The Kudu Bull
It’s hard to stand and the sticks aren’t stable but I feel confident enough to take the shot, the crosshairs end up above the Kudu’s shoulder and I say out loud I’ve missed. I quickly cycle the bolt and chamber another round. Louw and the tracker say it’s a hit and shoot again when I can as the bull is moving across the hillside through the thick bush. I get a glimpse here and there and Louw helps me locate him, he’s by the big tree! I look and there are 20 big trees! Its very thick and the sun is settting over the hill making viewing difficult. Louw points the rifle and says he’s walking uphill, I finally see him! I squeeze the trigger hard and it finally releases with a loud CLICK. WTF I utter, Louw reaches over and cycles the bolt quickly and I try to find the bull again through the scope.
Where did he go? Louw is trying to tell me where the bull is now but it’s a big area. Louw helps again by pointing the rifle in the general direction and I see the bull for a moment and send another 180 gr bullet across the valley. The tracker says it’s a hit. I reload again and look for another opportunity but they say he has slipped over the top of the hill. I’m upset with myself. How did I even hit the bull on the first shot, the crosshairs jumped over his shoulder?
Here’s an overview of where the bull was sighted, in red, where I took the shot in the red circle and the general path he took over the top. Our stalk entered the picture on the orange line on the bottom of the screen with our shooting position at the end. Michelle recorded much of the shooting event and it was approximately 6 minutes from the initial set-up and shot to the bull going over the ridge. My lower back was in spasms from trying to crouch low enough to get the proper sight angle to the steep slope on the opposite side.
Louw picks up the loaded round from the ground and there is no primer indent. During the cycling of the bolt on the Browning A-bolt, I somehow pushed the safety into the half-cock position. The trigger will cycle but the firing pin will not go forward.
Louw calls Lindile and tells him to bring the dogs as I stretch my back and we give the Kudu time to lay down. Lindile shows up with Zeiss, Tasco and Stormer after 10-15 minutes and we clamber down the steep slope, across the dry bottom and begin to climb up the steep opposite hillside. I’m huffing and puffing as we climb, sick to my stomach that I made a bad shot. Michelle pulls a cactus needle out of young Stormer as he had fallen back. We press on and they have found the initial hit, too far back. Louw tells me, you believe me now? I did, and from the looks of the sign, I was sick. Louw tells me the bull started forward again as I shot, it didn't make me feel much better.
The dogs and trackers did a great job and the sign became more prevalent and was easy to follow. We crested the top of the hill and came to another track and we hesitated as the dogs sorted out the track. I look up and Kudu were crossing the road about 75 yards from our right to left. I throw the gun up but Louw says that’s not our Kudu, but the dogs see them and take off in hurry and follow them down over the hill. Lindile goes after the dogs as the local tracker, Louw and I sort out the track. It’s not very difficult as the sign is strong but this is a big animal. We plunge down over the opposite hillside, steeper than the one we came up. Louw sends the tracker down about 100 yards to the bottom of the hill as we parallel the side. The bull gets pushed out and Louw says to shoot him, all I can see are the magnificent spiral horns just above the thick bush. I see his big hump above the bush line and take a shot, at this point I want to just put another shot into him to end this as quickly as possible. You can hear the solid hit but I know there aren’t vitals up that high on these African animals.
Lindile finally arrives with the dogs and sets them loose, Louw turns to me and says they will bay him about…and before he can say now, the dogs begin barking in chorus. We rush down the steep hillside to the dry creek bottom, I remember looking back at Michelle and telling her to take her time coming down the hill before I sprint off and take the lead. The tracker is kneeling down in the creek bottom, it was like running down a tunnel with the bush forming the ceiling overhead, knocking my hat off as the tracker points ahead and I see the dogs have the bull cornered where the creek runs into a vertical cliff face. I can barely see the Kudu’s face and the dogs holding him still, as I approach a few steps the bull turns and dashes down the creek bed. Louw tells me to cut to my left over the bank to intercept the bull as the creek bed swings back around, I was effectively cutting the corner. I run up the bank and across the small flat and see the Kudu cut up a steep spine of ridge across from me, I get him in the scope and put another shot into him as he is quartering away mindful of the three dogs nipping at him.
I close the distance in a sprint, cross the creek bed and start up the sharp spine finding blood where I hit the bull. The next thing I hear is the breaking of tree branches and then the solid thud of a body hitting rock, loose rocks skittering and another hard thump. OMG, he has jumped off the cliff to my left. The dogs are now silent as I race back down the hill running into Louw and Michelle telling them he has jumped off the cliff and is in the creek bottom. I race down the creek bed and come to this.
The kudu has leapt off the cliff and landed on the bedrock where my feet are, rolled over the 7 foot drop into the bottom. There is hair and blood smeared on the sharp rocks and at the bottom. I sigh as I know that he is at least down. I am still upset with the bad shot but its offset by the knowledge the chase has ended.
Louw and I look at each other and he grabs his cell to try and reach Nicole at the lodge, its going to be a long night and we may be late for dinner. There are no roads nearby, we are in no-mans land. My buddies John, Lynn, Mark and my brother Jeff will understand as I usually shoot something in the steepest, darkest most distant area from the road that I can!
We grab a few photos before Louw and the local tracker head off down the steep creek bed to find the bakkie, the sun has set and the light in the narrow valley is growing dark by the second.
After talking it over with Louw, the only way out is going to be the hard way. We field dress, then cut the magnificent bull in half, and plan to carry him out on stout poles. Easier said than done!
I help Lindile with the dirty work and we wait for Louw and tracker to find the shortest distance to a road. A picture looking back up the creek where the bull initially landed on the creek bed before falling over the 7 foot drop. You can see broken branches on the left where the bull had crashed down over the hillside.
The carry out was a ton of fun! Louw and I slid a pole through the anus of the hindquarters while Lindile and the local tracker hauled out the front half. It was a bit of a chore to get the halves over the first cliff as you can see above. Once we were able to get out the halves over the edge, we shouldered the poles and moved forward. Louw takes a step up the bank and the Kudu half slides back the pole and I get a face full of Kudu ass! I step up as Louw step down and he gets hit in the back of the head by the front of the back half. Enough of this, we get the back half centered and I hold onto the tail. We climb out of the creek bed and up the thick brushy hill in darkness. Michelle carried the rifle and binoculars up behind us, they were able to get the bakkie within 150 yards of the bottom, up the hill of course!
We load up the Kudu halves, I go for the cooler and a cold Castle! We arrive in time for a late dinner:
On the way home Michelle asks about the Tiger we had spotted. Will explain more in another post!
Edge
