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| The Landscape |
| The land we hunted on was comprised of a varied character. There were large plains covered in long grass and indiginous thorn trees dressed in two inch long wooden nails. We would glass from the side of the rolling hills that undulated across the veld until spotting quarry, then strategize the approach into shooting range. There was precious little cover at times, which made getting inside of 70 yards on an animal with a 200 yard safety zone a challange. |
| Andrew and our Xhosa tracker/skinner Tululu discussing a bushbuck ram they'd spotted a couple of hills over. These guys had unbelievable eyes, and could spot far away game bare eyed before I could get my 12x binos trained on it. |
| Some of these rock formations were very steep and made for hard slogging. This was the environment preferred by bushbuck and is one of the reasons this animal can be such a challange. They are very wary and have a propensity for backtracking and using their dagger like horns on the pursueing hunter if wounded. These rocks are a favored huant of hyrax as well, and sometimes these animals could be seen swarming over the rocksides. |
| Chapman, Henderson, Mitchell Cont'd |
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| After the Hunt |
| Small herd of impala sighted from high atop a hill. We needed powerful glass to determine there was not a good ram in the bunch, which saved us from a long and non-productive hike. One piece of hear that is an absolute must on for these trips is a good set of 10x-12x binoculars. |
| I found that standard patterns of camo developed for our North American environments works well, going more with browns and earth tones than greens. |
| I did not see any streams or running water in the locations we hunted, however there were a few waterholes and a few dams spread around the property. Animals are very jumpy in these areas, and getting into shooting range takes a bit of time and effort. In this picture Tululu is going after a duck I shot with the Falcon at approximately 90 yards. I was dropping trou and getting ready to go in when he came up looking for me, and offered to go in. I hunted this hole for three hours trying to get in, and finally set up in camo an waited... still 90 yards was as close I could get. |
| After the hunt and at midday meals we retreated to the small pub for food and rest. The ambiance was great and a very cool place to hang and discuss the varios hunts. Robs friends, other PHs and ranchers would come by to see our guns and discuss what we were doing. |
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| Another option for relaxing after the hunt is the billiards/game room. A bit more formal than the pub, but another style with an ambiance all its own. I always have liked this room... it's just that I like hanging at the pub more..... The rooms (lower) are very comfortable and I slept well every night, of course miles of bunderbashing contributed! |
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