Firebird24
Beginner
- Sep 3, 2024
- 70
- 230
After our quick morning with the Tsessebee, we were able to drop him off and go back out looking for impala or mtn reedbuck. We found female reedbuck but no rams.
Somehow spotted a group of impala rams-all shooters and several of them were very big. Played cat and mouse in the thick brush until they eventually got tired of that game and moved up a small mountain, where they holed up with another larger herd of impala. We called a truce and went in for lunch and to let them settle in and calm down.
After lunch and a short nap, we went back out with a plan. Decided to climb the mountain and then side hill across the valley from them. We accomplished this and they were still 400 ish yards off and moving constantly. It was impossible to pick and keep track of just one trophy ram. Plus there were animals everywhere up in the brush and rocks. Kudu, eland, waterbuck, a one horned red hartebeest all those eyes watching for danger. We had the wind and were in the shade with the sun at our backs. Our ph sent one of the trackers around the opposite side of them and just let them have our scent. All the animals moved purposefully away from the tracker and more our way. The impala rams let the ewes go first, moving closer to us and down at the same time. Ten long minutes on the sticks and crazy impala behavior later, the ram we wanted cleared the ladies and I had him cold at 200 yards. The 150 AccuBond from my 7mm-08 Remington 700 caught him right on the shoulder just as the ph instructed. Impala down-and he got bigger as we got closer!
The trackers went to work getting him down while the ph was scanning looking for opportunities. He found a little herd of mtn reedbuck but too far away to determine status. So he and I bailed off the mtn we were on and hussled to where they were. Got sidetracked when we found a herd of red hartebeest coming to a dam filled with water. We stayed to guide another ph mad his hunter into those. By the time that was over (he killed a nice bull) out reedbuck had left.
Our trackers had finished packing the impala off the mtn and brought the truck to us. Driving out trying to beat the sunset, we spotted a large herd of springbok. My ph, Wik, found a big ram but no time for any kind of a stalk. Wik takes pride in getting his hunters in close for a good shot-and remember we are filming this. He agreed to let me try a 350 (346) yard shot. Great ram standing broadside off sticks. I honestly thought I had missed. Then the ph said, he was down. I hadn’t seen the hit nor heard the report of the bullet but everyone else had and that ram was down quickly with another perfect “on the shoulder” hit. Also another complete pass through for the 150 ablr. Springbok aren’t very big so the pass through was expected. I watched both be skinned and cleaned out. Nice bullet performance, accurate and effective!
Somehow spotted a group of impala rams-all shooters and several of them were very big. Played cat and mouse in the thick brush until they eventually got tired of that game and moved up a small mountain, where they holed up with another larger herd of impala. We called a truce and went in for lunch and to let them settle in and calm down.
After lunch and a short nap, we went back out with a plan. Decided to climb the mountain and then side hill across the valley from them. We accomplished this and they were still 400 ish yards off and moving constantly. It was impossible to pick and keep track of just one trophy ram. Plus there were animals everywhere up in the brush and rocks. Kudu, eland, waterbuck, a one horned red hartebeest all those eyes watching for danger. We had the wind and were in the shade with the sun at our backs. Our ph sent one of the trackers around the opposite side of them and just let them have our scent. All the animals moved purposefully away from the tracker and more our way. The impala rams let the ewes go first, moving closer to us and down at the same time. Ten long minutes on the sticks and crazy impala behavior later, the ram we wanted cleared the ladies and I had him cold at 200 yards. The 150 AccuBond from my 7mm-08 Remington 700 caught him right on the shoulder just as the ph instructed. Impala down-and he got bigger as we got closer!
The trackers went to work getting him down while the ph was scanning looking for opportunities. He found a little herd of mtn reedbuck but too far away to determine status. So he and I bailed off the mtn we were on and hussled to where they were. Got sidetracked when we found a herd of red hartebeest coming to a dam filled with water. We stayed to guide another ph mad his hunter into those. By the time that was over (he killed a nice bull) out reedbuck had left.
Our trackers had finished packing the impala off the mtn and brought the truck to us. Driving out trying to beat the sunset, we spotted a large herd of springbok. My ph, Wik, found a big ram but no time for any kind of a stalk. Wik takes pride in getting his hunters in close for a good shot-and remember we are filming this. He agreed to let me try a 350 (346) yard shot. Great ram standing broadside off sticks. I honestly thought I had missed. Then the ph said, he was down. I hadn’t seen the hit nor heard the report of the bullet but everyone else had and that ram was down quickly with another perfect “on the shoulder” hit. Also another complete pass through for the 150 ablr. Springbok aren’t very big so the pass through was expected. I watched both be skinned and cleaned out. Nice bullet performance, accurate and effective!
