First hunt for Ruan , hunting Black Wildebeest in Clarence, Eastern Freestate

[Gert Odendaal]

Good day Members.

I was extremely fortunate to accompany my son Ruan on his first hunt , I believe a privileged never to be repeated again. It really was a special event for me as his father.

The hunt took place on a farm, Rebellie in the Clarence area , eastern Free-state, a mountainous area , with it`s beauty second to non...about seventeen kilometers from the Golden Gate Nature Reserve...

Arriving at our destiny, we unpack and settled in the evening around a fire and dinner table. Early morning was enjoyed with strong black coffee and rusks...We drive out to a spot to make sure our rifles was still zero and shooting where we aimed....we brought the 8x57 JS Mauser and the .308 Mauser.

Unfortunately the .308 Mauser did not shoot where it was zeroed back at home. We shot the 8x57 JS Mauser and it shoot where it aimed. So we decided not to use the .308 Mauser but to use the 8x57 JS Mauser.

The 8x57 JS Mauser load used consist of S335, 40.9 gn , 180 gn Barnes TSX Tripple shock bullet.

Photo of the mountainous area we hunt in...




The first time we stalked the black wildebeest on the mountain side and had to walk and climbed for the first part of the morning. It really is difficult to pursue the black wildebeest on foot in around the mountain sides....at last we were able to stalk the black wildebeest within one hundred and fifty eight meters (158 meters) ...Ruan took his time , stack some rocks to support his rifle and steadied his aim at the wildebeest.

He shot a young cow, not big n body size, but shot it through the heart and lungs. The cow dropped like a ton of bricks. Here is the photo of Ruan`s first ever animal hunted on foot .


The cow hanging at the slaughter facility.



Exit wound of the Barnes Triple shock , 180 gn bullet on the first black wildebeest.



Ruan asked me to shoot a big bull next since I planned to shoot at least two black wildebeest for table fair , we commenced with another walk and stalk hunt. I need to mention that the guide, Lucas , really know the area like the back of his hand and made a huge contribution to the success of Ruan`s first hunt . Without Lucas assisting Ruan , I do not think we would have been so successful at all.

The next shot was taken at one hundred fifty four meters, this kind of distances seems to be the minimum distances to get near the black wildebeest when hunting them...all other possible walk and stalk chances was further than one hundred and eighty meters and further....

Ruan and me really did a leopard crawl to prevent us being detected by the wildebeest. We were fortunate to have a small bush as cover and a piece of branch lying around were used as a rest/shooting stick to shoot from.

The second black wildebeest, a bull...





Bullet recovered on the other side of the rib-cage, notice the damaged area, very little meat damage at all...



Bullet showed very good expansion...



Entrance wound:


Exit wound:









Meat damage was minimum, and it was a one shot kill on every black wildebeest.

This photo shows the damaged to the lungs, the lungs disintegrated and was flowing out of the cavity like water when opening up the brisket ...



We really enjoyed this hunt since it was a very special occasion for me as his father ...

Next on the menu will be me and my Eland bull...I will keep you up to date on the next hunt, it will also be a first for me..a big bodied eland, bull or cow, for table fair...thank you for following the thread....

[volstruis]

Wow lovely place and big ups to the big man downing his 1st animal.
How come you will never hunt with your son again ?

[Gert Odendaal]

Hallo Volstruis, no, sorry , what I meant was he did his first ever hunt , the next hunt will be a normal hunt, but he never will be able to hunt his first ever animal again...he did it this past weekend...I will be hunting with him , if the good Lord permits...for a long time still..

Ruan is in the process to purchase a Hasquvarna 8x57 JS and wants to sell his .308 Israeli Mauser, he liked my 8x57 JS Mause so much after shooting his first two animals with it on the hunt....

I will be uploading photos of the Israeli Mauser in the future to sell it...we will then have two 8x57 JS hunting rifles and next year a new build 8x68 Mauser will join the circle...

[nkosi]

Hi Gert

Congratulations to both of you. That is a once in a lifetime experience in every way.

That is a beautiful area to hunt in. The first time I ever paid for a hunt, it was in the Clarens area in the late 80s. The farmer laughed at me for arriving in my Opel Kadett with a flimsy 2 man tent and an old iron sighted Lee Enfield No.1 Mk III .303.

I still got my Blesbok though.

I love the Eastern Free State and the Clarens area in particular.

[zakiwi]

Congrats and thanks for sharing ... great story

[Maroelas]

Nice story Gert! Thanks for sharing! And congrats to the young man!

[Ds J]

Well done!

[Bush Pig]

Well done , Great shot placement from what looks to be a very confident young Hunter , Great job and some good memories for you guys and what looks to be many more still to come!!!

[caverock]

Well done to all three of you.
I include the game scout as he was part of the team.
Without his help, the hunt could have gone not too well.

I wish you and your son many more hunts together.

[Messor]

That barrel is so long you don't need stalking, you just push the barrel towards the animal and shoot :)

Tell the young man well done, I thought you would not get the .308 sorted in time.

Two things
Firstly I thought it strange that the bullet did not exit, but the picture of the second animal with the bullet shows a strange path, did the bullet not tumble and that's why it did not exit?
Secondly, The lungs did not disintegrate, that's coagulated bits of blood that emulates lungs, normal for most big bodies antelope and boiler room shots.