Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Between Trees And Tracks: Hunting Stories From Montana To Africa
Get ready for a thrilling journey into the world of hunting as we sit down with Becca and Dylan Radford, who share their captivating stories ranging from hound hunting in West Virginia to epic African safaris. With a genuine passion for connecting with nature, they discuss how their lives have been profoundly influenced by their hunting experiences, intertwining personal anecdotes with practical advice for seasoned hunters and curious newcomers alike.
Throughout our conversation, we delve deep into the couple's adventures in Montana, where they've adapted to the diverse landscapes and unique hunting opportunities available. They reflect on their early days learning to navigate tracking bears and lions, using their well-trained dogs to successfully navigate the wilderness. Becca, who transitioned from casual deer hunting in Pennsylvania, expresses her newfound enthusiasm for pursuing big game, offering a compelling look into the evolution of a hunter's journey.
Changing gears, the episode highlights their exhilarating experiences in Africa, detailing the awe-inspiring wildlife, hunting ethics, and the powerful connection formed with their outfitter. Becca and Dylan reminisce about their unforgettable encounters with some of the world's most majestic animals. Their stories emphasize the importance of conservation and respect within the hunting community, encouraging listeners to foster their own connections to the land.
With action-packed tales and heartfelt reflections, this episode serves as an invitation to explore your wild side, challenge yourself, and possibly take on the adventure of a lifetime. Whether you're an avid hunter or just curious about the outdoors, this insightful discussion is filled with fun, humor, and soul-stirring memories. We encourage you to listen and enjoy! Don’t forget to check out the links to learn more about their adventures and how to embark on your own hunting journey.
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
this is hunts and outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken meyer. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories to howos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, I'm glad you guys are listening in. We've got another great episode for you. If you guys get a chance to give this podcast a rating and review on Apple or Spotify, that'd be great and much appreciated. If you want to reach out to us on Facebook, you can Hunts on Outfitting or by email, huntsonoutfitting at gmailcom. All right, so bearhounds, huge mountain lions in Montana plains, Africa, Cape Buffalo and poisonous snakes what could all these things possibly have in common? Well, today's guests are connected to all of that. We get to hear all about their stories and adventures dylan sorry and becca radford.
Speaker 1:So becca and dylan um, you guys have been hunting for a while. But, becca, were you a hunter before you got with dylan, or?
Speaker 3:um, I grew up in pennsylvania and the hound hunting wasn't as big there. I think you can do like raccoons and maybe coyotes, I'm not even sure about that. So we deer hunted on and off with my family, but never anything remotely as consistent or hard as what he usually hunts or did hunt.
Speaker 1:Right, so then, and then, dylan, you uh, have you always been a houndsman?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I pretty well grew up into it. As long as I can know or I've known, you know I've been coon hunting and bear hunting. Um, my dad and my uncle, they've been doing it my entire life. I think they started around the time I was born and I kind of just grew up with it and it's always been around. I hunted a lot more when I was younger and the older I got, the more interested in the bear hunting I got into and it's my favorite. I mean the more interested in the bear hunting I got into and it's my favorite. I mean I absolutely love it. And of course I deer hunt, turkey hunt, all hunt, pretty much any big game. Yeah, I've been a hunter my whole life.
Speaker 1:Did you grow up in Pennsylvania as well, Dylan?
Speaker 2:No, I'm actually West Virginia. Okay, yeah, Me and Becca we? Yeah, yeah, I'm, uh, I'm like North Central West Virginia. Um, me and Becca grew up. We're about an hour and 10 minutes away from each other.
Speaker 1:We both grew up. Okay, yeah, and then can you. In West Virginia, is it true? Can you guys run bear year-round? You can't harvest them year-round, but you can run dogs on them year-round.
Speaker 2:Yes, you can. A lot of times what we did we wouldn't really start until after turkey season, which is about the middle of May. A lot of times the bear aren't really out until then, Anyhow, but yeah, you can run dogs is about the middle of May A lot of times. The bear aren't really out until then, anyhow, but yeah, you can run dogs year-round every day of the year, Wow. And then you know you get the actual kill. Season is in December, for like the first Monday of December until the end of the year, and then they've kind of played around with some early seasons the past few years. You know, in September they add a week or two, depending on the counting and bear populations and whatnot.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, do you think I mean here, where I'm at, that seems late December. Do you think they wait till then so that there's, I don't know, no one's running, as many bear possibly say during deer season, is that it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a lot of it. Our deer season is the last two weeks in November, normally runs until like the first week of December. There I think a lot of it is. You know, you got your bow hunting comes in in September and it runs up until our rifle season comes in for deer and then the bear hunting. You know you get a lot of your sows that are going to den, that are going to have cubs, so that kind of helps the population. I think that way you don't have to worry about accidentally shooting in the south. A lot of that depends on what part of the state you're in. I'm in northern West Virginia. I live kind of higher up in the mountains. A lot of our bear they go to den a little bit earlier. If you go to the southern part of the state they will stay out a lot later and feed through the winter and stuff. So you kind of get a lot. Some of your bigger bears stay out in the southern part of the state where it stays a little warmer.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that makes sense with the sows. That kind of shows that maybe somebody's working in the office out there that maybe has a bit of a hunting experience, so that's a good idea. Putting the season then, because you know that the sows are denning up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it seems like it. I don't know Our population. It's kind of been up and down the last few years. It seems like it's been kind of low. Of course, we just moved toana there about a year and a half ago, so I really didn't hunt in west virginia at all last year. But even leading up to that the population kind of went down. Um, yeah, mange got real bad in our area seems like it kind of wiped them out. It just wasn't what it used to be whenever I first started.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean normally Maine, I don't know. Sometimes it could be a cause of overpopulation. Mother Nature just sorting it out. Yeah, it's too bad. Hopefully the population does bounce back a bit for the helmsman.
Speaker 2:I really hope it does. It's kind of of used to be you could go out in december and find a track pretty regularly in our area seems like anymore. You know, you go out and you find one a week, you're lucky. Oh wow, so I don't lose the area that we hunted it. It really went downhill pretty, pretty quick um which, like I said, we kind of live up in the mountains, so the winters are a little worse. It gets a little bit colder, a little bit more snow. So yeah, I don't know if they just want to kind of migrate where it's warmer or uh what. The main cause?
Speaker 1:there is. Yeah, they. I mean mean maybe they do. They just adapt and learn to move to a more warmer area. But, becca, when you messaged me, you were telling me a bit about you guys, what you've been doing and stuff, and you were saying it was kind of like an impulsive spur-of-the-moment move from West Virginia to Montana. Was that for work, for hunting opportunities, hunting opportunities, for adventure or all the above?
Speaker 3:Uh, dylan doesn't like to admit that it was mainly fueled by hunting but, I, think it was. Um, we were actually about halfway through building a house and we had some other stuff going on, and he looked at me one day and said do you just want to move out west? And I was like all right, let's do it. So we moved out here.
Speaker 3:The first time I had ever been to Montana was the day that we came out for his job interview and so yeah it was like yeah, exactly, I think that, like I said, he'll deny that it was for hunting, but it was for hunting that's as good a reason as any, really oh, we loaded up.
Speaker 1:We brought ducks, turkeys, horses, reptiles, cats, dogs, everything across the country and then uh, so then you know, when in rome kind of thing, uh, there, there's, it's cat hunting with hounds, and you were saying that you guys, just kind of you know, tried it, and uh, it went, it went well, did it?
Speaker 3:yeah, we kind of struggled a little bit. At first we didn't have a lot of snow, um, there wasn't a lot of tracking, and then when we got snow, we got a ton of shit snow and then couldn't get anywhere. And the one time he went out without me they found a cat track and it was the first time the dogs had ever been on a cat and they all made it to the tree wow.
Speaker 1:So I mean, yeah, tell me about that. You guys moved to montana. You see that, oh, there's not just bear that we can run here with hands. There's, there's, you know, mountain lion. Uh, then you figured, let's just try it. Did you go with somebody that's done it before? Uh, or just just take a shot in the dark and hope for the best.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know, it's one of those things that, uh, I don't know. I kind of always wanted to see what my dogs would do on a line and actually a couple years ago, before we ever even thought about moving out here, I kind of reached out to somebody in Utah about bringing the dogs out and running them and that kind of fell through. So moving out here, I already knew, knew, I already knew that you know they had a pretty long season here and that I wanted to, you know, was going to throw the dogs on a line. Yeah, we kind of just winged it. We, uh, you know, we got last spring, we got a couple of months of bear season to run them a little bit, and then the lion season came in there in December, them a little bit, and then the lion season came in there in december. And you know we have one buddy that we hunt with and he'd never he never killed a lion either, ever really been around him too much. So, uh, it was all pretty new to all of us. Um, like I said, like becca said, the first couple times we went out wasn't quite sure where to go.
Speaker 2:Finally started finding a couple fresh tracks and then I went like two weekends in a row and I found some tracks in the area and I knew that there were lines in this area pretty regularly. Unfortunately, those tracks were kind of a little bit too old and you know, we were going the next week and I thought you know what, I'm going back there, we're going to find something and got lucky enough to just find the right one and it actually ended up being a really nice home that we found across the road like first thing in the morning. It was actually a pretty fresh track. Unfortunately, where it was, it kind of crossed the road and went through some products. We had to walk around and kind of catch up to it. We walked a couple miles in to find the track again and kind of turn a few dogs loose. We walked them on the track a little bit and petted them up. It was the first one they really smelled. They took it and ran it a couple miles and finally just treated it.
Speaker 2:It was a very pleasant surprise. For the first time I'd ever been out friend of mine that had contacted me earlier this year about um hunting a cat. He ended up shooting it out and uh, yeah, it was, it was a lot bigger than we thought, I think the uh, the skull. When he measured it turned out to be a Boone and Crockett which was like 14 and 5 eighths or something about what he had, but I don't know what it is. Now that it's. You know. I don't know how much they shrink whenever they get dry, so I'm not really sure where it's at now, but it's actually a very nice cat wow, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:So you know, you guys ran bare, your dogs had never been on a cat, seen a cat, you really hadn't had much experience with it either. And then, you know, just went out, hammered down a track, the dogs, uh, the dogs got it up a tree and and there it was. That's uh, that's a pretty cool success story super happy with them.
Speaker 2:Like I don't know, I was a little hesitant, you know, whether they'd really want to or not. Um, I've tried a couple of my dogs on bobcats before years ago and they never really wanted to fool with them. So, um, kind of hesitant whether they would go or not, and a lot of you know we, when we got to the track where they could smell it, I'd walk them and let them sniff it and kind of pet them up and make sure they knew it was okay and just kind of let them do their thing. My buddy did have another dog that has run him before, so his dog kind of helped out. He was barking on it. One of my older dogs went in and kind of got it going. I think we had four dogs that ended up treeing it. At the end it turned out real good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome For the houndsmen listening to this. They're probably curious what kind of hounds are you running?
Speaker 2:I kind of run a mixture of everything. The ones I have now I have six, I have four of them are they all have the same mom, but they're kind of mixed up english red pick and walker, and then I have a plot and I have a the red bone, uh, red bone walker. Okay, he's a cost as well. So they're kind of just a mixture of a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1:Sounds like they work well, though that's a cool mixture and they all work well together, you find, and everything. Are they fairly evenly matched? Do you see when they're out running?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean one thing about, like, I like having a pack that just runs really well together and they all do that pretty good. My one dog, my J-dog, she's kind of the older one, the more experienced one, and she's definitely the leader of the group and they kind of all follow her. But they stick together and normally, you know, normally we tree, they're all right there together. I don't really have any that kind of peel off by themselves very much. You know, which is kind of what I like. I like it when you turn five, six dogs loose. You know, by the time you tree it they're all there. And I'd rather have a really good pack that runs well together than, you know, a couple that kind of veer off and maybe do their own thing at times well, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:I mean, how old are the dogs that you're running? From the sounds of it, they're probably like what three, four, um?
Speaker 2:my jade dog. She's probably six maybe. And then I've got three litter mates that are probably around three, maybe four, and then another one that that's two, and then I got another one, just just turned one okay, so you have a good mixture with the ages as well as the breeds.
Speaker 2:I try to get one new puppy every year or every other year so that I constantly have new, younger blood coming in. I have an old dog here that she's actually a house dog that we're retired and she's got a super, super cold nose One of the best hounds I've ever hunted or been around and we bred her three times. So my four old dogs are all out of her, and then my dad's got two of them back in West Virginia still. So we found a good bloodline and we kind of stuck with it and they've done really, really well for us.
Speaker 1:Okay yeah yeah, I guess if it's not broke, don't fix it, sort of thing. You guys found what works.
Speaker 2:She was treated a heck of a lot of bear by herself. I've seen her, my old Sophie dog. I've seen her take tracks that no other dog would even think about taking. Unfortunately, none of her babies have ended up with the nose that she has, but they all have the drive and they do very well for it. So yeah, we are kind of we're starting to get a little bit of new blood in here. You know, we moved out here to montana. We we got a couple dogs from people that hunt out here and, uh, they seem to do pretty well so far. So kind of excited about that.
Speaker 1:So you guys are kind of getting into, like the cat bloodlines.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it seems like most people are on cat and bear. Okay, you know all these dogs out here, they'll run a little bit of both. You get a good many people that run Bobcat as well, which I don't know. I'm not as big on the Bobcat Not that I wouldn't run one but I'm kind of I like the bigger stuff, I guess.
Speaker 1:Is there a lot of similarities between running a lion and a Bobcat, or because they're both cats, or is it actually different besides the size, obviously I'd be honest, I'm probably not the best one to ask about that.
Speaker 2:Um, I've only ran maybe two bobcats my whole life, uh, and obviously one lion. So yeah, I'm not the best one for that.
Speaker 1:I was just curious. I'm sure it's different. Maybe the bobcat's a little faster at first and stuff, or they don't have that long tail. I don't know if that tail drags and helps with the scent any.
Speaker 2:I'm curious about that I really don't know. Couldn't tell you on that one, yeah.
Speaker 1:But I mean, you know enough to get a lion in the tree and take that. So no, it's pretty neat. Like I said just so, you guys, you know, got out there and wanted to try it and sure enough, it worked. So, all the excitement you guys are having with the hounds, you guys have also had a lot of excitement going to Africa, and your first, if you want to talk about how you kind of got your, uh, your first trip booked and how that went.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I guess I'll tell this one um, before Dylan and I got together, he went to a hunting show with his cousin um and they got drunk and bought an auction hunt for sheep and it got postponed with COVID, bought an auction hunt for cheap and it got postponed with COVID and by the time the borders and stuff opened up, we had gotten together. His cousin had a kid and couldn't go, so I went as an add on and we went over there. Just absolutely loved it. It's crazy to see the amount of game that you see in a day, the amount of game that you see in a day, and the people were wonderful, got to be really good friends with them and when we went back this year will be the fourth time in five years.
Speaker 1:So I guess, what part of Africa did you guys go to? Is it that you guys go to the same place every time, or does that outfitter?
Speaker 3:have more than one location. So we have kind of stuck around the Limpopo province of South Africa. As far as like the hunting goes. We've done a little bit of sightseeing with them into like Kruger National Park. We've been up into Botswana, we went to Zimbabwe Victoria Falls. Yeah, dylan did some fishing over in Namibia, wow. So this will be. They actually just picked up a concession in Zimbabwe to do more of the like actual big games like your elephants, your leopards, things like that. So not that those hunts are in our near future, but they said we can tag along if we sell one. So hopefully, yeah, we at least get to experience it oh, just seeing that would be, uh, would be amazing.
Speaker 1:So the Limpopo area I don't know Africa real well, but is it a bit wetter there compared to other parts of the country?
Speaker 2:It depends on the time of the year, so their seasons are kind of flip-flops. Their winter is our summer, so their peak season is normally like may, june, july, august, so it would be their winter. That's primarily when you do a lot, most of your hunting, because it's actually colder, um, and it is drier. You don't really typically get a lot of rain during those times. A lot of your wetter seasons come later in the fall, going into the winter and stuff. So November, december is when they kind of get the rainy season.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah. So I'm excited and curious if you could try to reminisce and walk us through it. I mean, you got a couple people from Montana. Becky, you're going with Dylan, he's drunk, got this hunt. You had to wait through COVID. You finally get there. You land at the airport. Can you walk us through what happened from there? Did you guys end up bringing your own guns?
Speaker 3:If you did, was that an ordeal? Or did you end up just using some there the first two years that we went? Um, we took our own and we had a layover in ethiopia and we, um, we get off on the tarmac. They don't even like take you up to the hub and we get off the plane and there's a guy there holding a sign with dylan's name on it and dylan's aunt that was with us was like, oh, look, it's for you, it's for you. And he was like I don't think that that's good. And they took him into the basement of the airport and would not let me and his aunt go with him and kind of harassed him. We figured out later that they were trying to solicit bribes, but we didn't know they we actually had to hold up the plane for him to make it.
Speaker 3:Um. So that was fun, um. But once, once we got to south africa, we had kind of gotten off the plane. You know, as soon as you walk into the, like, the lobby of the airport, um, merri, as soon as you walk into the lobby of the airport, marilise and Ivan are the name of the outfitters that we go over with. Marilise was there, ran up, gave us a huge hug, like she had known us for her whole life. She's like all right, let's go pick up your rifles. We walked in there with her and she just kind of took care of everything from there. I mean, she is a little spitfire of a woman. I believe her that you don't nobody's gonna get one past her as far as that kind of stuff goes. Um. But after that it's about a four or five hour drive from the airport to the actual ranch.
Speaker 3:Um, and most of that is like your dirt roads. Um, it's kind of funny. They're like quote-unquote wild roaming animals. There are mostly like donkeys and um cows. So you'll be driving like 60 miles an hour and have to slam on the brakes because there's a donkey in the road. But after that you know got to the ranch the first year we went over did a lot of just like small game type stuff A couple warthogs, a gem fuck. I got a kudu and a wildebeest, oh yeah the antala, yeah, yeah, that one was.
Speaker 3:That was my first one that really stuck out to me, that I went over and was like I, I want one of those. That's what I'm going for. Yeah, um, and I ended up. The last full day of hunting is when we finally found him and it worked out for us. They're gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.
Speaker 1:How heavy Would they be like, say, like 600 pounds, almost like a bigger caribou.
Speaker 2:So they're like the size of a cow elk um okay, I've never yeah, yeah, yeah, I've never seen caribou, so that one's kind of a hard one to tell you. But uh, yeah, it's like a body wise and like weight wise I'd say a larger bull coot who's about the size of a cow elk.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, yeah, so that's what. Yeah, she's about the size of a cow elk. Oh, okay, yeah, so that's what. Yeah, I was just trying to think of something from North America to uh to compare them with, I guess. Uh, so you would. Yeah, that's pretty neat, you guys going down, so you would not recommend a hunting trip in Ethiopia that, yeah, that's not the country I'd want to be stuck in on a layover.
Speaker 3:No, definitely not. If, if you, in our experience, if you're gonna go over, pay more for the direct flight? Um, we have all of our stops with rifles have, whether it was willingly or not, ended up in ethiopia. Um, we have a guy that's gonna hunt with the outfitters. We booked him a hunt um last year and he just came up to us he had won a different hunt and when he went he had a lot of issues in, I think, london um trying to get rifles over there. So definitely just pay the extra money to just direct flight straight over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, sounds it. So do the outfitters there have guns for you to use as well? You're saying, possibly if you want to do the hassle of bringing your own?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I've heard people on podcasts say that they've had bad experience using outfitters' guns. I have not had that experience using Outfitters guns. I have not had that experience. We use their guns and honestly they ran. You know, unless you're building a $10,000 custom rifle, they ran things very comparable to what we would run over here Silencers on everything. It's a lot easier over there to get a silencer, so everything they had us hunt with had silencers on everything. It's a lot easier over there to get a silencer, so everything they had us hunt with had silencers. I can't remember what all we hunted with. I know there was a 270, a 300, maybe a 308.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, Dylan shot his Kate Buffalo with one of their rifles. It was a 375 H&H.
Speaker 1:Oh, a 375 H&H. So you got a. You got a Kate Buffalo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was probably two or three years ago. I ended up killing a Kate Buffalo over there.
Speaker 1:So that the 375, I believe, is the lowest caliber legally allowed to be used and recommended. I guess, on um, on the date the big five dangerous game, is it? Yeah, it is, and that you found that was enough. Is it shot? I mean what? You want to make your first shot count, cause I guess those things are like tanks, basically built like it. But did you find that was enough? Gun or?
Speaker 2:Well, I think mine was, uh, maybe a little bit out of the ordinary. I actually killed it with one shot and it ran 40 yards and died. So the Ivan he was with me when it happened he said that was only the second one he's ever seen getting killed with one shot. He said it's normally one or two, or like eight or nine or 10. A lot of times there's no in-between. It's either pretty quick, which is not real common, or it takes a lot of bullets to put them down. Yeah, I'll say mine was. You know, one was enough, but I think I got a little lucky on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's cool. Well, I've heard that too. I mean, I've listened to a story about a guy he's using like a .458, and he shot and the first shot wasn't that great and he had to shoot I don't know, I think it was, like you said eight to ten times after that and it said by the end of it the guy looked worse than the Cape Buffalo. He was just beat the hell out of himself shooting a gun that size that many times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we've heard stories and stuff of people shooting a Buffalo and the first shot goes through the heart and they've had to leave it and go back after it the next morning and stuff. And 12 hours later they catch up to it and shoot it a couple more times and you know, by the time they actually skin it and gut it out and everything get to looking. And first shot was right through the heart and it's still alive and kicking, you know, even 12 hours later. So they are a very, very tough animal yeah, yeah, that's unbelievable.
Speaker 1:Uh, black death, so uh, I mean so the outfitter that you guys go with how many acres they own? Do they own the land? Do they lease it? Is there such thing as um like public land out there?
Speaker 2:it's a private ranch um that they own. Um, where you stay, it's kind of a relatively smaller area where the lodge is itself I think it's like four to 6,000 acres, but they have multiple concessions um all around uh, their property um, anywhere from 8,000 to up to 30,000 acres, wow. Anywhere from 8,000 to up to 30,000 acres, wow. And then the concession that they have in Zimbabwe that's going to be doing the big game hunting in it is about 700,000 acres, holy. So that is a huge, huge area, and it borders the Plangy National Park as well, and it's an open border, so there's a lot of area. Upy National Park as well, and it's an open border, so there's a lot of area up there to hunt as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is a massive track of land, so they've got a lot going on. I mean, do they have a lot of guides working for them, and then they have trackers that come along in the hunts as well, do they?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so different outfitters will do it differently. Um, where we go it's kind of smaller um in the fact that you know it's. They try to keep it in the family as much as possible. Um, so either or at least they're both professional guides um, they have a couple, couple trackers that'll come along and then if you get a big enough group of people, they'll bring in PHs. But the two main ones are the husband and wife that run it. They have a son that I'm sure the second he turns old enough to get his PH license, he'll be doing it. They have the one tracker. His name's E's enias. He's been with them long before we were and he's wonderful. He's so funny, so nice wow.
Speaker 1:So they, uh, they're busy then doing all that, yeah, with the smaller crew. Um, so your average. So for your smaller planes game, I guess from, uh you know, say up to kudu Buttonpala Warthog, like you're talking about. I mean, what would you guys find your experience would be the recommended rifles to be used?
Speaker 3:We have taken over a 308 and a 300. And a 300. And honestly, the first year we went, my Kudu, my Willoughby, it was all using that 308 and it was a clean one shot done and over with, didn't run very far. My dad has a 270 short mag that he absolutely loves and he took that over and I don't remember I don't think he shot his fable with it, but I know that he shot or a friend of ours shot a zebra with it and I believe that was one shot as well.
Speaker 2:It did pretty good the 300, always reliable and does well over there now just saying anything around that 30 caliber, your 30 odd set, six 308, 300, 270 um, those are all pretty good rifles. As far as your plane scene, um, you'd kind of be surprised. You get into some of your wildebeest. They can actually be very, very tough even with good shots. They'll run and stay alive for a while. You get into some of your Impala and Black Buck and stuff. You don't necessarily need all that firepower but it's one of those. If you're going after an Impala and a wildebeest steps out and you're hunting that as well you know you might as well have, you know, a little bit more of the firepower to take it down. So most people recommend you know somewhere around that 30 caliber um to hunt with.
Speaker 1:As far as the plains game does, okay, yeah, yeah, so it's not too bad. I mean, it sounds like you guys uh have taken a lot of a lot of game there. Uh, is there anyone in particular? I guess this is for each of you that was more of a memorable hunt and your more favorite animal to harvest.
Speaker 3:I really like my wildebeest. I finished the slam. The only one I haven't gotten is they just came out with the royal king. It's all white but I love my wildebeest hunting. I have a king wildebeest that it's kind of like black or dark blue and it has a white face, white mane and tail.
Speaker 3:And that one was really cool because I saw it, um, and it was kind of quartered. I hit it a little too far back and they actually had. It was a little like jack Ruffley mix of some sort that would hunt with us and those dogs over there. They hear the shot and they just take off. They don't know where they're going, they just run and get it. That was the one time that we really got to watch the dog work and there was just a small herd of like three or four that this wildebeest was hanging out with and getting to watch that dog kind of get it separated and bay it up for me to finish was really neat to watch. Especially, you know you think of something as big as a wildebeest. It's crazy to think that these dogs will bay it up by themselves when they weigh 10 or 15 pounds.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, that's nuts. My mom has a Jack Russell Terrier so I can kind of believe it. They're a crazy dog that does not realize their size. But yeah, I didn't know that they used that the dogs for that in Africa. So that's yeah, that's really neat. What's the slam you were?
Speaker 3:saying so I have gotten your blue wildebeest, which is the just regular, like what you think of. Um, you know, lion king type wildebeest, um, a golden wildebeest same thing. Um, they just have like a red color to them. And then there is a king wildebeest, which is the one I just mentioned, and a black wildebeest. What's the black wildebeest, which is the one I just mentioned, and a black wildebeest? The black wildebeest they're a lot smaller. Their horns, instead of going out to the side, kind of swoop down to the front and they're all black and they have really long hair on their nose that sticks straight out. So I finished all of those. Like I said, there's one left that is completely white and it's like a newer color variation of the wildebeest, and I have not gotten that one at this point. They're a little bit more expensive yeah, that's uh, that's really cool.
Speaker 1:I knew, I knew there was at least two different types. I didn't know, know there's that many. So yeah, that's pretty cool to have a whole slam for them, Dylan, of all the game you guys have taken there which stands like quite a bit what I guess. Same question.
Speaker 2:Well, it's kind of hard to beat the Cape Buffalo, so you wouldn't think an animal, you know, 2,000-pound animal would be as hard to find as what they are. That hunt we were hunting I think we hunted four days before we caught up to him and was able to get a shot and there was a herd of like seven or eight that we were kind of targeting and I got within 50 yards, probably five, six different times before I got a shot and never even knew we were there and I never knew they were there and you know, probably put 40 miles, you know, in walking trying to track them down. Wow, and I remember the first time we actually went on a stalk. We went through a real thick area. We were on our hands and knees, calling and stuff, and you know we were going through there and I was saying, well, if these things, if we catch up to it here, it's going to be a 20-yard shock, because that's all the farther you can see. And we kind of got through the thick stuff. It popped out on the other end. We saw it and we were standing around like well, it must have moved a little bit, you know.
Speaker 2:And we're kind of standing there and all of a sudden they snorted and flew out of there. They were 50 yards from us and we had no idea that we were there, that they were there. We couldn't see them, had no idea, and when they took off it sounded like thunder. I mean it was. They don't run around the bushes and the trees, they run straight through them and you know as dusty as it is with the sand and stuff, it's just a cloud of dust and you're just hearing brush and trees and wind and stuff breaking as they go. And I know like when they took off, the first thing I did was pull up the gun waiting for it to come after me. Yeah, I didn't know where the heck it was going. They were at what they were doing. I was in like fire mode but as long as you know, they went the other way.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, you hear those stories about how dangerous they are, so I don't blame you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know that I was necessarily expecting them to run. You know away from us as much, because you do hear the stories about them coming after you and they look at you the wrong way and they want to attack you or whatever. So for them to run away like that, I wasn't necessarily expecting that, but that was a tough hunt. Eventually, whenever we did catch up to them, it was kind of in the evening of the fourth day we knew we were close and kind of got within 50 or 60 yards of them and we knew we were there and they kind of knew we were there and they started moving from like our left to our right.
Speaker 2:We kind of circled around, tried to get in front of them and we popped out on a little road and I think the front two or three were actually running down the road right towards us and I pulled up on the sixth and the first couple kind of veered off, got off the road and one of them just stopped right there and was looking at me, you know straight on at 40 yards and you know put it right below his nose, right in his chest, and must've put a decent shot on him. But he only, he kind of followed the rest, ran about 40 yards and fell over and died right there. That was. That was definitely a memorable hunt yeah, sounds it.
Speaker 1:I, uh, I can definitely tell why that one is your more memorable and favorite one. That's yeah, just to see, to experience being around, you know, the cape, cape, buffalo and their element like that and stuff is you know, it's incredible.
Speaker 2:It makes you kind of be a little bit more attentive when you got animals like that that you know come after you for no reason, just because you're there, so kind of really keeps you on your toes at all times. But you know, that's part of it, makes it fun, makes it thrilling Well, thrilling well, yeah, absolutely, I mean we don't.
Speaker 1:I mean sometimes you could run into some trouble with, say, a rutting bull, moose or elk, but I mean we don't have anything like a cow like that out in the woods, that just, you know you look at it the wrong way, like you said, or something. They just they're just going to be like yeah, I'm going to knock them over in church.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah. They go to bed angry and they wake up angry. Yeah, they look at you like you owe them money.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah. That's the exact truth of it Guys, I mean even our buffalo here. I don't think they're anything. I've never been around them too much, a little bit in alberta, but uh, they weren't nothing like you know. They saw. Yeah, they chances are they weren't going to come at you, necessarily at all nothing, nothing like the cape buffalo. Uh, I gotta ask all the uh traveling around you guys have done out in africa and hunting the various species? Uh, did you guys see much for snakes?
Speaker 3:So not really. I mean, like he was saying earlier, you go over in their winter, so they're kind of all already brumating. We've seen a couple. I think we've seen a puff adder. We saw a couple baby mambas. There is the one hunting blind, and before you go into blinds and stuff like they'll go in first to make sure there's no surprises in there.
Speaker 3:But the last time we went over with his mom and her sisters, who are like, not hunters, well, honestly I think all three of them one of the first animals they ever killed were all over in Africa. So they, they did a lot of hunting out of a blind guess. They told us, like right before we left, that the one blind they were sitting in had a big python that lived in the ceiling that was above their head while they were hunting and they didn't know it was there. And you know they're not going to hurt you. They like to keep them around, uh, because they will keep the other snakes away, um, so I don't know exactly how big that one was but I think they said it was like a uh, it was like a 12 foot rock python is what it was.
Speaker 2:Oh, and it was there the whole time. And, uh, yeah, my mom and aunt kind of freaked out whenever they found out that it was there the whole time, while they were sitting in the blind and had no idea uh, yeah, wow, I'm, uh, I'm not a snake fan, that's uh, yeah.
Speaker 1:If I looked up just waiting around for some critter to come in and saw that thing slithering around and then the guides tell me, no, no, it's all right, I I don't know if I'd believe them that it was all right that's probably why I wouldn't tell you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but yeah, so we. But really, you know they tell you to check your shoes before you put them on in the morning and like under your pillows and stuff, but we haven't really had a lot of experience with snakes. If you go into their main house, they have bullet holes in the mirror behind their bar because there was a mamba that had gotten up into the cabinet and they went to pull a glass out and it struck the glass. They think it got confused and they shot it. So they keep the bullet holes there because they think it's a funny story. And I'm like man, you guys are just built different because that's not funny to me.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure that's one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. I think it's up there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they say that if a black mamba bites you, to just find a comfy tree because there's nothing else you're going to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so I heard right. Yeah, they're built different Wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, whenever we went over for Dylan's Cape Buffalo hunt, he had snake boots on, just because he thought they would be quieter than the other boots that he wore. And Ivan was kind of getting on him and he said what are you wearing those for? And he said they're snake boots. And he said, buddy, those aren't going to protect you here. They're going to bite you in the neck. If they're going to bite you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, here they're going to bite you in the neck. If they're going to bite you, oh yeah, I'd be looking around everywhere. Real different after hearing that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and like I said, if you're, you know most of the time they are going to investigate things before they have you go in. Or if you're walking through the woods or the brush, they're in front of you. So it's not you, you know they definitely have them. They're definitely there, but it's not a huge concern right at least at the time of year we've been over yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, are you guys mainly what's most of the hunting? I guess it depends on the, obviously, but are you in a blind or are you out, like say, in the back of a vehicle scouting? Are you just walking, looking? How's that? How's most of the say the plains game hunting work?
Speaker 3:The way you can kind of do it multiple different ways. You know if you're bow hunting or maybe not as comfortable shooting off of sticks, um, you're in a blind over like watering holes. Um, you know they do have benches on the truck, so if you're driving around and you see something you can shoot off of the truck. Um, we do a lot of spot and stalk, um, so just kind of driving around until you know if you see it, catch a glimpse of something and then get off and, um, kind of go after it. That way really just depends on how you want to do it, what your comfort level is. You know, at least the outfitter we're with if you're, if you tell them you want to do a Cape Buffalo hunt, they're not going to have you shoot it from a blind or a truck.
Speaker 1:You're going to get on the floor or get on the ground and get close to it, because it's part of the experience. But, okay, yeah, so they're. They're really accommodating for whatever type of hunting you you're comfortable doing really.
Speaker 3:oh for sure, like I said, we've taken, you know, multiple people over that have never really hunted and they were incredibly accommodating to that. My dad has had a couple hip surgeries, you know, and doesn't move through the woods like he used to, and he was able to go over with us and shot a stable and was able to do that. It was a spot in stock and they were good about, you know, kind of staying with him and keeping at his pace and things like that. So they do, they did a really good job with that.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah. So you guys you started sort of uh working for this outfitter, like helping, uh, you know, recruit, I guess, for them and get people on the uh hunt of lifetime.
Speaker 3:Yeah for them and get people on the uh hunt of lifetime. Yeah, so we, when we moved out here um, they don't have anybody kind of this far west or didn't yet, um that were doing hunting shows and stuff with them. Um, so we kind of, when we got out here, you know, sat down with them and said, hey, is this something you guys wanted want us to do? What would it look like? Um, so we got started on that. We do a couple hunting shows a year, hopefully now that they have the um new concession with the big game. You know we might do more than what we're doing now, um, but it's been really fun. Um, it's neat. Dylan gets to talking to people and next thing, you know, he gets to hear about their sheep hunting and things like that. So he enjoys that yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's always great to connect with uh, with any hunters, and you never know what stories they're gonna have and it's great that you guys have been there so many times, obviously, and been on these different hunts and had such a great experience, so it's really easy to uh, you know, pitch people to go yeah, it is, and I mean ivan and merrileaf are wonderful.
Speaker 3:They have been great to us. They came out last year, um, and spent my birthday with us, so it's easy to recommend them to people whenever you know that they are the people that they are and they're, you know, wonderful yeah, well they're, I mean sounds like they're.
Speaker 1:Uh, they're friends now more than more than anything yeah, they definitely are.
Speaker 2:I mean, I don't, I don't know that I could ever go back to africa and not hunt with them. So, and that was you know, even after the first time, before we ever left, we're like, yeah, we're coming back with these guys, there's no way we could go with anybody else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's great. I mean, that's the experience that a lot of people hope for. I've heard a lot of horror stories about people going to certain outfitters in Africa. So the fact that you guys had, you know, such great experience each and every time is, you know? It's great to hear.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we, the first year we went over. My dad is a skeptic about everything and we went over and he's like you guys are going to put all this money into going over. You're not going to shoot anything, it's going to be a scam this, that and the next thing. And you know, we get over there and like we honestly didn't really have any expectations going in. Um, I feel like now, talking to people that are looking to build a hunt, like book a hunt, they asked so many questions and I'm like I couldn't tell you. I, you know, going over there, I didn't even know if they spoke english. Um, by the time we got over there and you know, facetimed dad and said, like look at the lodging, here's what we killed today. Here's what we saw today. I mean, we had it booked for them to go back with us the following year. So I, we got really lucky. I mean, I would like to say it was research and planning and all of that, but it was just your luck.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, when you get drunk in an option just by the hunt, it's a lot of off, but we ended up coming out pretty good on this one well, yeah, I'd say, uh, like you said, the way you came about it to get that hunt and go there and it turns out, you know, into what it has. Yeah, that's uh, that's good, that's lucky.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll take luck any day wouldn't have it any other way that yeah, exactly so.
Speaker 1:Uh, you know I can't thank you two enough for coming on and talking about this, but if somebody's listening to this and they're like you know I don't know about right now, but eventually I'd like to contact these people and, uh, and go down there for a hunt what is the best way? And then, do they have like a website or a facebook page where you can see some pictures of their facilities and the lodging and the animals?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so they have a website and a Facebook. I do most of the stuff for the Facebook, but the website is namahaticom and then the Facebook is Namahati Safaris, africa. How?
Speaker 1:do you spell?
Speaker 3:It is N-A-M-A-H-A-B-I.
Speaker 1:Okay, yep, spelled the way it sounds.
Speaker 3:Yep, and I can um shoot you a Facebook message, sure, or contact him for two. They can reach out to us, um, you know, we have a guy out in West Virginia that does a lot of the bookings and stuff for them, um, and then there's another gentleman out in South Dakota. So, depending on where you're at um, there should be people, at least, hopefully, somewhat close to you.
Speaker 1:All right, yeah, that's great. Well, becca Dylan, I can't thank you guys enough for for taking some time out of your evening and coming on here and talking to me. I'd like to talk again. Your Africa stories are. They're interesting. And then, not to mention, you know, the hound hunting and all that. So, uh, yeah, thanks, and and I look forward to I'm going to check out that outfitter. I'm curious. Now I want to see, see some pictures and maybe book a hunt in the future.
Speaker 3:Sounds good. Thanks for having us on Appreciate it, thanks guys.