Day 11
There is a bush fire burning in the night and the wind is blowing the smoke into my tent.
Got up and went into the lodge to see if the air was any more fresh two hundred yards away.
This morning I went with Richard, JP, Martin, X!hosa
Kudu, Gemsbok, and Steenbok are on the hunting menu.
We start seeing good Kudu.
X!hosa is seeing stuff through trees we are all missing. How this man is seeing these critters where he is seeing these critters is what is astounding to me.
He is a couple of feet higher in the truck but we are in the relative open. It should not be that big an advantage.
He sees a herd of Eland at a distance I needed binos to see. It’s not like he is telling you there are 21.5 Eland in a particular spot and reading off the serial numbers on their sides. He is just seeing something at that distance that he knows it is Eland. You Elk hunters know that little yellow spot that is just a bit off color way up high in that meadow.
Finally see a Kudu hiding head first in a tree/bush. Again, the trackers must have seen an outline that we did not comprehend was an animal. Still impressive.
The body size and shape says bull. R decides he is going to take a better look.
I follow to be in on the stalk and then hold off at a distance of 400 yards. I do not want to be the guy that screws this up. JP X!hosa and R continue.
The Kudu starts to move off as they close the distance and much like a Mule Deer this Kudu ran off eighty yards and stood behind a bush and then watched them.
I do not see the sticks go up as I am watching the Kudu. I hear the shot and hear the hit and watch the tail go up and off he runs. I cut across the hypotenuse and catch up so we all arrive to find the bull down..
I swore this Kudu was 54 to 55 and it turns out to be 51 at the shed. There is a little disappointment at the number, after passing on all the other Kudu for 10 days. Expectations were very high. Don’t get me wrong, the celebration is done whole heartedly.
All the pictures are taken and we load up and start making our way back to Lodge.
Steenbok female spotted, various female Kudu and then some decent bulls. Trying to be nonchalant JP, does not even allow the truck to slow down. It is pretty obvious there is some game management going on right now. They are “on hold” to allow them to grow into something spectacular.
JP sees a Warthog, and it’s a good one and it’s on my list.
I shoot a 50 yard offhand shot on three power rushing the shot.
I hit my glasses off in the rush to get my gun up, which causes more rushing.
I snap the shot off. The line is perfect but too high (spine).
I finish him off with perfect heart shot with a 900 grain Leatherman.
I attempted to hold the tusks down and he went after me and thankfully JP quickly assisted. They are tenacious animals that need to be respected at all times. (Another lesson learned first hand)
We got the pictures done with some added "JP flare" for entertainment.
The pig is in the back and off to the skinning shed we go.
We came to a quick halt for no apparent reason and JP jumped out to show us an interesting adaptation in a bird nest.
The Southern Penduline Tit nest. This little bird weaves a nest with a false entrance to stop snakes from entering. Incredible adaptation.
(Grateful for this grade school students illustration) Explanatory Illustration.
More Kudu, cow Eland and Springbok.
We arrive and find a very nice Impala at the Shed.
It’s time for a long lunch at the lodge and we hang out for several hours.
The guys in the kitchen need to learn to slice the meet for the sandwiches a little thinner. The taste is great but the meat is a little tough to bite in a sandwich.
We all copped a minor nap.
The chat starts about a Jackal hunt on the bone pile tonight at sunset.
It is decided that we’ll hunt the afternoon and then drop by just before dark.
Radio calls to arrange for the proper weapon and it arranged to grab the rifle from he “Bush Safe”. We pick up 223 and 18 shells at Siribi. The Bush Safe is just a tree at a crossroads that Jason will be passing.
It is a surprise to me to see the rifle just leaning against a tree.
We all go by the bone pile and get out with the guys and proceed to clear the bone pile area of grass and sticks for clear shooting lanes. We choose a position amongst some trees 150 yards away for our parking spot later. I appreciate the effort done to make sure that we have the best opportunity possible for clear shots.
We leave to go hunt and bomb around and see a couple Oryx, nothing special.
Pop out on “White route” ( The name reminds me of hunting on an army base at home) and see a Blue Wildebeest in the middle of the road. I figure it is big enough to warrant a close look. Martin agrees with the sentiment.
We close the distance and I manage to miss. Sh*t.
He does not come out behind some bushes. He is possibly down or wounded.
We see him shortly and determine that it is a clean miss.
We are in some pretty thick bush and have watched the Wildebeest take off over a rise and JP is in the lead and I notice he is taking the exact path I would have chosen to complete the stalk and head them off. (Really nice to be in tune with the PH)
We stalk in to within fifty yards and I get on the sticks. They are set a little short for me but I adapt. There is nothing to lean on to help steady me. After the miss I am a little hesitant and searching for anything to steady myself.
There will be no back up as I have the only rifle. I decide to do a head shot to ensure that no bush is in the way. He’s down on the spot.
We loaded him up whole and took him back to bone pile to take pictures.
A favorite trophy picture of mine.
X!hosa gutted him there and we drop the big bull off at skinning shed.
We then pick up three tubs of guts and take them along with us to the bone pile.
Back to the blind position to sit and wait.
Rested on camera bag and shirt set up and the 223 ready to go.
R on the right . I’m left.
Ear plugs in.
Watch, it is sunset. Rain is falling in the sky and not reaching the ground. 500 km away it is poring.
Take a few pictures of the rainy sunset.
Waiting.
Suddenly a family of Warthogs come rushing in and I mean rushing. No real hesitation. Dinner is served.
They start eating and two Jackals come in behind them. They are not heedless though.
They flit in and out and the pigs chase them off.
I poke R and hand signal you right I’m left. We are going for a double tap.
Finally, one comes in right and I know when he stops he is in trouble.
Bang down. One pig spooks, and then comes right back. The other just keeps eating.
We wait til DARK and call it when JP cannot see in binoculars anymore. We sure can’t see in the scopes anymore.
Trophy picture by headlight.
It might be worth grabbing the predator call and seeing what we can make happen.
When you arrive at the parking lot at the lodge you are welcomed by the entrance way signal fires.
Dinner in the Boma tonight and it is interrupted by sprinkling RAIN.
I am told this should make for good for tracking in the AM. Makes sense. It will clear all the old tracks and make the sand a little stickier.
Moist and humid out now. It is very strange to feel and taste the humidity here in the Kalahari.
I got to experience another first tonight. During dinner we get to enjoy a heated seat. Coals from the fire are placed in/on an enamel plate and set below your chair. It is a luxury in my mind and everyone takes full advantage of the opportunity.
African evenings can be chilly.
Jane got her pig today and J shot a Kudu cow out at Blind #2. All great news.
I do the nightly chore of uploading all the pictures, and then head to bed.
There is no AC power in the tents, so all the toys are left in the lodge area to charge. This is where some of the upload work is done and when camera, computers and phones are charged they can come back to your tents. Timing is a major task to keep everyone’s electronics ready to go when a large group and restricted plugs are available.
Off to bed after those chores are done. Ready for another day.
