SOUTH AFRICA: BOWHUNT: Bushmans Quiver Hunt

[Kyle]

Let's just start with the flight. Nothing wrong but long. I couldn't sleep the whole flight due to excitement. When we arrived in Johannesburg we were greated by F.C. who was to be my P.H. for the trip. I have nothing to say but felt like family would be a understatement. From that moment I new no matter what the outcome of the hunt we were going to have a great time.

Once we turned into the concession we saw some Zebra and a few others on the way into the lodge. The lodge is beautiful with great decor and a hostess named Beauty that was as sweet as her name. She treated Nita and I like royalty the entire duration of the trip. After a couple of glasses of wine and dinner it was off to bed.

 

[cpr0312]

Thanks for sharing, look forward to much more!

 

[Kyle]

Day 1 was everything I could imagine. I walked out of our chateau to sounds never heard by these ears. Years of neglect of hearing protection have left me with irreparable hearing damage but the sounds I could hear were amazing. After some toast and a cup or two of coffee F.C. put up a target for a few arrows to be slung at then it was off to a bow hunting only concession.
Apon arriving at the blind we were greated by Zebra, Impala, Blesbok, Blue Wildebeest, and a few others. This put my heart into over drive. We were in the blind all evening and had warthogs, monkeys, ostrich, and several young impala visit throughout the day. At around 5ish several very nice impala made there way to the water hole but were spooked by a go away bird and some ostrich. When this happened Nita said a wildebeest was coming from our right she no more go this out of her mouth and F.C. said good zebra coming. I immediately lost it haha I have not been that excited in a long time and it was refreshing to know you still can get that excited. As the zebra came closer the stallion was showing he was the boss of the water hole he was biting and kicking everything in sight. As he walked to the edge he laid his ears back as I was coming to full draw and he charged a wildebeest as soon as he stopped I let fly and struck him a little high in the front shoulder.

 

[BRICKBURN]

It is fun to get that excited when you are hunting.

 

[buckmarkhunter]

Man I think those feelings are why we as outdoorsman do this. What an awesome adventure. I can't wait to hear more.

 

[CAustin]

Keep it coming sir!

 

[Lee M]

Stallions are nasty. Always kicking and biting. Non stop. Looking forward to more.

 

[Lrntolive]

Keep it coming please! This is starting out well.

 

[gillettehunter]

Good start. Keep it up. Bruce

 

[rinehart0050]

Great start! Looking forward to hearing more...

 

[G Skinner]

.......And the rest of the story is ?
Glen

 

[BRICKBURN]

........ and Jet lag sets in and I can hear the snoring from here.

 

[thriller]

The suspense........

 

[Kyle]

As I said the shot was slightly high. So we ler him have awhile before tracking. In the meantime a group of 6 eland came in to water also a herd of blesbok started to come in. F.C. was standing out of th back of the blind gassing to see if he could see my zebra when I looked down and 2 jackal were drinking at 10 steps. Due to my hearing I never heard him say shoot and they moved on. After tracking into the dark F.C. informed me we would continue in the a.m. After a sleepless night we were back on the track and a recovery was made. What a emotional moment to finally put my hands on my first african animal.

 

[jeff]

Is that the entrance or exit hole? It looks good to me unless the zebra was quartering?

 

[Lee M]

Agree. That's a bullseye if any reasonable angled broadside shot was taken. Looks like an expandable sized hole.

 

[jeff]

How much penetration did you get?

 

[Kyle]

Day 3 found us with rifles in hand and also joined by Nitas P.H. Sampie and the owner of Bushmans Quiver Stephan. I was first up shooting a blue wildebeest at around 200 yds standing in a small grove of trees. Nita was up next after countless stalk attempts on several very nice impala she was getting a little discouraged. So she let me back up to bat a hour or so later I took a Nice old impala. After taking it to the skinning shed we were dropped off with F.C. and Sampie in between 2 water holes which were both about 200 yds from our location in different directions. After sitting for about an hour F.C. said there was a nice waterbuck coming through some tall grass to the North of our location. We immediately proceeded to crawl through the grass to a small tree for a rest. I found him and took the shot hitting him back a little far just like that he was gone. We sat and talked with Sampie about the shot for about a hour and called in the trackers. These guys amaze me with ther knowledge of animals and the skills they have of tracking. We took to following tracks (no blood) into the tall grass. After 70 or 80 yds Sampie spotted a drop of blood the size of a pencil eraser on a stick. 60 more yds and my tracker Pungie said for me to come quickly. Pungie was pointing ahead of us and looking in the direction he was pointing I could see the tops of his horns sticking up in the tall grass about 70 yds ahead of us. I immediately asked F.C. for his rifle a .458 lott with a Burris red dot so I could have something to punch through the grass and for quick target acquisition if needed. I shouldered the rifle and began a slow pace towards him. The wind was blowing hard which helped cover the noise and at 10 steps I let him have 500 grains of pure love he immediately jumped up staggering and it was over. Just like that I had one of my number ones.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Nice!! You are racking them up!!!

 

[Kyle]

Is that the entrance or exit hole? It looks good to me unless the zebra was quartering?

Jeff that is the entrance and it was a perfect broadside shot. Everyone was amazed at how far he went. We went to the skinning shed and me and F.C. stayed until they cleaned it as to see what damage had been done. Both lungs were penetrated and he still went over a mile. I was shooting rage hypodermic 100 grain and it opened perfectly.