Universal Hunter - April/May/June 2015

HUNTING IBEXUNIVERSAL HUNTER

APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2015

APR/MAY/JUN 2015VOL 4, ISSUE 2$12.95

Hunters Are Conservationists

CONGOEXPERIENCING

THE

2 UNIVERSAL HUNTER April / May / June 2015

Spain is the European Country with the largest variety of big game trophy animals

For more information contact: Gonzalo ColominaEmail: [email protected] | www.spanishmountainhunt.com

3UNIVERSAL HUNTERApril / May / June 2015


It is only with the contribution of Universal Hunter’s readers that we can make a success of this magazine. Please feel free to send in your trophy photos, hunting experiences, hunting tips, products and any article or contribution you might consider a benefit to fellow hunters or the hunting industry in general.

To improve the chances of having your photo or article published, please keep the following in mind: make sure you submit high quality and high resolution digital pictures, preferably taken with a camera with a minimum of five megapixels. When possible or appropriate try not to take a picture with things like fences, vehicles, buildings or other man-made objects in the background. Never hold a small animal by the head or feet so that it hangs down. Rather put it on an anthill or a log. If you have to take a photo in the dark, let a vehicle shine its headlights (on dim) on you and the trophy. Position the animal so that the hunter looks into

the sun. Wash off or hide all blood that is on the animal or on the ground that might show in the photo. Balance the head so that it shows the animal in a relaxed way. Try not to sit directly behind the focus point of the animal — the head. Rather sit by the back legs. The idea is for the hunter to show only his/her upper body from behind the animal. If the trophy is small, lie down behind it and put it up in front of you holding the head up with your hand under the chin. The camera must be as low as possible. Remove all grass, rocks etc. in front of the animal. Do not put your foot or yourself on an animal in a disrespectful way. Always check that the tongue of the animal is not protruding. Cut it off or put it back in the mouth.

We prefer submissions by email, but you are welcome to send CDs or written articles if you do not have a computer available. In this situation, printed photos may also be submitted. Please send all submissions to [email protected].

Submit your photo, article or hunting story

Letter .......................................................................6Big Wooley ...............................................................8Exploring the Congo ..............................................14My New Zealand Red Deer Hunt ..........................27Mor’du .................................................................. 31Buffalo on Three Continents .................................34Extreme Huntress .................................................42Antelope Sickness .................................................44Double Down with the Prickly Pears .....................46Product Reviews ...............................................52-61

CVA Accura MR Black Nitride Rifle .....................................52Stone River SRG3NCS Neck Knife .......................................54Aimpoint’s New Carbine Optic .............................................55Cotton Carrier POV Bracket .................................................55LensPen® Peeps™ .................................................................56Zombies in the Heartland – Pandemic 2015 ........................56Putting Lakewood Products Cases to the Test ......................57Russell Moccasin’s Classics Designs .................................... 58Knife Sharpening ..................................................................59Caldwell DeadShot FieldPod ............................................... 60CRKT’s Ripple 2 ....................................................................61Benjamin Armada Magpul Edition PCP Air Rifle ................61

The Last Stand .......................................................62Witkop Adventures .............................................. 66Mexico Double ......................................................75The Wildebeest In My Sights .................................82Silverback Gorillas ............................................... 88A Revolution in Conservation ...............................90Two Thousand Pounds of Antelope .......................95Overcoming the Odds ...........................................99Wood Bison: North America’s Largest Animal ....106

Contents

For more information, please contact Tollie or Karen Jordaan:Email: [email protected] | Tel: +27 82 499 6609 www.safari-in-africa.com

Join Tollie’s African Safaris for the time of your life.

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

The Congo

Last year, my husband and producer of UHTV asked me if I’d like to go with him to the Congo. My first reaction was, to put it lightly, no way. It was in the middle of the Ebola crises and not a place I’d like to be stuck in if worst comes to worst. Then he said those magic words--you’ll get to see the

Silverback Gorillas in their natural habitat. I was in, seeing the gorillas has been No. 1 on my bucket list for years, and I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

In this issue, you’ll read about our journey from Jen Adam’s perspective and how she and Norissa had to work harder than ever before to get their Bongo trophies. With this issue, we travel all over the world again, and our writers tell their stories from high ridges overlooking waterholes, tracking buffalos over three continents, and next to the spectacular Hay River. I always get to read about all these adventures, and live vicariously through your words, but in this issue, I get to share one of my adventures with you as well.

Our adventure to the Congo started with confusion and last minute changes. We had to change our airline tickets, and were now flying via Johannesburg to Brazavile, due to the Air France strike. I was not complaining as my husband, Kappie, and I got to see our family for a day. On our arrival in Brazzaville, one of Jen’s bags got left behind in Johannesburg; all her ammunition and most of her hunting clothes were in that bag. Jen being Jen, was not going to let that get in her way of a successful hunt, and we soon worked out a plan B. The next hurdle on our journey to Congo Hunt Safaris was that all the flights between Brazzaville and Quesso were cancelled. We had to organize a taxi to take us . . . Jen, Norissa, Kappie, and I all decided to travel in one pickup. Kappie sat in front with our driver, who could not speak any English, and the three of us sat in the back--for 25 hours! Norissa and I were up for most of the drive, stress eating our way through the snacks.

We arrived at camp late the next night. We didn’t know exactly what to expect but were pleasantly surprised by the ‘luxury’ of our rooms. Being in the middle of the jungle, we had everything we could ask for, from generator electricity to a flush toilet.

It was a tough week for Jen and Norissa. They went out early each morning till late at night looking for their Bongos. It did not rain for the first few days, which made spotting these animals nearly impossible. I gave Carin, from Congo Hunt Safaris, and our PH’s wife, Tania, first option to go out with the hunting vehicle, while I hiked around camp and enjoyed the views from the nearby blinds. I had to overcome my fear of heights on this trip, but it was all worth it once I got to sit in a tree blind above the tree line and enjoy the majestical views of the forest.

I finally got to see a Silverback Gorilla on the second to last day. He was sitting by the side of the road, and we observed him for about 15 minutes before he wandered back in to the forest. Kappie managed to walk up to him, with his camera in tow, to about 40 yards; the footage is amazing. In this moment, all the driving, bug bites, and lost-in-translation moments were more than worth it.

The hunt ended in a high for all of us, no picture will be able to describe the beauty of this country. We all found peace and serenity, being away from technology and just the everyday stress of life. It’s amazing what you see, feel, and experience when you put your phone off, clear your mind, and just embrace what God has put in front of us.

I look forward to traveling back to the Congo this year and a few other destinations, and sharing all of that in UHM and on UHTV with you.

God Bless,

Chantelle Kapp

UNIVERSAL HUNTER

UNIVERSAL HUNTER (UHM) is an

indepen dent quarterly publication for

the hunter and nature lover. Copyright

on all articles and material published

in UHM resides with the publisher.

No part of UHM may be copied or

reproduced without permission of

the publisher. Opinions expressed

in ar ticles or advertisements do not

necessarily reflect those of the editor,

editorial com mittee or publishers.

Submission of articles for publica-

tion is welcome, but although care is

taken, the publisher can accept no

responsibility for loss of or damage to

any material submitted.

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & PUBLISHER

Emaneul Kapp “Kappie”

Hennie van der Walt

MANAGER USA, CANADA, SOUTH

AMERICA AND SOUTH PACIFIC


[email protected]

MANAGER AFRICA, EUROPE

AND ASIA

Hennie van der Walt

[email protected]

EDITOR

Chantelle Kapp

[email protected]

FIELD EDITORS

James and Mary Clary

Tim Herald

Tony Martins

Magnus Pelz

Robert Zaiglin

Jenifer Adams

Norissa Harman

Chris Parkin

DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Eric Taylor

LANGUAGE EDITING

Kristin Jensen

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

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Half of the adventure of an Arc-tic Circle hunt is just getting to your destination. After 13 hours and 6 plane rides, I arrived in camp tired but energized to begin the adven-ture. The accommodations included a cabin, dinner lodge, and a pretty clean 2 header. Not too shabby for 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle on a rock island. After a quick bite to eat, the outfitter makes sure that the guns/bows are accurate and ready for hunting. After qualifying on the range, I was off to bed dreaming of seeing and harvesting the “Big Woolley.”

B Y D A N S A N K O

I t is not very often that someone starts planning a hunting adventure in Wyoming for antelope

and end up stalking the big northern Muskox. Two and half months prior to my scheduled Antelope/Mule Deer hunt, the outfitter called and canceled all of his hunts due to poor animal quality in his area. I made some fast phone calls looking for any cancelations on a different dream hunt and found an opening with High Arctic Lodge. I would be hunting Muskox on Victoria Island where the fish are hooked on every cast and the big “dumb” animals plentiful. Well, those statements are not necessarily true . . . .


The weather for this hunt was typical for this time of year (Au-gust)--overcast skies with tem-peratures in the high 30s and low 40s. It was cold and wet, but not too bad compared to the other time of year these animals are hunted. The weather in April is -40 to -60 degrees F below zero. I like the cold, but even this Detroiter knows his limitations.

We used 14’ aluminum boats to travel the length of the 10+-mile lake scanning the shore and horizon for Muskox. If we saw an animal that we liked, we would pull ashore and attempt a stalk. The first day I saw only 2 Muskox, and they were over 2 miles away from the shore. In my mind, it was nothing worth trying after, not on the first day anyway. With the wind of 15 to 18kph, the waves on the lake were approxi-mately 3 to 4 feet tall, and we played like heck getting back to camp. The boat and my spine took the brunt of the waves. It felt like riding a pogo stick without any springs. After ar-riving in camp, we named our vessel the SS Spine Adjuster.

The next day was much like the first, lots of walking and not a lot of animals. Even though some of the other hunters in camp were having some success, I was having a diffi-cult time just finding animals close enough to stalk. As it turns out, the wolves and grizzles were wreaking havoc on the Muskox. We spotted

both wolves and one grizzly from the plane, and from the looks of them, they have not missed a meal in a while. Most hunters on this lake could not get within 200 yards of the animals before the Muskox took off in the opposite direction; so much for “dumb and plentiful” comments. Understanding the problems the hunters were facing, the outfitter decided to take some hunters to dif-ferent lakes where the wolf pressure was down. We drew straws, and as my luck would have it, I won a ride on the SS Spine Adjuster in the morning.

After breakfast, we once again headed 10 miles down the lake,

bumping and banging the entire way. We found 4 animals, 3 miles off shore, and that was only after walking 2 miles inland to find them. We decided to check one more place before we attempted a long stalk on this group of animals. So we got back in the boat and crossed the lake. To my amazement, we immediately found 3 animals right on the shore line. We landed the boat 100 yards away from the animals and headed toward them. As we started to move, they walked over the hill and out of sight. We ran to the top of the hill where they were standing, and they were on the next ridge 250+ yards away. When they went over that hill, we ran again to the top of that hill, and yep you guessed it, they were even farther away--370+ yards. The guide decided that he should go back for the boat while I kept perusing them. After two more ridges of this game, I gave up. The lead bull in that group was a massive animal with big bosses and long horns. I still see that bull in my dreams.

I got back in the boat and we headed out again. Two miles away in the “spine adjuster,” we got another stalk opportunity with 3 more bulls. As we beached the boat and got out, the bulls spotted us and proceeded to walk over a hill 600 yards away. I took off everything with weight and ran up the hill as fast as I could. The guide smiled and said I would never catch them; he was wrong. I

Far away from home.

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Universal Hunter - April/May/June 2015