Post 8: Last Day of Hunting
We still had time in our trip for a couple of additional hunting days should we need them, but today would be the last one for me. If you watched the videos from the last report you may have noticed the wind starting to pick up. That trend continued into this Tuesday morning. The sky was a little overcast but the wind would be up all morning. Jacques said this would make hunting more difficult as it would limit animal movement.
For our morning hunt we would head west again, back to the same general area (this is a very large area) where I took my oryx bull the week prior. We were greeted by a terrific sunrise and a lone red hartebeest standing on the main entrance road to the property. Soon we were at the bottom of the hill that we would glass from all morning.
The one thing that was not hard to find this morning was more kudu. They were on both the far end of the same hill we were climbing but also several places around the base of the hill. The majority of the morning we spent circling the hill top and glassing in each direction. We saw some individual oryx, but nothing to go after. The day stretched on towards lunch time a good sized herd of oryx did move into the low trees just at the base of our hill.
We watched them for a good hour or more as they moved slowly through the brush and eventually started to bed down. There was one mature female in the group, but her horns were not the longest nor symmetrical so we decided not to put a stalk on this group.
The amazing sunrises here never cease to amaze!
Waiting for an opportunity that would not materialize this morning.
This video is to give you an idea of the wind. The orange open area you see at the bottom of the hill is where the herd of oryx would eventually pass through.
Luckily after lunch the wind had dies down. We went west again to the same area, but on the south side of the main road vice the north side where I had been two times before. We were going to travel a few kilometers into the property to get to our first glassing point so I was not expecting any immediate action, then we passed a watering trough beside the road ...
It was just a quick flicker to me off to the right of the truck and our direction of travel, but Jacques quickly turned to me and said "that's a very good warthog if you're still interested..." I certainly was and so we continued on up the road about another 100-200 yards and got out to stalk back to where we had seen him. The we got close enough we could see the big boar leaving the trough area heading back towards the open plain, moving from our right to left.
I would guess that we were a little over a 100 yards at this point and Jacques threw up the shooting sticks. I got up quickly and took aim on his front left shoulder. He had noticed our movement by this point and was not walking, but took a step and turned slightly towards us just as I shot, so my shot was just behind the shoulder and quartering back through him. I did not see his immediate reaction but Jacques said he hunched up for a second and then started running.
At this point all I could see was the dust trail, moving from our right to left. Jacques had seen where he stopped, but we weren't sure if he was in a hole, just injured, or was expired. We approached where he had seen him stop quickly, but cautiously. Luckily even with less than ideal shot placement the 9.3 had done a good job and the boar was dead by the time we got to him.
At this point I wan't sure if we would head back to Kowas immediately, but Jacques assured me that the warthog would be fine staying in the back of the truck with times as comfortable as they were.
After loading the warthog in the truck we continued south, into the property before taking a branching road that took us towards the wester edge and the line of hills there. As we were getting close to our destination we would come across a troop of baboons running along the road ahead of us. I had seen some baboons at great distance on a couple of other occasions this trip, but certainly not this close. We had some fun following them for a bit before getting to our first destination hill.
We went up and glassed from that hill for some time, but didn't see any sign of oryx. The baboons were still pretty thick below us, which wasn't the greatest setup anyway, so we moved on. This time deeper into the property (south) and back towards the eastern edge hills. For one of the few times on the safari I was the first one to spot what we were looking for. Out the left window (passenger's side there) I caught a glimpse of the large white bodies of oryx running along the base of the hill, through the trees, parallel with the road we were traveling. Soon we stopped the truck and started glassing from the back, the only high vantage point we had right now.
Some warthog blood on the tailgate as Jacques and Joseph assess the oryx transiting in the distance.
The group would continue to move south, on our left side, before crossing out access road perhaps half a mile or more ahead. We were going to put on a stalk, but it would be tough getting close due to lack of cover and we were also raising sunset.
We got close, still probably 500 yards away, but Jacques was able to confirm that there was a very nice, mature female kind of bringing up the rear of the group. We would have to pick our windows carefully and try to get closer in order to have a shot by the time she crossed the road.
We managed to get within 250 yards despite a group of bat eared foxes trying to give us away as they ran up the road ahead of us. We couldn't get much closer and they knew we were there by now. Jacques asked if I was good with 250 yards and I said that I was. The big female was in the open and had turned our direction, so was now facing right to left as we looked at her. I adjusted my CDS dial to 250 yards and I put the cross hairs on her lower left shoulder and made the first truly bad shot of my trip. It wasn't a clean miss, but I did hit her below the chest area in her left leg, badly breaking it but nothing more.
Of course by this point she is running off to our left, not at full oryx speed but fast enough. She did stop at one point at around 350 yards, and I tried two shots which Jacques said hit well in front (to the left) of her. I should have just aimed center mass and tried any hit, but I was still aiming vitals. So now she had made it to the trees and we would have to start tracking. I was also out of ammo in my rifle having not topped off after shooting the warthog, so I quickly reloaded from my belt carrier and we were off after her.
The only good thing about this whole scenario unfolding was that it was my first opportunity to see what an amazing skilled tracker Jacques is. In what looked like a sea of oryx tracks and random lines in the sand, he was able to keep us on her tracks through the thick trees at this point. We were getting glimpses and she was stopping periodically, so we knew there would be shot opportunities. Did I mention it was getting dark...fast?
The first shot opportunity I was not nearly quick enough to drop down to a knee and get off a shot before she was on the move again. Another 50-100 yards winding through the trees and I got another quick opportunity, dropped to a knee, and 'click'. My second bonehead moment of the evening. When I had reloaded I had kept my finger pressed down on the last round when closing the bolt, like I had done every other time I loaded a rifle this trip, instead of actually chambering a fresh round. Not intentionally, just habit at this point.
I managed not to lose my crap too badly, chambered a round, and we set off again after her. Finally, the next time we got her in sight Jacques quickly verified it was indeed her and I was able to put a shot into her off hand, center mass. She spun around a couple of times right there in that spot before going down. We gave her just a minute and approached. She was thankfully out of pain and no more shots would be required. Not my proudest hunting moment, but what a magnificent oryx she is.
The pictures aren't the sharpest because it really was last light at this point, but her secondary growth is very nice. She was on old lady, much older than my bull. Surprisingly she would end up measuring 39.5" to my bull's 40", but they will make a superb mounted pair!
Back at the barn that night we would learn that my hunting partners had gotten their Hartman's zebra that afternoon as well!
More oryx shots and a toast with both old and new friends!
That would conclude the hunting for me. In total I got two oryx, a red hartebeest, an impala, a springbuck, a kudu, an eland, and a warthog; all in five days of hunting. And each animal would measure Gold Medal or Game Fields Medal by NAPHA age related trophy measurement system.
The next morning my hunting partners would go out and also get their second oryx, also a female.
Next post I will provide some additional pictures from the end of the trip as well as some lessons learned on my part. Thanks for following along!
