Hunt Report Africa - Gras - Fantastic, Jul 09

[Dom]

I hunted in Namibia Africa for plains game 3 years ago with a good group of guys, and one of them, a very good friend in the Army, last year kept the heat on me to go back with him for another hunt. Actually didn’t take much needling, so I started the research for a good place to go. Narrowed it down to a couple good places, questions, answers, etc, finally decided we’d go to Gras Hunting Lodge, about 3 hours South of Windhoek, Namibia. All I can say is it was fantastic!! Great people who really know how to make a hunt enjoyable and memorable. Trouble was, my good friend who got reassigned here to another command thought he’d be here 3 more years, but just a few months after booking got shipped out to Kansas and had to give up the hunt. I still feel bad for him, as I know first hand after giving up a few hunts myself due to service life. Memories for a lifetime, everyday a new adventure, heck, we couldn’t remember what we did 2 days ago!! Action packed and loved it, the sunrises, sunsets, countryside, the hunt, the food, the quarters, all was super. A special thanks to Jannie and Anri Spangenberg! And I can't forget Meli and Bolie, as well as all the staff -- they put out a first class operation.

We went as a group of four guys, we all know each other very well. I think it is great to go with guys you know and trust and it worked out great together. We'd take turns going out with each other so we all got to experience a lot of fun and enjoyable time together. We all had a great sense of humor!

I took a Blaser R93 with two barrels, 300 Win Mag and 243 Win. Shot the larger game with the 300 and the smaller with the 243. All handloads, H4831SC pushing 200 gr Swift A Frames out of the 300 and Varget pushing 95 grain Nosler Partitions thru the 243. Both bullets performed excellent. A few pics from Namibia, and I can't rule out that it was my last trip to Africa either! You just get a lot more bang for the buck unless you got connections or private hunts, Waidmannsheil, Dom.





Gras is known for quality Springbock!


Jackal, after a couple sight in shots at him on the run to get my range , he made the fatal mistake of stopping.


Who can go and not get another Warthog or two?


Gras also has excellent quality Gemsbock, this one well in the Gold class.


The sunsets and sunrises are really spectacular, taken on Gras from my room.


The Gray Ghost, quite elusive, but Jannie spent the entire day with me looking for a good Bull. Late in the day, after a hard hunt, we got lucky. Thanks Jannie!


It was a bit chilly, I like to call it refreshing. I actually didn't take much for cold weather so I wore everything I took on a couple of those days! Here in front of Gras Lodge.


Did I mention Gras has an outstanding population of good Springbock?


Another trip to the Dark Continent came to the end, at least until I get back again. Hope you enjoyed the report!

[MtnMike2]

Congratulations on a fine hunt! I really like that Gemsbuck. Thanks for the pictures and post. I hope to get over there someday, probably RSA...

Mike

[grayghost]

Congrats on a fine hunt Dom!
grayghost