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**DapperDan** · 07-10-2017, 08:22 PM

Waiting for the rest!!

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**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 08:37 PM

Day 1

We had a light breakfast around 7:30am, then shot my bow to make sure it was still on. I take my sight off for travel so I really need to make sure it goes back on correctly. Anyways, all was good so we headed to the blind. The Freestate is much different than the Limpopo region. Lots of grass land, not many trees. It was very open with some small rolling hills.

Plus, it was further south, which means it was much colder than the Limpopo region. It was -5 C each morning and the wind made it worse. The particular property we were hunting was just set up for bowhunting. It was previously only used for rifle hunts. It had two water troughs on it and one natural water source. The landowner had recently built two bow blinds at the water troughs. I was going to be the first one to hunt them. The main reason we had come to the Freestate was to hunt the Common Springbok and the Black Wildebeest. We made it in to the blind around 9am. It wasn’t long after we got in the blind and the animals started showing up.

Lots of Springbok and Impala. I saw my first Black Impala. They are pretty cool animals. We probably had about 40 animals all around us. There were all 4 of the Springbok. The Common, Copper, Black and White. With so many animals it was difficult to get a clean shot. There were always animals in front and/or behind the target animal. After about 40 minutes of trying to get a shot a very nice Common Springbok presented a good broadside shot at around 20 yards. My PH told me to not shoot too low, to keep it out of the white. So, what did I do? I drew back and settled my pin and let the arrow fly. Low and behold, I shot low, in the white

. Everything scattered and he bounded off as best he could. We gave him some time, but with the open spaces we could see him bedded down about 150 yards out. He was hurt good, but I obviously didn’t get any vitals. We decided he was hurt bad enough that we could get out of the blind and finish him off. So, that’s exactly what we did. We went after him. He got up and bounded off another 50 yards. We could see his leg was broken and knew he couldn’t go too far. We made the decision to push him until he decide to hold his ground and give us another shot. As I got up to him he jumped up and attempted to make another run for it. This time he only made it another 20 yards and went back down. I was able to walk up to about 5 yards and put a finishing shot in the vitals for my first animal of this safari. Springbok are cool little animals and they really do have that “cotton candy” smell. I couldn’t believe it. According to the rough measurements my Springbok should make Gold Medal SCI.

After the morning hunt we went back to the lodge and had brunch. We spent some time relaxing and talking with the property and lodge owner H.W. The plan was to head back out to the blind around 2pm. As there were only 2 blinds on this entire property we were headed to the one we didn’t hunt in the morning. Our target animal for this sit would be a Black Wildebeest. When we got to the blind it was covered up with Sable. They were bedded all around the blind. I had never seen that many in one place before.

. Once we got settled in the blind the jet lag really started to set in. Since it was only 2pm we figured we had several hours before we could expect to see any Wildebeest, if at all. These blinds had carpet in them and they were big. They fit 3 of us very comfortably. My PH, my wife and I all had plenty of space. I decided to lay down on the carpet and take a power nap. After about 30 minutes I felt refreshed and ready to hunt the rest of the afternoon. We had a lot of visitors at this blind. All kinds of Springbok, Lechwe, Sable, Roan, Gemsbok, Black impala and zebra. Of course, zebra always are on my list and one of my nemesis. I took one with my bow last trip, but not sure I can really pass them up. Well, on this sit they came in 3 times. The last time they stayed for over an hour. It was very hard for me not to grab my bow. My PH looked at me and simply said, “if you shoot the zebra you won’t get a Wildebeest”. He was right and I knew it. I looked over the horizon and could see the Black Wildebeest slowly making their way towards the blind. It was going to be close as to whether or not they made it with enough shooting light. Around 5pm I had some Blesbok come in, also on my list, but I once again held strong. Sunset was about 5:30pm and the Black Wildebeest arrived around the general area around 5:15pm. They stayed out around 55 yards and fed around. Finally, a big bull came to one of the salt licks at 20 yards. He was giving me a great broadside shot but a Lechwe was feeding in front of him blocking my shot.

Light was fading fast. The Lechwe finally cleared far enough out of the way so I drew my bow. It was dark in the blind at this point and I was having a little trouble seeing. In an effort to get more light while I was at full draw I inched toward the window. Unfortunately, I got too close and bumped the blind with my bow. The noise spooked the Lechwe which, in turn, spooked the Wildebeest. He only went about 10 yards and stopped. So, I put my 30 yard pin on him and waited for him to turn his head. I didn’t realize he had taken a step back towards me so when I let the arrow fly it hit him a little high in the shoulder and at a quartering to angle. By this time it was dark and we knew we would have to wait til morning. I guess it would be a long night, but since I was still adjusting to the time it really didn’t matter.

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 08:47 PM

Day 2
Woke up, had a light breakfast and went to locate the wildebeest. Found him with a group of 8 others. He was wounded, but not dead. We tried to get close enough to get a shot with the rifle but they wouldn’t stop running and covered lots of ground. We chased them for 2 hours. We finally got 2 of them separated from the others and my wildebeest was one of the two. It took a while but he decided he had enough and stood his ground. He turned and faced us at 50 yards. I waited for him to move his head to the side and open up his chest. As soon as he did I let the bullet fly. I heard the thump and he kicked and reared, then went down. Finally had him.

I never knew they had a mohawk on their nose.

Time to head back to the lodge for brunch.

After brunch we headed back out to the “upper” blind. One blind was at the top of a small hill, the other blind was down in the flats. This was the same blind I had shot the Common Springbok but this time I was after a copper springbok. Only one came in but he was a good one. Unfortunately, there was too much traffic and we couldn’t get a shot off. After about 30 minutes of feeding he went out to about 60 yards and bedded down.

We waited about another 45 minutes before he got up and came back in. It was better this time because the animals would come is slowly and not all would come at the same time. About half of them were still bedded down resulting in less animals in front of me. This time I was able to get a 20 yard shot off on him. I hit him exactly where I wanted. He ran and left a good blood trail in the tall grass. A short track later we had him.

In the evening, we were waiting on zebra. Since they teased me the previous night I was well prepared to exact my revenge. But, of course, since I was hunting them, the zebra did not cooperate. They never showed but as a consolation prize the blesbok decided they’d make an appearance. They took forever to finally come to the water. It was last light and I was finally presented a broadside shot. I knew the water hole was 20 yards but for some reason I assumed he was at 30. Without even thinking I put my 30 yard pin exactly where it needed to be. I released the arrow and watch it hit him high in the back. I couldn’t believe it. He was off and running and it didn’t appear to be a lethal shot. I watched him run off with my lighted nock still in him. Turns out it wasn’t so bad. Got the top of the lungs. It was the first time I was presented with a shot on a blesbok so I was glad to get that out of the way. That night we celebrated with some tequila and a T-bone steak. My 2 day hunt in the Freestate was successful with 4 animals in the salt. In the morning, we would head back to Limcroma main camp in Limpopo.

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 08:48 PM

Day 3—Pretty uneventful day as we had a 7 hour drive back to the Limpopo province and Limcroma main camp.

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 08:59 PM

Day 4
Now that we were back in the Limpopo we only had 3 animals left on our list and 6 days to get it done. Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 animals were some of the most difficult to get with a bow. It would be a tough 6 days. So, we had breakfast and drove to a 130,000 acre ranch about 45 minutes away that had river front. We parked and immediately saw 5 bushbuck around 100 to 150 yards out. They also saw us and were gone. We started our still hunting up the river and walked slowly through the reeds and bush. The only bushbuck we saw and were able to get close to was a lone female. We reached the end of the property and waited for our tracker to pick us up. It was about 11 am and we were hungry so the plan was to go sit in a blind and try for waterbuck and eat our lunch.

As soon as we pulled up there were several large Gemsbok and about 8 Waterbuck, mostly females. We got in the blind and ate lunch while we watched the waterbuck come back in and drink. The wind was bad and swirling so from time to time they would wind us and move off. They wouldn’t go far. There were two bulls. One was extremely long, but broken on the other side. The other was a shooter, but not what we were looking for so we waited. Time was passing slowly. We had a very large warthog come in that my PH said I needed to shoot. Unfortunately, he was also broken off on one side. I really didn’t want a third warthog (shot two on previous trips) but I did have to agree with my PH, it looked like a baby rhino. At any rate, he didn’t drink long and I didn’t like the angle so I did not shoot. After a while we had some ostriches pay us a visit. Interesting to watch them. I may have to add them to my list for the next trip. Later, two new waterbuck bulls appeared. One had crazy horns. One went forward and one backward. The other was long, but young, not a shooter. At about 3:30 pm my PH told me there was a bigger bull coming in and he wanted me to take it. So, we got set up and he started drinking broadside at 21 yards. I lined him up and flung the arrow right where it needed to go. Double lunged him and he ran off zig zagging. He ran about 80 yards and expired. Great Waterbuck. It was a long drive back to the lodge but well worth it with a Waterbuck in the back of the truck. We had a few celebratory beers.

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 09:00 PM

Day 5
Now that we had the Waterbuck out of the way all of our attention was on Bushbuck and Zebra. We knew we had our work cut out for us. After breakfast, we headed over to hunt the river bottom behind Hannes’ (Limcroma owner) house. We saw a couple male bushbuck. Unfortunately, every time they saw us first. The first one was big. We stayed after him for a while. He finally dropped in down by the river in some open space. By the time we got to him he was at 80. I’m only sited in to 60. The closest we got was 70 then he was gone. Obviously, we opted not to take a shot. We kept pushing up river looking for another one. We managed to find one, however it was by surprise and we were not ready. We were down in a little draw and headed to get back on top of it. As soon my PH crested the hill he saw the bushbuck bedded down at 10 yards. The bushbuck obviously didn’t stick around and bolted out of there. It was frustrating to be so close and not even know it. But, bushbuck on foot with a bow is no easy feat. We pushed on up river and only managed to come across another female. By about 10:30am our window had closed for a while since they would be bedded down for the afternoon. So, we headed back to the lodge for a warm lunch. This afternoon we would chase Zebra.
The afternoon hunt was uneventful. We only saw 1 warthog until the last 30 minutes of light. Then we had Impala, Kudu, and 3 cape buffalo come in. No Zebra. We’d be back at it again tomorrow.

Day 6

Today we went to a new property to chase bushbuck. We walked the river again. We jumped a few smaller and female bushbuck but nothing we could get on. As we reached the end of our walk we saw a huge bushbuck with a female. They were in perfect stalking position. Down by the water’s edge. No trees or bushes, just tall grass, about 25 yards below the crest of the hill. Absolutely perfect for stalking up on them. Except…….they were on the other side of the river. After our walk, we went to a blind to sit and wait for zebra. We sat from about 11am to 4pm. We saw kudu, gemsbok, impala, waterbuck, sable and lots of warthogs. Unfortunately, no zebra. At 4pm we headed back to the river we walked in the morning. We made the same trek. We saw a lot of waterbuck and a female bushbuck. Wasn’t much happening until our PH we down a small hill to see if there were any there. He jumped a male and female, but he didn’t get a chance to see the male. My wife and I were still on the dirt road at the top. I heard something coming through the bushes. I came to full draw and saw a female bushbuck sprint across the road. Not far behind her was a male bushbuck. He didn’t look like a big one and he was on a dead sprint right past me at 10 yards. I had a whopping 2 seconds to decide to shoot or not. But, because he didn’t look huge to me and I didn’t have my PH’s blessing I decided not to chance it. Not to mention he was full speed slightly quartering toward me. I’m not sure I would have hit him even if I wanted to. Oh well, it was exciting and the closest we had been. At least I had gotten to draw my bow.

**SwampRanger** · 07-10-2017, 09:01 PM

Great write up

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 09:03 PM

Day 7
The day started just like the rest. A good breakfast of South African white bread, toasted with butter and jam with a side of bacon. It’s so good. Not sure why our bread isn’t that good but probably better for me not to eat it every day. The bacon is meatier than ours with less fat. They say it is more like what we call “Canadian bacon” but it was better than that. Anyways, we left camp earlier this day, around 6:30am. We were going back to the property that was 45 minutes away, where I shot my Waterbuck. Plan was to work the reeds at the river hard and see if we could get an opportunity at a bushbuck. We got to the property and set out on our “walk”. It was still early so we didn’t see any bushbuck where we had the previous trip there. We decided to walk the property line and glass the open spaces between the reeds. We saw a bushbuck about 200 yards away feeding along the reeds next to the river. There was an “island” of reeds between us and him. The reeds were probably about 45-50 yards from him. I felt good that if we could get to that set of reeds we’d get a good shot at him. The only problem was that there was no way to get to those reeds. We had about 30 yards of water and marsh between the reed “island” and us. It just wasn’t going to happen. We decided to work our way through the reeds to the other side and work that side as that is where we had seen most of the bushbuck. It was a long journey as the reeds were about 8 feet high and the trails were small. Not to mention we had to work around the water and marsh. There were a few times we got set up thinking a bushbuck was going to walk out, but it never happened. We probably spent a good two hours working the area but ended up empty handed. We decided to walk up river and work the tree line. Once again, we found ourselves within 35 yards of a feeding bushbuck, a female bushbuck. She never knew we were there. We waited for her to move off then continued our slow walk. After about another 15 minutes we jumped a nice male bushbuck. He was in the thick stuff, but we stayed with him as best we could. It looked like he was headed to the reeds so we left him and tried to cut him off between the tree line and reeds. My PH did not like the idea but we did it anyways. He told me, “I don’t like losing sight of him. We need to keep eyes on him.” I was more confident, I felt we had the right plan. Well, after about 15 more minutes, we never saw him. Now the problem was finding him again. My PH told me to head down the dry creek bed about 50 yards in front of him. He was going to walk through the middle of the thick stuff we last saw the bushbuck in. As I got to the end of the thick bushes I figured it was a lost cause. I stood there and waited for my PH. All of a sudden I heard noise and saw the bushbuck running about 80 yards away at a diagonal away from my position. I ran to the edge of the tree line (about another 20 yards) and drew my bow. I knew he was going to cross the dry creek bed, I just didn’t know where or if he would even stop. I was just hoping for the best. I saw him on a full sprint. He dropped down into the creek bed and up the other side. And what do you know, he stopped, broadside. I knew I had about 2 seconds max and was already at full draw. I judged him to be about 65 yards so I put my 60 pin high on his back. I touched the release and watched the arrow fly about an inch over his back. He bolted and we never saw him again. I went and found my arrow and ranged back to where I was standing and it appeared as if he was only at 55 yards. Dang it. Oh well, at least I finally launched an arrow at the elusive bushbuck. That pretty much ended our morning hunt. The plan for the rest of the day was to stop at Limcroma’s new camp which was half way home. We would sit there, eat our lunch and hunt zebra. After we ate our lunch and took a few 5-10 minute power naps we were reenergized and waiting on zebra. It was a very active waterhole. Lots of Gemsbok, Impala, Nyala, Eland, two really nice Kudu. Even saw a Tsessebee. Around 4:15pm we saw the telltale black and white strips off behind our blind. 4 Zebra were slowly making their way into the water. As zebra usually do (at least when I’m hunting them) they walked well around the blind and came in from the trees behind the water hole. One of the zebra was very young and one of the zebra was obviously the mother. Those two were off limits. Of course, the young zebra was the only one who threw caution to the wind and came in to drink. I had one of the shooters broadside behind the water hole at around 30 yards. I opted to be patient and wait for them to come to water and settle down. Well, it didn’t work as planned. The zebra simply decided they weren’t thirsty and walked off. We were extremely frustrated but that is a common recurring theme for my zebra hunts. Oh well, time for a few beers and some excellent South African grilled meats.

Attached Files

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 09:05 PM

Day 8
Much like the previous day, we would hunt Bushbuck in the morning and zebra in the afternoon. We were staying pretty local today so we didn’t leave camp until about 7:30am. We were headed back to the river we had the close encounter with the bushbuck on day 6. We walked up and down the river and jumped a few, but most were female and/or young. We never really saw anything we had a chance at. It was pretty uneventful. We went back to the lodge and had some down time and lunch. We decided to hunt the same blind as the previous afternoon at the new camp. Once again, we got set up and had plenty of animals to look at. There was one big difference today though. The wind. The wind was not horrible, but definitely not good. It was gusting and swirling from time to time. We had lots of Gemsbok at the waterhole, same as the previous day. The difference was they kept spooking and running off when they winded us. We knew it was going to be a challenge. I was hoping that the zebra would come in after the sun went down and that the wind would settle. Well, as my luck with zebra go, they all got together and decided to throw me a going away party. We had 3 different herds come in from different directions all at the same time. It’s like they all showed up to tease me. Anyways, it was similar to the previous afternoon. They stood off behind the waterhole at about 50 yards in the trees. Several times one would start to come in and get close to the water hole. The biggest problem was that they would come in facing me, never from the side. The second problem was that as soon as they got to the water they would spook. Zebra don’t put up with much so after a few times of this happening I knew my chances were slim to none. Finally, things looked good. We had 4 zebra coming in at the same time and they looked committed. At about 30 yards (10 yards from water) the Gemsbok caught our scent from the swirling wind and spooked. This time the zebra were out of there. They turned and walked off slowly as if to rub it in. Again, extremely frustrating. I was very mad at the Zebra

D: Well, at least I knew I had a campfire, beer and great food waiting for me back at camp. Still had one more day of hunting.

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 09:07 PM

Day 9

Last day to hunt. It was today or never. We went back to the same river as the previous day. Walked up and down and finally found a good bushbuck to chase. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get on him. There were a lot of waterbuck cows in the area this day and they made sure to let everyone else know we were there. We still managed to get close on a female but that doesn’t do us any good. After that hunt I surprised my PH and told him I wanted to chase zebra with a rifle. There were three things that I used to make my decision. First, and most importantly, I had already taken a zebra with my bow so I had already proven to myself I could do it. Second, I have never hunted with a rifle before and what better place to experience it than Africa. Third, I really wanted another zebra hide to make pillows and stuff with.
We headed out into a new property we hadn’t hunted yet. We were going to ride around in the back of the truck until we saw zebra, then we would get out and put a stalk on them. About 5 minutes into our hunt my PH spots 4 zebra and has the tracker stop the truck. We get out and he sets up the sticks. He told me, “he’s going to run across the road, if he stops, shoot him”. He was right, he ran across the road about 70 yards in front of us, but he never even slowed down. We spent the next 40 minutes chasing them through the bush and trying to get on them again. It never happened so we got back in the truck and went looking for more. We saw several more herds of zebra and every time they saw the truck they took off running. They had no interest in letting us get within a couple hundred yards of them. After a couple hours of chasing them around we headed back to the lodge for lunch. Today’s lunch menu was Kudu burgers. They were excellent. Once we were refueled with plenty of protein we went back out after the zebra. Our first encounter after lunch was very much the same as our experiences before lunch. But the second encounter turned out better. We managed to sneak off the truck with the zebra only being about 150 yards out. We snuck up to about 35 yards but it was so thick we didn’t have any shooting lanes. We did our best to crawl to an area that would allow us a shot but with all the dry grass and leaves it was just too noisy and the zebra moved off. 20 minutes later we were back on them. This time they were at 80 yards and we had a shooting lane. My PH set up the sticks and told me to take him in the shoulder. The only thing we could see clearly was his shoulder. The rest of him was behind so bush. As this was my first ever rifle hunt, I was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I couldn’t keep the cross hairs steady. Once again, my PH said, “take him on the shoulder”. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. He was hit, I just couldn’t see his reaction through the bush to know how bad. They all ran off and we gave each other a high 5. We called the tracker and he said that zebra I shot ran past him. He was still with the herd and he was bleeding good from the shoulder. Sounded good to me. We met up with the tracker and he showed us the track. There was good blood so I was very optimistic. My PH told me, “he’s still on his feet so I’m not sure how much of the vitals you got”. That wasn’t the words I wanted to hear but it was a reality. As most properties do, this one had cross roads in it so my PH said to get in the truck. We were going to drive down to the next cross road and get set up. When they crossed the road, we would put another bullet in him. The tracker would stay on the track. He told my PH, “I’m going to walk this zebra until he can’t continue”. My PH and I both laughed. We got in the truck and headed to the next cross road. We set up in the shade of a tree on the side of the road and waited for the zebra. After about 10 minutes I see a zebra come out of the brush and on to the road. Then another and another. There were 5 of them and they were walking right towards us. One problem. I didn’t see any blood. My PH said, “second to last one has a hole in his chest”. Well, that must be the one I had shot. But there was no blood. I had a decision to make. Shoot this one, that is probably not the same zebra or pass and let this one continue on with a hole in its chest. I said to myself, “why not?”. So, my PH told me once again, “right on the shoulder”. This time I was much calmer and made a perfect shot. He goes down in the road and never gets up. Perfect heart shot. We get to him and check. Sure enough, it wasn’t the same zebra. We have no idea how he got the hole in his chest, but it appeared it had been there a while and was infected. Not sure how much longer he would survive. A few minutes later the tracker emerges from the bush and shows us the track he’s on. Still good blood, but the zebra had already crossed the road before we got there. So, we drag this zebra into the shade on the side of the road and head out to chase the first zebra. The tracker stays on the track and we drive down to the next cross road. We turn the corner and what do we see? 5 zebra in the road at 20 yards and they don’t care to even move. What the heck? I’ve been chasing these things all week and all day and they won’t let me get within 400 yards, but now that I shoot one (now two) they stand there in bow range. Jerks

.
The tracker gets on the radio and tells us the direction the zebra are headed. So, we head off to get in front of them. We were at an intersection of two dirt roads and we weren’t sure which one he would cross. We got an update from the tracker. He told us the zebra was no longer with the herd. He bedded down and they left him. The wind was wrong so the zebra kept smelling the tracker every time he got close. The tracker told us the zebra was rolling in the dirt trying to stop the bleeding and cover his tracks. About 5 minutes later the tracker tells us the zebra is headed to a cattle fence, one road over. So, we grab the sticks and rifle and run down the road to the cattle fence. Before we get there my PH is working up a plan for us to be able to put a final stalk on the zebra and finish him. When we get to the cattle fence we look down the road and can’t believe our eyes. There is the zebra, sitting down in the middle of the road. The tracker was 10 feet from him. The tracker radios to us (we are still about 250 yards away) “he’s right here, he can’t go on”. So, when I get up to him I put the rifle about 2 feet from him and finish him with a bullet to the heart. It was all over. We couldn’t believe it. The tracker told us he was going to walk him to death and that is what he did. 2 hours and who knows how many miles, but he walked the zebra until he couldn’t go any more. Turns out my first shot was low and shattered the zebra’s leg. It also severed a good size artery which was why he was bleeding so much. After 2 hours of blood loss and continually be pushed on a broken leg the zebra simply had nothing left.
I sat back and thought about what just happened. I had not 1 but 2 zebra in the back of the truck. Guess I got my zebra fix. I’m not mad at them anymore

. Tonight we would finish the Patron tequila.

Attached Files

**rladner** · 07-10-2017, 09:11 PM

One of the days I was chasing Bushbuck my wife decided to go to a predator encounter. She said it was one of the coolest things she's ever done. She got to walk with lions and pet a cheetah. Here are some of her pics.

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