SOUTH AFRICA: MOZAMBIQUE: Off To Southern Africa With KMG & TMS & PPS

[BRICKBURN]

Wayne, trying to spot the sable in the earlier pic took some serious doing....

Now you know how I felt the first two days.

 

[siml]

Yip, takes a while to get use to the "grande pala-pala"...

 

[siml]

My view from the back of the landcruiser..

 

[spike.t]

Only one cure for a real dusty road trip..

yup shut the windows and put the ac on .........

 

[spike.t]

View attachment 47581 My view from the back of the landcruiser..

thats a steep hillside..........

 

[siml]

@spike.t , I bet you drive with both windows open...just for en excuse...

 

[spike.t]

@spike.t , I bet you drive with both windows open...just for en excuse...

only on the tar or i fall asleep!!! the last 40kms of dirt to takeri have plenty of that lovely talcum powder stuff and then i do use that modern wonder called ac .......on my old vehicle a GX station wagon the rubber seals around the tailgate were buggered so it didnt matter if you had the windows shut or open , it sucked it in anyway...............

 

[BRICKBURN]

Simon is always exaggerating the side slopes like that. It was mostly flat or rolling.

 

[Redruff]

Great adventure so far. Keep it coming.

R.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Well, I exaggerate.
Sometimes it was steep.... and sandy and eroded...

Captain Morgan joined us on Safari..

See the similarity???

Preparation to remain unstuck on another crossing.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

 

[BRICKBURN]

I recognize that mark. I brushed the others off already.
The ups and downs of hunting for sure.

Can you see the sweat and the tears???

Glad the hat is not breakable.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

Great read on a great trip!

 

[siml]

Who's ya Captain ???????

 

[siml]

Captain to Tjoppa, get the hacksaw out, we need to reduce the size of a set of horns.....

 

[BRICKBURN]

UH, oh. Consequences I did not anticipate.

 

[spike.t]

UH, oh. Consequences I did not anticipate.

.............

 

[BRICKBURN]

The central fire was a the meeting area for much planning and plotting.

Martin was working in earnest with Kurt on getting that Leopard, so today was Vera's day to drive the Chariot.

Vera Andretti at the wheel

Some Sable were spotted but none stood still.

At lunch there was much discussion about timing for the Leopard and it was finally decided that the best time would occur tonight. Be in the blind at 2200 ready to go.

I drove around in the afternoon while the other team tried to sleep. Like that was going to happen. I did not see any Sable this afternoon. No bloody idea what was going on today.

I went to bed after wishing Kurt and Martin good luck in the blind tonight. Kurt was no where near as nervous as the first time and I certainly had a good feeling about Martins confidence and the choice of timing for their little sit i the blind tonight.

Every day the Leopard had been growling at them any time they checked the bait. That cat owned the place and could care less who showed up in the area. If you were there when he showed himself he would be yours.
I joked that this cat was actually trained to salivate at the sound of a land cruiser engine.

At this point I will only say that I was awakened at 12:30 and asked if I would like to join in on a follow up. A shot had been taken but no result had been determined. I was offered a rifle and I decided I did not need one. My first thought was about my confidence in Kurt's shooting, the other was about the fact there were enough firearms already present to address the matter. At least in my mind. Later Simon said it might have been smarter to have another rifle given the Elephants seemed to like to be out to play at night. I had not thought of that little detail. Oh well.

I met the cast of Star Wars at the Bakkie and jumped in.

Note Luke Skywalker and the light Saber.

Notice the lovely Bamboo cover. Just the stuff to be wandering around in at night with a Leopard and Elephants.


I could have sworn I heard someone calling "Here Kitty Kitty!"
Not a lot of volunteers rushing forward into this stuff. Lot's of peering....

I decided to remove myself from the hoards and climb the far bank of the river course and keep to the high ground. For some reason I thought I might get better pictures from up on this vantage point.

When I commented later that I felt safer up there, Martin said sure, as long as that was not the chosen escape route. I chuckled. It did give me a milliseconds pause though.

I took this picture of the advance down the drainage.....

I must say it was very interesting to see everyones different reactions to the stress and strain of being in cover in the dark following up on dangerous game. Great learning experience for me.


It was decided if it was not found immediately that we would retreat and come back the next day.
the area does not really have any scavengers that would be after the carcass right away so it would likely be safe. Also, it is a little safer to follow up during day light if a dangerous critter managed to make it into the Bamboo. Never mind stumbling into those damned Elephants in the dark....


I'd do it again in a minute. Maybe I'm nuts.

 

[siml]

@BRICKBURN , you forgot the part of the change in our voices to high pitch after Vera's drive...

 

[BRICKBURN]

The next day I had a late start and started the search for Sable in earnest. It was coming down to the wire for me with a couple of days left.

To retreat a moment and relate the firearms experience. I chose not to take my rifle into Mozambique. The PIA factor was a little high and the threatened $1000USD fee for entrance was not to attractive either. I left my trusty firearm in Joburg and just brought the bow along.

I was being lent a 375H&H from the camp arsenal. having borrowed camp rifles before I was not worried.
However, after shooting three shots from the rifle at the 100 yard target and having two of the three miss the target completely I was not feeling to warm and fuzzy. I would be making sure that any shot I took with the rifle was 100 yards or less, as far as I was concerned.

The rifle and bow range at camp.

The significance of this little tale is that Kurt offered me his rifle to use. Kurt custom made this tack driving 300 Weatherby from scratch and added a 4x14 Leupold scope. It was shooting 168 grain TTSX hand loads at velocity that scared the jet planes going by.
I hesitated at first and said "You do not have that many bullets and you have a list of critters you want to hunt." Kurt laughed and said "You'll only need one!" I laughed at this comment and on his kind insistence accepted his incredibly generous offer. I saw the two bullet holes from his sight in; They both split the center line of the target evenly 1.5 and 3 inches high. Solid and TTSX.
Aim at anything out to three hundred and squeeze and the gig was up. What a confidence booster to have this incredible firearm to use. I must say thank you again Kurt. A generosity that was unlooked for and greatly appreciated.

We headed out for a tour. Dropping by the trail camera at the water hole the camera was switched out and then I added some camp for entertainment. Perhaps the new sticks in the middle of the vlei had bothered the critters.
Nothing coming in.

During the late morning jaunt and just prior to lunch we ran into a breeding herd.

Back to camp for a Siesta and lunch and then we would head out a little later. The witching hour seemed to be about 16:00 when the Sable started to move. The pattern quickly became, get out early in the morning and leave late in the afternoon. Otherwise, you miss them totally.

I spotted a herd along Sable road and we soon parked and started the stalk. It soon became apparent that we had significantly underestimated the number of eyes watching us from cover and the game was soon up.

This 4.7 Km stretch of Sable road had produced at least ten of sightings of various herds. They stayed in close to the water and thick cover and just escaped by moving off into the thick cover. They never went far, just far enough that repeated bumping was not going to bare fruit. So further chases were always called off.
Herd animals can be a real pain in the ass to stalk.

As we started out again I said out loud 1.4Km to go to the Sable. Really just joking.
Apparently I was correct.
I tapped on the roof and the Bakkie came to an immediate halt and Kurt quickly unwrapped his rifle and handed it to me.
This was the Bachelor herd of large bulls that had eluded us several times.
They were at about 180 yards.
I could see one of the younger bulls in an opening staring at us and not spooked yet, but now feeling to comfortable either.

I started to dismount the Bakkie and looked back and Simon was glued to the Binos in the back and not getting out.

There really was not a reasonable tree between me and the Sable where I could run and get a rest. NO bipod on Kurts rifle so...
I stopped and climbed back onto the ladder with my left foot.
At that point Kurt played his rifle case on the roof rack and I took the hint.

Simon noted the rifle pointing in the direction the smaller Sable. I heard: "Not that one". I knew that already and reassured him with a "I know". I was not about shoot some skinny horned youngster after seeing a couple of absolute brutes here.
"The one on the left is a big one". I could not see him yet from my vantage point but I figured that there was one just out of sight that must be bigger as the smaller guy was unwilling to leave with the big guy not showing distress. The herd was getting nervous and a few on the right bolted short distances and looked back.
I was now set on this opening and noticed a few small branches in the flight path and they made me nervous. I had long ago learned to check the entire path of the bullet to make sure about deflections.

Finally, a few seconds later the big guy cantered the few yards into the opening and was broadside quartering away slightly. Perfect.
It took me zero time to judge the horn size. Seeing the great big arc with good solid bases; BANG.
I was knocked back (standing on a ladder with one foot) and did not see the hit. I heard it.
I was nervous about those twigs.
After the shot my hand was shaking.

I handed Kurt his brass and we exchanged smiles. Reloaders want their brass back.

We started the follow up in the long grass. The sun would be going down soon and there was an urgency to find this guy quickly.

Martin and the trackers all bailed with us and we were off toward the spot where the Sable had been hit. I was not seeing blood. Quite quickly Ramondo pointed out a small spot of blood at the point of impact and I was immediately relieved. It had been bright pink. Thank you.

Martin, Kurt and the trackers stayed on the blood trail while Simon and I fanned out a bit and paralleled in the general direction of the egress of the herd.
In the midst of the tall grass Simon turned back and shouted to me about seeing the Sable and if it got up "did I mind if he shot it". "Hell, no. Get it on the ground!"

For no logical reason I was expecting to have already found the Sable at this point. This is within fifty yards of the point of impact. Insane actually.

Simon stopped and asked "Did I hear that?"
"What?" "Kicking, thrashing", i.e.. Last throws kicking. I had not heard it. I still had an ear plug in my ear.

We quickly readjusted search trajectory toward the sound and this took us closer to the blood trackers and I looked ahead forty yards and saw a very beautiful sight. Black and white on the ground at the edge of the thicket.
"There he is!"

I checked his eye and the hand shaking started in earnest. One celebratory whoop, some times you just can't help yourself.
I ran my hand span up the horns and he was very close to 40 inches by the guess and by golly method.
I was elated.

The bull had not made it more than hundred yards. The exit hole dead center of the off shoulder. Perfect bullet placement.
Thanks Kurt.

Thanks for the reassurance on the side from Simon and finally training my eye to be able to see Sable in the damned cover.

Then the quick turn around started to try and get pictures with the sun set.
Grass chopping and rearranging. Standard trophy picture stuff.

Ramondo and Marco . You'd think they were happy trackers.

A couple of happy PH's

Kurt had been right; It only took one Shot.


The Sable was loaded up quite quickly and we were off to camp for dinner and a few celebratory beverages.

It was quite a pleasure to have the staff bursting into song at our approach to camp. Great announcement of success.


Those tracks I had been watching certainly looked like this.

Later, I went into the skinning shed and watched Fernando helping with the skinning.

For the statisticians in the crowd, of which I am one, the guesstimate in the field was correct; close to forty.
Kurt measured it at 39.75 inches long and 9.75 inches bases.
34 inches is the minimum for Rowland Ward for Roosevelt or East African Sable.
That'll do pig, that'll do.

My AH hat with all the tears, sweat and dirt has been around for every Rowland Ward trophy I have taken. Not that I am superstitious.