Day 9
The next morning we had to leave Niel’s place. It was tough to go – the house, the food, the game and most of all Niel himself, combined to make this a truly special place. Grant said we should come back and do this every year. I would love to do that – if I didn’t have to organize the people!
Once on the road, we stopped to visit a taxidermy studio in East Somerset – African Wildlife Artistry. I haven’t had a lot of luck with taxidermy done in Africa, but I had met Rudolph, the owner, at Niel’s one evening, and he seemed to both know his work and to take it seriously. He was trained in Helena, MT. While that's not too far from me, that wasn't what sold me - it was that anyone who would tolerate a winter in Helena, must really care! Grant and I decided to leave our taxidermy to be done there (all I had were two zebra skins (so far), but Grant had quite a few animals).
After that, it was a short trip to Bean’s place at Tootabi. Beans has restored an old farmhouse and an impressive job he has made of it. The house is very comfortable and well situated. There seems to be ample game in the immediate vicinity, and like much of the Eastern Cape, you don’t have far to travel to find whatever you might wish to hunt. The shower is great (that matters a lot to me!), there is plenty of good food, the company is top notch and the beer is cold. I was set.
Beans, John and Vuvu (apparently from Vuvuzela, I asked!) looking over the property
"Camp"!
John and I spent the afternoon in search of bushbuck, and while we saw a number, none appeared old enough to take. Grant had the same issue with kudu – he saw a number, but all were a bit young.
This was the end of the hunt for Grant. He was leaving early the next morning, while I had one more day. I used that day to look for bushbuck at a nearby property. We saw plenty of bushbuck, and I even had a shot at one mid-day, but missed. It was late afternoon, with about 10 minutes of shooting light left, that I finally found an old bushbuck and brought him down. Fortunately, I made a decent shot. Another gun bag!
Glassing for bushbuck
On returning to Tootabi for dinner, Beans said he had an idea. Apparently he had two bushpigs that had been visiting his gut pile every night. He had a light there, he said, and if I was interested, we could go and see if they were there after dinner. If not, we wouldn’t stay, but if they were there, we would try to get them both. I thought about it for a nanosecond and said yup, I’m up for that.
So after dinner, I was armed with a double barreled shotgun loaded with buckshot, and off we went. After we got out of the truck, and began walking, it occurred to me I might have told Beans that I had poor night vision. As it was, I stayed very close to Beans, with John to my right, and we walked slowly on a road for some distance. At one point we turned off, and I could tell we were walking uphill, but I could see almost nothing. We then stopped, and we were (sort of) looking down on an area that was very dimly lit. Beans whispered ‘shoot’, but I wasn’t sure what I was shooting at. The white thing? Yes. So I shot and two bushpigs started to race, one coming towards us. I shot that one again, and it turned and ran away. John shot the other with his 25-06 and it fell dead about 40 yards away. We never did find the male which I shot at (though we looked the next morning), and I can only assume that I missed it. In my defense, they were closer than I expected, and the pattern on buckshot is not wide at that distance. Anyway, that’s my story. But it was great fun anyway!
My hunt was now over, and I spent some time the following morning driving around Bean’s ranch (after we looked for the pig), and then getting ready for my own flight home. A quick trip to Port Elizabeth, and I was on my way.
This had been a much different hunt from any I had previously been on. I’ve always had at least one major trophy in every hunt, but in this case, I was happy to be along for the ride, and to experience the hunt from the perspective of a first-timer. And I always love hunting the Karoo, particularly in the mountains. The land is both stark and beautiful, and to have experienced driven shooting in such an area was great fun. I would return for the culling and driven shooting without a doubt.
My PH John Tinley is an exceptional hunter, and, working in collaboration with Beans, did an excellent job of organizing (and re-organizing as our numbers changed) this hunt. It is difficult to get groups to commit to a hunt. I’ve suggested to Beans that he organize a couple of dates – three-day periods – when he can offer driven shooting, and those who may be in Africa for a trophy hunt elsewhere could come along at the end (or beginning, or middle!) of their hunt. I think 4-5 guns would be ideal for this sort of thing. Perhaps an AH hunt!
Of course all good things must end, but this had been a great hunt. As someone said (more or less, I think), there is a simple pleasure in carrying a gun in good country in the company of friends. Thanks to Beans and Tinley. They made it happen.
