3RD LEG Pieter our PH from Eland Pro Safaris picked us up in Windhoek at the B&B at 7:30 in the morning and we started the 5 1/2 drive north to their lodge. We enjoyed the view from the car and saw a lot of country from the seat. We arrived and met the owner Gerrit who ordinarily is the PH but his son was getting married that week and they would be gone most of our hunt. That was fine as he let me know months in advance and Pieters mother had come to cook and we got along very well and really had a good time. Their place is low fenced. We only had 3 1/2 days of hunting before we had to leave for SA again. We had a small package of One warthog, a blesbok and a baboon. The first day we arrived there was enough time to hunt that evening, Sue decided to rest so Pieter and I went to a elevated hide and saw several fairly large sows, impala, and kudu, but the wind was swirling some and nothing I wanted came in. DAY 1 The next morning Sue and I sat together in the same hide but again the wind was swirling some and we didn't have any shot opportunities at anything. We had a few hogs, kudu and impala come in but no shooters, wildebeest, gemsbok and zebra winded us. The evening hunt was much the same with one nice kudu bull catching our wind. DAY 2 The next morning we sat the same hide as the wind had finally straightened out and we saw blue wildebeest and impala, but again no shooters. One thing that we did see was a eagle swoop down and kill a guinea right in front of the hide at about 15 yards, spectacular!!! That afternoon we sat a different hide where they said black wildebeest like to water and a black was high on my list!! The first thing to show was jackal but he must have seen or heard me as I got ready to shoot and took off. DANG!! Next came about 25 blesbok with one large ram, they stayed around for 15 minutes within range and he was always in front or behind another, Sue never did get a shot even though she drew 3 different times! Then just before dark we heard the unmistakable clicking of eland bulls walking, 4 large bulls came in, the largest bodied bull just never would give me a shot, this went on for 15 minutes but finally another bull turned broadside at 22 yards and I took the shot. I lost site of the arrow and didn't know where I hit but there was a loud crack on impact. We waited 45 minutes and took up the track in the dark but could never be sure which eland we were following, no blood, after a couple of hours we found a little blood about 4 hundred yards from the hide, we marked the spot and would resume the search in the morning. It was clear the bull wasn't shot where he needed to be, a million things kept running through my head along with a very sick feeling in my stomach. Sleep was impossible!!! To make a long story short the trackers found the bull about 150 yards from where left the trail the night before. It was a difficult tracking job as there was almost no blood and there was a large herd of eland cows and a few bulls that went through after my bull. It was evident that the bull had just died, the meat and the cape were still good. While I was elated to recover the bull and not have it go to waste, I was very disappointed with my shooting!!. The arrow hit the right height but too far back, the loud crack was the arrow centering a rib on entry and cut it off, went and stuck through the off side rib but didn't exit. I was shooting #63 Bowtech Assassin and Magnus stinger 4 blades with a total arrow weight of 450 grains. That evening we were back in the same hide when a lone blesbok ram came in but before he presented Sue with a shot a herd of black wildebeest came running in to the water and ran him off. There was one good bull in the group of 23, he finally gave me a perfect quartering away broadside at 20, I passed as I was hoping I could do better. After watching the video and sharing it with another PH I regret that decision but it's another excuse to return! Several kudu and one very large bull came in but the bull stayed out of range, he was spectacular as he had the shape that I love when the horns come all the way around and tip out! DAY 3 Our last day we sat the elevated hide but the wind swirled all morning, we saw game in the distance but they never came close. That evening we sat the hide where I shot the eland and didn't see anything until just before dark when 2 large eland bulls and a few cows came in, both very nice old bulls. The next morning we headed out early for Windhoek to catch the plane back to SA. We had comfortable accommodations, good food and a good time. This place would be awesome place to rifle hunt free range eland bulls as they do it the traditional way of checking water holes, find a bull track and follow it up. In 3 days we saw 6 mature eland bulls and dozens of cows and young bulls. No wonder they call it Eland Pro Safaris. Will post pictures tomorrow and write the last leg of our adventure.