared
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Philemon whistled to stop him, and he offered a perfect shot. I placed a Hornady 160 grain CX from my new 7mm PRC rifle
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straight through the vitals of that Impala, and he did not go far at all after the shot
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Now, while that was going on, Mike and Christian also ended up taking a good Blessbach
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So all in all, a really busy day, but also a really good start to our hunt
9:22
We all split up again the next morning. morning, which was the 20th, and once again, I unsuccessfully pursued Blue Wildebeest
9:30
That same problem continued through the rest of the day. It wasn't for lack of trying or for lack of Wildebeest either
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They were there. We were seeing them, and we were doing our darn-dust to get a good bull and take a shot, but
9:44
things just weren't coming together. Unfortunately, the same thing was true with me for Cape Buffalo, and the next couple of
9:51
days were both heartbreaking and really frustrating for me as I unsuccessfully tried to close
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the deal on a really nice bull. However, things came a little bit easier for Mike and Fernando
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though and they ended up taking a darn nice sable and kudu respectively that morning of the 20th I spent the morning of the 21st on the Trail of Buffalo but things went better for Mike and Fernando that day Indeed Fernando ended up shooting a nice zebra in the late morning with Christian and Michael
10:23
Mike told me at the start of his hunt that his number one priority in Africa was a really good Cape Buffalo
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Well, he got his wish later that day with Johann, Christian, and Fernando
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As the light faded that evening, he got a shot on a real shot. really nice bull. His first shot was on the money. A buffalo is a large and tough creature at
10:45
baseline. However, some are tougher than others and this particular bull just did not want to give up
10:51
When all was said and done, it took 11 shots from a combination of his 375 Ruger and Johan's
10:57
416 Rigby to finally put that buffalo down. At least four, possibly five or even six of those
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shots hit the heart. That buffalo did not go far at all after Mike
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initial shot and he actually ended up expiring in a place where he wasn't that hard to recover either
11:15
Now at this point we had a pretty healthy and diverse mix of animals down
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Interestingly, nobody had taken a blue wildebeest yet, so I was not the only one who had struggled to get one
11:26
Things changed dramatically the next day though, which was the 22nd of May, as a weatherfront blew through
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There were definitely wildebeest in the area the whole time, but they seemed much more active during the day
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starting on the 22nd, and our luck quickly changed with them. Fernando shot a nice blue wildebeest bull that morning
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I was on the trail of Buffalo most of the day, but Kubis and Philemon spotted a good wildebeest bull for me late in the evening
11:54
I sprinted a few hundred meters to get into shooting position, then got set up on the sticks for a shot
12:00
The bull was only 70 to 80 meters away, but light was fading fast and he seemed content to eat with his rear facing me
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knowing I didn't have much shooting light remaining I waited for him to turn his head back and look at us
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tuck the cross air behind his ear and squeeze the trigger looking back on things that was the highlight of my hunt
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I put in some serious walking to get that wildebeest over the previous few days and I was thrilled to have it all
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finally come together that night the crimson sky the moon and the planet Venus
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all made a stunning backdrop for my photos that evening as luck would have it Mike also shot his wildebeest that same evening right around the same time i got mine his experience also showed just how darn tough those creatures can be he hit his bull straight through the vitals with a 270 grain barns bullet from his 375 ruger even so it still ran several hundred yards afterwards and they had a surprisingly difficult time finding it in the dark luckily he made a great
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good shot with a powerful cartridge. Otherwise, it would have been a really frustrating night for him
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The next day, which was the 23rd, was a lot more of the same for me
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Lots of walking on the trail for Buffalo. The buffalo in that area really liked to hang out in the places with the thickest, nastiest, and thorniestest brush
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Well, we walked mile after mile through those areas, and though we did come really close a few times
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We never got close enough to close the deal on that buffalo
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On a more positive note, Mike did end up shooting a really nice Warthog that afternoon
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Interestingly, the Warthog turned his head at the last second as Mike was squeezing the trigger
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and he unintentionally shot off one of the Warthog's tusks with the same bullet he used to kill that Warthog
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Talk about a one-in-a-million shot, but pretty cool. Now, Fernando had another awesome day on May 24th, and he ended up taking a very nice Gimsbock and great Impala on that day
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On the other hand, the 24th was another long, frustrating day for Mike and I
14:16
I remained on the trail of Buffalo, and I put in another solid day of walking and searching for that bull, but once again came up short
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Likewise, Mike was having similar problems with Kudu. A great Buffalo was his number one priority
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but a nice kudu was priority number two. Similar to the issues I was having with Buffalo
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that kudu was just eluding him. We were both feeling pretty down on ourselves at dinner that evening
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and I could tell that he was frustrated with how things were going with the kudu
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I was feeling the same way, and we had both had a really great hunt overall
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but I didn't want to end things on a sour note. Fortunately, Mike and I had a good talk
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and we resolved to make the most out of that next day, which was our last full day of hunting in Africa
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It's interesting how things like that can work because in that conversation, I was trying to cheer
15:11
him up and I ended up feeling a lot better myself afterwards
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We headed out a little earlier than usual that next morning and that day just had a different feel to it Sure enough Mike luck changed and he got on a great kudu early that morning
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He made an excellent shot and put it down cleanly. I was hunting separately from him that day, but we made a point to go over to where they were recovering the bull as soon as we got the news
15:40
Mike was a completely different guy at that point from last night, and he looked almost as though a giant
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weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His good luck continued that day as he finished his
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hunt with a nice Impala that afternoon, while Fernando wrapped up his hunt with a Steenbach
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As for me, I went home without my buffalo. It wasn't for lack of trying. We worked our tails off
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trying to close the deal on that bull with Johann, Kubus, and Christian using every trick they could
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think of to get me on him. On my shortest and lightest day of hunting, I walked three and a half
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miles. On my longest day, we walked nearly 13 miles. Most days, I put in a good six to eight
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miles of walking, most of it through nasty, thick, thorny brush. Unfortunately, our best wasn't
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quite good enough, and we just came up short. I hated to end my hunt on a note like that
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but that's how things go sometimes. I guess I'll just need to go back and try to do better next time
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Even so, this was a fantastic hunt, though. I spent over a week out in a beautiful part of Africa with a group of great guys
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We saw some beautiful country and enjoyed some fantastic hunting. We also had some incredible encounters with wildlife
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Indeed, some of the most memorable parts of this hunt actually involved some of the other types of animals that we didn't hunt
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For instance, I had a cool encounter with a swarm of African honeybees one day
17:12
We had multiple encounters with creatures. like mongoose, giraffe, monkeys, and untold numbers of other various bird species
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We also saw a couple of brown hyena, a spotted genet cat, and a serval cat at various points
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on our trip as well. The Impala were also rutting while we were there, and the bush was full of the unusual
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sounds of Rams grunting, snorting, and fighting each other for dominance. I had never heard anything like that before, and if I didn't know better, I would have
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thought that something else, like Buffalo, was making those noises instead of the little Impala
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In that vein, we encountered an almost mind-blowing amount and variety of game animals
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Even on a slow day, we would each see 50-plus game animals of various types
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Over the course of my hunt, I could have also taken Kudu, Eland, Sable, Enjala, Gimsbach
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zebra, warthog, Blesbach, Steenbach, and several more Impala and Blue Wildebeest if I were so inclined
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Most importantly, though, Mike and Fernando had a great time. It was wonderful seeing my good friends
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Kubis and Johan again, and I feel like I made two new hunting buddies
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with Mike and Fernando. It was an absolute pleasure to join Mike and Fernando
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on their first African hunting safari. I remember how special that experience was for me, and I felt honored and privileged to share that with them
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There were both highs and lows on this hunt, but the highs feel that much sweeter after dealing
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with some adversity along the way. You just need to keep plugging away, and things will
19:00
eventually turn around. Fernando had his difficulties at the very beginning of the hunt
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Mike had some during the middle, and I had some towards the end. We all had a fantastic hunt
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and went home happy, though. As for me, I'm itching to go
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go back. I've hunted all over the world and I have had some amazing experiences along the way
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Even so, I've still never found a place I love hunting as much as Africa
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And I also need another crack at that Cape Buffalo. I would love to do another podcast hunt where I come over with a couple different listeners
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Shoot me an email at the address in the video description below if you are interested in joining me on a hunt in Africa in the future
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As much as I would love to go on safari with you, you don't have to go over with me to have a great hunt
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If you don't want to wait for a hunt with me, or you would rather just go hunt with your friends or relatives, or by yourself, we would still love to host you on safari
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Click the link in the video description to learn more about booking a hunt in this exact area where we hunted in this video with Johan, Kubis, and Christian
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They have a beautiful camp, a fantastic hunting operation, and we would love to look
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love to host you there on your dream safari hunt. Thanks for watching. Have a great day and happy hunting
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#Hunting & Shooting