IdaRam
AH legend
Thanks guys for all the positive comments. Still having some technical issues with my i-pad, but I will get the hunt report started soon from my pc.
Sounds like the voice of experience talkingHunting serval, you say.....it's either a easy hunt or challenging hunt combined with some luck
We grab a few hours sleep, a cold breakfast and get back after it, focusing on the search for Steenbok and Duiker. Ewe's and small rams a-plenty but no shooters again this morning. Jean-Louis shares some hard earned wisdom. "All we must do to start seeing monster steenbok and duiker rams is to put a small one in the salt". We just need to keep at it.
There is certainly no shortage of game and even though we're struggling with the ones I'm looking for, I'm enjoying seeing all the other animals. Red Hartebeest aren't on my list this time, but the more of them I see the more I want one. They are impressive on the hoof! Wary, skittish, fast... Man, they can run. Yes, I want one. Next time...
We will be heading for the hills to hunt Klipspringer and Mountain Reedbuck tomorrow, so we plan to stay local this evening. We will hunt 'til dark for Duiker and Steenbok, grab some dinner then head back out to look for a civet and call some jackal.
We see both small spotted genet and large spotted genet in good numbers. Civet are abundant as well. I hear "we can do better" several times. We pass.
Bat Eared Fox come readily to the call and are entertaining to watch. We get only one jackal to come in and I miss him clean. ??? I don't know, just piss poor shooting.
Time to call it a night. We have an early morning and a couple hour drive.
We're up early and on the way after coffee and a quick breakfast. We will be having a braai lunch which absolutely breaks my heart
I will keep this short and to the point. We see exactly 2 Klipspringer and 5 Mountain Reedbuck. No shot on the Klippy ram and we bumbled right into the middle of the Reedbuck, flushing them like quail. The ram is a dandy! Even I can tell he's a shooter. "Take the shot if you get one" is the instruction. Well, I have one. He's going straight away at almost point blank range. I can make this shot 10 out of ten times... Except today. Bang! A branch as thick as your arm sails off to the right and our ram sails off to the left and up the mountain. He is still in high gear when he goes out of sight. Dammit to hell, this is getting frustrating
Sigh... Tomorrow is a new day
Jean-Louis takes some time to tell a story. Jim starts chuckling as JL begins the tale.
A few weeks before I arrive there is a father and son there on their first trip to Africa. The son is 15 years old and he's shooting a .270.
Dad is an experienced and accomplished hunter who has shot alot of game. He's shooting a .375.
The son: blue wildebeest, bang-flop. Impala, bang-flop. Warthog, zebra same story. Son is having a blast. Everything dead right there.
The dad: everything dad shoots with the .375 we've got to chase with the dogs for 3 hours, shoot a couple more times, etc.
Dad is a good hunter and a good shot, but damned if anything is going to be easy or simple for him.
"Dan, I'm afraid it is your turn to be the dad". For some reason Jim and Jean-Louis think this is hilarious! F@%# those a&$holes. They wouldn't know funny if it bit them on the ass.
We'll be back out after Klipspringer first thing in the morning, but in a different area on the other side of the mountains.
Today is truly a new day and one I will remeber for many, many reasons. Some great! And one or two not so much. I know, shocker, right?
Well today we are into the Klipspringer! We've worked our way up the mountain out of the canyon below and into some rolling terrain that is pretty huntable. Not like the cliffs and sheer rock faces we've come up past. We bump into a couple pairs and a small group, but none of them really give us a shot.
We slide over a low ridge and right into a couple more. Jean-Louis says wait 'til they stop and take the ram. He's the one in the back. As predicted they run out to about 175 yards and stop. The ram is right on top of a rock, broadside and offering a perfect shot. Bang! Down he goes.
My shot is a couple inches higher than I had planned, but still a one and done. No branches in the way on this one!
I have my Klipspringer, a nice mature ram. Not a monster, but a very respectable ram none the less. I couldn't be happier!
The solid from the .375 has worked exactly as planned. A nice, neat hole through both sides and not a lot of damage.
Klipspringer will appear on my wish list again. As will Mountain Reedbuck.
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Klipspringer country - I always feel at home in the mountains
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We head back to one of Numzaan's other camps which is about an hour away and let Andries take care of skinning the little guy and grab some lunch. Maybe a short afternoon siesta before we head out for bushbuck in the evening and Serval later on after dark.
Good luck Cody! I hope you get himDan,
I feel your pain on the Bushbuck, I'm sitting in a blind in Thabazimbi right now waiting on a beautiful Bushbuck that we saw yesterday. Such beautiful animals!
Love the report brother!