DAY 4
please forgive me if I get a bit melancholy here for a moment.
I am willing to bet that most of you here feel the same way as I do in that we place a great deal of responsibility on ourselves to the animals that we love to hunt and that we owe them as quick clean and painless a death as is humanly possible.
the fact that I was failing miserably in this responsibility even though the eventual outcome was positive was weighing on me greatly and in short I did something I have never done before in my life...........
I had given up
![Sick :sick: :sick:](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f922.png)
.......................(insert dramatic pause)................ and decided on a course of action
I intended to tell Peter that we should continue to hunt as normal but I would lock up my rifle and pick up the camera instead because I did not want to continue wounding these animals and cause undue suffering but if he could get me within 50 yards for a close up photo I would still pay the trophy fee for that animal as I felt it was unfair for him to suffer financially for my inability to perform.
so the day started normally with breakfast at 7 o'clock and as my wife headed back to the bungalow to gear up for the days activities I said to Peter let's have one more cup of coffee and started the conversation like this.
I have never experienced this before and I do not know how to fix it in the short time we have so.........
he must have seen the extent to which this was bothering me and been giving it a lot of thought himself and maybe he knew what was coming so he held up his hand and stopped me.
He said to me" this is all new to you the animals are different the environment is different and our hunting style is different than what you are used to everything is foreign to you but I have been watching how you handle your rifle and I can see that it is no stranger to you......I am not worried. I know how to fix this.I believe you just need to make one good shot so go get your gear and let's go.
and with that he sent me back to the bungalow all charged up and looking for trouble
we hop into the truck and drive a ways and then hike to a koppie overlooking a waterhole a mere 60 yards distant. we tucked in behind some rocks which also provided as solid a rest as you could ever ask for. in short he had placed me in the position that if anything came in I almost could not fail.
we sat for a while watching some Oryx and Springbok in the distance and after a while 2 warthogs came in to drink. warthogs were not on my list as I understood it to be a humongous pain in the ass to import them back to the United States so I decided not to shoot( a decision I would later regret as one of them was very very nice)
after a while we catch a glimpse of movement in the bush and spot a solitary Oryx bull slowly heading in our direction.And he was a good one!
now after close study of anatomy and shot placement charts it seemed to me that the Oryx had the smallest margin of error of anything I was hunting due to the relatively small vital zone as compared to its body size, and after reading many hunting stories that involved oryx and also having conversations with Peter and some people at home that have hunted there before it almost seemed to me that the toughness and tenacity of this particular animal was unbelievable.
so I thought to myself if you are going to go into the bush and pick a fight you might as well pick a fight with the toughest mother f***** around.
after a few minutes he slowly begins to approach the water hole and I get on the rifle.
. through the scope looking at that animal you can just see the raw power in it.
as he approached the water hole he was quartering towards me and I didn't like the angle so I held off.
(I needed this shot to be perfect) and then he stepped behind a bush and out of view but due to the lay of the land he could only come back out the same way he went in so I stayed on the rifle and just waited.
it seemed like forever and while the excitement level was still very high I felt in complete control,and for the first time in a few days I felt completely confident.
after what seems like an eternity he took 2 steps from out behind of the bush and stopped completely broad side.
I let out half a breath,steadied the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger.
At the shot he held his front leg up and started turning it around in circles bucking and I knew it was a solid shot.
he then limped just out of sight behind some bushes and a moment later we heard him fall.
in reality it was all over in just a few seconds and just like that.......I'M BACK IN THE GAME!!!