Day 3 on PG.... We left the lodge early, headed for one of Martys favourite free-range Kudu properties where he'd had good success in the past. We also had the Kiwis along with Nick, hunting the other side of the huge property. There was plenty of huge deep gullies to hide a Kudu bull or three!
Driving into the property, the vegetation had just started to thicken up, when up ahead, 2 Kudu bulls leapt across the track in front of us! Marty and I leapt out just as quickly with rifle and sticks in hot pursuit. But it was short lived, as both bulls had not finished growing yet. We were after something old that had done his breeding...
Hunting along the ridge top and doing a lot of glassing, we then started dropping down into several promising draws and working our way around the faces. The going was steep and walking difficult through the knee-deep dry grass studded with rocks and boulders.
We located plenty of cows, but the bulls were nowhere to be found! Post-rut Kudu hunting can certainly be a challenge! Nevertheless it was big country, with thick vegetation, the Kudu were certainly there, and all we needed was patience and a little luck.
We met up with the Kiwis for lunch atop the biggest hill on the property, and one of the only clearings. The Neuper brothers figured we'd feel at home under the Black Wattles
That afternoon we made a long walk around a ridge top and glassed several promising remote valleys. Again more cows were all that we could locate. At one stage I got excited about a shape moving through the opposite face, only for a big waterbuck bull to walk out within range
Across the valley opposite us, a nice Mountain Reedbuck ram stood from his bed and commenced feeding along with two ewes. By this stage Mark had decided he well and truly couldn't live without one, so a long stalk commenced.
An hour later, the lads had pushed forward to the best position available, which was still close to 300m and resting over a termite mound. Mark's shot unfortunately narrowly missed, and the ram was not to be seen again
Martin and I took one last walk down, then up, another face in the hope a Kudu bull might have gotten hungry, but it was not to be, and there ended another day on Kudu.
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As Mark mentioned, the night before he'd skipped birthday cake to go and investigate a Bushpig bait that'd been getting hit recently. Unfortunately on that occasion, the wind got the better of them and no pigs were sighted.
Tonight, the property we'd been hunting was close enough to another property, which happened to be where I shot my big boar on a stalk-in bait in 2019. A year before that, Marius himself had bow-shot an absolute bus off the same bait. And now, the trail camera was indicating another big boar in the area. We may as well go and check it out!
I'll let
@Mark R take up the story again about here....
