I get behind the rifle, and I finally see the Lioness, and she is not aware of our presence. She is looking at the buffalo. I can hear my heart pounding, and I can't seem to be able to stay steady, I'm all over the place, and I'm not happy with my self. I motion with my elbow to the tracker who is next to me, and without hesitation he understood what I meant, and knelt next to me and I was able to rest my elbow on his shoulder. Great, I am solid, and I have the Lioness in my sights. I study their anatomy enough to know where to shoot, but I had to wait for Hans or Frikkie to tell me to shoot. I'm trying to calm myself by taking some deep breath, and I then hear Hans with is calm voice tell me that the Lioness is sitting down and to put the crosshairs in front of her right shoulder. Funny that is where my crosshairs have been for the last couple of seconds. Hans whispers and tells me to shoot when I'm ready. I am rock solid, and not moving, but my heart is about to explode and can't seem to be able to control that, but my breathing is good. So, I take one deep breath, exhale about half, and all I see and hear is her and my heart. The world stopped during this time, and I have this tunnel vision. I fired, and I hear the impact, and I see the Lioness jump in the air and do a summersault. I'm reloading, and I hit the tracker next to me on the face with the empty case I ejected from my rifle.
I hear Hans that she ran to the left, but I didn't see anything. We move forward, and I have Hans to my left with his double, and the tracker who is 3 steps in front of me. We close the gap, and within 20 feet or so, they both stopped, and point towards where the Lioness is laying. Another serious pucker factor, is this thing dead, is she playing possum. I'm holding my rifle and moved cautiously toward the Lioness, I'm approaching from the side, and Hans is right in front of her. Hans pokes her face, and she is dead. She ran barely 20 ft from where she was sitting to where she expired.
I approached her, and place my hand on her, and lost it. I cried like a 5-year-old, and sat there, the world had stopped again, and it was her and me in the sand of the Kalahari. I thank her and God for this great opportunity to hunt one of His greatest animals and pet her while not believing I had done this. Hans and Frikkie gave me my time, and they moved to the side to give me a little bit of privacy. I got up, and I approached them and thanked them. I had my Lioness. My heart was a mess and full of mixed emotions, I was happy, I was sad, I had remorse, and still today I try to figure out why and can't seem to find the reason.
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I told Frikkie I wanted some pictures of where she expired.
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Frikkie is to my right, and Hans to my left.
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