There were two animals that I really really wanted this trip and the main reason for my choice with Philip. I am an absolute Wildebeest fanatic! I love them and they just scream Africa to me. I mean who doesn't think of wildebeest roaming the savanna's of Africa. They are the apex of the African image IMHO. Philip has not only free ranging native Blues but they stocked black wildebeest in the 60's and there are huge free ranging herds of them as well. While technically not native to Namibia you'd be hard pressed to find huge herds of free ranging black wildebeest anywhere else in the world other than Philip's place. So basically he had me at wildebeest.
Most people dream of finishing out the Big 5 or Dangerous 7, perhaps the spiral horn slam, or maybe hunting the famous places that are ingrained in Africanna legend. While I most certainly dream of the same, my real passion lies in the Wildebeest slam. Real Wildebeest that is, there are 5 true wildebeest to be exact. Common Blue, Black, White Bearded, Nyassa, and Crookson's wildebeest. I was fortunate enough to take a white bearded gnu many years ago and blue and black were my motivating factor for this trip.
Yes the King's and Golden Wildebeest are beautiful but I do not consider them "real" wildebeest. I have absolutely nothing against them and think they are stunning but I still do not consider them true wildebeest as they are color variants of common gnu's that have been bread to look a certain way. Again, not knocking them and if I ever finish my true wildebeest slam I would definitely consider taking them.
Anyway, we pull up to a huge valley and start glassing for critters. We sit for a few minutes and miles away I see a lone blue wildebeest bull grazing in some thick bush. I point it out to Philip and we start driving that direction to try and cut down some distance. He was way on the horizon and by now its later in the evening. We get about 3/4 of the way to where I saw him and start running into wildebeest everywhere. We literally hit the wildebeest lottery and I am vibrating with excitement. I'm out of the bakkie before it even stops and ready to go. We gather our gear and start stalking. Every time we would head in one direction we'd see wildebeest. Hendrick is in the lead followed by Philip, myself, Mel, and Vincent. As we sneak quietly through the brush we run smack into a group of big bachelor Blue wildebeest bulls. They, at this point, are maybe 70 yards in front of us. We ease forward creeping slowly. There are unaware of our presence, and very carefully continue onward. From my vantage point I can see parts here and there and I'd guess there were around 6 of them. Slowly we move forward taking each step silently and deliberately. Easy, Easy, we move. At about 30 yards I can see a fantastic Blue bull in the lead grazing. He is in amongst acacia and waist high grass feeding. A big tree is between us and him. We shift right and set up the sticks.
I get my rifle settled in, I always walk with my scope turned down as low as possible so I have a great field of view as the bull moves to clear the bush. Any moment he's going to clear and I can feel my heart somewhere up around my throat. As he continues his head finally clears, I click the safety off. My finger eases onto the trigger and I wait for my shot. He takes a step forward and lifts his head and pegs us. I know he's about to bolt and I settle the cross hairs on his neck. I squeeze the trigger and Wham! He falls in his tracks to the shot. I reload and run forward. I've had many animals that I thought to be spine shot get up and haul ass so there is no way Im letting this dude get away. I get up on him and he's kicking so I drive a bullet through his shoulder and into his lungs.
It's done, he's down. Now the adrenaline hits and my knees are knocking. What a hunt and stalk that was, very reminessant of hunting cape buffalo. I was absolutely giddy. As he lay there I approach slowly and tap him on the eye. He barely blinks and its just a short matter of time before he expires. I stood there marveling in the beauty of the moment and the magnificence of this old bull. I thank God for this moment and for the gift I had been given. As he dies the usual sadness comes with the passing of one of God's creatures.
Once he is finished I finally kneel down and place my hand his neck. He's gorgeous. I can feel his soul transfer to me. There has long been a legend that when a hunter takes an animal his soul transfers to the hunter. I believe this is true provided you give the animal the due respect it deserves. In that moment if you close your eyes and lay your hand upon the animal you can feel the transfer. It very may well be a silly superstition and one can feel anything he believes to be true but, even so I believe it and in that quiet moment can feel it. Call me crazy, I don't care. As a result of this I have always been big on allowing the hunter, whether it be me or one of my clients, to be the first to touch an animal. I will not allow any of my guides to touch an animal before the client and have always politely made it a point to request that it be so when I am the client. It is a truly beautiful thing.
I unloaded my rifle and set it down, we spent some time admiring the beautiful bull and set him up for pictures. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day in Africa. I couldn't think of anywhere else I wanted to be at that moment.
The first hunting day came to an end with 3 animals in the salt. Wow what a day!
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