continuation . . .
After four animals down in three days of hunting we decided to shift our focus to my Kudu. From my reading, I learned that Kudu hunting is very difficult and physically taxing. I have an artificial hip, I’m arthritic, grossly overweight and terribly out of shape. I wondered if I had any chance of closing on a Kudu. Theuns assured me that he thought I had a real chance and he and Kevin would do their best to put me on an animal. Theuns estimated it would take 2 days to get me a Kudu.
So Tuesday morning we went to another part of the property that held more Kudu than where we’d been hunting. After a few minutes on the property, the road took us past a thick area, and we spotted some female Kudu with one immature male mixed in. Theuns and Kevin talked a bit in Africaans but we didn’t stop and proceeded along the road. After a few more minutes we stopped, and I was told that we’d stalk that herd in the hopes that there might be a trophy bull mixed in that we didn’t see as we drove by.
We moved ahead with Kevin in the lead (Theuns is training him to be a PH). After about 200 yds, Kevin saw something, but since he only was speaking to Theuns - and in Africaans - I was kind of out of the loop. Theuns turned to me and said they’d spotted two bulls with the herd, but they were a long way off, and we’d have a difficult stalk. We tried several approaches that petered out, when finally we stepped down into a dry drainage, and were able to use the terrain for cover.
Theuns set up the tripod and motioned me forward to mount the rifle. He pointed to a tree and said there was a trophy Kudu standing in it with his horns among the tree limbs. I looked over and couldn’t see a thing. He said it was facing right. The range was about 100 yds, and all I could make out was an orange leaf on the tree.
When I put the scope on the area, the Kudu stood out plain as day. The orange leaf was the inside of one of his ears. I put the crosshairs on the shoulder and shot. He humped and sprinted out of sight into the cover. While we waited before following up, two more mature bulls broke cover and ran to our right - one had a massive body.
We found him within about 60 yds of the shot. I was on cloud 9! A little over an hour into what should have been a tough two day hunt, we had our animal on the ground.
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I did a little celebrating that night, and in the course of the evening, my desire for a male Impala led to my dropping the Hartebeest and paying for an upgrade to a trophy Impala.
The next morning, we started my Impala hunt with a stalk that fizzled when a herd of Springbuck ran off, and then took some Wildebeest and Zebras, drawing the Impalas we were targeting with them.
We moved to another area where Kevin spotted some Impala and we began a pursuit that took us a long way as they were wary of us. Eventually we got to a valley with some thick stuff in the bottom Theuns and Kevin were focused on the animals we had been following, which were off to the left. I noticed a single animal in the brush to the right, but couldn’t tell if it was male or not. We stalked to the left, but the herd eventually broke and ran off.
It was decided to make a swing to the right and circle a hill hoping some of the animals may have ducked in that direction. We just got moving when a mature impala was seen moving directly at us from the thicket where I saw the animal earlier. We set up, and Theuns gave me the go-ahead saying it was clearly a trophy animal. He was walking directly at me and slightly up hill not presenting the best of shots. Finally at 80 yds he turned slightly to his right giving me a shot at his left shoulder. He took off to my left - up hill - and gave a couple of hops before dropping. This was the only bullet that didn’t exit, and we discovered it just under the hide on the right hip. I understand it’s a very good Impala.
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This left me with my full list of animals filled and 2 ½ days left. Rather than doing nothing, I decided to add a couple of more cull animals, and make them of species I hadn’t taken yet. I decided to add the Hartebeest back in and go for a black Wildebeest as well.
In the afternoon we spotted some Black Wildebeest and stalked and then followed them through some relatively open country. They kept moving ahead of us staying just out of range. Finally they held up in a thicket. A couple of attempts at getting a shot failed when the animal stepped back into the cover. Finally one stepped out, facing us, and I was on her, when she turned another animal walked behind, but finally the shooting lane cleared, and I put the shot on her shoulder. She dropped within 5 yds after a 200 yd shot.
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The next morning we set out after a Hartebeest. I’d already spent more time trying to get a shot at a female Hartebeest, by far, than any other animal on this hunt. I felt the hunting gods were against me on this animal.
Our first hunt in the morning fizzled, and the second produced a chance at bulls only. In the afternoon we were stalking a herd, when they saw us and broke. The second hunt was on a lone animal that proved to be a bull. The third hunt was on a herd of 6 animals that finally hung up in some thick stuff. We had no cover to advance, so we set up and waited. Finally a female stepped clear and then presented a broadside shot. I shot her at 130yds, and she travelled less than 30 yds before dropping.
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I decided that I`d exhausted my hunting budget, and besides we needed to spend some time at the bank and with the taxidermist, so I ended my hunt at this point. It was quite an adventure. Eight animals in 6 hunting days all from different species.
