Day 6: The Wind...A blessing and a curse.

I rolled out of bed around 9:30AM on the sixth day.  I was still tired but I felt guilty sleeping so late, I was in Africa living the dream and the thought of missing it was unacceptable.  The agenda for the morning though was to be a little lazy.

I woke G-Man up and we strolled over to the dining room in the lodge and ate our fill of bacon, sausage, eggs and toast which were set out waiting for us, I really do love hunting in Africa.  After breakfast I topped off my cup of coffee and then took a seat on the porch.  The weather was perfect, clear blue skies, a slight breeze blowing in my face with a temperature of about 50 degrees.  I could hear the water running and the clanking of dishes as the kitchen staff went about their duties cleaning up.

I watched G-Man, who had my camera, take pictures of the chickens who were milling about the yard and Sasha, the boerboel, not the brightest dog on the property but sweet as could be.

These chickens provided our eggs for breakfast daily

Sasha, a big, dumb loving dog.

Abel and Sam joined us on the porch to discuss the plan for the day and shoot the bull.  We would be leaving in about 2 hours to hunt another property about 1 hour away for a blessbuck for both G-Man and myself.  If we closed the deal today we would be done, we would have checked off every animal that was on our list when we came to Africa.

As G-Man played with Sasha and chased the chickens Abel, Sam and myself soaked in the great weather and shared stories of previous hunts we had been on.  Abel talked of guiding hunters on lion hunts and Sam shared stories of scaling the mountains of New Mexico guiding elk hunters.

Scott soon came out and said they were getting a delivery of two young kudu males for the property if we wanted to come watch.

Once the excitement was over it was time for G-Man and I to collect our gear and get ready to leave.  G-Man and I went to our room to grab our gear and since we didn't know how late we would be out and with the wind picking up we grabbed our cold weather gear anticipating a temperature drop as well.

While we were packing our bags I looked out the window to see Temba loading a cooler into the back of the Toyota Helix (similar to Toyota Tacoma in the US) so we would have drinks and snacks for this trip.  I double checked G-Man's bag to make sure he had everything he might need and once I was satisfied we shouldered our bags and walked to the truck.

G-Man and I loaded our bags in the back and situated our rifles in the backseat.  Temba would ride in the bed of the truck while Sam and G-Man occupied the back seat and I got shotgun.  As everyone was loading into the truck the wind began to pick up, it came out of nowhere but you could hear it and then you felt it.  As we were navigating the hard packed red dirt road to the exit we watched the wind whip up any loose dirt and blow it across the road.

I was reminded of my time living in Lubbock and Amarillo, this wind was blowing dirt, leaves and bushes all over the place.  I was actually getting a little concerned about G-Man being able to make a shot.  The wind will not only affect the flight of your bullet but it will have an affect on how steady of a rest you have and since we would be on foot the rest is usually off the shooting sticks and with such strong wind it would not be the sturdiest of gun rests.

The ride was fairly uneventful, except for the wind attempting to toss the Hilux off the road.  As we arrived at the new property we were welcomed by massive wrought iron gates built under a thatch roof awning.  As soon as we entered the property we started to see game, Gemsbok, Zebra, Red Hartebeast and Blessbuck.  They were in a very large field, probably 400 acres in size and were obviously on high alert.  As we made our way through this field they moved away, they were already over 1000 yards away but with the wind they were very nervous.

The wind is a great cover for hunters as it not only covers any noise your might make it also eliminates an animals sense of smell, as long as you have the wind in your face.  Animals know this and become more watchful and cautious because of it.  The wind...a blessing and a curse.

Abel decided we would  give this herd of animals a break and see what we could spot in another section of the property and then we would make our way back on foot to look over the blessbuck a little later.

As we were driving we spotted 3 rhino, 3 very large rhino!  They are remarkably animals and are huge!  It was a privilege to be able to be so close to wild rhino, they were cautious of us but curious as well I think.

Rhino - SS Pro Safaris 2012

Rhino - SS Pro Safaris 2012

After watching the rhino for a few minutes we began to make our way back towards the herd of blessbuck we had spotted earlier when we entered the property.  The four of us loaded into the bed while Temba assumed the role of driver so it would be quicker and easier to exit the vehicle without spooking the blessbuck.  The plan was to use the slight rises in elevation to cover our movement and dismount from the vehicle and move through the high grass of the field to make our way into an island of trees in the middle of this field.  We were betting on the blessbuck walking within rifle range of this clump of trees we were hiding in and if everything worked as we hoped myself or G-Man would be presented with a shot opportunity.

We quickly unloaded from the truck and quickly covered the 100 or so yards to the trees.  Once we made it inside the trees we got set up, G-Man was with Abel and Sam was with me.  G-Man was going to use the shooting sticks and I was going to use a tree branch as a shooting rest.  The wind was perfect, I mean it was blowing in our face, the 40 mph wind I could have done without.

The memories drifted from Lubbock and Amarillo to Kuwait and Iraq, this wind was picking up every loose bit of sand and brush and blowing it straight into us.  We all had to wear our sunglasses and pull our hat brims down low to try to protect our eyes and face as much as possible.

When we exited the vehicle Temba drove to the backside of the herd on the opposite side of the field from us and parked.  He was not pushing them but was sitting there in hopes of making the blessbuck nervous enough to move in our direction.

G-Man is a good shot and on most days I would be pretty confident in a shot out to 200 yards for him but with the wind I was really hoping to limit his shot to under 150, closer to 125 or 100 yards if at all possible.  However, things typically do not go according to your plan when hunting.  The blessbuck did move in our direction however they would not come any closer than 180 yards.  As we waited all of us being patient, like you would expect from season hunters.

Abel glanced behind us and he noticed the three rhino we had spotted earlier were moving in our direction, slowly and with no real destination in mind it would seem.  Abel though did not like the idea of all four of us on the ground with nowhere to really escape to if need be so he started asking G-Man how he felt about taking a shot at this distance.  G-Man was full of confidence but I was a little less confident.  As I have discussed in previous post's if you draw blood you pay for the animal whether you recover it or not.  A blessbuck is not as expensive as a bushbuck but you still don't want to waste the money or wound an animal.  I asked G-Man to get into position and to tell me how everything felt.  Are you steady? Yes.  Is the wind moving you, the rest or the rifle? No, I'm good.  I told G-Man if he hit's but we do not recover there are no do overs, he said he understood and was good to go.

Now, the heard we were hunting had a mix of male and female blessbuck as well as common, white, copper and yellow blessbuck, the common blessbuck being the one we were after.

Now here is where the hunt became really difficult.  Blessbuck are a herd animal so they were all staying very close together, the price difference between the different color phase/sub species was noticeable and we were only allowed to shoot males, but both male and female have horns.  The only way to tell the difference between the two is the males have thicker horns.

When I asked Abel how we tell the difference between the male and females and he told me the males have thicker horns I asked him if he was bs'ing me, I was looking through a pair of Carson 10x50's and I could not tell the difference in horn thickness between any of them.  "That's why they pay us the big bucks" was Abel's response.

We relied heavily on Sam and Abel to pick out the right blessbuck and it became a game of counting.

"Okay G-Man, see the brown one , it's the 16th from the left standing behind the white one, Yes, okay, see the brown one 3 to the right of that one, Yes, okay that is the one we want to shoot."

G-Man was already on his rifle and I quickly got on mine, at his shot I was going to shoot as well if the blessbuck did not drop to back him up.

Because the animals were directly upwind of us the wind was not a concern in regards to the flight of the bullet so I told G-Man to hold right on the shoulder for the shot.

As G-Man is taking up the slack in the trigger the blessbuck moves to the right and is now the 22nd from the left and G-Man has to shift his position a little.

As G-Man re-positioned himself, Abel tells him, "if your good take the shot."  I only needed to slightly adjust my rifle to keep my scope on the blessbuck.  As I hear the go-ahead from Abel I too begin to take the slack out of my trigger, waiting for the report of G-Man's rifle.

BANG!  As G-Man send his round towards the blessbuck at 2600 fps I watched for and listened for the report of the hit but there was none, the herd of blessbuck took of in a sprint getting clear of the area and the blessbuck we were targeting was running just fine.

Abel and Sam were both watching through their bino's and agreed, no hit.  Abel quickly checked on the rhino who also spooked at the sound of the shot and were heading in the opposite direction.

The blessbuck ran away and to the left of us towards a tree line that was only about 20 yards thick but masked another field from our view.  Abel called Temba on the radio and told him to come pick us up.

G-Man and I checked our rifles to ensure the safety was on and climbed into the bed of the truck once Temba arrived.  I talked to G-Man and told him unless we were able to get much closer I did not want him shooting again today, the wind was just too strong.  He seemed to be okay with that decision.

On Abel's command Temba pointed the truck towards a large berm, which was every bit of 25ft high.  The berm tapered off and met the tree line where the blessbuck had went.  As we made the drive Sam began distributing drinks and snacks from the cooler.

We pulled up right to the edge of the berm and unloaded.  Abel low crawled to the top to confirm the blessbuck were in this field.  As Abel reached the top he signaled for us to come up as well.  I grabbed the large sandbag from the back and carried it to the top of the berm to use as a rest if a shot presented itself.

The wind again was in our favor, it was blowing from our right to left and since the blessbuck were directly in front of us they would not be able to catch our scent or hear us.

The blessbuck were even more spooky than before, the grass was much shorter in this field than the previous, the wind was picking up even more and having just been shot at it was apparent they were not going to stand still for us.  The herd kept moving right and then left, covering distance of about 200-300 yards before turning back the direction they came, almost as if they were pacing.  Animals would stop for brief moments to feed but the herd as a whole did not stop moving.

This made the counting of animals that much more difficult.  By the time Abel would spot a shooter and relayed it to me, that animal would be in a different spot.  I stayed glued to my scope for 3 hours as I counted blessbuck over and over again.

The sand had worked it's way into my socks and down into my boots from the constant adjustments as well as into the waistline of my pants.  What was supposed to be an easier hunt then what we had experienced in previous days was beginning to test the patience of each one of us.  Everyone knows misery loves company, with the blowing sand and setting sun the temperature was starting to drop quite a bit and none of us had grabbed our coats when we walked up on the berm.

The routine continued, "see the brown one, 33 from the right behind the yellow one, no, it's 41 from the right in behind the white one, okay but I don't have a shot."  Then the heard would move at a quicker pace and there was no shot opportunity.  This went on for another 15-20 minutes before Abel came up with an idea.  Once we spotted a shooter whose vitals were not covered by another animal or that was not directly in front of another animal he would stand up to hopefully get the herd's attention and freeze them giving me enough time to take a shot.

It was a gamble, the light was fading fast and if they spooked off we likely would not get another chance on them before the sun dipped below the horizon.

So we watched until Abel said, "18 from the left, brown one behind the white one."  I said "okay" and started counting, Abel stood up from where he too had been laying, I couldn't see him but I knew he was standing because each animal stopped and looked our direction.  Within 2 seconds of the herd coming to a stop I was on the blessbuck and squeezing the trigger.  Sam called out the range as 182 yards, I was already holding square on the shoulder when the rifle went off.

My blessbuck jumped in the air like he was a bare back bronc at the rodeo, however when he came down he was dead and folded up in heap.  While we did not have to hunt for days for a blessbuck the environment itself made the hunt difficult.  We all high fived and back slapped and quickly made our way down the opposite side of the berm and over to my blessbuck.

At the shot Temba had started the truck and as we started to walk over he began to drive around the berm and would meet us at the downed blessbuck.

I was sitting in my office at work looking over the price list about 1 month prior to my hunt and I had no idea what a blessbuck was so naturally I turned to google and searched.  I couldn't help but think they were an ugly animal but really unique with their long face, I decided then I was going to add it to my list of animals I was going to hunt in Africa.

As we approached my blessbuck it was obvious he was dead but I tapped his eye with the end of my rifle barrel just to confirm, yup, he's dead.  I grabbed him by the horns and lifted his head up to  look him over, I felt very proud of him.  He was not easy to hunt and it was an entirely different hunt than I had ever experienced.  The counting the different animals in the herd and trying to keep track of an animal as they moved made things very interesting at times.

Abel grabbed my camera from the truck and Temba and I began positioning the blessbuck for pictures.  The wind continued to blow and the temperature continued to drop so we hurried through the pictures and loaded up to head back to the lodge.

Blessbuck taken with SS Pro Safaris 2012

Blessbuck taken with SS Pro Safaris 2012

Me and G-Man with my blessbuck taken with SS Pro Safaris 2012

On the drive back Sam and G-Man fell asleep, Temba was curled up in the bed trying to stay out of the wind as much as possible.  I reflected on the last 6 days of hunting that I had just experienced.  At the age of 29 I just hunted and killed 6 different animals, saw animals in their native habitat that you can only see in zoo's in the states and some you won't even see in zoos.

I didn't want it to end.  Tomorrow would be our last day to hunt, G-Man still had some room in his allotted budget so I set it up with Abel for G-Man to hunt for an Impala tomorrow and I decided I would add a female impala.  Since the cape for my impala was in bad shape due to not being recovered until the next day I decided I would shoot a female for the hide.

The rest of the drive Abel and I discussed lion hunting, after his listening to his stories from earlier in the day I was hooked, I had to hear more.  As we arrived back in camp we unloaded the blessbuck and went into the lodge for dinner.

After dinner everyone cleaned up and then went out to the firepit to enjoy a few drinks and enjoy the company of others.  G-Man called it an early night, the 6 hours of sleep he got earlier in the morning was not cutting it, he was tired!  Scott shared stories of previous leopard, lion and buffalo hunts he had guided hunters on, adding fuel to my desire to hunt dangerous game.

With a few beers consumed and the lack of sleep over the past 48 hours I was starting to get sleepy.  Abel, Same and I hashed out the plan for tomorrow morning, G-Man, Sam and Frank would hunt to an elevated blind over looking a water hole in hopes of a male impala.  Abel, Temba and myself would drive around in search of a female impala, which we both expected to take somewhere around 30-40 minutes.

As I walked up to the door of my room I could hear G-Man sawing logs, he was sound asleep.  I sat down on the bed and took my boots off and as I took my boots off red sand came pouring out.

I knew I needed a shower and had every intention of taking one but I really wanted to just lay down for a minute...

Day 5: Part 3 - Spotlighting in Africa!

Once we had finished loading my zebra in the back of the Land Cruiser we started to make our way towards the gate to head back to the lodge.  As we were driving towards the gate we came up to a large field and Temba immediately spotted a small herd of Gemsbok of about 5 animals with 1 really nice male.  The Gemsbok were milling about under a large clump of trees at the field edge roughly 300 yards away.  Since Gemsbok were on my list Abel and I dismounted, Abel grabbed the shooting sticks and I grabbed my rifle.  We had done this so much I am not sure Temba ever actually stopped the Cruiser.  Temba, Sam and G-Man continued driving down the road towards the gate hoping the Gemsbok would not spook at the sight of the Land Cruiser and run off.

Not all plans work as they are supposed to.

The Gemsbok were wise to our game plan and split not long after the Cruiser was down the road and out of sight.  The quick stalk was over before it started and Abel and I just walked across the field savoring the final minutes of daylight. The field was a few hundred yards wide and we quickly crossed it and met up with the Land Cruiser and continued the drive back to camp.

The temperature was starting to drop fairly rapidly and with the sun's final rays of light fading on the horizon we discussed the best option for getting back to the lodge, should we suck it up and drive fast or drive at a moderate speed hoping it doesn't get too cold.  Neither method makes much of a difference but we all agreed to suck it up and get back as quickly as possible and quickly we did.  The ride was bouncy and cold but we made it back in record time.

Our first stop once we reached the lodge was the skinning shed where we unloaded the zebra and filled out the needed paperwork.

The paperwork I have referred to a few times is a log each outfitter is required to maintain, the hunter does not have any paperwork to complete other than the forms for the CITES permit, which is only required of certain species, baboon for example.

Our noses told us dinner was ready as we strolled into the lodge and Scott and Suri, Scott's wife, were waiting for us before eating so we sat down and dug in.  The menu for tonight were Kudu steaks from G-Man's Kudu he had shot earlier in the week.  During dinner I had the opportunity to retell the story of my Zebra hunt as well as express my sincere gratitude to Abel and Scott for helping make a dream come true.

The conversation quickly moved from the Zebra hunt and Kudu steaks to spotlight hunting tonight for a bushbuck.  During the planning phase of the hunt and up until I had arrived in Africa I was set on the list I had put together of animals I wanted to hunt.  However, the full body mount of a bushbuck in the lodge really had me torn between a gemsbok or a bushbuck and since we struck out this evening on Gemsbok we were going to give the bushbuck a try tonight.

I was told by a number of hunters who have had the opportunity to hunt Africa that you will inevitably change your mind or want to add additional animals to your list of what you want to hunt.  The best thing to do is have a flexible list, as well as a flexible wallet.

Over dinner it was decided we would head out shortly after eating to try and stir up a steenbuck for G-Man first and then got after a bushbuck.  The plan was to first drive through the area I had shot my steenbuck in earlier and then we would drive the exterior roads of a few different irrigated crop fields SS Pro Safaris had access to.  Before we loaded into the Land Cruiser everyone grabbed their cold weather gear from their rooms.  Thermal pants, shirts, beenie, gloves and a warm jacket are necessary when hunting later in the season, especially if driving at night spotlighting (a blanket isn't a horrible idea either).

I have had quite a few people ask me since I have been home  how cold it got when we were in Africa and the coldest I remember was in the high 30's one night, the night of Day 5 as luck would have it.  The summer months in the US are actually the winter months in Africa and while it does warm up during the day it can become quite cool in the evenings.  I strongly recommend quality cold weather gear when hunting South Africa later in the winter months, which is the latter part of the summer months in the US.  I recommend layering which will allow for you to add/remove clothes as the temperature changes.

Once we were all bundled up we loaded the Land Cruiser and drove to the area I had shot my steenbuck and started searching with the spotlight.  We quickly came upon a rabbit, not a cottontail but it looked very similar.  The rabbit was frozen in the spotlight beam and Sam turned Socheese loose, tossed out of the Cruiser would be a more accurate description but as soon as Socheese hit the ground she spotted the rabbit and the chase was on!  It is amazing how quick a rabbit moves with a hungry Jack Russel Terrier hot on their heals.  They were quickly out of sight of the spotlight beam but we could hear growling and very distinctive rabbit squeals.

Sam and I jumped off the cruiser with our headlamps and flashlights to look for Socheese however, after about 5 minutes we decided to get back to the Cruiser and start looking for a Steenbuck, Socheese would just have to find us and catch up.

Shortly after returning to the Cruiser Abel spotted a very nice mature Steenbuck.  Abel would shine the spotlight on the Steenback sporadically while G-Man got ready for the shot.  As G-Man settled into his rifle Abel shined the light on the Steenbuck who was standing broadside, frozen in the light.  As G-Man started to take up the slack in the trigger out of nowhere Socheese runs into the beam of light, G-Man came up off the scope and we all started calling to Socheese who was oblivious to the Steenbuck less than 20ft from her.  Socheese came running to the calls and jumped into the Cruiser like she has done a million times. G-Man was already back on the rifle and before Socheese was settled he sent his round down range, dropping the Steenbuck in it's tracks!

G-Man - Steenbuck

Me and G-Man with his Steenbuck

From L-R: Sam, G-Man, Abel and Socheese

 I can't say enough about how cool an animal the Steenbuck is, we simply do not have anything like it in the US.  G-Man was really pumped about the shot and when he walked up on his kill it was obvious he was thoroughly excited.  After the obligatory pictures and back slapping Abel picked up the Steenbuck and put him in the back of the Cruiser.

With G-Man's Steenbuck down it was time to find a Bushbuck for me.  We started by driving the perimeter of different irrigated crop fields spotlighting the interior sections of the field looking for a mature bushbuck.  After checking 3 different fields and seeing a few decent bushbucks we finally spotted one about 150 yards from the field edge, in the brush.  We stopped the Cruiser and spent a few minutes looking over the bushbuck, I was ready to shoot but Sam and Abel went back and forth talking about his horn length and mass.  I  was really excited about this bushbuck, I knew from listening to Sam and Abel going back and forth he had quite a bit of mass and was a really nice bushbuck.  As I settled into G-Man's rifle I was physically shaking, a combination of sitting in the cold and staring at the bushbuck through my scope had my adrenaline at full throttle.

I got my breathing under control and started the squeeze.  The rifle bucked in my shoulder and as I lined up my scope after the shot I saw the bushbuck run off.  Due to the distance and the limited field of view with the spotlight we quickly lost sight of the bushbuck.

The shot felt good, I had a solid rest, my breathing was under control and the shot sounded like a hit but the bushbuck was not on the ground.  We all dismounted and started walking towards the spot the bushbuck was standing.  However, first we would have to cross a ditch that was about 7 feet across and 8 feet deep with steep banks.  It was definitely interesting going down and back up again.

Each one of us had a headlamp on and a flashlight in hand while we walked in circles looking for any sign of blood.  After thoroughly looking the area over Temba followed the tracks of the bushbuck towards a fence line where the bushbuck crossed.

I was dealing with mixed emotions while looking for blood, I was concerned we would find blood but not the bushbuck and no hunter wants to kill an animal and not recover it not to mention the 1100 dollar price tag of a bushbuck.  Most outfitters in Africa and the US will require the hunter to pay for any animal shot whether you recover it or not.  I was also really excited.  Here I was thousands of miles from home in the wilds of South Africa at 1:00 AM looking for blood from a bushbuck I had just shot.  It just doesn't get much cooler than this!

While this property was not known for leopards it is common knowledge they are in the area and to know I am part of the food chain rather than being at the top brought about a feeling of truly being alive.

We had been on our hands and knees looking at every blade of grass and clump of sand searching for any sign of blood when Abel hollered he had found some.  Everyone converged on Abel and looked over the blood spot while being careful not to disturb the area and possibly cover up any other drops of blood.

The spot of blood was over 75 yards away from where the bushbuck was standing at the shot and it was the smallest drop of blood I have ever used as part of a blood trail.  It is truly remarkable it was even spotted.

From the first drop of blood we started to spot a few others, albeit very small drops.  Now that we had blood I knew I had hit the bushbuck but I was really starting to doubt the location of the shot.

The blood trail led us to the fence the bushbuck crossed and at this point we wen't from scattered brush to thick bushveld.  Abel told G-Man to go back to the Cruiser and to wait for us, there had been incidents in the past of wounded bushbuck charging hunters and Abel did not want to risk G-Man getting injured.  G-Man reluctantly made his way back to the Cruiser and flashed his light a few times in our direction signalling he made it back safe.

I remember wondering how he was going to cross the ditch but he apparently didn't have any issues.

Once G-Man was taken care of we continued the search.  For the next 45 minutes we would follow the blood trail only to lose it and have to circle back to pick it back up, make it another 10-15 yards then have to circle back once again.  It was tiresome and really wrecked havoc on my confidence.

Having sent G-Man back to the truck almost an hour earlier I decided I would head back to the Cruiser to check on him and make sure he was okay.  I handed my rifle off to Sam and told them I would be back soon and I would catch up.

At this point we were deep into the bushveld and there were very few areas where we could walk standing up, we spent most of the time hunched over and crawling under tree limbs or moving thorny branches out of our way.  On my way back to the Cruiser my headlamp batteries died as did my flashlight batteries.  I have patrolled the streets of Fallujah in the dark of night in Nov. 2004 during Operation Phantom Fury and I was not scared but in the bush without light and a rifle and just knowing there were leopard about my imagination started to have a little fun with me.  

As the Cruiser came into view I hollered out to G-Man but I got no response, I was really trying to avoid having to navigate the large ditch between the two of us and get back to the blood trail as quickly as possible but I knew I should physically check on him.

As I walked up to the Cruiser I saw Caltrain pop her head out from under a blanket which was covering both her and G-Man.  I called out again with no response, G-Man was sleeping!  I quickly did an about-face and started working my way down into and out of the ditch and as I reached the other side I heard Socheese barking and 3 quick shots!  I started on a jog heading towards the shots  hoping I would not find a hole a warthog had dug resulting in a broken leg.  I reached the fence and not so gracefully crossed it.  Once I made it about 75 yards into the bush I started to holler for Sam and Abel, because of the distance and brush it was hard to understand the responses but it sounded like they got the bushbuck.

I ran into them another 50 yards later and sure enough they were dragging my bushbuck.   I grabbed one of the hind legs opposite of Sam and Abel and Temba each had a front leg and we began the the process of getting the bushbuck back to the Cruiser.

After some four-letter words, a little sweat and some effort we were back at the Cruiser.  G-Man decided to join the party and climbed down to listen to the story and inspect my bushbuck.  As we started positioning the bushbuck for pictures Sam retold the story of what took place after I left to check on G-Man.

"Right after you left we started to spot bigger spots of blood and Socheese took off on her own, and about 5 min. later she started barking her head off, we all ran to the sound of her barking and as we rounded a large bush we could see the bushbuck with his head down and Socheese about 20 feet in front of him going nuts.  I fired the first shot and hit him in the shoulder and when he started running I fired again and hit him through the lungs.  The second shot caused him to start running towards us and as I fired the third shot he again changed direction running to our left.  He fell over dead about 25 yards away."

Sam did not mention that he missed the third shot but considering the situation there was no harassment. 

I have had a few people who have asked me "why didn't you ask one of the PH's to go check on G-Man so you could continue tracking?"  To be perfectly honest the PH's are better trackers than I am in the daylight, let alone at night.  I sure would have loved to have been there to seal the deal on my bushbuck though.

I again was blown away at the beauty of the bushbuck, they are comparable in size to an average sized Texas whitetail.  Their horns however spiral upwards and are very unique.  He was not super tall, roughly 14.75 inches on each side but what he lacked in height he made up for in mass.  He was very heavy, he carried his mass all the way up to the tips.

As luck would have it my camera batteries died as well so with only 2 pictures we loaded my bushbuck into the back of the Cruiser and began the trek back to camp.  The ride was cold but I was so pumped I didn't not really feel the cold.

Bushbuck

Bushbuck 

We stopped at the freezer to drop off my bushbuck to freeze him in position for pictures the next morning and put G-Man's steebuck in th freezer as well so the skinner could work on him in the morning.  Before calling it a day we inspected the bullet hits.  My shot was a little forward and while it appeared to be a lethal hit the bushbuck still had some fight in him.  Both of Sam's hits were in the vitals.

By the time we had unloaded both animals it was a little past 3:30 AM and we were all beat!  We decided we would sleep in till about 9 or 10 that morning and then we would get back after it.  The plan was to travel about 1 hour away later in the day to hunt a different property in search of a blesbuck for me and G-Man.

Here are the photos we took the following morning of my bushbuck.

My 2012 Bushbuck

G-Man and Me with my Bushbuck

From L-R: Temba, Abel, Sam, Socheese and Me

Day 5: Part 2 - Zebra Down!!

As I am sure many people do, I started researching zebra before I left for Africa.  I perused hunting forums reading as much as I could about the experiences of others hunting zebra.  I also contacted a number of different hunters who had previously hunted zebra and each person I spoke with had the same thing to say about zebra.  They either did not want a zebra on their first trip and later decided they did and had not had a shot opportunity in any of their later trips or they wanted a zebra and they never got an opportunity.  Obviously there are those who were successful but except for a few, those who were successful stated it was the toughest plains game animal they had hunted.

As we rolled out of camp on the 5th day I was nervous.  I told Abel on the morning of day 1, I don't care if I don't shoot anything else, I want a zebra, nothing else mattered and Abel had busted his butt to make it happen, I could not have asked for more from my PH.

As we made the drive to the new property I was replaying all the failed stalks in my head, psyching myself out, I had to tell myself to quit being a mental midget and stay focused.

Once we pulled up to the gate Temba jumped of the Cruiser and held the gate panel open so we could pass through.  Once Temba had loaded back up Abel pulled up to the house of the property owner to let him know we were here as well as to find out if he knew where any of the zebra herds were located.

Once Abel came back out to the Cruiser he relayed the information provided by the property owner regarding the whereabouts of the zebra, there was a herd spotted roughly 20 minutes ago towards the back side of the property.  We were off and although we had an idea of where some zebra were Abel, Temba and Sam were watching the road for fresh zebra tracks.  As we neared the back end of the property Temba, Abel and myself dismounted to check a water hole up the road with hopes of picking up fresh tracks to trail.

As we reached the water hole Abel and Temba immediately picked up fresh tracks.  Temba circled the waterhole to ensure the direction of travel of the zebra and once he was sure of their direction we took off.  We followed the same set of tracks for close to 2 hours before they petered out.  While we were following the tracks Sam and G-Man had run back to the property owners home at the front of the property and on their way back spooked up a herd of wildebeest which in turn spooked up a herd of zebra which decided to run parallel to Sam as he drove down the road.

I swear they are toying with me!

Sam called us on the radio to share what was going on and we stopped and turned back the direction we came at a fairly quick pace.  As we were on the move Abel maintained contact with Sam who was able to maintain a visual on the zebra, they were holding up in some brush feeding and milling about.

We were at one end of a road  about 700 yards from the corner where the road made a sharp turn to the right following the fence line and about 500 yards further down from the corner Sam and G-Man sat in the Cruiser trying to keep the zebra in sight.  If you can picture a square and cut it in half from the top left corner to the bottom right corner then your cutoff points would be our respective locations and somewhere in between were the zebra.

Abel readied the shooting sticks for my height and we started to slowly work our way down the road attempting to stay off to the right in the brush just in case a zebra stepped out.  After covering close to 400 yards and knowing we had to be getting close to the zebra Sam radioed to Abel to let him know he could no longer see the zebra but they were feeding in the direction of the road we were on.

Our pace slowed but we continued to move forward watching both the road edge as well as trying to pick out any sign of zebra in the brush to our front and right.  After covering another 50-75 yards Abel stopped dead in his tracks and began to wave me up while setting the shooting sticks up for me.  He whispered in my ear "zebra on the edge of the road," but I could not see it, I was standing just inches to the right of Abel but I could not see my dream animal (which is no surprise because up to this point I still had not had a clear view of a zebra).

I held my rifle tight to my shoulder, my cheek rested firmly on the stock of the rifle, my left hand solidly gripping the shooting sticks ensuring a solid rest while I intently watched the road edge though my scope praying for this zebra to step out, I slowly and as quietly as possible slide the safety to 'fire'.

I was doing my best to control the adrenaline as it rushed through my body, my breathing was quicker with shorter breaths and my hands were starting to shake.

I had to get myself under control!

No sooner had I finished the thought than this zebra literally jumped into the middle of the road standing broadside and turned her head to look at us.  I immediately adjusted my point of aim to the natural triangle on the shoulder of a zebra and squeezed the trigger until I felt the rifle buck in my hands, sending the 160 grain Barnes TSX round towards my quarry.

The zebra bucked, spun and took off in a cloud of dust.  I knew it was a hit, the report of the round impacting the zebra was a tale tell sign of the impact.  I immediatly chambered another round and pushed the safety to 'safe' and gave Abel a huge hug.

We immediatley started walking towards the spot of the zebra at the shot and picked up the tracks. However, no tracking job was needed.  My zebra a mere 80 yards off the dirt road.

At this point I was overcome with a range of emotions.  I was relieved, elated, saddened, excited all at the same time.  I would be lying if I told you I didn't want to cry.

I can not explain the allure of the zebra but for me it was overwhelming.  To accomplish my goal of killing a zebra was in a way, therapeutic.  As I walked up to my zebra I could not help but marvel at the beautiful black markings.  She truly was a beautiful animal.

The feeling of relief was not an emotion reserved only for myself, the entire hunting party, Abel, Sam, Temba, G-Man and myself shared in the moment.  We had all worked tirelessly, Abel and Temba especially to make this dream a reality.

I find it hard to convey to anyone the importance and the overwhelming feelings I experienced as I sat next to my hard earned zebra.

I have drawn comparisons on a few ocassions between hunting in Africa and hunting in the US and I am going to do it again.  The PH's and trackers understand the uniqeness of hunting in Africa and for many it is a hunt of a lifetime.  Temba made sure to clean up the animal as much as possible knowing these pictures would be kept as memories as well as shown to many others.    Far too I often I see pictures of hunters with their animals with their tongue hanging out and blood all over the place.  I understand blood is part of the deal and you can not always completely clean up an animal but I simply want to point out the attention to detail I experienced hunting with SS Pro Safaris.  It is a small detail but it is the culmination of the small details which make a hunt special.

Temba went to work quickly cleaning up as much of the blood as possible in preparation for pictures.  Once Temba had cleaned up the zebra as best as possible we began taking pictures.  We took pictures from a multitude of different angles and making sure everyones photo was taken because this was a group effort and everyone deserved to be in the pictures.

The excitment does not end here, there will be a part 3 to day 5, I just wanted my zebra to have it's own post.  Part 3 will follow in a few day.

As always, thank you for reading and following along.

Such a beautiful animal

Beautiful zebra

Temba doing the prep work for pictures

Temba cleaning and positioning the zebra for photos

Taken with SS Pro Safaris

Taken with SS Pro Safaris

Taken with SS Pro Safaris

Taken with SS Pro Safaris

Taken with SS Pro Safaris

Taken with SS Pro Safaris

Day 5: Part 1

Wow, it's been a little too long since my last post.

As most parents can relate, your time is limited in the evenings after work when you have young kids and even more limited is your free time.  Well, I have been filling my free time in the evenings getting hooked on the show Dexter, I have watched 5 season so far and I am almost caught up, but as a result I have not kept the blog updated.  Now that the excuses are out of the way...

Day 5 started a little later than normal since we were out so late, well into the early morning hours..  Once G-Man and I were up we made our way to to the kitchen to get some chow and ready to put a big dent in our wishlist of animals.  While eating Abel filled us in on the plan, G-Man would go with Scott and Sam in search of his wildebeest and Abel and I would try to get another impala until lunch then we would try out one more property in hopes of connecting on a zebra.

We ate as quickly as we could and made our hasty exit from the kitchen to the vehicle staging area. G-Man loaded up with Scott, Sam and another tracker, whose name I did not get, and they took off to another property in hopes of scoring on a wildebeest.  Abel, Temba and myself loaded up into our Land Cruiser and started checking the many different pastures in hopes of spotting a shooter impala.

Staging Area - SS Pro Safaris

The morning warmed up quickly and by  10:30AM it was already close to 80 degrees - which was supposed to be the high for the day.

Each field we checked held impala but the males were a bit too small or did not have a desirable shape.  Each time Abel said "ah, his horns don't have a nice shape" I told him "I want to shoot him" and "you realize I'd be more than happy to shoot him, right?"  Abel didn't care, he wanted me too shoot a real trophy and fought me the whole way on it.

As it was getting warmer we decided to try one more water hole hoping to catch some impala stealing a drink before we went back to camp for lunch.

Abel decided we would go sit over the water hole we stalked a day earlier and spotted the four shooter impala males.  Abel and I unloaded about 700-800 yards away from a water hole and started to slowly make our way towards the water, hoping to slip in to the blind without spooking any impala or possibly stalk up on some impala catching a mid morning drink.  The wind was in our favor and as we got closer we used the available trees and bushes to conceal our movement as much as possible.  As we came within site of the water, we stopped to glass the brush surrounding the water ensuring their weren't any impala catching a nap that would bust us.

PH Abel and Tracker Temba
SS Pro Safaris

In Africa, at least with SS Pro Safari's there was not a huge emphasis placed on camouflage, they hunt the wind, they hunt the water when it warms up and take into consideration animal habits when deciding when and where to hunt.  It was a refreshing change from the huge push in the US to be "scent free" and to be covered head to toe in camo.  Muted tones, khaki and olive drab green were the primary clothing colors worn by the PH's and trackers.

Within 10-15 minutes of getting in the blind a call came over Abel's handheld radio.  Abel whispered into the handset for the caller to repeat but I wasn't able to hear what was being said by the caller on the other end of the radio but as Abel wrapped up the conversation he started to get up and called Temba to come pick us up.  I asked Abel "what's up?"  He said "another tracker found your impala from yesterday."  I was shocked, that was not what I was expecting to hear.


Apparently another tracker went back to the field where I had shot at the impala the day before to double check and make sure there was no impala and surprisingly he spotted my impala laying 5 feet from the edge of the road, no more than 20 yards from where I shot him.  I did not miss, I could now thump G-Man for the harassment he unloaded on me for missing.

Apparently the impala took off with the group of impala he was with and ended up circling back at some point after we had left and then died right next to the road we had scoured for a sign of blood.  Abel said the tracker who found my impala said the bullet traveled the length of the impala but did not appear the bullet expanded as it was designed to do, instead it failed to expand and did very little immediate damage to the impala, allowing him to run longer and further than he would have had the bullet done it's job.

I had to thank Abel for not letting me shoot a smaller impala as I had argued with him about numerous times earlier that morning, he saved me $500.00!

As Temba pulled up we quickly loaded and made our way back to the skinning shed.  Instead of being elated about getting my impala I became really upset.

I have always shot Remington Core-Lokt ammo but decided since I was going to Africa I would invest in some quality ammo.  After reading a number of reviews I decided on Barnes TSX ammo. I purchased 3 boxes of 165 grain 7mm Rem. Mag. ammo, over $150.00 dollars worth of ammo and dang near lost an animal because of this choice.

As we rounded the corner we spotted the truck G-Man left in this morning parked in front of the skinning shed.  There is only one reason to be parked in front of the skinning shed, someone killed something!  My frustration immediately turned into excitement.  As the vehicle came to a stop I jumped out to see what was inside.

Sure enough G-Man's wildebeest was getting worked on and he was sitting on the tailgate of the Land Cruiser with a big smile on his face.  Unfortunately, they had already started the skinning and I was not able to get any good pictures.

However, this is a hunting blog so there is bound to be some blood and dead animal pictures, just scroll past the picture if you don't want to see blood and dead animal stuff.

Blue Wildebeest Skinned
SS Pro Safaris

G-Man Blue Wildebeest
SS Pro Safaris

As I looked over G-Man's wildebeest I listened to him retell the story of his hunt.

G-Man tried to acting nonchalant when retelling the story but I could tell the kid was pumped!

Scott & Sam took G-Man to a property which they knew held a large amount of wildebeest and were confident they would be able to get him a shot opportunity.

Once they arrived to the property they immediately spotted wildebeest.  However, there was a problem,  the wildebeest would run as soon as they were spotted and presented no real opportunity for G-Man to get set up for a shot.  As the morning wore on they continued to see quite a few wildebeest but with no opportunity for G-Man to squeeze off a shot.

As G-Man retold the story "finally we spotted some that didn't run when we saw them, Scott told the tracker to stop the truck and told me which one I was supposed to shoot.  I got in my spot and Scott gave me my rifle and I found him in my scope and aimed right on his shoulder.  I squeezed the trigger and the wildebeest took off!"

Scott then grabbed G-Man's rifle to put another round in the wildebeest to anchor him however, a 2nd shot wasn't needed as the first did the trick and put the wildebeest down.  So far, the .260 Remington had taken a Kudu, Warthog and a Blue Wildebeest, this just goes to show you don't need a canon for large game, just a well placed shot.

While the wildebeest I was admiring was not as big as the one we tried to wake G-Man up for much earlier in the day G-Man was proud, which is all that matters.

I went from being excited for G-Man to being upset about my impala which was laying at my feet.  Hunting is not perfect, things happen, equipment fails but it really sucks when the ammo which is supposed to be some of the best on the market fails you half way around the world.

The impala was really nice and the hide was still in good shape for the shoulder mount.  If I remember correctly he measured 24 1/4 and 24 inches.  He had a really nice shape, per Abel; I still can't tell a difference in the horn shape between different impala.

Here comes another bloody dead animal picture, viewers beware!

My Impala
SS Pro Safaris

After, the needed paperwork was filled out by Abel we made our way to the lodge for lunch before heading back out in search of a zebra.

G-Man got the opportunity to retell the story of his hunt a few more times and I was able to discuss my ammo issues with Sam and Scott over lunch as well.

Once we had eaten our fill Abel, Sam, Temba, G-Man and myself loaded up into the Land Cruiser ready for another afternoon hunting zebra.  We left camp and made the drive down the bumpy, red dirt road to the gate to make our way to a different property we had yet to hunt; hopes were high that today would be the day we seal the deal on a zebra.

Part 2 coming soon...

Day 4: Hits and Misses, Happiness and Frustration!

G-Man was feeling confident and just a little cocky this morning, I guess shooting a big kudu will do that to you.

After breakfast we decided to see if we could get on a warthog or impala to start the day so we all loaded into the Land Cruiser and took off.  We started working the southwest corner of the property looking for a mature impala.  While we were seeing a number of impala they were all females and young males, no shooters.

While we were driving we stopped in a spot which allowed us a clear view into a farm field roughly 1500 yards away and through our bino's we spotted 3-4 warthog in the middle of the field and as Abel put it, if you can see white they are worth getting a closer look at.  At this range Abel was referring to the tusks of warthogs, if we could see them at this range through our bino's it means the animal had big tusks.

As luck would have it we spotted white.  Abel put the cruiser in gear and we started to make our way towards the field.  We lucked out and had the wind in our favor which saved us roughly 15 minutes from having to drive around to the other side of the field to avoid being winded.  We stopped and began our stalk roughly 400 yards from the field in order to prevent the warthogs from hearing the diesel engine of the land cruiser.

As we reached the field edge myself, Abel and Sam started looking over the group of warthog in the field and sure enough, the one spotted from further up the hill was a nice warthog.  Abel advised G-Man that his left side was about 1" shorter than the right due to being broken off but that he was a nice porker.  I told G-Man if it were me, I would shoot him.  I think that was all G-Man needed to hear because he said "lets go for it."

There were 2 bushes between us and the warthogs and we had 200 yards to cover to get into a comfortable shooting range for G-Man.  We lined up single file and started walking hunched over with the two bushes between us and the warthogs.  It only took us about 5 minutes to get into G-Mans comfort zone.  The warthogs were preoccupied with destroying the field or as Abel called it making a "warthog construction site."

Once we made it to the second bush we ranged the warthogs at 130 yards, 20 yards inside G-Man's
comfort zone.  It was now all up to him.  Abel positioned the Primos shooting sticks in front of G-Man and held them sturdy while G-Man got his rifle set.  I watched the warthog through my scope waiting for the shot, prepared to back Garrett up if needed.  Sam was watching through his bino's awaiting the shot.

Abel gave G-Man the go ahead to take the shot when he was ready, the seconds ticked by as we waited in anticipation and hoping the wind did not shift or the porkers didn't stop their destruction and look our way.  BANG, immediately we see blood pouring out of the left should of the warthog, the group starts to run - 1 runs straight away from us, another runs to our left and the warthog G-Man shot is running right at us.  I keep my crosshair on the warthog's chest just in case he gets too close before going down.  It was obvious with the ever increasing blood stain on the warthog's should the hit was a good one and it took only seconds before the warthog's legs started to fail him.  The warthog collapsed less than 70 yards from us.

There were lot's of high fives and fist bumps as the warthog went down.  We all made a perfect stalk, using the available cover, keeping the wind to our advantage and getting to a comfortable distance for an ethical shot to be taken.  G-Man completed the work with a perfect shot on a beautiful warthog.

G-Man and myself, wearing Sticks N Limbs camo.
SS Pro Safaris

G-Man with his warthog.
SS Pro Safaris

Temba, Sam, Abel and G-Man
SS Pro Safaris

After the photo session was complete Temba left to retrieve the cruiser and load the warthog.  Once we had loaded everything up we headed back into camp to drop the warthog off at the skinning shed with instructions to cape him out for a shoulder mount.

Next up, find me an impala!  We left camp headed towards a water hole hoping to sneak in on an impala getting a mid morning drink.  Due to the wind direction we had to drive far around the water hole in order to get the wind in our favor for the stalk.

Once we made it to the other side of the waterhole and had the wind in our favor Abel and I quietly started walking towards the water hole.  As we made our way around a small bend in the road we had an obstructed view of the water hole however, this waterhole was the happening place.  There were a number of impala drinking and milling about.  We both crouched down and put our bino's to work, hoping to spot a mature impala.

There were ton's of female impala, more than 20, and only a few young male impala.  This posed a problem, that is over 40 eyeballs that can see us so our movement had to be limited and precise.

Abel did notice one female that appeared to be crippled and after a few minutes waiting and hoping for a mature male to come in to the water we decided to take the crippled female impala.  As I was shouldering my rifle Abel whispered to wait, there were a few males coming into view.

Impala more so than any other species I encountered in South Africa reminded me of the whitetail back home in Texas.  They have great eyesight as well as hearing and have the uncanny ability to spot you when you think nothing possibly could.  They will freeze you mid movement and test your stamina when caught and just like a whitetail you will inevitably be in mid movement and be caught in a very uncomfortable position.  As I looked up from my rifle I saw four male impala exit the brush line and start making their way towards the water.

Hello Murphy, long time no see.  As we are both looking the impala over we get spotted, we haven't moved and the wind hasn't shifted but we still got caught.  Abel is looking through his binos and I am looking through my scope off the shooting sticks, neither of which are light when held unsupported for more than 30 seconds.  It felt like 5 minutes but in reality it was probably no more than 2-3 minutes, nonetheless it reached the point of being very uncomfortable.  Of the 4 males that walked out of the brush 3 were shooters.  One was very large, 24" horns or more but his left side horn was broken off about half way up.

It didn't matter though, these impala were spooky, likely due to the increase in the wind and while I don't think they knew what we were they definitely were not going to hang around to find out.  Once the impala had left the water hole and were out of sight we slowly made our way back to the vehicle.  Once back we relayed the events to Temba, G-Man and Sam and began formulating another plan of attack.  It was decided we would go in for a quick lunch and then to check a field down by the river.

As we left camp we headed in the opposite direction of this morning, we made our way towards the Palala River (loosely translated means the one that floods).  Abel wanted to check a field which borders the river and was known for holding impala and with the wind in our favor it was a good time to give it a try.

We did not see many impala as we neared the field but we dismounted from the vehicle anyway to give it a closer look.  Abel grabbed his shooting sticks and I had my rifle, G-Man, Sam and Temba stayed with the vehicle.

Typical sight when leaving the truck - G-Man with one of the dogs in his lap.
SS Pro Safaris

We started making our way towards the field pausing to double check the wind every 10-15 yards, Abel later told me the wind would often swirl and or change directions frequently near the river which is why he was constantly checking it.

As we rounded a bend we stopped and crouched down to try and get a glimpse of any impala that might be in the field but our view was slightly obstructed by a thin line of brush running perpendicular to our position.  We sat for a few minutes watching and hoping we might catch something crossing the road to enter the field or trying to exit the field.

After a few minutes I spotted a young male entering the field and then a few female followed shortly after.  We decided to move up a little further taking advantage of the current wind direction to have a clearer line of sight of where the impala were entering the field.

As we got closer we ended up getting caught in the open as a small herd of impala exited the tree line bordering the river, directly in front of us.  The impala spotted us and froze in their tracks as they watched us.  Abel noticed a very nice male in the group and as stealthily as possible handed me the shooting sticks and whispered "shoot the big male."  I thought there would be no way I would be able to get the shooting sticks positioned and my rifle set without spooking these impala but I was definitely going to try.  I tried to minimize my movements as much as possible, moving slowly into position all while expecting the impala to bolt any second.  Before I knew it I am looking at the male impala through my scope and picking a spot to rest my scope's crosshair.

The male impala was slightly quartering towards me but not enough to to cause any concern for 7mm Remington Mag.  I rested the crosshair on the impala's shoulder and slowly began to squeeze the trigger.  As it should the rifle went off surprising me.  The shot sounded like a hit but the big male along with the rest of the impala bolted from view.  I saw the impala I shot at looking very healthy as he ran away and after giving Abel an inquisitive look he told me he did not see any blood as the impala dissapeared into the brush.

Abel and I walked to the spot the impala were standing when I shot but did not find any blood.  Abel radioed for Temba to come down and take up the track and look for blood.

For those of you who don't know, in Africa, if you wound an animal, if blood is found, then you pay the fee for that animal whether it was a fatal hit or not.  I had mixed emotions, part of me wanted them to find blood because I knew I did not miss and would shortly find my impala but another part of me was hoping no blood would be found and that it was a clean miss.

Temba picked up the track and followed it for almost 200 yards without spotting any blood.  It was officially declared a miss!  This wasn't the first time I have missed in my life, clearly evident by the title of this blog and it surely won't be the last but I felt very confident in my shot and a little less confident in my rifle at that moment.  I was honestly feeling a little deflated.

After looking around for a few more minutes we were confident it was a clean miss.  I wanted to head back to camp to double check the rifle's zero and sure enough, it was on.  I missed, if you hunt long enough you are going to miss, you just need to get back up and get back after it.

Time to game plan.  So far, G-Man had a kudu and warthog down but still lacked a blue wildebeest and I had shot a baboon but still lacked a zebra, impala and blessbuck.  It was getting late in the day and we had some serious catching up to do.

Since it had warmed up G-Man and Sam were going to sit in a man made brush blind with Frank of Frank Outdoor Productions hoping a wildebeest would come in for an afternoon drink and Abel and myself would try sitting over a waterhole for an hour or so and then do a little walk and stalk hunting.

We drove over to a different water hole near the base of the mountains and Temba and another tracker started cutting down brush to make the brush blind for the evening sit.  While they were busy working the rest of us shot the bull for a few minutes till the blind was ready.

Once the blind was ready we each offered the other a "good luck" and "shoot a big'un" before driving away.

I will get to my evening shortly but I want to focus on G-Man's sit in the blind with Frank.  G-Man,  as I have said before struggles with the being patient and sit still part of hunting.  He was slapping at his face because of mosquito's so Frank shared some old Indian knowledge with the boy, "rub this dirt on your face and arms and they will leave you alone."  While the bugs never quit their unrelenting attacks G-Man did look silly with red dirt all over his face.

As with all kids, every attempt to manage their fidgeting in a blind is usually short lived.  Frank's plan B was to make a bet with G-Man.  "I bet you 20 Rand (South Africa currency) there will be a 4 legged animal at the water in 20 minutes."  G-Man while usually hesitant to take bets, he is generally a cautious kid, jumped at the chance to make 20 Rand.

Fortunately for G-Man nothing showed prior to the 20 minute mark, however a group of baboon did show up about 15 minutes after the end of the bet.  Their was a big male in the group who apparently ruled with an iron fist, evidenced by the 2 younger males with broken arms.  G-Man enjoyed watching the baboons while at the water.  Unfortunately nothing else came into the water for the rest of the evening.

Abel and I drove towards a different water hole to sit for about an hour in hopes of catching an impala coming in for a drink. Instead, we both caught a few minutes of sleep.  The long days of hunting were catching up to us.  Shortly after getting settled in the blind I was asleep.  As I started to slip out of my chair I woke up, and look over and Abel is snoring.  Neither one of us were worth are darn!  Fortunately, according to my phone we had only been in the blind 10 minutes and probably only asleep for 4 or 5 minutes.

We both knew sitting here was not going to work for us so 20 minutes after getting in the blind we were making our exit.  The sun was starting to make it's way towards the horizon so we hustled back to the cruiser.  The plan was to check the field G-Man shot his warthog in and then head over to the field I missed my impala in earlier in the day.

As we approached the 1st field I spotted a steenbuck at the fields edge and looked over him for quite a few minutes.  There were no impala spotted in the field and Abel was ready to head to the next field but I was trying to decide if I wanted to add a steenbuck.  Abel told me it was a very nice steenbuck but if I did not want to shoot him we needed to go before we ran out of light.

I decided to pass on the steenbuck (at the moment) and we made our way to the 2nd field.  It too was a bust, nothing was out in the field so I told Abel, "lets go back and see if we can spot the steenbuck."  Abel was game so off we went.  Only 20 minutes had passed but as any hunter knows, the likelihood of an animal being in the same area 20 minutes later are slim to none.

As we approached the area we had previously spotted the steenbuck Abel had to turn on the headlights of the cruiser, as we looked the area over we did not see any sign of the steenbuck.  Abel turned the vehicle to the left to get a glimpse of the field edge when we spotted the steenbuck stepping behind a bush.  I got ready, resting my rifle on the sandbag over the dash waiting for the steenbuck to walk from behind the bush.

After sitting there for 2-3 minutes Abel drove around to the other side of the bush where we spotted the Steenbuck held up.  I quickly acquired him in my sights and squeezed the trigger before he could take off.

Initially I wasn't real sure I wanted to shoot a steenbuck, but because we have nothing like them back home in the states and because they are not real expensive I figured why not.  As we walked up to my steenbuck I became very happy I had decided to shoot him.  He is a very pretty animal and definitely unique.  Prior to walking up to him I did not know what I was going to do with him but as I walked up to him I knew exactly what I was going to do, he will be a shoulder mount, mounted on a small rock on the corner of my desk.  Since it was dark we loaded my steenbuck into the cruiser putting off pictures till we had picked up G-Man, Sam and Frank.

Once at the waterhole we retold the events of the afternoon and then pulled my steenbuck from the back for pictures.

If I remember correctly he measured close to 11 3/4"

Steenbuck killed with SS Pro Safaris

Me and G-Man with my steenbuck
SS Pro Safaris

The plan was to go spotlighting tonight looking for a bushbuck and cats so we hurried back to camp to drop of my steenbuck, eat and get a little rest before heading out.

We left camp at about 11:00 PM to check out a few different farm fields hoping to catch a bushbuck out feeding but it turned out to be a very slow and cold night of spotlighting.  We covered a number of miles driving around the crop fields without seeing a thing.  Around 2:00AM we decided to call it a night and head back to camp.  On the way Abel and I decided to check one more field near the lodge.  At this point G-Man is asleep up front with Temba driving and ensuring G-Man does not fall out of the cruiser while we were driving since there are no doors.

As we approached the field Abel started searching for life with the spotlight.  Immediately we spot a very big, mature wildebeest standing alone.  Abel said he is a shooter and told me to wake G-Man up.  I tried everything other than kicking or punching the kid to wake him up, and the best I could get out of him was "I'll shoot him tomorrow."  I was furious, this bull was every bit of 29" wide and probably closer to 30" but G-Man wasn't waking up to shoot.  I was very seriously considering shooting him, which I had no real desire to shoot a wildebeest but in comparison to others I had seen thus far I knew he was big.  As we continued to watch the wildebeest he caught on to us and started to walk away.

About that time G-Man wakes up saying he wants to shoot, thank God!  I help G-Man into the back and Sam hands him his rifle as we manuever the cruiser into range of the wildebeest as he is trying to get out of the field.  We make it into range and with some whisteling and hollering the wildebeest stops giving G-Man a few brief seconds to aquire him in his scope and get the shot off, none of which is easy at night when using a spotlight.

G-Man squeezes the trigger and CLICK, nothing happens, the wildebeest runs off but G-Man's rifle did not go bang.  I grab it from him thinking it might be a misfire and clear the round however, there was no round to clear.  Sam forgot to load a round prior to handing the rifle to G-Man.

We all got a good laugh out of it and had some more ammo to harass Sam with.  G-Man was not mad, he was more tired and cold than anything and took it all in stride.

With the wildebeest gone and it being almost 3:00AM we went back to the lodge to get some rest.  We decided we would sleep in till about 7:30AM with a load up time of 8:00AM.  Sleep came very easy that night/morning.

At the end of day 4 G-Man had taken a kudu and warthog.  I had taken a baboon and a steenbuck. The plan for day 5 was impala in the morning and a wildebeest for G-Man and then to a different property we had yet to hunt for zebra in the afternoon.

I know this post is long but so much happened on day 4 and again, I want to accurately relay how each day unfolded.  Thanks again for reading and following along.