I got up early again today.
Showing up with bare feet on the marble floor sure got the staffs attention.
It was just cool to me. They were shaking their heads.
Another sunrise breakfast.
We had passed an old Impala with a broken horn yesterday and today we spotted him in about the same place.
I was not going to let this opportunity go by again.
Today he has managed to find some buddies to hang out with, two Wildebeest.
It is interesting to me that in the absence of another critter with the same fur color these different species join up and seem to cooperate for mutual safety.
It is time to try a little harder on this guy. I get out and its time to stalk in. You can just tell that A does not really get the fascination with this broken horned beast. It took some convincing but we got out and started after him.
We move in and our eyes are not open wide enough at this time in the morning and then to top it off we are blown by shifting wind. I guess he is safe.
As I am walking back I feel a sharp stab in the bottom of one of my feet. I look and can't see any thorns. I later determined after taking the Leatherman to my boots that I had picked up a host of hitch hiking pointed objects.
The one that surprised me was the roofing nail. What that was doing in the middle of the bush I have no idea. It was the offender for the sharp stab earlier.
We make our way to look at Leopard baits. It appears it has been hit. We changed the bait and off we go.
I loaded the trail cam pictures onto the computer. I'll look at them later.
Somedays I think this is a Mongoose and Civet feeding program.
It was time to go around the back side of the mountain to see if we can see anything new. Of course we would see something new, but new ground is always exciting when you see if for the first time.
It is a long trip and the cover is thicker than anywhere else on the property with fewer roads.
Where would you hide if you were a Leopard or large Kudu? I know where.
As we start our trek around to the dark side I spot a Baboon making its way up the mountain. We stop and glass and I range him at 300 yards. Very tempting. By the time it stops he has sky lined himself on top of a rock.
I would have taken a shot if there would been a backdrop. Safe on their perch they watched us go by.
When you watch an animal on those rocks you start to get a real appreciation for the size of the boulders. They are huge. Until you see something of known size disappearing behind them or parking on top of them you are under the misguided impression that you would just walk up them like stairs. This is an refuge for animals.
As I am glassing I watch a decent Kudu bull disappear into some cover two thirds of the way up the mountain. There is a bowl, when you really look closely, and it has swallowed up an entire herd of Kudu.
I am not sure if they bedded down or just disappeared into a fold. That creates some serious perspective on how much game can actually be hiding right in front of you on this mountain.
I see some other bulls of course as we move along on our trek
We also run into some Zebra herds. I get excited each time because they all have stripes.
I do not grasp how A is differentiating species so quickly. He just said "White legs" and drops his binoculars. When I look at the pictures more closely I finally get it. Burchell's don't have stripes all the way to their toes. Hence, White legs. Ahah!
We pass the west side of the range and start to climb into some thorns and run into another old carcass. No use checking it as it is dried up and nothing could feed on it now.
Run into another Leopard track on road around the back of the mountain.
As we pass along the back side I do not take my eyes of the mountainside.
A managed to spot a Dassie posing on a rock outcrop. I attempted to take a picture but he disappeared too quickly.
As I looked out toward the north I saw something that appeared to be an Oryx. I turned out to be a rock buck. As I turned around to look at the mountain I saw a great Kudu standing on an outcrop right behind us.
He acted just like an elk, safe and sound up on his perch. He knew exactly where he was and never moved a muscle while I took pictures. He watched us, fully alert and waiting to disappear but never flinched.
I am sure he might have behaved a little differently if I would have left the Baakie to chase him.
He was well within rifle range where he was, but be warned, if you do shoot him there I guarantee that you are done hunting for a long time. Make sure he is worth it.
I am being very snobbish about the size of Kudu bull I am hunting and I just take pictures of him.
Gorgeous specimen.'
It was time for a break so we sat at a blind. While we sat we shared a cup of tea. Pauline and France had been creative in providing me with a cup for my tea. There are no to-go mugs, so one was created.
At this point I cut up a water bottle and took the protection from my china cup and we wrapped it so A could enjoy some tea with me.
Worked like a charm.
Hoping to see different Leopard tracks we circled back and checked the dead Kudu in the pass one more time. It appears that some Hyena have decided to visit the site. The Kudu is slowly disappearing. If it were not in such nasty thorn cover I am sure it would have been consumed by now. There is no use sitting here for Leopard with the Hyena taking over. I am more interested in Leopard than waiting for the Hyena to return here anyway.
We tour past the place we dropped the guts and it is entirely cleaned up.
A thinks it is likely birds cleaning it up. It never even entered my mind as I searched for tracks around the site. Oh well, I learned another new one today.
I had not seen enough Vultures in the air to think they would clean that whole pile up so quickly.
During this conversation I find out that the guts are food for the guys. I decide that's it, no more dragging guts. It does not appear to be working anyway.
I did a sneak on some Gemsbok and also an Ostrich. The Ostrich spooked from so far away that no shot was ever possible.
If I knew the ground/layout better we could be better prepared and stalked in differently.
It is time to head in for lunch. As we are passing the rear fence of the compound the girls waved us down. It must be good to wave us down.
It turns out to be more than worthwhile as I get to see a trophy I have never run into before.
Francois had found a younger armored dinosaur and transplanted him close to the lodge so that everyone could see something special.
It is the sig of a very good PH when he is out hunting and he is constantly looking for opportunities for every client, not just those he is currently guiding.
I got lots of pictures of this little guy and then we made sure he got back on his way into the bush where he belonged.
It is absolutely awesome. I got to see my first Pangolin.
I spent an hour going over the trail cam pictures and discover that a cat came in twice, once early and once late.
It felt like it took forever to sort it out, but I finally did.
Hands down this information determines where I will be later today.
We left early from lunch looking for big Steenbok, in the field blind and we had a broken horn Impala come in.
Oh, I was so tempted, but it was approaching the time to get into the Leopard blind. I did not take the shot as A thought it would scare the Leopard away.
It was not the time to move.
We moved very quietly into the blind and sat there for 4 hours.
I had no idea how close an encounter I was about to have today when I entered the blind.
You settle in and let the sounds all come back to normal. You know the birds, etc.
You stare and you stretch your neck and you make sure the scope and rifle are settled in. Don't bump them after that.
Then you wait...........
You stare through binoculars through the small hole in the blind peering into the cover beyond the bait and at the bait and beside the bait.
You watch birds land on the branches around you and on the bait tree.
I found that you use your ears just as much, if not more than your eyes. You become used to the rhythm around you and it becomes natural/normal.
You wait.......................... and move as little as you possible.
and you wait....................
Then there was a sound that I thought was right beside the blind. I froze in place and felt the electricity race up my spine and down my arms.
It was a very soft grass rustle. It is a sound that is out of place and it does not belong in the quiet rhythm I have become used to.
Your first thought is, what was that? You run the gambit in your mind.
The blind is made of grass and if there is a breeze the grass on the top of the blind will move ever so slightly. Could that be it?
Your second thought is that it was just the wind, but there was no appreciable wind and the sound came from below my ear level and behind me not from the top of the blind.
I did not dare to shift to look or for that matter, breath.
What would I see? There are no holes to look through.
As you sit there reading this, try and look behind yourself without moving your head.
I look at my rifle. It's useless, as it is facing forward on a rest. There is no way to move it without noise and this small space would not allow it anyway.
Meanwhile, the sound repeats itself in a slightly different direction.
You look at the rifle again.
The noise was still below and behind to my right.
It is not the blind or the wind!!
It is absolutely impossible to move the rifle in the direction of the sound without making noise.
It presents an interesting dilemma.
You know you have heard something walking behind you, what do you do?
You are frozen in place..... waiting.
How do you will an animal to show itself in front of the blind and the rifle??
Three times during this wait I had my nerves put on end and was electrified.
When you have had Leopard tracks within two feet of where your butt is sitting you hope it does not have an urge to visit any closer.
It now dawns on me that, when we saw tracks on the path beside the blind the other day, A&M were trying to stack thorn bushes up behind the blind for a reason.
Hmmm. Another lesson learned.
I resign myself, as I recall the lightening reflexes that the videos have shown these incredible cats to have.
You know theYoutube video with the idiot poking a Leopard with a stick.
I really do not want to be that idiot.
More waiting..............
No pictures, I had to be absolutely quiet. Shutter noises would not fit in the rhythm
It is dark when we leave the blind to head for the Baakie. At this point as I am packing up I am thankful Leopards are not Lions.
Nothing ever came into sight in front of the blind.
This is the side of the blind.
Tracks ..
When you get the opportunity to sit in a blind that a Leopard has walked within arms reach of you will see how it feels
opcorn:
