- Joined
- Apr 30, 2014
- Messages
- 805
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- 849
- Location
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Media
- 90
- Member of
- DSC, SCI
- Hunted
- USA, Botswana, RSA(Limpopo x 5, Eastern Cape x 2, Northern Cape x 1, Northwest x 3), Hungary, Serbia, Zimbabwe
Tuesday 11/21 – We’re up before the sun this morning. I get dressed and head down for a cup of coffee. As I’m sitting there enjoying drink it’s starting to get light outside and we notice something in the river. I grab my binoculars and it’s a waterbuck cow coming over from Botswana. Then another comes out of the bush, and another and another, etc. Before they’re done, there are 19 cows plus calves in the river but not a single bull! We watch for a few more minutes just to make sure a bull doesn’t come over with them but he never shows.
Not long after, our tracker shows up and we start our walk to the spot we were at the night before. This time we walk parallel with the river so we can see if anything is coming over. As we slowly made our way, a huge bull came out of the bush from the South Africa side. He stopped and looked at us for a split second and ran straight for the Botswana border…. all we could do was watch. It’s like they know or something!
We continue on and drop down into some creek bottoms still heading for the spot from the day before when we spot this small ram.
We finally make it to the spot and set up and wait. We see several ewes and smaller waterbuck bulls but not the ram we’re looking for. About 11:00, we call the hunt and decide to walk over to the Limpopo. The tracker wants to show us a spot that still has quite a bit of water in it.
As we walked up, a big croc slid off the bank into the river. We walked to the edge of the river, found some shade to sit in and just kicked back for about 15 minutes to enjoy the scenery. As you can see from the video, we saw crocs and hippo. After our break, we headed back to camp for some lunch and a quick nap.
Somewhere around 2:00, we left camp again and headed back to sit for bushbuck at the same spot. We sat for several hours and saw the same ewes but no ram. The PH asked me what time is was and I told him it was 5:30. He suggested that we start slowly heading back and maybe we’d bump into another bushbuck along the river. I have always gone along with what my PH wants to do, but this time I disagreed. I politely suggested that since it doesn’t get dark until 7:00, that we should wait another 30 minutes to see if our bushbuck would show. Then, that would give us an hour to make our walk back to camp. He could tell that I really wanted to stay and agreed to my plan.
About 10 minutes later, our tracker spots an animal coming out of the bush to our right….nope, it’s a small waterbuck bull. A few minutes later, another, then another (just like the cows from this morning) and each bull was bigger than the last. Finally, one stepped out and the PH told me to get on the sticks. I got steady and we discussed the animal to make sure I was on the right one. Then all of the sudden, the PH told me there was a bigger bull coming from the clearing. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was excited and I immediately moved my rifle to the “clearing” that all the other bulls had been coming from….but nothing was there. I asked him again where the bull was and again he said it was in the clearing. I still didn’t see it and was getting frustrated with my dumb ass not being able to find the bull. Finally, the PH glanced over to see where I was aiming and he said “No, not that clearing this one over here where the other bull was standing earlier”. I swung the rifle back over and saw him standing there…big, dark bull! I asked for the yardage and set the crosshairs squeezed the trigger and the bullet found its mark. The bull turned and ran up a small hill and behind a bush before stopping. We could all see that he was hit hard and was getting wobbly. Just a few seconds later, he fell. What an intense 30-40 seconds!
We walked over to take a look at him and I could not believe my eyes. This bull was huge (to me) and the first thought that entered my mind was how the hell are we going to get this big s.o.b. out of here! The PH, tracker, and my buddies were ecstatic at the horns on the bull. I knew he was bigger than any of the bulls I’d seen up until this point but really didn’t comprehend how big he was.
After taking pics, the PH headed back to grab a “stretcher” to carry the animal with and drive the truck to the closest point he could and hopefully recruit some help. While he was gone, the tracked gutted and cut the animal in half (around the flanks) and by the time he was done, the PH was back and we loaded the front half of the bull and started the long hike out. It took close to an hour, stopping several times, to get back to the truck. After we got it loaded, the tracker and another guy went back for the hind quarters and we back fairly quickly.
We made it back to camp about 8:30 and had a late dinner and a few celebratory drinks before taking a shower and getting some sleep. Tomorrow’s plan is the same as today’s…..get up before the sun and head back for that stupid bushbuck….my nemesis!
Not long after, our tracker shows up and we start our walk to the spot we were at the night before. This time we walk parallel with the river so we can see if anything is coming over. As we slowly made our way, a huge bull came out of the bush from the South Africa side. He stopped and looked at us for a split second and ran straight for the Botswana border…. all we could do was watch. It’s like they know or something!
We continue on and drop down into some creek bottoms still heading for the spot from the day before when we spot this small ram.
We finally make it to the spot and set up and wait. We see several ewes and smaller waterbuck bulls but not the ram we’re looking for. About 11:00, we call the hunt and decide to walk over to the Limpopo. The tracker wants to show us a spot that still has quite a bit of water in it.
As we walked up, a big croc slid off the bank into the river. We walked to the edge of the river, found some shade to sit in and just kicked back for about 15 minutes to enjoy the scenery. As you can see from the video, we saw crocs and hippo. After our break, we headed back to camp for some lunch and a quick nap.
Somewhere around 2:00, we left camp again and headed back to sit for bushbuck at the same spot. We sat for several hours and saw the same ewes but no ram. The PH asked me what time is was and I told him it was 5:30. He suggested that we start slowly heading back and maybe we’d bump into another bushbuck along the river. I have always gone along with what my PH wants to do, but this time I disagreed. I politely suggested that since it doesn’t get dark until 7:00, that we should wait another 30 minutes to see if our bushbuck would show. Then, that would give us an hour to make our walk back to camp. He could tell that I really wanted to stay and agreed to my plan.
About 10 minutes later, our tracker spots an animal coming out of the bush to our right….nope, it’s a small waterbuck bull. A few minutes later, another, then another (just like the cows from this morning) and each bull was bigger than the last. Finally, one stepped out and the PH told me to get on the sticks. I got steady and we discussed the animal to make sure I was on the right one. Then all of the sudden, the PH told me there was a bigger bull coming from the clearing. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was excited and I immediately moved my rifle to the “clearing” that all the other bulls had been coming from….but nothing was there. I asked him again where the bull was and again he said it was in the clearing. I still didn’t see it and was getting frustrated with my dumb ass not being able to find the bull. Finally, the PH glanced over to see where I was aiming and he said “No, not that clearing this one over here where the other bull was standing earlier”. I swung the rifle back over and saw him standing there…big, dark bull! I asked for the yardage and set the crosshairs squeezed the trigger and the bullet found its mark. The bull turned and ran up a small hill and behind a bush before stopping. We could all see that he was hit hard and was getting wobbly. Just a few seconds later, he fell. What an intense 30-40 seconds!
We walked over to take a look at him and I could not believe my eyes. This bull was huge (to me) and the first thought that entered my mind was how the hell are we going to get this big s.o.b. out of here! The PH, tracker, and my buddies were ecstatic at the horns on the bull. I knew he was bigger than any of the bulls I’d seen up until this point but really didn’t comprehend how big he was.
After taking pics, the PH headed back to grab a “stretcher” to carry the animal with and drive the truck to the closest point he could and hopefully recruit some help. While he was gone, the tracked gutted and cut the animal in half (around the flanks) and by the time he was done, the PH was back and we loaded the front half of the bull and started the long hike out. It took close to an hour, stopping several times, to get back to the truck. After we got it loaded, the tracker and another guy went back for the hind quarters and we back fairly quickly.
We made it back to camp about 8:30 and had a late dinner and a few celebratory drinks before taking a shower and getting some sleep. Tomorrow’s plan is the same as today’s…..get up before the sun and head back for that stupid bushbuck….my nemesis!
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