Day 9
The final day of our hunt consisted of a hot breakfast and table discussion about what we wanted to go after for the day. I told Philip that we still wanted to hunt, but for what we were not sure so the decision was made to head up into the hills where we have encountered the large herds of Oryx, Mountain Zebra and RHB and see how the morning plays out. If we find something that we want to take home with us, then we will hunt it, and if not then we are in the best location for extended glassing and a low key morning. We headed out and spent time glassing and located a large herd of Oryx that we decided we would try to make a stalk on to get a better glassing point to see if there was anything to be taken, as Adab stated they could use another animal for camp meat. During our stalk that was line of sight probably half a mile to the vantage point we wanted to reach, we were walking a ridge line following Adab when a small movement off to our right caught my eye. Kudu! I tapped on Adabs back and we stopped immediately. Luckily the animals were working away from us, grazing up a hill but I could see plane as day there was a quality bull in the group. We moved to cover behind some brush and started checking out the bull. Adab quickly said "Nice bull, do you want to shoot??" and my father and I looked at each other, both waiting to hear what the other wanted to do. My dad said he was at his max quota for trophies on the hunt, so it was up to me if I wanted to spend the additional money on a second Kudu trophy. We sat and watched him while I mentally argued back and forth with myself about harvesting another bull. The animals were calm and oblivious to us so I was able to think clearly and weigh out my options. I asked Adab to call Philip to make sure that it was even a option to shoot another bull. The yes came quickly fom Philip, and now it was up to me to make the decision. Do I shoot a second kudu since I never know when or if I will be back hunting Africa, or do I let him pass and accept that I had already harvested 1 of my ultimate trophies earlier in the trip and just be satisfied with my first bull alone.
The devil on my shoulder ended up being a bit more convincing and the decision was made to take him. Two bull Kudu shoulder mounts are always better than one right???
With the bull slowly grazing uphill and away from us, it was just a matter of time for him to present a quality broadside shot so we setup where we were, ranged the group at 185 yards and prepared for the shot. When he turned to the right, my dad whispered "191 yards" and I squeezed the trigger and sent the 178gr ELDX through his heart and lungs. He bucked, ran about 25 yards and stopped hunched up and fell over dead. My second Kudu bull was DOWN!!
We made our way over to him, and as we had talked about when initially glassing him he had very similar horn characteristics to my first bull, but with slightly darker horns and a much lighter coat. He would make a great mount with some contrast on the wall next to his compadre! He measured at 51"/52" and was beautiful. We loaded him up in the truck and headed back to camp for lunch and some time to psychologically absorb what an amazing hunt we had and what beautiful country we had been fortunate enough to hunt.
We spent the afternoon on a drive with Philip, checking out a nearby property that was a high fenced privately owned property with lots of non native and specialty species that we glassed and laughed about how docile they were. Talk about a easy shot!! The evening was back at camp, and we finished the last night with more than our fair share of Gin and Tonics late into the wee hours of the morning, and I enjoyed one of the worst hangovers ive had in recent years on our trip back to the US.
Over all I cannot say how happy I was with Philips hospitality, we saw more wild game than I have ever seen before, and if life ever presents me with another opportunity to return on Safari to Namibia, I wouldn't even blink before calling Philip to see how things were going and what his schedule looked like for a return trip.
Thank you again for the wonderful memories with my father that we will cherish for a lifetime.
Adab, me and Erik
The final trophy pic!