SOUTH AFRICA: Awesome Buffalo With Bos En Dal

@AZDAVE we are lucky hunters and we are not gonna look a gifted horse in the mouth.
If we didn't see those bulls at the river that morning we would propably still be walking hills and mountains looking for themo_Oo_Oo_O
 
Congrats on a nice pig!!
 
Wake up on the last hunting day without much of a plan.. I really hadnt thought much about what I'd like to hunt prior to coming over.. The buffalo was a given.. and Gerrit and I had been talking warthogs since January at DSC.. but anything/everything else was really up for grabs..

That said.. we had seen a couple of really nice hartebeest bulls over the course of the week.. and hartebeest and I have a long history together, starting back as far as 2009 when a young hartebeest cow decided she want to be the mother of my children, and chased me and a friend of mine all over the plains of southern Kenya for about 20 minutes (it was quite a sight.. 2x grown men.. each 6'4" and pushing 260lbs at the time.. in flip flops, shorts, and t-shirts.. running and screaming and laughing like school girls from a <250lb herbivore with googly eyes)..

I decided in 2009 I'd get my revenge one day... I tried several times on a hunt in 2017 to close the deal.. and stalked several bulls over the course of several days.. but could never make it happen..

So after a quick cup of coffee and just a little bit of thinking.. hartebeest became the plan for the last day of this 2019 hunt..

We quickly found a small herd with 2x calves, 3 cows, and a big bull.. and put in about a 300 meter stalk.. but we got busted.. the path to get to them took us through thick brush and they were already a little wary by the time we got close enough to try to maneuver for a shot.. on a positive side the wind was pretty strong and was making a good bit of noise which helped mask our sound.. but.. on the negative, the wind was swirling and it was impossible to keep it in our faces the entire time.. before we could find a good place for the sticks the wind shifted on us.. and the hartebeest picked up and moved out..

we tried to continue the hunt, and slowly followed them for another 600 meters.. but they were skiddish at that point and never really stopped moving.. every time we got within a few hundred meters and could see them again, we'd only get a glimpse for a few seconds.. and they were gone.. once they moved through a large thicket several hundred meters in front of us we lost complete sight of them.. and decided we'd go back to the bakkie and see if we could find another herd.

It didnt take long.. once we got back to the truck we drove for a few minutes, and then stopped on some high ground to do some glassing... only about 30 minutes passed before Gerrit was able to spot a herd about a kilometer away bedded down in a large field.. At that distance all I could make out was "large animals".. Gerrit however was able to tell me that he saw 6x cows and what he believed was a really nice bull.. so we decided to give it a go...

We drove the bakkie to about 300 meters of where we last saw the hartebeest and then got out on foot.. we stalked through a large field, then into the wood line that bordered the field that we had seen the hartebeest bedded down in..

When we finally got to about 120 meters away, still walking through the thick of the woods, we saw them.. all still in the same place we had originally observed them.. but now standing, looking like they were preparing to move out..

We continued to move to try to get closer.. a 120 meter shot would have been very challenging.. we would have had to thread the proverbial needle and make the shot through a long line of trees..

Thankfully we were able to get to about 60 meters away and found an excellent location just out of view of the big bull.. we set up the sticks and waited for him to come to us..

It only took a couple of minutes, and there he was.. while close, the shot was still a bit difficult.. the bull wouldnt give me a good broadside.. instead the best he would do is provide a very hard quartering away shot.. thankfully the distance wasnt long, and the rifle was a .375 H&H.. because I hit him about 2" further to the rear than I would have liked.. the big bullet ensured that was all that was needed though.. The bull ran about 40 meters one direction, then pivoted a full 180 degrees and ran back about 20 meters toward where he started, and then stopped on super wobbly legs..

I am certain he would have gone down right there in 10-15 more seconds if I left him alone.. but not wanting to take any chances, I put a second shot on him while he was standing, and dropped him in his tracks immediately..

The decade long war with the hartebeest was now won.. while not originally planned before leaving the states.. I couldnt think of a better way to end the trip.. he was a fine addition to my Africa's Ugliest collection (buff, warthog, and hartebeest.. in one trip.. I certainly wasnt going for the most regal or beautiful animals the continent has to offer.. :) )...

While the hunting was over.. the trip was not.. we planned to visit an acclaimed predator park, do some curio shopping, spend some time at a butchery getting some biltong for the trip back as well as some biltong spices (Im going to attempt to build a biltong box sometime in the next few weeks and give making my own biltong a try).. and I wanted to visit a local taxidermist to see the quality of his work before making a decision on who we would send my trophies to.. tomorrow would be every bit as busy, and every bit as fun as a typical hunting day with @Bos en Dal Safaris

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There certainly are some nice Red Hartebeast across the street!!!!
 
Impact on Buffalo


I love if you enlarge the video to full screen and start watching closely around the 11 second mark, you can actually see the projectile traveling toward the buffalo all the way until impact..

that was some pretty cool video capture!
 
Great write up Dave...Congratulations!
 
Great video. Thank for sharing it. Great pig. Never should pass up one like that. The animal interaction sounds really cool.
Bruce
 
Thanks for sharing the video as well!
 

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