What a hunt we had ! We drove out to Wik’s property some 45 minutes away. The day was very misty and we took it slowly to allow the mist to burn off.
it was still there when we arrived so we discussed the meaning of life for a while and moved off. The sun broke through and a beautiful view of rolling countryside appeared. The variety and amount of game was staggering, impala, springbok, lechwe, warthog, sable, one monster, oryx, scimitar oryx, to name a fe.We were on foot hunting the thickets on the valley floors. We covered a few miles with no recent sign and drove a while to another valley where we started again with a decent breeze on our faces.
We came to one area where Wik told Craig to load up and safety on. Job done and we moved off with Wik in the lead. Suddenly he froze with both hands outstretched to signal us to stop.
Wik did a bit of staring into the bush and then indicated that we should move back quietly. we did so willingly, it was thick ! A 100 yards out he explained that he had spotted some buffalo but it was too thick to get a shot. We walked out off the bush and hooked around to get in front of the buffalo who were still feeding.
Some distance on we crept back into the bush and oh so very quietly crept in to watch an open area in the bush. Wik positioned Craig on the sticks and the wait began.
This got very tense when buffalo started appearing. A head here, a tail swishing in the bush, a slight movement behind a bush but nothing clearly showing. Two bulls, several cows and two calves could be seen but over to our right I could see other buffalo were present.
Wik moved Craig’s position even closer to get a clearer view. We now had buffalo grazing within 30 yards of us ! This gets your attention, especially when all you have is an iPhone and sheath knife !
After 45 very intense minutes a cow presented broadside and a clear shot. It saw us and it’s head came up.The order was given and Craig took the shot. We then rapidly stood back sheltering behind a bush as 20 or so buffalo charged past us at an alarming speed. You only need to run faster than the other guy.
The cow was now balefully looking at us from 50-60 yards below us. The look on its face clearly showed that we owed it money. It started coming towards us bur a broken right shoulder prevented it. Craig took a shot into the chest which clearly hit the heart. It staggered a short distance and collapsed under a tree. Shortly afterwards we heard the death bellow.
We had a very intense 45 minutes in the bush but fair dues to Wik, he was confident and clear in his instructions. Great guy to hunt with. You couldn’t ask for better. The LandCruiser came in and we slaughtered a few bottles of water. It was pretty hot and the excitement level had been high.
The cow was gralloched, we had a couple of sandwiches and loaded the Buffalo onto the back with the winch. Back to the lodge and a couple of cold Castle beers were in order. Hopefully I can upload some photos tomorrow.
