I had an opportunity to go on a hunt a couple of weeks ago, and I had no idea what to expect. I’m not typically a big fan of high fences, and kind of wondered if I was going to be hunting a “petting zoo”. This place was anything but that. When we arrived on Friday night, the ranch owner asked me what I wanted to hunt. I told him that anything would be a treat, as I’ve not had this kind of opportunity before. The guys put some pressure on me to make a decision what to target, and I asked what species would be the most challenging hunt. They told me the axis and Gemsbok were the most difficult to hunt, and that the Gemsbok were extremely tough animals. That being said, my decision was made. We started Saturday morning hunting a large area that was super thick brush, with the exception if the roads and feeder areas. We saw tons of animals, including an axis of my dreams, but I passed. They axis were there & gone before the sun came up. We spotted some Gemsbok in the brush about 800 yards away, and at 9:00 made the decision to try and put a stalk on them (yeah, right!). They are very alert and weary animals, and by the time we could see them through the brush, they’d seen us and turned tail and RAN. We kept hunting, looking for another group. We had 2 more encounters that ended the same way, as well as an encounter with the big axis and a huge aoudad ram. After a quick lunch, we were back at it, hoping to find them grazing mid day. We had one Gemsbok come out into the open at 180 yards, and were waiting for the rest of the group to come out so we could pick the biggest one. That one Gemsbok got down wind of us, and they disappeared, again. Fast forward to about 5PM: I spotted a group of 10-12 Gemsbok working their way through the brush towards us, about 600 yards downwind of a bale of alfalfa that the guide had put out that afternoon. They were coming on a STRING! It was about to happen. I got my gun ready, we picked out the biggest one, which gave me a brief shot opportunity at about 150 yards, but quickly disappeared in the brush. Just as they started to come out in an opening, someone shot in a neighboring pasture, and they all hauled butt, AGAIN. I went from the highest high, to being completely devastated. I was 3 steps away from putting a bullet in a dream animal. The guide and I both sat there and sulked, not seeing much the rest of the evening. Then right before dark, a huge Gemsbok walked out of the brush and went straight to the alfalfa. This was it, and I wasted no time waiting for more to walk out. We worked pretty hard all day and I wasn’t going to let this one get away. One shot with the .300WM to the right shoulder, and she flipped over & hit the ground and got up and ran. I already had another round chambered and put another one in her left shoulder on the run. She fell as she hit the brush, then popped back up. BOOM, 3rd round mid body to anchor her right there. The guide and I were both ECSTATIC. He turned to me and said “I’ve never seen anybody get 3 rounds out of a bolt action that fast!”. It was an awesome experience with some great people, and I’m blessed to have been able to go, and even more blessed to take such a beautiful animal. She measured 39” long, and now we’re trying to figure out how to arrange the living room when the taxi gets her done. Thanks for reading. 
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