On a 10,000-acre plot in Namibia, Africa, Bismarck High School student Brecken Welle took a trip hunting and experienced the wildlife of Africa. He was accompanied by relatives and family friends.
“So it was July 29 through August 12. We were gone for over two weeks,” Welle said.
Majority of the days were spent in Namibia, but multiple days were spent traveling to their designated staying place.
“We stayed a night at Windhoek after our three days of flying,” Welle says.
Land owner Julio Lopes allowed Welle and his group to hunt on his property and stay there with him. Lope lives with his father, wife, two daughters and son.
They had their own 10,000-acre property,” Welle said. “That we all stayed on.”
Welle’s older brother, father and grandma joined together with Lope’s family on a hunting excursion where they spent time getting to know each other.
“One of the best parts was hanging out with Julio and his family,” Welle said.
The flying experience for this trip had not been Welles’ favorite. Sleeping on the planes was not comfortable and sleeping was hard.
“It was just, it was terrible on the way there and back,” Welle said. “But besides that, the stay was great.”
Welle had to adapt to the different weather while hunting. Because of the difference in the hemisphere of where Africa is located, it was winter during July. Just because it was winter, did not mean there was snow or low temperatures.
“It was around 70 degrees in the morning. It would get around 85 to 90 in the afternoons,” Welle said. “So it was, it got quite hot.”
Welle was able to shoot nine animals by himself. He shot an impala, springbok, gemsbok, black wildebeest, blesbok, zebra, nyala, kudu and eland.
“My brother was able to get 11,” Welle says.
The reason for this trip was because Welle’ s grandpa had already sent his oldest brother on a similar trip before. His grandpa wanted Welle and his other brother Boston to be included.
“My grandpa is a big hunter, and a while ago, he sent my oldest brother when he was 12 and 13,” Welle says.
The gemsbok, nyala and springbok will all be shoulder mounted. The other remaining animals will be a European mount, a skull on a wood board.
“I’m going to shoulder mount a nyala, gemsbok and my springbok. Those are definitely my three best shots,” Welle says.
For the two weeks spent in Africa, Welle had to maintain a tight schedule. Welle spent roughly 10 hours a day in the blind looking for animals. These long hours left little to no time for other things.
“There was only one day we went to go visit a national park there on the last day,” Welles says.
Welles and his group had a great time with their new experiences.
“People there are really nice,” Welle said, “even if you’re not a big hunter, it’s still just a great place to go.”