Day 5 Dust in the Barrels
Wednesday July 22, 2015
This morning I found our favorite dessert cake from dinner two nights ago in the back of the fridge and warmed it up with custard for breakfast. I’d need the extra energy today as we are returning to look for the klipspringer on the steep mountainside. John Henry assembled a larger search party and we spent several hours looking.
Only a few more drops of blood were located, but no klipspringer. I was very appreciative of John Henry and the others as they had taken the search into a very steep valley while I kept watch from the top. Given the incline of this mountain, I didn’t see the need in them possibly carrying the klipspringer and ME out! It’s hunting as they say, but it doesn’t feel any better. With leopard and hyenas in large numbers in the area and the ability for such a small animal to fall into any given number of large cracks in the rocks, we had to give up.
Here is a photo of a klipspringer taken earlier in the trip, but not the same one.
We journeyed the 40 miles back to the main lodge in virtual silence. Lunch today: ham carbonara, cheesy vegetables and homemade rolls. All the homemade bread is killing me! I’m trying to maintain a decent diet without giving back 10 pounds on this trip. I stay strong and disciplined myself to only one.
Since we had been back to the main lodge for lunch several times, I noticed that a waterhole 100 yards from our cabana porch was attracting quite a bunch of game traffic. I had brought a game cam with me and had set it up a few days ago. I checked the card after lunch. It confirmed there is a very big bushbuck frequently the area along with kudu, impala, eland and waterbuck. Here are a few pics.
John Henry advised we needed to leave shortly after lunch today as we had a longer drive to the next place. It would take us through the mountains (surprise) and past one of the only vulture roosting and nesting sites left in South Africa. This was the main reason for the creation of Marakele National Park. As we passed, you could see the white stains, like graffiti, on the cliff sides from the roost areas. Jim Shockey once noted he felt like he was in a place where the eagles and mountains met. Well I’ve never been to that place, but I can say I’ve been to the area where the vultures and mountains meet.
We continued driving higher and higher and started seeing large pine trees. What, I didn’t know they had pine trees in Africa? Right on cue, we pulled into the farm gate. We met t the son of the ranch owner and the hunting PH for the ranch. He was your typical South African hunting guide, slim build but stout as a bulldog with those skimpy shorts barely covering his South African manhood. Lisa didn’t seem to mind the “scenery”.
![Confused :confused: :confused:](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f615.png)
He reminded us of a PH from our first trip to Africa. He had several Jack Russell terrier dogs that took great pleasure in running circles around us while we talked. We learned that he was getting married for the first time and being a newly engaged bachelor at the age of 44 it was causing a little anxiety. I took the opportunity the rest of the day to warn him of the hazards of marriage.
![Big Grin :D :D](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f600.png)
As opposed to the places we had been hunting, this place is covered in gorgeous high mountain ponds. The ponds are filled to the brim with crystal clear water and water reeds line the banks. We were in a giant volcanic crater on top of the mountain that was fed by natural underground springs year round. It looked more like Colorado than Africa. I had requested we hunt blesbuck this trip so Lisa might have a chance at her first African animal. Both the easy demeanor and price tag made this a possibility.
![ROFL :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f923.png)
This was a working cattle farm that also had blesbuck by the hundreds! Before we even reached the main house, I had seen 20 blesbuck bigger than any I had ever seen before. They also have good red hartebeest here and I’d be trying for one of their big bulls. We crossed the road into a part of the ranch with very grassy pastures. Looks like Montana here I thought to myself, only with warthogs, hartebeest, blesbuck, eland and zebra. It was much cooler here than our previous hunting locations and as windy as it has been the past couple of days- even windier. I wasn’t sure if it was the altitude or time wearing me down, but it appeared the sunlight was dimmer up here also. It was if the sun couldn’t muster enough energy to fully clear the mountain top. It's hunting day 4 ½ and we are exactly halfway through the trip. I was having a great time, but the church festival was facing a paltry biltong donation at this point. As we entered the gate to the hunting area, I mentioned to John Henry that we might need to blow the dust out of the rifle barrels soon.
The plan was to search for hartebeest first as they would be harder to locate in this wind. We were covering ground when Lisa surprisingly exclaimed it was her turn. Huh? The ranch PH had spotted a bedded blesbuck approximately 125 yards to our right in an open field among several head of cattle nearby. He felt it was a shooter, so the plan changed as I worked to get Lisa transitioned into the shooting position. After the obligatory 3-5 minutes of adjusting, squirming, “I can’t find it” conversations that seem to happen at each of these instances, the blesbuck had finally had enough. It got up and begin to walk away. After ensuring he was
well past the cattle (I knew how much blesbuck costs but I wasn't sure the cost of an African cow
![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f642.png)
) Lisa was able to get all the stars lined up. It was her first African animal. As we approached, the rancher stated that the last two women hunters on the ranch had killed 17" blesbuck, which is top end for the area. Well make it number three; the ole lady pulled a rabbit out of her hat with a 17" for herself. The blesbuck got their name as the early English settlers in South Africa had named it the blaze buck due to the large white blaze marking on their foreheads, but the local tribes’ pronunciation resulted in blesbuck, so it stuck.
We continued our search as the shadows began to lengthen. I commented to John Henry that when we did find the hartebeest, they’d be in a giant herd hiding out from the wind. Not two minutes later, I spotted a group bedded in a small mopani mott (like our coastal oaks). Due to the wind, we came in virtually undetected and were able to get in good position before they spotted us. When they did, they all rose in unison and as with most herd animals decided all 30 of them could stand in the same 20x20 square feet patch of dirt. This is an effective defense mechanism for herd animals as no one individual stands out. John Henry identified three mature bull shooters in the bunch. I quickly ruled out the one on the right as he was little lopsided (remember those picky taxidermist). Another in front of the pack couldn’t be the dominate male or he wouldn’t be standing on this side of the huddle facing potential danger. No, the biggest was standing in the back almost slouching down behind the others. After several minutes of cat and mouse, I heard the rancher comment that if they broke, they’d all be gone in a mad dash. That was all I needed to hear and when the back bull took a step left between two trees, I squeezed off. There was nothing but dust and hartebeest headed in every direction. I asked John Henry if I had hit him as I quickly chambered around round, but John Henry replied he hadn’t been looking when I shot. The unexpected explosion of the 300 mag wasn’t helping his hearing any either.
![Eek! :eek: :eek:](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f631.png)
After the dust settled a bit, there was still one hartebeest standing in the trees. It had to be the bull. The first shot was taking its toll but a second one put him down for good. After the klipspringer incident I wasn’t taking any chances.
These animals are very unique- they have that Harley Davidson chopper handle bar look with some of the silkiest hair. Remember when I mentioned capes can make a difference?
![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/twitter/twemoji@14.0.2/assets/72x72/1f642.png)
He had nice mass and was 21"s. Mission accomplished- no more dust in the barrels. On the way out, our PH mentioned the ranch is frequently visited by leopards that results in the loss of several cattle each year.
We hurried back to the home ranch to get in a bushbuck hunt. They typically move in late evenings anyway. I was confident based on all the previous bushbuck sightings we had so far that we’d be able to locate one soon.
We had only been out 15 minutes when we spotted a bushbuck down in a dry creek bed. Immediately John Henry confirmed it was a shooter. Bushbucks are notoriously dangerous if wounded. They can be ornery and with those short, sharp horns can easily make shish-ka-bobs out of you in a hurry. This is often exacerbated by late evenings/low light when most are encountered. I was feeling the pressure and really concentrated on making a good shot. Our lives literally depended on it. Most African game have a kill zone slightly further forward than our North American animals. This anatomical difference is a result of eons of evolution, due to the large predators in Africa pulling down prey from the rear. This evolution resulted in the vital organs being pushed further forward under the protection of the shoulder blades and has surely saved a few from being dinner for the lions and leopards. Everyone that hunts Africa is explained this over and over when they arrive, yet if you are used to seeing a certain sight picture in the scope, your finger almost automatically squeezes when your brain recognizes what it has been seeing for 30+ years. I almost did it, squeezed behind the shoulder, but I was able to hold off and push the sight picture forward. He went straight down, but our view was blocked by the bank of the creek bed. John Henry looked as if he was walking on egg shells when he approached the area and I didn’t blame him. All was good- he was down where he had been standing last. He was a very nice 15" bushbuck and our 3rd animal today. The biltong donation was looking up. What a difference 24 hours had made- I went from the valley the day before, to the peak again today.
Bushbucks also have striking coloration as I noted back on Day 3. Their chocolate coats are accented by a white mid-neck bowtie, white stripes on their legs and white spots on their rumps. The bushbuck puts me one step closer to the spiral horn slam with only the eland left.
Dinner tonight: lamb curry, broccoli, salad, potatoes and orange tart cake with custard.
I know what you are thinking, lamb again? I’m not sure exactly why, but the lamb in South Africa is far and away better than anything I have eaten in the States. As a matter of fact, I’ve eaten lamb less than a handful of times back home due to my distaste for it. If our lamb was this good, I’d have to add it the grocery list. Due to all the animals taken today in a brief period, I remembered right before getting into bed that I had missed taking a few measurements. I grabbed a flashlight and headed out for the short walk over to the skinning shed. As with most wives, Lisa bid me to be careful as I was leaving. I know it’s the norm and wives tend to worry, but it was only a few hundred yard walk, what was there to be careful about? I can’t say the darkness particularly bothers me. I’ve been running around the woods all my life in the darkness and this was within shouting distance of all the houses in the compound, but my pace quicken as I thought back to all the leopards and lions in the area. We definitely don’t have those back home. On my return, once I was within 50 yards of the cabana, I felt silly to have been unnerved but the nighttime stroll, but I quickly closed the door and locked it behind me anyway.
Tomorrow is kudu time again, while the ladies go into town for spa day.