Namibia Kudu


When you think of Africa you know it’s a long way away…but it’s literally an entire day away. We flew from Minneapolis to Germany, had an 8 hour layover, and got on another 10 hour flight to Namibia. When we finally arrived in Namibia everyone was dragging, except me! I have no problem sleeping on planes and I was finally caught up on my sleep. 

We hunted with Burchell Safari’s and they had beautiful accommodations and great people. Everyday we were able to hunt a variety of animals primarily by spot and stalk. We sat at a few waterholes but it’s a lot more fun to put on the foot miles. The only drawback: it’s a lot harder to film! We were on the move and the equipment was heavy. I brought the biggest camera/tripod combination we had. Granted it took the best picture, but it was extremely heavy. We saw a huge variety of animals and Bill got a monster kudu the very first day. 

One evening our entire group was back at camp and Steve Johnson from Hornady bullets offered me his Kudu tag. He insisted I take it since he had shot a nice bull on another trip. The next morning I headed out with an even bigger smile on my face and a kudu tag in my pocket. Bill had already bagged a Kudu so the next one we saw would have my name on it. 

That morning I was busy filming the hunters, scenery, animals etc. We were on the hunt for a zebra and I had virtually forgotten about the tag. That is until Bill grabbed my camera and swapped it out for the gun. He pointed ahead and a big kudu was running the opposite direction. 

I got the gun on the sticks and my heart was pounding. The bull stopped and looked back. I had a neck shot and a split second to make the decision.  I squeezed the trigger and the bull dropped in his tracks. People talk about pressure but this was an extreme case. I had my boss handing me his gun, no time to prepare or get nervous, and my instincts took over. Everything turned out perfect and I went home with a beautiful trophy. We filmed two full shows for NAH-TV and I now have the Africa bug. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to hop on the plane and head to Africa for some plains game or maybe even some dangerous game.


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