SOUTH AFRICA: NAMIBIA: Wintershoek/Ozondjahe Hunt Report 2015

[Warbird782]

Fine kudu indeed sir! This has been a fun story line to follow.

 

[Hank2211]

June 5 – Day 19

We start the morning on another part of the property, driving fence lines looking for tracks of cheetah coming onto the property. A difficult morning, dragging trees, and again, no trace of cheetah (but lots of leopard tracks . . .). By 11 am we are close to the mountains, and it’s hot, with the sun beating down on us. I had told Theo at the start of our hunt that I needed a dik dik as part of my tiny ten, and he tells me we’re coming into dik dik country, so be ready. Unfortunately I hadn’t brought the .416, so I’d be shooting the .300. I’d been told, by just about everyone, that I should aim far back to avoid destroying the cape. These aren’t tough animals, everyone says, so just hit it.

Within minutes of Theo telling me to be ready, we spot a female. We stop; Theo says the male must be close by. Sure enough, we see him, but Theo says not old enough, I should wait. We continue driving, and before long, we see a male in the thorn bushes, not 80 yards away. He’s standing still, looking at us, but doesn’t seem particularly worried. I slowly get off, and get the gun up. I aim for the hindquarters, something I never do (intentionally – remember the warthog!), and take the shot. He jerks, seems to stumble, and then runs into the bushes.

I expect to find him dead within a few yards, as do we all. We start tracking through the extremely thick thorn bushes, and it’s a painful and slow task. We don’t find him nearby, so we keep tracking. After 20 minutes of this, it’s clear he’s way tougher than everyone says he is. By this time we’re halfway up a mountain, and it’s hot and difficult tracking. And then no blood. Not a drop.

Gottfried is sent to Theo’s house to get the dogs – a small but mature Jack Russell and a larger, but only 6 months old, Red Tick.

Theo says we should go back to the truck and head to camp for lunch. He’ll wait for the dogs and will do what he can to find the dik dik. He’s very clear – “this is an expensive trophy, I won’t give up.” I agree to go back to the truck – there’s not much I can do on the hill, and I’m in the way, but I tell him point blank that as long as we’re looking for it, I’m not going anywhere.

We get back to the truck, arms scrapped raw from thorns, and all of us bleeding from odd places where we’ve caught a thorn. Hannes now has a pierced ear, which I’m almost convinced he doesn’t approve of on men, and I have thorns in some unusual places.

Gottfried gets back with the dogs, and they immediately run up the hill, but the red tick is all over the place, and keeps coming back to the truck. Almost an hour goes by, and we have moved to the road, sitting in the shade of the truck, providing water to the dogs which both turn up at odd times. I am convinced that we won’t recover this animal.

After some time – a bit more than an hour - Theo comes out of the bushes about 300 yards down the road from us. He clearly hasn’t found it, but this is my mess, not his.

All of a sudden, the Jack Russell starts to bark, and Theo yells, “there it is!” I run up, and there, lying under a bush not 10 feet from the road, is the dik dik, already stiff. It looks like he’d run up the mountain and back down, likely without stopping, and then lay down under the bush and died. From his condition we guessed he likely died over an hour before, which is to say within minutes of my shooting him.

As a result of his condition, we quickly take a very few pictures, then we soak him in what water we have left. Apparently they are prone to hair slip, and in that heat, Theo doesn’t want to take any chances.

I can’t thank Theo enough for not giving up. I’m sure many would have – there was simply no blood and no tracks. Even the dogs couldn’t get the scent. Theo is the most scratched up of all of us, but he’s done a fine job, and I’m grateful.

With the dik dik down, I now need only the suni and the Sharpe’s grysbuck to complete the tiny ten. And if I hadn’t missed on the suni. . .

Now that we need to get back to the skinning shed, we can’t find the red tick. Theo throws his coat over a tree, and says the dog will eventually show up and will wait by the coat, so off we go. And sure enough, while we were having lunch, Gottfried came back and there was Shaka waiting under the tree with the coat!

We go back out late in the afternoon, but again, no sign of cheetah.

 

[Wheels]

When I first went to Africa there was hunter in camp who had a guy doing video. My reaction was "who does he think he is?" On a subsequent hunt I was with a non-hunting friend who used a small Sony Handicam (or whatever it was) to film some of what I was doing. At the end of the hunt he downloaded all of the footage to my computer, and when I had some spare time, I learned how to make a movie on my Mac. I surprised myself (and annoyed my wife) with the number of times I watched the video! So I decided to try a professional, and that's how I met Hannes Pienaar, who has filmed most of my hunts. I now have hours of footage, and it still tickles me to watch them. I also filmed this hunt, as you know, with my son. I hope that one day, my kids and grandkids (god willing, but not just yet) enjoy seeing what the old man used to do for fun!

I have never done the video but can see how it would add hours of entertainment in the future.

I would certainly enjoy seeing a 5-30 minute video of your hunt if you are ever willing to share it.

 

[Hank2211]

I have never done the video but can see how it would add hours of entertainment in the future.

I would certainly enjoy seeing a 5-30 minute video of your hunt if you are ever willing to share it.

I've tried to post some videos in the past, and the only way to do it is to link to something like Youtube or Vimeo. Not a big problem, but at that point it's all open to anyone, and these days . . .

It will be while before I get the video from this particular hunt, so hopefully the world will calm down by then.

 

[Redruff]

Wonderful dik dik Hank! C'mon cheetah success! Keep plinking at the keyboard please.

R.

 

[bluey]

nice dik dik, hank....
that kudu is a dandy ,too mate...
your having a great adventure ,here.....

 

[Royal27]

Hank,

You do realize that you are putting an incredible amount of pressure on yourself, right??? I mean how are you going to beat that ostrich story next year??? And could you even call it a safari if you don't get an ostrich???

And I'm REALLY excited for you and the dik-dik!!! That is the tiny one that I want more than all others, really more than almost any animal. When I was a kid we would go and visit family friends and tey had a huge trophy room (he had hunted Kenya among other places in the 50s). He had the Big 5 plus tons of others. My mother's favorite animal was the dik-dik. I thnk becasue of its size.

At any rate, when/if I get one I'll do a full body mount and give it to her.

 

[Hank2211]

Hank,

You do realize that you are putting an incredible amount of pressure on yourself, right??? I mean how are you going to beat that ostrich story next year??? And could you even call it a safari if you don't get an ostrich???

And I'm REALLY excited for you and the dik-dik!!! That is the tiny one that I want more than all others, really more than almost any animal. When I was a kid we would go and visit family friends and tey had a huge trophy room (he had hunted Kenya among other places in the 50s). He had the Big 5 plus tons of others. My mother's favorite animal was the dik-dik. I thnk becasue of its size.

At any rate, when/if I get one I'll do a full body mount and give it to her.

Royal, it gets worse. I'm going to Ethiopia in 2016. I din't know if they even have ostriches there! (A blessing in disguise?)

The dik dik was great - especially getting it when I'd given up hope. But I have to say the hunt is easier than for suni! That may be because I got a dik dik though - someone who got a suni might say it's an easy hunt, but don't think it's possible!

Full mount it is.

 

[Royal27]

Royal, it gets worse. I'm going to Ethiopia in 2016. I din't know if they even have ostriches there! (A blessing in disguise?)

At least per Wikipedia the pressure is still on!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ethiopia

Sometimes I'd rather be lucky than good! My Sharpes Grysbok that started my interest in the tiny ten was like that, although I hear they can be tough. For me though... It walked out. I shot it. The end

 

[bluey]

the sharpes grysbok , sounds like a gift from artemis, the rest you will have to earn ........

 

[Hank2211]

At least per Wikipedia the pressure is still on!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ethiopia

Sometimes I'd rather be lucky than good! My Sharpes Grysbok that started my interest in the tiny ten was like that, although ot hear they can be tough. Fpr me though... It walked out. I shot it. The end

Great, thanks. Now what . . . mountain nyala or ostrich?

 

[Royal27]

Great, thanks. Now what . . . mountain nyala or ostrich?

there is really a question?

 

[Hank2211]

there is really a question?

Nope. Just trying to be funny. Ostrich every time.

Think I need to learn some Ethiopian?

 

[Warbird782]

Mountain Nyala and Harnessed Bushbuck would be outstanding. Maybe throw in an Abyssinian Kudu for good measure. Ethiopia would be out of this world to hunt!

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

I'm going to Ethiopia in 2016.

@Hank2211, Just in case you have not yet seen it: ETHIOPIA: Africa The Way It Used To Be: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/ethiopia-africa-the-way-it-used-to-be.1193/.

 

[Hank2211]

Mountain Nyala and Harnessed Bushbuck would be outstanding. Maybe throw in an Abyssinian Kudu for good measure. Ethiopia would be out of this world to hunt!

Melenik's bushbuck is beautiful as well . . .

One of the challenges of Ethiopia is that you need to pay the trophy fee up front, and if you don't get the animal, too bad, no refunds. I think it may be the only country in Africa that does this - and if it weren't for such species as the mountain nyala, it wouldn't work.

 

[Hank2211]

@Hank2211, Just in case you have not yet seen it: ETHIOPIA: Africa The Way It Used To Be: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/ethiopia-africa-the-way-it-used-to-be.1193/.

Thanks Jerome. I think Mark has a bigger bank account than I do!

 

[gillettehunter]

Nice report. That Dik Dik is a cool little critter. Congrats. Bruce

 

[Bobpuckett]

That is one Awesome Report loved the read and the pictures are great, makes me want to be there. Thanks and Congrats to all.

 

[Hank2211]

June 6 – Day 20

We spend nearly all of Saturday looking for any sign of cheetah but again come up empty. I think this is starting to affect both Peter and I, because our shooting has definitely become sub par (at least mine has). And then disaster strikes.

We come up to a water hole at about 5 pm, and there are a bunch of kudu some 150 yards away. There is a male, and he looks pretty good. Theo gets Peter up on the sticks, but the male keeps going in and out of the bushes, and isn’t standing still long enough for Peter to get a shot. Eventually, he’s looking right at us, and Theo asks Peter if he can see the chest through the bushes. Peter says he can, and Theo says to shoot for the middle of the chest. Peter takes the shot, and we see the kudu buck, and then run into the brush behind him.

Again, we expect to find him dead within less than 100 yards. Everyone thinks it was a good shot, but I have to say that as Dean and I get off the truck, Dean (who is a Zim PH) says to me that he hates the frontal shot, and wouldn’t have let Peter take it, even as he says it looks like a good hit. Too much can go wrong, he says.

We start looking for the kudu, but don’t find him quickly. Theo and Gottfried go back to where he was standing, and there’s no blood, but we know he was hit, we can see it on the video. The track is easy to follow, and they begin tracking at a pretty fair clip. We see the kudu after about 20 minutes, but can’t get a shot, and he's off again. After an hour of this, it’s apparent he wasn’t badly hit, and we’re quickly running out of light. In fact, for the last five minutes, Gottfried has been tracking using his cell phone!

We finally tie a Kleenex to a tree, and tell Peter we’ll have to pick it up in the morning, with the dog. Again!

Getting out of the bush to the road is no easy matter. I can’t see that well in the dark, so Theo gives me a cell phone to help me avoid trees and holes. Before we get to the road, it’s pitch black – the moon hasn’t yet risen, and the sun is long gone. But we eventually do find the road, though I'm a little the worse for the experience - thorns you can see are bad enough, but thorns you can't see . . . tend to get you! Gottfried goes off to get the truck; we’re all happy to finally get back to camp.

Peter, though, is very unhappy about the whole situation. He thought he’d made a good shot, and to have this happen is not helping his confidence. I do what I can to try to keep his spirits up, but he’s worried about the wounded animal, and angry with himself for making a bad shot.

June 7 – Day 21

We get up early this morning, mostly because Peter can’t sleep. I tell him if there’s any way the animal can be found, it will be, but he’s not convinced, and frankly either am I.

We head out as soon as there’s enough light, and we have the Jack Russell with us. We get to the spot on the road where we came out of the bush, and start back-tracking to where we left the Kleenex. There still isn’t a whole lot of light, and we actually lose the track a few times – how can you lose the track of five people with big feet stumbling around the bush in the dark and expect to find a kudu track?! But we always find our track, and in a pretty short period of time get to the Kleenex. From this point it’s back to the kudu tracks.

We find no blood, and the dog is kept on a leash for the first while. Before long, we find that the kudu crossed the road the night before, and went into the brush on the other side. We still haven’t found where he lay down, and I’m worried.

After about an hour of tracking we find where he lay down. About a hundred yards from there we find another spot where he lay down, and this one looks pretty fresh. Theo lets the dog go, and within a couple of hundred yards, the dog starts to bark. Peter is right there with Theo, and manages to get a shot off, and it’s a good one. Through both shoulders. The kudu goes about 10 yards and drops, dead. I actually think I’m more relieved than Peter, who’s pretty darn relieved about finding it.

It turns out that Peter’s initial shot had been low in the chest, and he had gotten the angle wrong (angle? I thought it was straight on!). The kudu had not been looking squarely at us, but at a bit of an angle. The bullet went in the brisket, out behind the shoulder without breaking anything, and then back in, where it seemed to have ended up in the guts somewhere. No blood, but he must have been in some difficulty.

I discovered one interesting fact as we set up the kudu for pictures. It turns out that Jack Russells, or at least this one, are racist. The dog lay down right in front of the kudu, sort of tucked in between his legs. Theo told me to go and pet the kudu, which I did, wondering why. Nothing happened. He then told one of the trackers to get some dust off the kudu, and as soon as the tracker touched the animal, the dog barked and tried to bite him! Theo swears the dog wasn’t trained to do that!

After recovering the kudu, pretty early in the day, we were back on our hunt for cheetah, but again, came up empty.