Day 4 (April 12)
This morning we were up early – 4.30. John decided we should be sitting in a blind during the morning, since a hyena was coming to the hillside blind at erratic times. So we were in the "hillside" blind at about 5.50 am, and sat until about 11 am. No activity, unless you count a vulture feeding on the bait.
While we were sitting, the other baits and trail cams were being checked. This time the trail cams showed that a hyena came to the bait we had been sitting at last night a couple of hours after we left, and interestingly, at about 10 am the morning of the 11th, so not long after we’d checked the camera and left. No honey badgers had come to that bait, but they (or others) had visited the “open field” bait, which also got a visit from a hyena. Bush pig had been to almost all of our baits, but at odd times. And still leopard. We must be feeding a significant number of leopards.
Based on the trail cams, we decide to sit again at the open field bait, so 5 pm sees us in the blind. I have all my warm clothing, although temperatures seem to be rising with the phase of the moon (we are about 10 days from the full moon), and after a night (and day) in the hill blind, I’m happy to be in the comfortable blind again.
At exactly 6.10 pm, Richard taps my knee, and I look at him, surprised. It’s still very light, and I can see him clearly. He stands slowly and looks towards the bait. He sits back down and tells me there’s a honey badger on the meat. I’m to get up, slowly, and get ready. We’ve already discussed the shot placement for the various body positions – Richard tells me this one will be tough unless he moves – he’s sideways to us, so the shot should go on the line where the colour changes on the skin.
I stand up slowly, and sure enough, there he is, ripping pieces of meat off the bait. The blind is in a small treed area, so there’s a good chance he can’t see us because of the shadows. I put my gun in position – the .375 again – and decide I have time, so I experiment with the scope, illuminating the reticle and then looking without. I zoom in a bit, and then zoom back out. I’m glad I’m so calm! I decide not to illuminate the reticle for the shot, and place the crosshairs. I take the shot, and he does a summersault, and drops, stone dead!
I’m thrilled, but that now poses another problem. Do we go get him and take pictures, or leave him there and wait to see if anything else comes in? Richard is worried that if a hyena comes in, it might just grab the honey badger, which isn’t tied down, in lieu of the bait, which is. So that decides it; we get out to take some pictures and put our badger in a safe place.
I was really tickled to get this honey badger – I’d only seen one once before in Zimbabwe, and I know they aren’t always easy to find. But I found out something else. These things stink! He stunk as if he’d been sprayed by a skunk – a very musty smell that gets you in the back of the throat. I decided it was only right to let my PH handle him . . .
We returned to the blind quietly after a few minutes. At about 8 pm Richard tapped my knee again, and whispered that he thought a hyena was at the bait. He got up slowly and looked through a night vision monocular, but there was nothing to see. And nothing else came to the bait that evening.
We decided to drive back to the house instead of spotlighting. Once we arrived at Richard’s front gate, John thought we should get on the back of the truck and spotlight until we got to the house – about a quarter mile or so. Not one minute later John says it again: “Get ready” and again, I see nothing. Then suddenly, there they are, eyes. I quickly put the crosshairs on the eyes and I lower them a bit, and pull the trigger. The eyes disappear. I can see John because of the spotlight he’s holding, and he’s smiling at me, and holds out his hand. “Congratulations, you have a fine civet!”
I ask him to hold the light on the animal, and I jump out, rifle in hand, and run over to the spot. There is in fact a civet, heaving a few last breaths. I let him die, and break out into a huge grin. Honey badger and civet in the same night. Things are improving!
Of course, I have the same concerns as I had with the serval – I didn’t know what I was shooting at, and I really didn’t know where I was putting the crosshairs. I am starting to reconcile myself to that, but tell myself that once this hunt is over, we are back to the old rules.
So we head back to the house just a little happier than we were when we left it.
(Just to the right of the rifle)
