Acopperdawg
AH senior member
- Day 8 (Wednesday July 17th )
- I had mixed feelings and could barely put into words the events of this day when I called home to tell Cassie about it right before I tried and failed to fall asleep at the end of this day. This was a top ten, possibly a top 4 day in my life right behind my wedding and the birth of both boys. I will do my best to explain the day and how it went from adrenalin peaks to crash over and over throughout the day.
- We started off very early, I think we were wheels up and in rally car mode speeding away from camp at 5:00 AM. It was a cool and refreshing morning to this fat Texas kid. I believe the temperature was in the upper 60s, but you would have thought we were bracing for a snow storm the way the boys on the back of the truck were bundled up. We speed through the early morning for nearly an hour. Creatures of the night did their best to dash out of the way, we saw a genet cat and a civet cat at different places and even saw an extremely distraught baby elephant make a mad dash through the headlights with its trunk flopping and flailing through the air. I pictured a kid in a store aisle that has just become aware of the fact that mom and dad are no longer around, and they take off in utter terror that they might be left. This elephant had that look. I am not sure how old it was, but it was taller than the hood of the truck, but not taller than the roof but it was sure moving. We speed through the sleeping town of Ngarimi Village. I could see dimly lit figures stoking small fires outside their front doors as I imagine they were preparing to set a pot of coffee or start breakfast. Otherwise, the village was extremely quit as we passed. We were hunting buffalo and were hoping to time our arrival on the western side of the village with the buffalo heading back across the main road from south to north. They spend the night feeding in the village crop fields over night and slip back into the thick brush on the north side of the road as day is breaking. We had gone about 2 miles out of town when Patsun spotted a bull and was out of his seat and almost to the ground before the truck came to a stop. I will admit that the cool air and the drive had my fingers cold and I found myself wishing I had worn gloves as I was feebly fumbling a solid into the chamber. We speed off into the brush and the sharp eyes of Patsun and Aisha quickly found the minutes old track. We followed the track slowly and quietly; we knew we were merely minutes behind this buffalo. We came around the corner of some brush and found ourselves fully exposed and in the open with a mixed herd of wildebeest and impala directly in front of us. It appeared to us that the buffalo had made hast through this group of wide eyed animals and we were going to have to work our way around them to avoid alerting half of the country to our presence. Asiah dutifully and slowly followed the track towards the watchful herd and to our relief the buff had turned before the herd and angled to our right. We quickened the pace and had not traveled very far when the buffalo broke out of cover maybe 40 yards ahead of us and to our right. Immediately Lupo started forcefully shouting “shoot that buffalo……….shoot that BUFFALO…..SHOOT THAT BUFFALO!”. He covered roughly 60 yards very quickly and as luck would have it stopped directly behind a large tree. The tree was big enough to completely hid this 1,500 pound animal. All I could see was his back left knee and hoof. All the while Lupo is repeating at just a little bit quieter than a shout “SHOOT THAT BUFFALO”. Asiha was two steps to my right with the shooting sticks. He threw them up, I stepped over and got the gun on them. The buffalo broke from cover and Lupo shouted “ON THE RUN”. I squeezed off a running shot at roughly 80 yards. Lupo heard the impact and the buffalo disappeared out of site with a crash and a bunch of bellowing and grunting. We took 30 seconds to discuss the shot and followed after. We went to the spot of the shot and began the track. Lupo, Asiha and Patsun in the lead, Ryan and I in the middle with Sadee behind us with a 375. We came through a small low. Ryan and I had dropped back to allow the guys to work out the track. We were roughly 10-20 yards behind them when we heard movement to my left about 20 yards away. Lupo turned and yelled to shoot, but I could not identify the source of the noise. It was a dark bramble of brush that the buffalo was in. Then he stood up and all hell broke loose. Sadee and I both shot 3 time and Lupo shot twice. The result of the lead going down range was that the buffalo only went another 10 yards before crashing down and letting out the first death bellow I have ever heard in person. He was a monster by all accounts. He had smooth wide bosses with an incredible mass that he carried all the way to the tips of his horns. He had very little rearward sweep as he carried all his length out to the side and his upward hook. I knew only that he looked enormous, I was naïve to just how impressive he actually is. Initial measurement had him at almost 42 inches wide, but he had much more character to him than just his width. He had a roman nose that is characteristic of an old animal, and his face was cris crossed with long healed scars. He had blown several layers of horn off his left boss. The kind of damage that must only come from blunt force trauma. I hate to see what the other guy looked like after that fight. His ears were tattered and beat up around the edges from years of fighting. He was losing the hair on his face and turning white which is another indication of age, but an examination of the entire animal showed how much muscle mass this animal had once carried. You could clearly by the way the skin hung around his neck and draped across his shoulders and hips; this prize fighter had lost an enormous amount of body condition. If you took it all into consideration and wound back time in your mind, the animal laying before me would have been a mountainous beast in his prime. Likely every bit the animal you hear described in stories and probably just at terrifying. I am not sure I will ever shoot a buffalo that has everything that this one has. Mass, age, width and character, but I am honored to have been blessed to see this animal in person. I knew without a doubt that I did not have the space to shoulder mount this monster, but I took a picture of this beast as he laid there. Its this picture that will probably make me regret the decision to do a euro for a long time. Its a picture of his scared face, his roman nose and dewlap and I can only imagine how a great taxidermist could have done this warrior the justice he deserved.
- We called the bigger truck to come meet us and make packing out this monster easier. Lupo and I sat down for some instant coffee and had an impromptu therapy session that only happens at random times like this. No sense in trying to describe the conversation, that isn't the point of my even noting it. It was the type of conversation that only those of us that have experienced can appreciate and I certainly did. I hope the council I provided was as helpful as his was to me.
- As I said, this day was full of adrenaline peaks and crashes. I was calming down from the morning and the buffalo as we loaded back up in the cruiser. We made the short drive back through town and made an unexpected turn between two narrowly spaced huts and were very quickly in the thick brush just outside of town. We were not more than three or four hundred yards outside of town when the truck stopped. There laying in the brush not 100 yards away were two Dugga boys laying in the shade. I was shocked when Lupo jumped out of the truck. I grabbed the 375, climbed down and went to chamber a round. It was then that I realized I had not refilled my magazine or the shell carrier on the butt of my gun. I had 3 softs and a single solid with me as I rounded the corner of the truck. I chambered the single round and got on the sticks next to Lupo. He was assessing and waiting for the larger buffalo to clear when they broke and ran into the brush. Lupo was off like a flash. I took this opportunity to try and refill the magazine. I guess that Lupo would want the solid to be followed by the softs. I was running behind Lupo and falling behind while desperately trying to jam cartridges into the gun. I caught up to Lupo as he set the sticks again. The buffalo were 100 yards ahead of us looking at us like we were annoying, but there was no shot and they moved off again. I took the opportunity to confirm the solid soft configuration and we were off again. We closed on them within a couple hundred feet, but they where in some thick brush and the smaller bull was blocking the larger one. Lupo crawled to the left roughly 20 feet to check a shooting lane and beckoned me over. I crawled to him, and we attempted to set the shooting sticks very low for a sitting shot. The homemade sticks are amazing and the wood they are made out of is flexible and hard. You feel like you could beat a lion with them, and they wouldn’t break. However, the hand carved end of them is rounded from use and was slipping at the extreme angle. I could not get a steady rest. The buffalo figured out what was happening and moved off into the brush. We set off in pursuit, but as we had come to learn. Buffalo and many game species will walk with their butt into the wind and switch back and forth to keep it there when pursued. Nature is amazing in that way. They can walk away from a predator with the wind bringing them constant updates about their pursuer. Once it is clear that this is what is happening, you are in for a very long day. Your only strategy is to follow the trail and hope you catch the animal in a clearing or taking a break in the shade. One of you is going to break. Lupo recognized the game at hand and called off the pursuit. As we found to be typical at the end of an animal less tracking job, the fire bugs went to work and set the countryside ablaze. I began to come down off the second adrenaline high of the day.
- We grabbed some water and loaded back up on the truck. As we drove the twin fire bugs sitting in the back of the truck took turns setting fires on the move. We had driven less than 20 minutes when the truck slammed to a stop and off we jump. Lupo had spotted a solitary Wildebeest in the wide open. We ran to a tree, and he judge it to be a bull. The sticks went up and there stood a beautiful wildebeest broadside at 150 yards. I distinctly remember thinking to myself. There is no f-ing way that I am here right now. I was not expecting to be behind the gun again on this day. What can I say, my mind was not in the right place, and I rushed the shot. The buffalo bucked at the shot and ran the lope goofy gallop that only wildebeest have and then inexplicitly stopped to turn and look back. He was nearly 300 yards away facing directly at me. I tried to calm the nerves and clear the head knowing that this animal was not going to stand for long. I freaking air mailed the shot. I am the luckiest SOB to because this bullet was probably 10 feet over this animal’s head and landed at least 1000 yards behind it. He must have not heard the shot or the bullet because he didn’t move. Now I was mad, I took a deep breath, settled back onto the sticks and held at his nose. I was blessed and the bullet caught him perfectly on the right side of his chest. He ran about 100 yards spouting blood and fell over. He was a monster in the prime of his life. His coloration was bright and vibrant, he had a thick and full neck. Lupo was amazed at how big he was at nearly 27.5 inches wide. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was on this day.
- We drove by the Lion bait tree that we had seen the big leopard with the hopes that he had moved to the nearby tree we had set up. We were all disappointed that he had not returned to either bait. We began discussing the second cat we had coming to the Korungo bait.
- A quick lunch and a nap and we were off to sit in the leopard blind. Ryan had confessed that he could not breath well in the popup blind the first time we had sat, and he would rather stay with the boys at the truck. I thought he might have issues when we gave it a shot, his seasonal allergy triggered ashma was an issue. Lupo and I got in the blind about 4:00 and proceeded to spend the next 2.5 hours sweating our asses off. I don’t believe I have ever sat so still for that long. We were only 35 yards from the bait and needed to be absolutely still. I spent the whole time saying silent prayers and visualizing the shot placement. I was petrified that I would make a poor shot and be responsible for Lupo and our crew having to set off in the dark to track a wounded leopard. At about 6:30 Lupo whispered that this was probably a morning cat, and I mentally began to relax. I was profoundly shocked when the cat shot up from the ground and landed without a sound on the limb that was 8 feet off the ground at 6:45. I should have known better than to let my guard down, but here we were. I instantly started shaking. It has been a while since I had buck fever. Thinking back on it, I didn’t even shake with either of two buffalo. I am not even sure I shook this much with my first whitetail kill. Even Lupo confessed that he was excited. I got on the gun and clicked off the safety. Laid my head on the stock and said a quiet prayer. I know Lupo had to confirm it was a male and then that it was the mature one we were here for. I opened my eyes and watch the cat sitting on the crook of the tree through the scope. Lupo confirmed that I was waiting until he cleared me. I confirmed. All the while slowing my heart rate and controlling my breathing. The cat stood and began the balance beam walk up the branch from my left to my right, just like we had seen on the trail camera. As he brought his back right leg forward I saw testicles and I knew it was go time. The cat approached the bait and slowed to look around. Lupo asked if I had a shot, I confirmed, and he told me to take him. I picked a rosette just behind his shoulder and began squeezing the trigger. I had a rock solid rest and the cat looked like a stone statue on the branch. Slow steady pressure and when the gun went off, I was confident of the shot. I saw him fall out of site and heard him hit the ground. Then he let out the saddest and yet most beautiful growl as he died. I didn’t know it at the time, but the game camera that was set at the bait did not pick up the actual shot, but it did record the sound he made, and I am eternally grateful because it is haunting. I have already listened to it countless times on my phone, but as luck would have it, I was down at the batting cage when we got home, and I was showing the video to neighbor that had stopped by to visit. I had my phone hooked up to the big speaker we use to play music. I turned the volume way up and it is very close to how I remember hearing it while sitting in that stand. It was an encompassing sound that surrounded both of us sitting there. Lupo was immediately confident that we would find him dead under the tree. I was not as convinced. Lupo said “Come on, he’s dead under the tree. Let’s go look at him” I believe my response was something close to I am going to need a minute. The cat a spectacular animal, and I am very proud of my shooting. However, I cannot express how relieved I was that the team that I had come to know did not have to put themselves in harms way was an immense relief.
- Lupo called up the truck and there where hugs and hand shakes all around. I can think of only two other people that I would have wanted to be there, but other than that it was perfect. I was made only better by Lupo’s decision to carry the heavy cat down into the sandy bottom Korungo that he had come out of for the trophy pictures. The setting could not have been more perfect. The pictures do not do justice to the scene. I believe that night was a full moon and it had blessed us with an early appearance. The moon provided enough light that no torch was needed to see the beauty of this animal as they laid him on a high spot of sand. The unfortunate part of it is that the phone cameras could not capture it the way we saw it and I will have to hope my memory of it does not fade. I was amazed that as we were done taking pictures, I climbed up the sandy slope out of the Korungo and looked back down as the boys were preparing to pick up the big cat and carry him to the truck. There he lay in the middle of the spot of sand with the bright moonlight shining on him and it was stunningly easy to imagine this powerful killing machine with his spots stepping into the nearby shadows and utterly disappearing before your eyes. I was immediately aware of how close you could be to a creature that size and never even be aware of their presence.
- As we drove back, I was immensely excited about the Kabubi celebration I knew was coming. I had heard stories and seen videos from Kelly about the welcoming committee and I had been honored to my core to be there when Ian was escorted through camp by the staff. I know that sounds silly to feel like that but standing there listening to the genuine joy in the voices and hearing the song in a different language and banging of pans. I tell you it was a moment of pure and simple happiness that everyone at camp felt for the success that Ian had. I was ready, and I was not disappointed. Having Ryan there made it all the better. Then two things happened that I hope I always remember because I cherish them deeply. The camp staff helped Ryan to “hug” the leopard like he wanted to (and the little shit made it look easy holding up that 140 pound cat). And then as the camp staff was taking turns holding him and taking selfies, we all retired to the mess tent. Lupo sort of asked sort of told me we were having a whisky, and I was certainly not upset by that, we needed to calm the nerves of the day. But then Ryan announced that he wanted a whisky as well. The three of us stood together, toasted and shared a swig of whiskey together and it meant the world to me.
- I took a long time to come down from the final adrenaline rush. A call back home to describe the day helped, but it was a long time before I could finally calm down and allow myself to sleep. I supposed I took it for granted that Ryan was riding the highs with me because he left the mess tent early to go to bed. I took a picture of him in bed laying on his back with his hands resting on his chest. I woke around 3:00 to use the restroom and Ryan was still in that position when I checked on him.
- I decided as I was writing this that I will name the leopard the Korungo Cat.
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