Problem leopards, marauding lions and hyenas, crop raiding bulls, the start of DG hunting for me...

Got me hanging on every post and checking for the next installment

During the day and making the preparations for my afternoon sit, doubt started to creep in and although I was less affected by the spiritual beliefs side of the locals, I felt the need to rather take the 375 H&H that the friendly neighbor had borrowed me. You never know, this ‘Bere”, hyena may just turn back into the mane less lion with the crooked right front paw with the hyena track and then I may well be under gunned for the occasion.

Tendai’s fear had now rubbed off on me as I had seen the effect it had on him.

I was forced to drive myself down to the bait site and park the “Green machine” well hidden in the bush far from the site. I had grabbed a canvas back pack to carry the battery, spot light and the stand/bracket I had made to hold the spot light.

My mind was racing and playing games with me as I walked to the bait site. The closer I got the more cautious I became. As soon as I had the bait in sight I stopped and had a careful look for about 10 minutes to check if anything was there. Nothing stirred and I made my way to the tree stand. It was a bit of a mission getting the battery and rifle etc. up to the platform without Tendai’s help.

I set up the spot light on the new stand and lined it up with the bait. I took a few aims with the new rifle and checked the scope. It was a heavier than the “Fun gun” but felt good and steady. I had setup so that I could get the rifle in my shoulder and holding it with the right hand while my left hand would flick the switch on the spot light and move to the front of the rifle from there. I chambered a round and not engaging the safety put the rifle down carefully.

I settled in. The bush was filled with sounds which invariably meant that there were no predators, leopards anyway in the near vicinity. Being totally alone now sunk in and I started having doubts about my decision to sit alone. What if this hyena was really a “Muroyi”? Would it know I was there? Would it be able to get hold of me on the platform? What was I going to do if the “Shave hyena” rather than the hyena returned? I look back to check nothing was behind the blind platform. For the first time I started feeling fear at being alone and what the unknown would bring.

I spoke to myself in my mind to put this fear out of the way as fear would make me make mistakes, a valuable lesson I had learned in the military, I could not afford to make mistakes, I had to stay focused on the task at hand. Sh…I had forgotten to attach the fishing line, I was not going to do it now as I had been settled in for 1 ½ hrs already. I convinced myself that I would hear the hyena feeding, as it would eat the bones as well. After another ½ hr had pasted, the sounds of the bush changed and things became more quite. This was now the golden hour, the last hour of light when the daylight activities of daytime changed and the bush prepared for the challenges darkness would bring.

It is also the time of day as sunlight fades that your eyes can start playing games with your mind, especially after the things that we had been through the past two weeks. I had brought a half liter bottle full of water as we always did, I was lying on the blanket to deaden any sounds between my body and the rifle as we always did, now things going through my mind were, what on earth was I going to do if the hyena did not show up? I was most certainly not going to walk back to the “Green machine” alone in the dark, incase this “Muroyi” was in the bush with me!!! It may well become a very long night if I was to spend it on the platform till morning. It was now into the last 30 minutes of light and then what was that to the right about 25 meters from the bait? I strained my eyes but saw nothing….I was sure I had seen movement….

I kept looking at the spot but could not see anything. Then I convinced myself I saw some movement to the left of the bait from my peripheral vision….I focused there but could not see anything…again!!! What was going on? It was like mind games…Again I forced myself to calm down and focus on what had to be done. Then I saw it, coming in from behind the bait, a huge hyena and the first thing that crossed my mind was thank goodness I had brought the 375 H&H instead of the “Fun gun”. Suddenly I was very calm; I ever so slowly moved the rifle into position. The sight of the hyena was something to behold.

I had seen many hyenas before, never in a hunting situation though. This one looked real menacing, tattered ears, mouth agape with saliva dripping from it, the sloping back made it look real weird. It looked around left and right move slightly forward and then stop looking around again. The short tail was curved up over its sloping haunches. As it moved forward again its back legs made it walk in a strange way. It was indeed a ugly creature and I now understood the fear induced by this animal to the locals, spirits or not…

I now had the rifle in my shoulder and was looking at the hyena through the scope. It was close to last shooting light but through the scope the hyena was clear. It stopped again next to the bait facing the blind dead on. I was tempted to take the frontal shot but being elevated, I was not comfortable taking the shot. I had to wait. With a last look around the hyena turned towards the bait and as the head went up to take a bite(the tail for some reason was still curled up over the bottom part of the back), the cross hairs of the scope found the sweet spot and I squeezed the trigger. The recoil and a much bigger muzzle flash than the “Fun gun”, surprised me a lot. I could not see anything and I heard the hyena give a yelp that I could not describe. I reloaded and looked through the scope. The hyena was down, biting at its side and flapping around, I sent another round through the shoulders and the hyena lay still.

Now the adrenaline and the reality of what had just happened hit me and I could not contain myself, I started shaking and it took a few minutes to get myself under control. After I had calmed down, I could still see the body but only just. I flicked the switch on the spot light and yes indeed the hyena lay there dead. Taking the rifle, I got down from the platform and made my way over to the bait. I poked the hyena with the barrel of the rifle and got no reaction, it was indeed dead. The smell hit me and was a lot more foul than the smell of the bait. I now had a problem for even if I could get the Land rover to the bait, I would never be able to load the hyena by myself.

I walked back to the “Green machine” and took off to the homestead. I reached Tendai’s hut and had to knock on the door. He would not come out. I explained that the “Bere” was dead and he needed to help me load it. He took a long time to come out after I had explained repeatedly that the Hyena was dead. When I told him eye to eye that the hyena was indeed dead he gave me a bear hug and I was getting nervous that he may give me a huge kiss!!!

When we got back to the hyena, Tendai made a dancing motion and saying things I did not understand, he was very happy. We had a hard time loading the hyena into the back of the “Green machine”, the small opening were the tail gate use to be not helping. It was the vilest smelling animal I had ever had the displeasure of being close to. The size, not the length as the width and thickness, of the teeth were very impressive.

Tendai said we need to deliver the “Bere” to the chief without delay. I explained we could do that first thing in the morning as we had not arranged with Mr. A to do so now. Tendai insisted and said Mr. A’s anger would be nothing compared to what could happen if we delayed with the “Bere”, if he said no we would have a problem. Having in the last 2 weeks seen firsthand the powers that the spirits had over the people I agreed and we took off to the chief’s village.

On the way, I felt very good about what we had done and I was pleased things had worked out so far as they had. As we got close to the chief’s village, I asked Tendai to let the chief know that as soon as the lions showed themselves again that he must please send somebody as soon as possible.

As we drove into the village, it was solemn and quit. As soon as Tendai explained the reason for our visit and they realized that the “Shave hyena” had been taken care of, the whole village came out and the noise they made was unbelievable. I was almost jerked out of the Land rover and it seemed everybody wanted to touch me. It was awkward to say the least but I understood that they were overjoyed with the result. The Hyena was removed from the back of the “Green machine” and after the chief had thanked me in person we were invited to join the celebrations. Tendai and I declined and after a lot of further ado we got in the “Green machine” and left.

On the way back I asked Tendai what they would do now and he explained that the villagers would burn the “Bere” and would go on a drinking spree for some days…

I guess any excuse for a piss up was in order. I was just very glad the hyena had been dealt with and I had my mentor back, so I could learn more from him in regards to the bush and hunting.

It was very fascinating to be a part of the spiritual beliefs of the people at grass roots level and I was very pleased that I could help them.

Unbeknown to us this would not be the last of the “Shave hyena”…..

And the plot thickens! Fascinating tale! What a grand time of your life!

What did mr A, say, after getting informed of the outcome?

Well Mr. A is a strange fellow. He did not care much for the issues the locals had, he was the opposite of the friendly neighbor, not only as a person but also as a farmer. the neighbor was a successful and excellent farmer, Mr. A was a drawn back, couldn't give a damn type.
He was happy the hyena was killed not so much for the locals and having helped sort that out but rather for the fact that it would not catch anything on his side of the fence so to speak(hyena are excellent hunters and not just scavengers) and yes he gave me and Tendai a bit of a dressing down as we had delivered the hyena after dark in his Land rover without permission.

He was set in his ways and would sometimes lose his temper about small things and at other times be quite friendly. He was not very talkative and I went about my job and tasks sometimes avoiding him on purpose.

He was a strange man but I also respected his ways and the opportunity he had given me to get into hunting and DG hunting at that. I also got given the opportunity to hunt with him but that is coming.

Dear @IvW, what I noticed is: you were learning fast, the bush craft, from your mentor, after military service.
May I ask, what was your age then?

Enjoying the read, thanks for making sure I get nothing done on the "honey do" list.

This is very fascinating IvW, I’m enjoying it very much.

This is fascinating IvW, I’m enjoying it.

mark-hunter said:

Dear @IvW, what I noticed is: you were learning fast, the bush craft, from your mentor, after military service.
May I ask, what was your age then?

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21-22

IvW, thanks for the good read when are you going to come do a shoot at BASA again?
Think next shoot is 8 Feb 2019 hope to see you then.

Now for the next hunt! This is better than Bush TV!

Frederik said:

IvW, thanks for the good read when are you going to come do a shoot at BASA again?
Think next shoot is 8 Feb 2019 hope to see you then.

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Hi Frederik, I will see maybe I will come. Politics have kept me away and in general I do not agree with the scoring system, but be that as it may, I might pop around. Thx for the reminder.

IVW,

thanks for sharing. thanks for taking the time to relay the story and in such a vivid manner. i enjoy writing about some hunts as well, but am not nearly as expansive or eloquent as you are. thank you,


don

Great stories, wonderful writing. Thank you for sharing all this.

Anybody else thinking it was going to be like a horror movie and the dead hyena was going to be gone when @IvW and Tendai got back??

All kidding aside, these are fascinating stories. Thanks for sharing sir

Thanks for sharing these great stories. Your way of telling us your experience is magnificent, as I read your stories I fill like if I'm actually there.

When I hunted in SA in the Limpopo area, we came across a Chameleon, and our driver ran like if he had seen the devil. He wouldn't come near us, and he stayed quite a bit away until we got rid of the Chameleon. My PH explained to us that they were very superstitious and there was some believe of witchcraft or something about the Chameleon.

PARA45 said:

Thanks for sharing these great stories. Your way of telling us your experience is magnificent, as I read your stories I fill like if I'm actually there.

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+ 1 Thank you.

Thanks for taking the time to write your story IvW. I am enjoying each installment.

IvW said:

Hi Frederik, I will see maybe I will come. Politics have kept me away and in general I do not agree with the scoring system, but be that as it may, I might pop around. Thx for the reminder.

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Ivor, politics have long been gone and without hijacking your wonderful writing what is it that you don't like about the scoring system?