SOUTH AFRICA: Buffalo With Craig Boddington

[Green Chile]

Cool bakkie on one of the properties we hunted on...

 

[Altitude sickness]

Cozy lodge

 

[Green Chile]

Peanuts and biltong sticks were available all the time but I thought this carved hippo was very groovy. Anyone know where I can find one like this?

 

[Altitude sickness]

My wife would love that hippo carving

 

[dchum]

More hunting please!

 

[Green Chile]

Oh there's more hunting for sure. Here's another piece of it...

I’m always on the alert for big bushbuck and learned that’s one of Craig’s favorite plains game as well. They are Africa’s version of a whitetail deer in the USA that many of us grew up with. They love thick cover and often you have to go in and dig them out slowly and carefully. We all know the sound of a whitetail blowing up at you with his blowing and wheezing that can be heard for a long ways. Bushbuck have that crazy bark sound that always seems to catch me when I’m not expecting it! I love hunting them.

We were driving out to a new area and Craig said do you think we can find that big bushbuck from last week? I said what kind of bushbuck are we talking about? Craig says it’s so tall you won’t believe it. He looks like a sitatunga sticking way up above the grass! I laugh and Craig says, no I’m serious…he looks like a freaking sitatunga. I say lead on…let’s find the sitatunga! Well, we looked all over where he had been seen before and as you might guess…no sitatunga. He’s out there somewhere and I kind of like knowing he hasn’t been caught yet. I hope he makes more of them!

We went down into a thick creek area that ran into a small dam and lake. It just felt like ideal bushbuck country. At this point, Craig and some others pulled back a bit and the PH, tracker and myself moved ahead. There’s not much point in having 7 people trying to find a bushbuck…just too much movement. We very slowly moved lower towards the creek and into the thicker brush. It was so thick that it got dark in there with the sun high above. Creeping around and over and through little holes in the brush we spotted a female bushbuck….then another one. I thought there must be a male in here with these females and right about then there is the dreaded sharp bark in front of us. We freeze for a minute…start to edge forward and he barks again. We freeze and 3 sets of eyes are looking hard for the source of the bark. Then the tracker sees him and slowly points…the PH stares and stares and after about 10 seconds he sees him too. The sticks slowly come up and I slide into place.

Now we get to the thing I fear the most in hunting…I can’t see the animal! The PH whispers can you see him…I shake my head no…he points at a tiny opening about 20 yards in front of us. This opening is about 5-6 inches wide with a branch hanging down the middle of it. I look at the hole in the darkness and see nothing. I look through the scope and see a different color than leaves…it’s just slightly darker but with no distinguishing features. The PH whispers beside me…he’s behind the opening…I say is that his front or his back end…he says it’s the front. I aim just to the left of the stick hanging down leaving me 2-3 inches to shoot through. I carefully squeeze the trigger making sure not to move the sights at all and the gun goes off. I hear the hit and we sit still for a second listening hard as we can’t see anything. There is a little rush of sound and then we hear it fall close by. We move forward and find a very old busbuck with a hole through his shoulders. I let out my breath with a loud sigh. Wow…that was intense.

We drag him out to take photos and I notice that his teeth are worn down to nothing. He is very old and his horns are worn down. He is definitely past his prime and wouldn’t have lasted another year with no teeth. This to me represents the best of trophies. I notice the tracker sitting with him and talking quietly to himself. I ask if all is ok and he says this bushbuck I have known for a long time. He is very old. I say madala (old man in Afrikaans) and he says yes…madala. This to me was a real highlight in taking such an old animal. I will always remember the madala bushbuck and this hunt.

 

[PARA45]

Love your Bushbuck, they are amazing little guys, and I can see myself hunting them every time I get a chance. The Bushbuck I took in the EC was my hardest hunt. This little guy was in the shadows, and I tested every bit of patience my PH Wik had. The Bushbuck finally took a step and I was able to see him. He was in some thick stuff, but I had him.