Wildside Outdoors
AH veteran
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2013
- Messages
- 108
- Reaction score
- 132
- Location
- South Central Kentucky
- Media
- 65
- Member of
- RMEF, NWTF, SCI
- Hunted
- South Africa, Botswana, USA- AK, WY, UT, CO, TX, GA, FL, NC, TN, OH, IL, IN, MO, MI, and good ole KY.
Day 6:
Saturday morning was to be spent in search of an animal that had quickly worked its way through the hierarchy of my list, the bushbuck. Up to this point, we had seen a buck two different times from the main highway behind the lodge as we drove to other locations, so we were going to search quickly for him. This ram was a phenomenal dark color with good horns, so we were very hopeful that he would be in the back of the truck very soon.
Our usual route past the cattle gate along the main highway revealed that he was in his usual spot, so we drove on and turned around and entered from the hill above him. Once through the cattle gate we gathered our stuff and proceeded down the hill. Unfortunately we had to get to within 30 yards before we could get a clear view of the opening where he was at and by the time we reached that point, he was gone. Anticipating him moving away from the road we moved through the brush to the left and walked within 10 yards of him. Needless to say, he quickly let us know he was there and left the hillside with only a glimpse of him having been viewed.
Loodt did not want to push the bushbuck ram from the area, so we got back in the truck and continued along the farm roads looking for another ram. The next bushbuck we saw was only a female, but would have been an easy stalk from our viewing point. As we worked our way up the valley toward the East, Attie and Deon tapped the top of the truck, their usual signal for having spotted our quarry. “Bosbok ramme”. Although they could see the ram clearly from atop the truck, we were unable to get high enough on our feet to see over the brush and down into the valley. Carefully we slipped down the road in efforts to find a spot that would allow us to find a good vantage point. Just before reaching the perfect spot, a herd of kudu spotted us from across the valley. As they began their slow jog up the hill, we received signal that they had alerted our bushbuck. Once in position, we waited several minutes in an attempt to hopefully catch a glimpse of our boy. It must have been 10 minutes later when I caught a glimpse of the bushbuck. He moved through an opening only about 6’ across and did not allow for good evaluation, but I could clearly see that he was even darker than our previous ram: almost black. After approximately a half an hour we decided that the ram must have given us the slip and we continued on. In the pasture atop the hill were warthogs, zebra, gemsbok and impala. As it was now after 0900, we decided that the bushbuck hunting was almost over and began to head out to another area where we were to search for baboons. Just before leaving the pasture a nice bushbuck ram ran out from the opposite side of the pasture almost toward us to a grouping of trees that were probably 5-7 acres in size. As there was no time for a shot and the ram would probably be in that group of trees if left alone, we opted to move on and come back to size him up later that afternoon.
Later I found out that this part of South Africa is much like my home state of KY – everybody knows everybody, because everybody is kin……………… lol, no pun intended. We would be pursuing baboons on a friend and uncle of Loodt’s as they were constantly complaining of the “expletive, expletive, expletive baboons”. As we drove down the access road into the Bend River area, the road was littered with baboon scat, but I was yet to see a baboon except from the main highway. At the landowner’s home we were quickly given the Intel on where the baboons liked to frequent and began our search. Unfortunately our efforts proved fruitless, but I was able to see some absolutely beautiful country.
Later we found a group of baboons from over a mile away and attempted to get closer with the vehicle before beginning our stalk. Although they did not run from the sight of the truck at this distance, by the time we had driven to within a half mile out of sight and stalked to where we had seen them, they were long gone. Then we spotted them moving away in the distance and began a very fast approach. They had crossed an open field and into a very thick prickly pear thicket ahead of us. We moved out into the field just enough to get past the rise so that we could see the other side and we stopped there and put the sticks down. Loodt began calling with his mouth and within moments one appeared on the other side. The baboon was there only for a split second and I took a moment too long trying to ensure it was a male. As I squeezed the trigger, I watched the baboon turn to run the other direction, but it was too late as the trigger pull was already too far in motion. I actually thought I might have gotten lucky as the baboon made a weird commotion at the shot, but as it was later discovered, it was only because it had been standing on the prickly pear and not on the ground and I had quite literally scared the crap out of it. That’s enough in the miss department!!
We had a late lunch at the lodge and put together a plan for the bushbuck that afternoon. Even though the ram we had seen was running across the field we were able to see that he was definitely a shooter and appeared lighter in color than the other two we had seen.
It was still early, just barely before 4pm, but we had decided that we wanted to get in early and possibly position ourselves so that we could wait for the bushbuck to present himself. That was the plan, but the bushbuck had other ideas. As we began to circle the cover through the sparse vegetation to the south, we spotted him. The ram was already out feeding and had not seen us approaching. Had I known that this would be the case, I would have definitely packed the bow, but instead had Loodt’s .308 in my hands. Once we saw how long the horns were on this guy, I wouldn’t have cared if I had been shooting a Gatling gun from a helicopter – HE WAS A MONSTER! We threw the sticks up and I made the 80 yard shot count and boy was I ever happy.
His age was very evident with the wiry hair on his body that had been bleached with his age. The neck, while often having a bald spot on the back, was almost barren of any hair from the brisket and top of shoulders to the throat. His belly was mostly bare and his face had no hair above the nose to the base of the horn and the chevron was non-existent. He had several battle scars which included a badly scarred and formerly broken leg that had healed with large calcification. Only flattened spots showed for his lower incisors and his molars were down to the gums. This was truly an old Monarch. 15 ¾ inches of monarch!
Saturday morning was to be spent in search of an animal that had quickly worked its way through the hierarchy of my list, the bushbuck. Up to this point, we had seen a buck two different times from the main highway behind the lodge as we drove to other locations, so we were going to search quickly for him. This ram was a phenomenal dark color with good horns, so we were very hopeful that he would be in the back of the truck very soon.
Our usual route past the cattle gate along the main highway revealed that he was in his usual spot, so we drove on and turned around and entered from the hill above him. Once through the cattle gate we gathered our stuff and proceeded down the hill. Unfortunately we had to get to within 30 yards before we could get a clear view of the opening where he was at and by the time we reached that point, he was gone. Anticipating him moving away from the road we moved through the brush to the left and walked within 10 yards of him. Needless to say, he quickly let us know he was there and left the hillside with only a glimpse of him having been viewed.
Loodt did not want to push the bushbuck ram from the area, so we got back in the truck and continued along the farm roads looking for another ram. The next bushbuck we saw was only a female, but would have been an easy stalk from our viewing point. As we worked our way up the valley toward the East, Attie and Deon tapped the top of the truck, their usual signal for having spotted our quarry. “Bosbok ramme”. Although they could see the ram clearly from atop the truck, we were unable to get high enough on our feet to see over the brush and down into the valley. Carefully we slipped down the road in efforts to find a spot that would allow us to find a good vantage point. Just before reaching the perfect spot, a herd of kudu spotted us from across the valley. As they began their slow jog up the hill, we received signal that they had alerted our bushbuck. Once in position, we waited several minutes in an attempt to hopefully catch a glimpse of our boy. It must have been 10 minutes later when I caught a glimpse of the bushbuck. He moved through an opening only about 6’ across and did not allow for good evaluation, but I could clearly see that he was even darker than our previous ram: almost black. After approximately a half an hour we decided that the ram must have given us the slip and we continued on. In the pasture atop the hill were warthogs, zebra, gemsbok and impala. As it was now after 0900, we decided that the bushbuck hunting was almost over and began to head out to another area where we were to search for baboons. Just before leaving the pasture a nice bushbuck ram ran out from the opposite side of the pasture almost toward us to a grouping of trees that were probably 5-7 acres in size. As there was no time for a shot and the ram would probably be in that group of trees if left alone, we opted to move on and come back to size him up later that afternoon.
Later I found out that this part of South Africa is much like my home state of KY – everybody knows everybody, because everybody is kin……………… lol, no pun intended. We would be pursuing baboons on a friend and uncle of Loodt’s as they were constantly complaining of the “expletive, expletive, expletive baboons”. As we drove down the access road into the Bend River area, the road was littered with baboon scat, but I was yet to see a baboon except from the main highway. At the landowner’s home we were quickly given the Intel on where the baboons liked to frequent and began our search. Unfortunately our efforts proved fruitless, but I was able to see some absolutely beautiful country.
Later we found a group of baboons from over a mile away and attempted to get closer with the vehicle before beginning our stalk. Although they did not run from the sight of the truck at this distance, by the time we had driven to within a half mile out of sight and stalked to where we had seen them, they were long gone. Then we spotted them moving away in the distance and began a very fast approach. They had crossed an open field and into a very thick prickly pear thicket ahead of us. We moved out into the field just enough to get past the rise so that we could see the other side and we stopped there and put the sticks down. Loodt began calling with his mouth and within moments one appeared on the other side. The baboon was there only for a split second and I took a moment too long trying to ensure it was a male. As I squeezed the trigger, I watched the baboon turn to run the other direction, but it was too late as the trigger pull was already too far in motion. I actually thought I might have gotten lucky as the baboon made a weird commotion at the shot, but as it was later discovered, it was only because it had been standing on the prickly pear and not on the ground and I had quite literally scared the crap out of it. That’s enough in the miss department!!
We had a late lunch at the lodge and put together a plan for the bushbuck that afternoon. Even though the ram we had seen was running across the field we were able to see that he was definitely a shooter and appeared lighter in color than the other two we had seen.
It was still early, just barely before 4pm, but we had decided that we wanted to get in early and possibly position ourselves so that we could wait for the bushbuck to present himself. That was the plan, but the bushbuck had other ideas. As we began to circle the cover through the sparse vegetation to the south, we spotted him. The ram was already out feeding and had not seen us approaching. Had I known that this would be the case, I would have definitely packed the bow, but instead had Loodt’s .308 in my hands. Once we saw how long the horns were on this guy, I wouldn’t have cared if I had been shooting a Gatling gun from a helicopter – HE WAS A MONSTER! We threw the sticks up and I made the 80 yard shot count and boy was I ever happy.
His age was very evident with the wiry hair on his body that had been bleached with his age. The neck, while often having a bald spot on the back, was almost barren of any hair from the brisket and top of shoulders to the throat. His belly was mostly bare and his face had no hair above the nose to the base of the horn and the chevron was non-existent. He had several battle scars which included a badly scarred and formerly broken leg that had healed with large calcification. Only flattened spots showed for his lower incisors and his molars were down to the gums. This was truly an old Monarch. 15 ¾ inches of monarch!
