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- Jan 4, 2023
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- Hunted
- South-Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Botswana
Hunting the villain of the African bush.
In my wildest dreams as a Professional Hunter, I never thought that this, the spotted hyena, would ever become such a popular trophy amongst hunters. Not just South African hunters but especially with overseas clients. Hunted mostly as an opportunistic animal they have risen out of the ashes to become the prime animal on a lot of safaris. I would never have thought that the animal considered to be one of Africa’s best scavengers, considered by many as the lowlife of the animal kingdom could be such a big challenge to hunt.
One would think it would be as easy as tying up an impala to a tree and just wait for the right hyena and opportunity to come, take the shot and your trophy would be in the salt. Well think again. One thing we must remember is that being a carnivore, they are very seldom welcome on livestock and commercial game farms and thus get prosecuted most of the time. The other factor is that there is a strong belief amongst the local communities that hyena has very strong black magic powers and there is a big trade in their body parts for the muti trade. All these factors combined has caused the hyenas to become smarter and more intelligent in their ways of outsmarting us humans.
We set out to hunt the hyena in an area that had prolific numbers and my first mistake was thinking that this hunt was going to be a walk in the park. We had been baiting a couple of days prior to the client arriving in camp and I never thought that our biggest problem was going to be to keep the bait out of reach from the leopards. We had three leopards on bait before there was even any hyena in site. The problem with this was that the leopard kept on finishing the bait before we could get a hyena in. The leopard were so bold that they even fed in the middle of the day and when we approached the bait they reluctantly moved off, only to return as soon as we left.
I remember reading a story about a hunter who had a similar problem, and he hung a white bag in the tree to try and keep the scavengers off the bait. After hanging another impala in the tree for bait (we hang them slightly lower so that the hyena could reach them but not with ease) I decided to hang a white bag in the tree with the impala to try and keep the leopards at bay. This had the necessary effect and we had been checking the trail cam in the morning to see if our intended target managed to come in.
To our relief there were hyena tracks all around the bait and on checking the trail camera we saw that it was a full-grown female. With hyena the females are the sort after trophy as they are bigger than the males. With contentment, we left the bait site to go and prepare for the upcoming hunt.
Now sitting in a blind might not sound that exciting to some but with lions roaring all around us and even a hippo bull coming into smell the bait the excitement levels were up there. We moved into the blind at 18h00 and to our amazement there was already one hyena feeding. We could see that this was a full-grown male, but we were after the big female we saw on the trail camera.
Through the thermal we could see the cat and mouse game that the hyena and leopard were playing with each other. Normally the hyena would chase away the leopard but being on his own and a smaller male he was reluctant to tangle with the leopard on his own. With no other hyena showing up we decided to call it a night at around 23h00. But before we left, I went and hung the bag back in the tree just in the hope that it would spare our bait from the leopards.
The following morning, we went out to check the bait and to our amazement saw that there was still half an impala left. We decided to make some more drags with impala guts we had left just to get fresh scent out on the roads again. After getting everything done, we made the decision to go in earlier. We were back at the blind by 17h30, still light enough to see with the naked eye.
As I walked to the bait to remove the bag, I saw a female leopard with her cub reluctantly moving away. She only moved off about 60 yards and lay down under a tree checking what I was up to. It quickly got too dark to see anything and I started watching them with the thermal. It really was interesting to see how mother and cub interacted with each other. After about an hour the cub got up and walked over to the bait while the mother was still lying under the tree 60 yards away. My hopes of an early night was beginning to fade away as there was no sign of a hyena however after about 30 minutes the leopard cub got up and ran off into the nearby thickets. This only meant one thing something was approaching the bait. As I turned the thermal to the female leopard, I saw her get up from where she was lying arching her back as a house cat would do when confronting a dog. Suddenly as if from nowhere the unmistaken shape of a hyena appeared. Keeping its distance from the mother leopard it started moving into the bait. The leopard followed the hyena walking parallel to each other until they came to the bait the leopard then just kept on walking in the direction its cub ran.
We could see that this was also a big male hyena and not a big female, but the client was pressed for time. We decided to wait another hour to see if some female hyena would come. Before our hour was over the male, we had at the bait started becoming restless as the wind was swirling around and he obviously got wind of us. The decision was made to take the shot or risk going home empty handed as it did not sound or looked like there was any other hyena in the area.
The bait was hanging about thirty yards from our blind and as soon as the hyena turned broadside, we switched on the light. The client immediately took the shot, to our amazement it sprinted towards the thicket instead of dropping in its tracks. I immediately asked how my client how he felt about his shot at which he replied great. We got out of the blind and when we got to the blind, we couldn’t she any blood but luckily, we could see his tracks where he sped away. After following his tracks for twenty meters without finding blood, I was starting to get concerned. Five more steps and my concern turned into despair as I found one single drop of blood.
From thinking that the client missed the shot to now knowing that it’s been hit by the evidence of the speck off blood and the way the hyena reacted at the shot I really convinced that we have a wounded hyena on our hands. Luckily after twenty more steps which felt like an eternity, we saw some more blood. This settled the nerves a bit and from there on the blood was a consistent flow.
About a hundred yards total from where he was shot, we found the hyena dead as a doornail crumbled up under a bush. Everyone was relieved that we found it and we congratulated each other and started examining its body to see exactly where the shot was.
About five inches to far back and slightly high. I guess the excitement of being so close and the combined cold might have taken its effect on the client’s steadiness when he took the shot but non the less his trophy was down and in the salt.
After taking some pictures the client was dropped off at the lodge and we made sure the hyena got to the skinning shed in one piece.
Being satisfied that the skinning process was happening according to our satisfaction we drove back to the lodge but decided to take a quick detour back to the bait to see what was going on in our absence. To our surprise there was nothing less than four adult female hyenas chomping away at the bait. They had no concern in the world with us as if they knew they won’t be bothered now.
I must say I think a lot of the excitement off hyena hunting has probably to do with the area in which you hunt them as I will never forget the interaction between the leopard and hyena, the lions roaring around us all night and the hippo that came in to smell the bait.
All of the above plus the eeriness of the hyena itself makes for a thrilling hunt and something I would recommend to anyone interested in hunting these elusive creature of the night.
Happy hunting,
Valie Enslin,
Owner & Outfitter at That's Africa Safaris
In my wildest dreams as a Professional Hunter, I never thought that this, the spotted hyena, would ever become such a popular trophy amongst hunters. Not just South African hunters but especially with overseas clients. Hunted mostly as an opportunistic animal they have risen out of the ashes to become the prime animal on a lot of safaris. I would never have thought that the animal considered to be one of Africa’s best scavengers, considered by many as the lowlife of the animal kingdom could be such a big challenge to hunt.
One would think it would be as easy as tying up an impala to a tree and just wait for the right hyena and opportunity to come, take the shot and your trophy would be in the salt. Well think again. One thing we must remember is that being a carnivore, they are very seldom welcome on livestock and commercial game farms and thus get prosecuted most of the time. The other factor is that there is a strong belief amongst the local communities that hyena has very strong black magic powers and there is a big trade in their body parts for the muti trade. All these factors combined has caused the hyenas to become smarter and more intelligent in their ways of outsmarting us humans.
We set out to hunt the hyena in an area that had prolific numbers and my first mistake was thinking that this hunt was going to be a walk in the park. We had been baiting a couple of days prior to the client arriving in camp and I never thought that our biggest problem was going to be to keep the bait out of reach from the leopards. We had three leopards on bait before there was even any hyena in site. The problem with this was that the leopard kept on finishing the bait before we could get a hyena in. The leopard were so bold that they even fed in the middle of the day and when we approached the bait they reluctantly moved off, only to return as soon as we left.
I remember reading a story about a hunter who had a similar problem, and he hung a white bag in the tree to try and keep the scavengers off the bait. After hanging another impala in the tree for bait (we hang them slightly lower so that the hyena could reach them but not with ease) I decided to hang a white bag in the tree with the impala to try and keep the leopards at bay. This had the necessary effect and we had been checking the trail cam in the morning to see if our intended target managed to come in.
To our relief there were hyena tracks all around the bait and on checking the trail camera we saw that it was a full-grown female. With hyena the females are the sort after trophy as they are bigger than the males. With contentment, we left the bait site to go and prepare for the upcoming hunt.
Now sitting in a blind might not sound that exciting to some but with lions roaring all around us and even a hippo bull coming into smell the bait the excitement levels were up there. We moved into the blind at 18h00 and to our amazement there was already one hyena feeding. We could see that this was a full-grown male, but we were after the big female we saw on the trail camera.
Through the thermal we could see the cat and mouse game that the hyena and leopard were playing with each other. Normally the hyena would chase away the leopard but being on his own and a smaller male he was reluctant to tangle with the leopard on his own. With no other hyena showing up we decided to call it a night at around 23h00. But before we left, I went and hung the bag back in the tree just in the hope that it would spare our bait from the leopards.
The following morning, we went out to check the bait and to our amazement saw that there was still half an impala left. We decided to make some more drags with impala guts we had left just to get fresh scent out on the roads again. After getting everything done, we made the decision to go in earlier. We were back at the blind by 17h30, still light enough to see with the naked eye.
As I walked to the bait to remove the bag, I saw a female leopard with her cub reluctantly moving away. She only moved off about 60 yards and lay down under a tree checking what I was up to. It quickly got too dark to see anything and I started watching them with the thermal. It really was interesting to see how mother and cub interacted with each other. After about an hour the cub got up and walked over to the bait while the mother was still lying under the tree 60 yards away. My hopes of an early night was beginning to fade away as there was no sign of a hyena however after about 30 minutes the leopard cub got up and ran off into the nearby thickets. This only meant one thing something was approaching the bait. As I turned the thermal to the female leopard, I saw her get up from where she was lying arching her back as a house cat would do when confronting a dog. Suddenly as if from nowhere the unmistaken shape of a hyena appeared. Keeping its distance from the mother leopard it started moving into the bait. The leopard followed the hyena walking parallel to each other until they came to the bait the leopard then just kept on walking in the direction its cub ran.
We could see that this was also a big male hyena and not a big female, but the client was pressed for time. We decided to wait another hour to see if some female hyena would come. Before our hour was over the male, we had at the bait started becoming restless as the wind was swirling around and he obviously got wind of us. The decision was made to take the shot or risk going home empty handed as it did not sound or looked like there was any other hyena in the area.
The bait was hanging about thirty yards from our blind and as soon as the hyena turned broadside, we switched on the light. The client immediately took the shot, to our amazement it sprinted towards the thicket instead of dropping in its tracks. I immediately asked how my client how he felt about his shot at which he replied great. We got out of the blind and when we got to the blind, we couldn’t she any blood but luckily, we could see his tracks where he sped away. After following his tracks for twenty meters without finding blood, I was starting to get concerned. Five more steps and my concern turned into despair as I found one single drop of blood.
From thinking that the client missed the shot to now knowing that it’s been hit by the evidence of the speck off blood and the way the hyena reacted at the shot I really convinced that we have a wounded hyena on our hands. Luckily after twenty more steps which felt like an eternity, we saw some more blood. This settled the nerves a bit and from there on the blood was a consistent flow.
About a hundred yards total from where he was shot, we found the hyena dead as a doornail crumbled up under a bush. Everyone was relieved that we found it and we congratulated each other and started examining its body to see exactly where the shot was.
About five inches to far back and slightly high. I guess the excitement of being so close and the combined cold might have taken its effect on the client’s steadiness when he took the shot but non the less his trophy was down and in the salt.
After taking some pictures the client was dropped off at the lodge and we made sure the hyena got to the skinning shed in one piece.
Being satisfied that the skinning process was happening according to our satisfaction we drove back to the lodge but decided to take a quick detour back to the bait to see what was going on in our absence. To our surprise there was nothing less than four adult female hyenas chomping away at the bait. They had no concern in the world with us as if they knew they won’t be bothered now.
I must say I think a lot of the excitement off hyena hunting has probably to do with the area in which you hunt them as I will never forget the interaction between the leopard and hyena, the lions roaring around us all night and the hippo that came in to smell the bait.
All of the above plus the eeriness of the hyena itself makes for a thrilling hunt and something I would recommend to anyone interested in hunting these elusive creature of the night.
Happy hunting,
Valie Enslin,
Owner & Outfitter at That's Africa Safaris
