Day 6 (Continued)
Once photographs and skinning were finished, we passed by the hotel to put the hide in the freezer then headed back to the place we hunted Ronda ibex yesterday. Alfonso is coming with us and bringing the Lapua. With this rifle I can shoot long range of the need arises.
We arrived at the finca which was in the La Fresneda (el enebral) mountains.
Alfonso had a nice lunch set for us when we arrived of Jamon, cheese, bread and dried sausages.
After a quick bite to eat we headed to the mountains. Driving up the valley floor, we stopped to glass for ibex. First, they scan the area with the thermal binoculars and when they locate animals, they follow up with the spotting scope.
At the second place we stopped to glass the mountainside with the thermals and Alfonso counted 98 Ibex across the face! They studied all of them carefully and saw several males but nothing exceptional.
We carried on and glassed several locations seeing some females and small males. We reached a place that Alfonso suggested we start walking. Before we got our backpacks on and ready to go, Geri spotted a very nice Billy on the skyline above us.
Quickly Alfonso got the 338 lapua set up and adjusted for the shot - 585 meters. The wind was gusty, so he adjusted as he believed, and I settled in for the shot
The lapua barked and I lost sight of the Billy when they all called it a miss.
I reloaded and located the Billy again moving across the mountainside. Once again Alfonso adjusted the turrets and when the ibex stopped, I took the shot, again a miss. This is when I wish I had my own rifle.
The Billy rounded a corner of the mountain and was out of sight, so we took off in the landcruiser to try and find him around the mountain.
As we rounded the corner and started up the hill Andreas was scanning with the thermal binoculars and spotted the Billy moving up and away from us. Quickly they got the rifle and set bags on the hood as it was an extreme uphill shot. I had a difficult time to locate the Billy as the sun was across my eye to the scope. Alfonso saw me struggling and put his hands up to block the sun. I located the Ibex and followed him, but he never stopped walking. I could see the skyline above and knew he would be out of sight in no time as he slowly walked away. I centered the crosshairs on his ass and let it fly. Andreas said, “good shot he is down”. The ibex was dead and that was literally the last shot I could take before he got away as he was only a few steps from cresting the peak of the mountain.
Andreas and Miguel, the gamekeeper went to the ibex while Geri and I started up the mountain for photos and skinning. It was shortly after 5 when we reached the ibex and I was exhausted and relieved at the same time. It has been a whirlwind day and I never imagined I would take two Ibex in one day!
When they were about half finished with the skinning, I started down the mountain as I knew it would take me more time as my knees are very sore.
We all made it off the mountain before sunset and we went back to the estancia for the paperwork then back to the hotel for dinner. The food has been amazing at this small hotel and vineyard, it’s been a wonderful place to stay, convenient to the hunting areas and very comfortable. The staff has been ever so friendly and made us feel right at home. After a celebratory cigar I was down for the night, exhausted from the week hunting in the mountains.
