SOUTH AFRICA: There Is Always A First Time

PARA45 said:

Congratulations on taking some fine animals. I am addicted to Kudus, and not in a million years would I have passed on that Nyala. Please keep it coming, anxiously waiting for more.

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The nyala wasn't planned when I booked this safari (instead the kudu yes because I am addicted to this majestic animal too).....but when we spotted that bull, my eyes sparkled!

The nyala I shot last month was also serendipitous. We were heading back to the farm with buffalo loaded in back when my PH spotted this fine bull and it didn't see us. I had already shot a nice one in 2022 but wanted a good backskin. That first one was bald down the spine. It was a tricky stalk but I dropped him with one shot. Turns out both his cape and backskin were no good. The one on the wall here is 27" and the August bull is much better. I'm guessing about 29". Nice spread to it too. The one here is a bit tight together. Nyala make a nice trophy. Beautiful on the wall without taking up too much space.

Ontario Hunter said:

The nyala I shot last month was also serendipitous. We were heading back to the farm with buffalo loaded in back when my PH spotted this fine bull and it didn't see us. I had already shot a nice one in 2022 but wanted a good backskin. That first one was bald down the spine. It was a tricky stalk but I dropped him with one shot. Turns out both his cape and backskin were no good. The one on the wall here is 27" and the August bull is much better. I'm guessing about 29". Nice spread to it too. The one here is a bit tight together. Nyala make a nice trophy. Beautiful on the wall without taking up too much space.
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Very very beautiful nyala, many congratulations!
You are right, nyala doesn't take up so much space hanging on the wall as shoulder mount and without any doubt it's one the most beautiful antelopes in all Africa continent!

We woke up later than previous mornings and we did some scouting in this new property.
Even if there were still some hills, here the landscape was flatter with scattered bushes where you could move through more easily.
The problem was that the bushes were overlapped one another so they provided excellent cover for the animals.
In a plain, we came across a solitary astonishing beautiful blesbok.
I was impressed by the unbelievable length of the horns.
I couldn't pass up this outstanding specimen.
The blesbok was walking continuously, getting farther and farther away.
We started the pursuit in this completely open plain and the ram kept a safe distance of 400-450 meters.
There was no chance of getting any closer as the blesbok understood we were chasing him.
We decided to leave him.
The blesbok is territorial and we noticed that he joined a herd where he was the dominant ram.
We were sure he wouldn't move away from there.
We could try again for him one of the next few days.
Back at the lodge we met Handrie, before heading out for the afternoon hunt.


We changed property where gemsboks were present in high numbers.
Me, Handrie and Johann started to glass the surroundings.
Far away we spotted a hartebeest herd along with some gemsboks.
One of the gemsboks was a nice bull, but when we looked at the dominant hartebeest bull, we became speechless.
Besides his impressive horn length and heavy bases, the tips were pointing outward.
Without any doubt, we were watching a new superlative trophy.
So again I changed my mind, wishing this unexpected awesome red hartebeest instead of that beautiful gemsbok bull.
During the stalk the three of us came across a solitary oryx.
It was definitely a bull considering how big its chest and neck were.
The gemsbok didn't give us a chance to aim him as he fled after a few seconds.
After a very long walking, we reached the hartebeest herd and the gemsboks.
We were hidden behind some trees and bushes.
The antelopes were on slightly higher ground at 250 meters.
The bull was grazing facing us, just as the nyala was.
At high magnification, I could appreciate the tips pointing outward.
At the same time, I started to be a little nervous: few hunters would have the lucky opportunity to come across such a magnificent specimen in a free range area.
At a certain point, the nice gemsbok bull walked in front of the hartebeest from right to left.
I kept my decision on that stunning hartebeest.
I started to shake more and more because of the wait, which seemed to me an eternity.
When the bull turned broadside, facing left, I squeezed the trigger.
Considering also the angle from bottom to top, I felt not sure that I hit him.
I reloaded immediately and pointed there again.
I saw the bull stopped a few meters on the left, turning his head completely to the right where the shot went out.
Even if the horns were covered by some branches, I recognized that it was him for the heavier neck, larger body and the darker reddish coat compared to the other hartebeests.
The bull was ¾ facing us, still keeping his head turned on the right.
Johann and Handrie confirmed me that one was the super bull.
The position wasn't so good both for the distance and the angle but I knew it was a matter of seconds before he ran away, so I shot again.
This time I noticed that the hartebeest arched his back and lowered his head.
He ran towards us, disappearing between the trees.
After some minutes, we went to see the Anschuss.
During the ascent we stopped before reaching that point because we bumped the dead hartebeest.
The second fired bullet passed through him from behind the left shoulder to the belly.
This red hartebeest turned out to be the trophy of a lifetime: 25 inches, beyond any brightest expectations.
We celebrated all night for this amazing achievement with drinks and music.

Beautiful Hartebeest, congratulations!

Did the first bullet graze his horn? That is a very fine hartebeest for sure. I'm not particularly enamoured with them as a shoulder mount but the skull is certainly "interesting."

Ontario Hunter said:

Did the first bullet graze his horn? That is a very fine hartebeest for sure. I'm not particularly enamoured with them as a shoulder mount but the skull is certainly "interesting."

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That was a previous scratch, maybe after a fight for the dominance.
Actually I love the hartebeest as shoulder mount 'cause its unique snout.....for me it's strange-looking face is lovely!

Yes they are, and the uniqueness of their horns makes the shoulder mounts even more appealing.

The red hartebeest is so ugly........that it´s beautiful

Mine from 2008.

Nyati said:

The red hartebeest is so ugly........that it´s beautiful

Mine from 2008.

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Actually the funny weird hartebeest's snout is adorable for me and very nice bull you got!

Next morning Handrie guided me on a stalking hunt for a gemsbok bull, but we didn't bump any mature bulls.
It was late morning and we spotted a nice solitary oryx bull up in a hill.
Next to him, there was also a beautiful warthog and another oryx bull with a broken horn.
We were walking to reach the top and we came across the broken-horned oryx.
He ran away and so we changed direction hoping the big gemsbok hadn't been spooked as well.
We were on the top, when suddenly the white tusks of that warthog stood out against the surrounding vegetation.
We froze as the boar was just 30 meters away from us.
The wind was good, but he sensed the noise of our footsteps.
Only his head was visible, the rest of the body was hidden behind a bush.
And again a new totally unexpected mother nature's gift was in front of us.
Should I have let it go?
Of course not.
I took that as another sign of fate I couldn't deny.
So I got on the stick, but it couldn't be properly opened because there was a low bush on the left.
We couldn't move any further sideways because the warthog would run away in a blink.
Considering the very short range, I was able to adjust my position aiming at his head.
The bullet scratched the upper left wart, going straight to the brain.
A nice old warthog with worn tusks but very thick.
We left the gutted boar and continued searching for that oryx bull.
We didn't find him, so we recovered the warthog.
That afternoon was still devoted for a gemsbok bull's seek.
We were walking between the bushes, when Handrie opened the stick.
There was a gemsbok herd close to us.
We saw the various heads, but they were cows and young.
It was still very exciting to have those mighty antelopes at such close range.
After dinner we headed out for a night hunt, looking for black-backed jackals.
Handrie has the best equipment for this kind of hunting.
On her pick-up, she has a comfortable 360-degree swivel chair where it is possible to fix the rifle equipped with a super thermal scope.
The night was so cold and windy.
Absolutely not the ideal conditions.
We were driving to an open space where to set up the predator call.
With the spotlight, Handrie saw the eyes of a jackal.
She turned off the spotlight and switched on the thermal scope.
I aimed the canid and it was a frontal shot.
I pulled the trigger and the jackal whined, crawling its chest on the ground as it ran away.
Without a reference point because of the total darkness, we didn't find blood.
We couldn't spend too much time there, so we carried on.
With the strong cold and wind, no jackal was lured by the call.


The plan for the eighth day was to go towards a property about 90 minutes away looking for a new species of mine: the scimitar oryx.
This is a fascinating oryx species native to North-Central Africa that became extinct in the wild.
Its white fur allows it to reflect the sun's rays and so the heat of the desert.
It was supposed to find the oryxes in the flat land of this property, but that day they decided to go up in the mountains where Barbary sheep also roamed.
On the peak of a mountain, we spotted the scimitar oryx herd and not just that: there were also some Barbary sheep including a super big ram.
I've already harvested a nice Barbary sheep ram in Eastern Cape, so I was not interested in him even if this trophy would be 5-6 inches longer than my aoudad.
Like the gemsbok, both scimitar males and females have long curved horns so they aren't easy to distinguish them.
After a stalk, we were hidden behind some tree branches with the herd in front of us.
We didn't see a mature bull, so we rested for a while leaning on a termite mound.
Then our hunt carried on.
We spotted a solitary scimitar bull moving across a hillside.
It's incredible how this species, evolved for the desert environment, is able to adapt to mountainous terrain.
We went down a ditch and then up on the top of the hill, but the scimitar oryx disappeared.
We came back to the pick-up, trying to see if he moved through a little canyon into another valley between the mountains.
Handrie and I moved up on a top, instead Johann scouted another part of the valley.
We bumped some Barbary sheep lying down in the bush.
There were just females and young.
As they fled, two nice rams ran away from the left.
Once we were sure that only aoudad were present there, we went down.
Even Johann didn't spot that scimitar oryx.
We were driving to another valley when far in the distance a white spot stood out from the green and brown environment.
It was him almost to a mountaintop.
This would be the last long stalk of the day because it was late.
Futhermore the weather was cloudy with the sound of thunder getting close to us.
A storm was coming.
The three of us hurried across two ascents and descents full of boulders.
When we stopped to glass, to see if the scimitar oryx was still there, from a ditch a Barbary sheep ram appeared running out.
He didn't see us because he was hidden inside this ditch, he had only heard our footsteps.
He decided to stop at 70 meters from us, turning his head back but not towards us.
He was looking towards the ditch where he ran from.
No way: he was the same stupendous ram we spotted that same morning.
My eyes started to glow, what a spectacular aoudad.
How was it possible that so many unplanned wonderful trophies were bumped when we were chasing a completely different animal?
That's definitely a first time having so many opportunities with unexpected unplanned awesome trophies.
And again, in a blink of an eye, I decided to take advantage of the chance taking it as yet another sign of the fate.
I gestured them to pull the trigger.
The aoudad was ¾, now looking at us.
He was almost covered by a bush, but at that range I could see properly the neck and I shot at its base.
The ram dropped instantly.
After the shot, some females fled.
That explained why the ram had remained still: he was waiting to see the reaction of his harem behind him.
The ram had his left ear destroyed by pustules and sores as well as the left eye, which caused blindness (probably caused by midge bites).
So he was debilitated because of his age, waiting to follow his females during the escape.
A stunning 30-inch trophy with a lot of characters.
Four local men came to drag the big sheep to the pick-up.
Also this day ended in the best possible way.
During the drive to our lodge, the rain fell steadily.
The next day's weather forecast said it would rain all day.

gregrn43 said:

Enjoyed reading your story, congratulations.

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Thank you very much! Now it's remained the last part!

Trogon said:

All three are incredible animals, congratulations!

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Thank you so much! The red hartebeest has been the pinnacle of this safari, but every animal was awesome!

Ferruccio said:

How was it possible that so many unplanned wonderful trophies were bumped when we were chasing a completely different animal?
That's definitely a first time having so many opportunities with unexpected unplanned awesome trophies.
And again, in a blink of an eye, I decided to take advantage of the chance taking it as yet another sign of the fate.

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I feel like that is the most likely time for me to see fantastic trophies; when they are the species I am not hunting, or not able to hunt.

Your PH is a doll. Wish I was twenty years younger. I might be trouble. Make that forty years younger. Okay, I better stop ...

Beautiful sheep. I think you did both those animals a favor. Over the hill and ready for the Grim Reaper.

Ontario Hunter said:

Your PH is a doll. Wish I was twenty years younger. I might be trouble. Make that forty years younger. Okay, I better stop ...

Beautiful sheep. I think you did both those animals a favor. Over the hill and ready for the Grim Reaper.

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Thank you very much, the Barbary sheep was truly close for meeting the Grim Reaper!

Throughout the morning of the ninth day, the pouring rain never ceased.
We were stuck in the lodge.
After lunch the rain's intensity decreased, but all the dirt roads outside the property were inaccessible.
So we decided to look for that wonderful blesbok ram we saw the previous Monday.
To avoid being spotted by the sharp eyesight of this antelope in the open flat plain, the hunting strategy was moving through the bushes in order to close the distance first.
It was like crossing a quagmire.
The shoes sank inside the water and mud.
Plus the rain kept falling.
When we reached the edge between the bush and the plain, we saw many blesboks and black wildebeests gathered around together.
It wasn't a harsh quest localising that special ram even if he was in the middle of the big herd.
He was on the left, close to the black wildebeests.
The shot range was still very far, over 500 meters.
We had to get closer.
In order to deceive them, Johann raised the opened stick and Handrie and I stayed one on each side of him.
We were mimicking an oryx.
Moving at a steady pace, we looked like a walking gemsbok.
Once we had closed the distance by more than 150 meters, the stick was set up.
The distance was 350 meters.
On the stick, I adjusted the ballistic turret for that range.
The awesome blesbok was moving from left to right without stopping.
Handrie and Johann warned me about his movements and I reassured them, telling the ram's movements, that I was pointing the right animal.
When the Damaliscus made a stop for a few seconds, he was always inside the herd or with another blesbok behind him.
When he reached the extreme right of the herd with fewer animals around, Handrie made a noise and the ram stopped completely clear.
I knew it was a matter of seconds before he would move again, so I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.
They told me that I hit him on the shoulder because he made a leap to the side.
After a brief run, the blesbok fell down.
A new outstanding trophy from this safari, more than 18 inches.
It had never happened to me before to collect so many wonderful gold medal trophies in the same trip.
This specimen was the seventh unplanned animal.
So far the only planned animals down were the first cape bushbuck and the kudu.
We took very nice photos, showing how the plain had practically turned into a swamp.
Once again we were so soaked, but extremely excited and satisfied.