Firebird24
Beginner
- Sep 3, 2024
- 91
- 331
Have spent a couple days hunting bushbuck in the mountains that surround this area. Game4Africa owns a chunk of rolling steep slopes and valleys covered in speckboom and other life giving plants. The plan is to get to a high vantage point and glass until we find one then stalk to the opposite slope and shoot across the canyon.
Several times we have seen them but at the end of the stalk couldn’t turn them up. Once we had one run across the road and escape by the white hairs on his chinny chin chin.
It was raining and cold this morning putting the animals down in the cover. So we took advantage of an opportunity to hunt on a working sheep ranch and help with an ostrich abundance. The rain didn’t help the ostrich look any better and the fact that I had to shoot him twice palled the experience. Plus he was covered with bugs, especially flies that used his feathers and body for protection in the storm. So I don’t need to hunt them ever again.
I handed each of the two trackers a pack of cigarettes as a reward and to keep them warm while we continued hunting. They get cash tips at the end of the trip but little gestures buy alot of loyalty along the way.
By noon the day was brightening and we knew the bushbucks would come out to warm up and feed.
So did the kudu and they were all over the hills and valleys-several very nice bulls, lots of “he needs two more years” age bulls.
We went to a cliff where we have glassed from several times and even had lunch one day. Immediately my ph Wik spotted a bushbuck ewe-they are often quite red and stand out while the dark rams blend with the shadows. The cameraman was still trying to get on her when Wik found the ram near the top of the opposing ridge line. I was scrambling to get on the sticks and on the ram and then wait for the camera and then wait for him to clear the brush. Bushbuck are smaller than a pronghorn and can be ferocious when injured or cornered. That and it’s late in the day to track one on a very steep, very thick mountainside. . .in short, do not flub the shot. The 7mm-08 sent a 150 grain ablr the 200 yards across and hit right on the front shoulder, exited just lower and behind the opposite side. He dropped in mid stride. He then slide maybe 20 yards or so before he snagged up in the brush. The hardest part was really the recovery. The ph told me I could wait at the top while they got the ram. He knows me better than that!
It’s all on film and after the editing I’ll find a way to share it with everyone. In the end bushbuck hunting is one of the sparkling gems of the east cape!
The shot broke the off shoulder as it exited, it was late when we got back and I didn’t stay to see the cleaning process but I’m certain the bullet took the heart-
Several times we have seen them but at the end of the stalk couldn’t turn them up. Once we had one run across the road and escape by the white hairs on his chinny chin chin.
It was raining and cold this morning putting the animals down in the cover. So we took advantage of an opportunity to hunt on a working sheep ranch and help with an ostrich abundance. The rain didn’t help the ostrich look any better and the fact that I had to shoot him twice palled the experience. Plus he was covered with bugs, especially flies that used his feathers and body for protection in the storm. So I don’t need to hunt them ever again.
I handed each of the two trackers a pack of cigarettes as a reward and to keep them warm while we continued hunting. They get cash tips at the end of the trip but little gestures buy alot of loyalty along the way.
By noon the day was brightening and we knew the bushbucks would come out to warm up and feed.
So did the kudu and they were all over the hills and valleys-several very nice bulls, lots of “he needs two more years” age bulls.
We went to a cliff where we have glassed from several times and even had lunch one day. Immediately my ph Wik spotted a bushbuck ewe-they are often quite red and stand out while the dark rams blend with the shadows. The cameraman was still trying to get on her when Wik found the ram near the top of the opposing ridge line. I was scrambling to get on the sticks and on the ram and then wait for the camera and then wait for him to clear the brush. Bushbuck are smaller than a pronghorn and can be ferocious when injured or cornered. That and it’s late in the day to track one on a very steep, very thick mountainside. . .in short, do not flub the shot. The 7mm-08 sent a 150 grain ablr the 200 yards across and hit right on the front shoulder, exited just lower and behind the opposite side. He dropped in mid stride. He then slide maybe 20 yards or so before he snagged up in the brush. The hardest part was really the recovery. The ph told me I could wait at the top while they got the ram. He knows me better than that!
It’s all on film and after the editing I’ll find a way to share it with everyone. In the end bushbuck hunting is one of the sparkling gems of the east cape!
The shot broke the off shoulder as it exited, it was late when we got back and I didn’t stay to see the cleaning process but I’m certain the bullet took the heart-
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