Problem leopards, marauding lions and hyenas, crop raiding bulls, the start of DG hunting for me...

[Wheels]

Thanks man he has qualified to represent South Africa at the African championships(been delayed for now)....tomorrow he wil be wrestling in a local competition under 17 and over 17....

That's great. It is pretty special to have a kid compete at a national level. To compete on the international level is really something.

Hope he has a fantastic tournament.

 

[PARA45]

Yay!!!! Thanks for writing again, I was wondering if the "Bere" had come after you to collect her dues from you.

Congrats on your son's achievements, that is wonderful!

 

[IvW]

I must say spotted hyena and lion are scary during daylight hrs but they seem almost cowardly...sulcking away when encountered but after the sun has set...they transform into ruthless killers.....the roaring of lions after dark is a awesome sound the cackling of spotted hyenas after dark when they are hunting is well....a spine chilling sound and at close proximity well just scary...

 

[Randy F]

Life seemed to return to normal and we continued checking and replenishing baits as needed.

Mr A announced one morning that he was sick of beef and impala, we need to go out and shoot a Sable for a change in diet…not being the first time we did this me and Tendai got ready and saddled some horses and packed some provisions.

The friendly Neighbour had manage to source some 7x57mm German ammunition, I do not recall the make, I think it was RWS but I do remeber 173 gr….this is the rifle I took along.

After a couple of hrs. in the saddle Tendai indicated we should stop. We had been riding in a different direction than what we normally would when hunting sable. We did this and tying the horses up we continued on foot. He wanted to check out a natural water source not too far away.

We carefully got closer to the water hole and as we came around a huge termite mound with a Matopi tree growing from the base, Tendai slunk down much like a cat or leopard out hunting when it spotted its pray….I did the same…expecting sable to be just beyond our position….

“Nyati” is what Tendai whispered….it took a couple of seconds for that to sink in and then I had a flush of adrenaline rush….

The breeze was steady in our favor and the leaves where rustling above us. I slowly rose up and peered over the part of the ant hill that concealed us, eyes searching about 100 meters ahead…nothing….I rose a bit more and immediately sank back down….the “Nyati’s” were close….too close…maybe 25 meters….thankfully they were lying down….

I slowly rose again to get a better view, they were lying peacefully, chewing cud. They had positioned themselves in a triangular defensive pattern, each bull facing a different direction. All three were very old battle scarred bulls. Worn down and some broken horn with smoothed bosses. These three old warriors must have become tired of herd life and being harassed by lions and tsetse flies closer to Lake Kariba and climbed the escarpment to retire in a more peaceful place. I could not help but think our problem lions may have followed some of these buffalo up the escarpment.

Now Mr. A knew that occasionally buffalo would be found on remote parts of the vast ranch and in hindsight, I think he gave us permission to shoot one if we saw one as he did not think we would ever find them.

Low and behold we did find them and I sure was ready…only one small problem…as we were out hunting Sable I had taken the 7x57mm which is a lot lighter and left the heavy 375 at the ranch house…In whispered conversation I told Tendai I want to shoot one, he gave a nervous look at the rifle with question marks in his eyes. I motioned to be calm and slowly rose up again, the buffalo where oblivious to our presence. I checked them over and then a crazy thought crossed my mind…the bull closest to us with one broken off horn and the other badly worn down was positioned with his body quartering towards us and his head to the right, I could perfectly see the soft spot just behind his ear…I told myself this was crazy…thoughts of “Use enough gun” “shot placement” flashed through my head…I convinced myself I could make the shot at 25 meters….

I sank down again and I pointed behind my own ear to Tendai where I planned on shooting the buffalo. I also pointed to the Matopi tree growing out the side of the termite mound. At least one of us would be able to climb that if things went south, the other would have to hope he could make space for himself.

I gave Tendai the thumbs up and received back what was not a very convincing half nod of the head.

Moving slightly forward, I slowly rose up and steadied the rifle on a part of the termite mound, Tendai had also risen up and was looking over my shooting shoulder….we had reached the point of no return. I had moved the rifle of safe as I positioned it. After the initial adrenaline rush I felt remarkably calm. I settled the crosshairs on the sweet spot I had selected, it seemed to suck onto the spot and I slowly squeezed the trigger as I exhaled and the rifle seemed to fire itself…

The sound of the shot seemed load for the little 7x57mm but the result was nothing short of spectacular!!! The bulls head just relaxed and swung back to our side and his legs came out straight the other side giving some feeble kicks, he was stone dead…..his two comrades jumped straight up both standing dead still not moving…neither did we…I did not even dare reload for fear of giving away our position…after what felt like a long time, the furthest bull gave a snort and headed off into the wind, his buddy followed….

I reloaded the rifle but I started shaking like a reed, the adrenaline now kicked in big time…me and Tendai where giggling like two school girls unbelieving of what we had just done…

After a cigarette we walked over to inspect our handy work, this was a very old bull, a real old warrior. I waited with the old bull as Tendai went back to bring the horses. When he arrived we got out our skinning equipment and gutted the bull. We dragged the guts away and then cut some branches to cover up the bull as we heading back to the ranch as fast we could with the horses to collect the block and tackle and the "Green machine" so that we could load the bull. Lots of hard work ahead but it was worth it…..

Just awesome! Thanks for writing again!

 

[Jörg Krüger]

Writers block gone
I am so happy for this as it is better than eny African noval I have ever read. This reminds me of a Gernan book:" Wenn es Krieg gibt, ziehen wir in die Wüste".
I am sure your new bar is inspiring you again.

 

[Randy F]

Sorry for the extended delay, caused not only by the chinese but the after effect much like a hangover.....let's see if we can slowly proceed....it may still be a long story....

I hope so! I hope it’s just volume 1!

 

[VertigoBE]

excellent writing and enthralling recount of your experiences @IvW ! Thanks a lot for sharing this!
Hope your son will rehabilitate fast as well.

 

[rinehart0050]

@IvW thank you for continuing these stories! Wonderful! I hope you're compiling them into a book!

 

[Ed Lally]

Thanks so much for sharing these adventures. I am having a hard time waiting for the next installment.

 

[John Telford]

A great read Boss keep it coming!

 

[machinistbutler]

What a great read. Thanks for sharing some stories with us!

 

[mikecatt13]

Digging this back up in case @IvW has any more great stories to share!

 

[VertigoBE]

I just re-read all the installments, looks like there should still be much more to come!