After we found the bushbuck, we called the tracker on the radio and he showed up about 30 minutes later with the stretcher so we could carry the animal out. It took us another 45 minutes or so to get back to the truck and he dropped us off at camp and ran the animal to the skinning shed.
We ate an early lunch and were sitting in the lounge area when the tracker radioed and said that he had spotted a nice croc in a dam not too far from camp. I have forgotten to mention that we had checked this dam several times and had seen small crocs but nothing of any size. Something else I need to mention is that we are not allowed to hunt crocs in the Limpopo, but any croc that move from the river to any of the dams on the property are fair game( as long as you have a permit) and according to the owner, they move around quite a bit during the dry season looking for water.
We grab our gear and the tracker arrives shortly after and then we make the short drive to the dam to start our stalk. It doesn’t take long before we’re standing at the water’s edge and the tracker points out the croc. He’s lying in the water under some fallen tree limbs and well hidden. It’s likely that I would have never seen him if they had not pointed it out. We move around a few times to try to get the best angle and I’m finally on the sticks. Since every croc hunting video I have ever seen, the croc has been shot on dry land, I ask the PH if it’s okay to shoot him while in the water? He said that since this one is in a dam, he is fine with it. However, if it had been on a river, he would never do it.
While on the sticks, we discuss shot placement (which I had studied over and over before the hunt) and I got steady. I got the green light to shoot when I was comfortable and squeezed the trigger. BAM! THUD! We could clearly hear the impact and in a big splash, the croc had disappeared.
We moved to the right to see if we could spot some sign of the animal but no luck. We all got together and discussed the shot and all agreed that it looked like a good hit but where is he?
We then walked completely around the dam to the side he was on to try to get a better look. We then see just the tip of his nose come up for air and then back down again (F***!). The PH tells me that when he comes back up for air again, aim 12 inches from the tip of the nose and 2 inches down into the water and shoot again. About 30 seconds later, his nose comes up, I do as I’m told and all hell breaks loose! The croc starts thrashing and rolling and actually comes up on shore (about 10 foot away) coming right at me. The tracker runs by me going the other way and I take a few steps back and ask if I can shoot….no answer. I take a few more steps back and the croc starts to turn to go back into the water. I again ask if I can shoot but before I get an answer, I put another shot behind the front leg as he slides back into the water. Well, that was exciting! I have imagined what it would be like being charged by all sorts of dangerous game, but never considered a charging crocodile!
Just a few seconds later, the thrashing stops and he’s done. We give him about 15 minutes and then the PH and tracker go in after him….he would’ve needed to lie there another few hours before I would’ve gone in. They drag him up on shore as much as they could and then the tracker brought the truck down with the winch to pull him out the rest of the way and load him in the truck. After the excitement and the heat of the day, we all cracked open a well-deserved beer to celebrate before moving to a different location to take pictures.
After our beer, we all jumped on the truck to find a tree to hang the croc from for pics. We drive down to the road that parallels the river and start heading south and we don’t go 50 yards before we spot a big waterbuck bedded just off the river side of the road in the shade. The driver slows a little and we can all tell that this is the same waterbuck that had ran across in front of us two days earlier and headed to Botswana.
I should have also mentioned in the beginning of this report, that buddy #2 said that if I got all my animals down and we still had time, he would like to hunt a waterbuck for himself. It also surprised me, after much discussion with both of my friends, how few animals that each of them had actually hunted for themselves. They had both guided countless clients and had even shot animals for clients for various reasons… but again, very few for themselves.
So, anyway, back to the story….
We drive past the bedded waterbuck about 200 yards and me, the PH and buddy #2 stepped off the truck and discuss a plan. Because of the terrain, we can’t walk back the way we came as the animal will spot us well before we can get into range. We decide to walk a few hundred yards away from the river and then circle around and basically come in the same way we drove by. The only problem with this plan is the wind is not good and we’re afraid the bull will smell us before we can get to him.
We decide to chance it and put our plan into action. After a 15 walk, we’re getting close to where we saw the bull. As we get closer, I hang back because I don’t want to be responsible for screwing this up. They move up another 20 yards or so and I see my buddy get on the sticks and he shoots. He watches through the scope for a few more seconds and then they high-five each other.
I walked up and they told me what had happened. Apparently the bull had winded us and had stood up and walked a little ways and was looking back when they saw him. He turned to run and my buddy shot and he went down a few steps later! Another nice bull down! It measured right at 29 inches.
We called the truck back, grabbed the stretcher, got some pics and fetched the waterbuck then headed for the skinning shed. After that, we headed back to the tree to hang the croc in for pics….
This was a much bigger croc than I imagined I was going to get and to be honest, I still don’t know what to do with him. Any suggestions? I really don’t have room for a full mount but I’m considering a floor mount with about half of the croc coming out of the water and incorporating the steenbok I shot (maybe jumping away from the croc). But again, I really have no clue what to do….
We dropped the croc off and all headed back to camp to start the party. We drink (and eat a little) into the early hours of the morning……what a day!
