Firebird24
Beginner
- Sep 3, 2024
- 84
- 293
I had expressed a desire to hunt an ostrich. I just wanted the experience, didn’t want any feathers or any taxidermy pieces and parts, just the hunt. My ph doesn’t have them in his properties and most ph’s hate them. They have spook easily and when they run they legitimately spook all the other game. But he called around and found a guy who had them on the menu so to speak. The guy owns property for sheep and goat farming but also has springbok. Ostrich and bushbuck hunting as well as jackal at night. Going in we knew there would be fences and the possibility of sheep in the background. But it was a rainy grey day with mist in the valley. So it really wasn’t a good day for anything and ostrich would at least be an adventure. Followed the windshield wipers to the guys house and then followed his taillights a couple miles to a gate. He said he had no livestock in here and there were several small groups of ostrich. He said they were very wary and best of luck. Then he suggested I shoot it in the back as it ran away from the truck. He laughed and reiterated that we were in for a long day.
Through the gate, drain the bladder, do some quick glassing. Nothing is sight but the property is immense. We drove awhile and then came to a little canyon with a creek in the bottom. Sure enough a male Ostrich is in the bottom picking gravel from the creek bed. It didn’t see us and we reversed about half a mile before we stopped. Loaded 235 gr tsx into the .375 wby and started a walk. Cold, drizzly and gray but at least we were hunting. Cresting the hill of the canyon Wik set up the sticks and I got on them. The male
Had his back to us but caught our movement. I aimed for the bullet to angle in behind his leg as he was angling away and I didn’t want to destroy a drumstick!
At the shot the big bird flailed oddly then ran into the trees and brush. We didn’t find blood but there were scuffs on the earth where we could sort of track him. Honestly it took a minute to sort it out. By that time Wik saw him walking on the hill at 250 yards. On the sticks. Aim in front of the leg this time and pray. . . Hit hard he ran a short ways and half laid down, half fell down. I was crestfallen. Every animal I had shot went down with one shot but here I was getting my butt kicked by an ostrich.
Walked up on him and he is still
Blinking. So I gave him one more. The ostrich was a disappointment. He had flies under his wings and flies in his feathers and he was wet and had burrs and stickers in his feathers. And when he died his penis came out and wiggled around. I can say I have hunted ostrich successfully but it wasn’t something I need to do again. I think the weather hurt the appearance of the bird and the bugs and the fact that I had to shoot more than once, all combined making it an un appealing experience. Not a bad one. Just not one I need to repeat either.
And then I saw the feet-prehistoric looking two toed monstrosities. I love ostrich feathers and the eggs are extremely cool, I even love the meat. But I have been on my last hunt for dinosaur birds.
We had one more sheep pasture project to take care of. Several blesbok males had escaped my PHs property and taken up residence in a a neighbors sheep herd. The neighbor was kind about it and we had full run of the place in order to shoot one of the rogue blesbok.
Blesbok aren’t jumpers but they will crawl under a fence. Warthogs constantly dig pathways under a fence so escapes can and do happen. A herd of sheep is easy enough to find but hard to stalk in. We were fortunate that with the weather the sheep were down in a huge valley out of the wind. The blesbok were with them but laying down. Just black horns sticking up from a roll in the earth. We had elevation and could see them from far off.
I loaded the 7mm-08 with 150 gr nosler ablr bullets and we started walking. The sheep obliged us, moving off but not spooking. At 200 yards the blesboks started standing up. . . And feeding away from us. . . So we followed, keeping the distance about the same. We did this for half hour or more. They went over a hill and finally turned broadside. And finally the male I was after stopped and looked right at us. 150 yard chip shot. I was already on the sticks and aimed at his shoulder and —-missed. I was stunned. The camera footage is really funny because I turn and look at the ph and my face full disbelief. Honest. I don’t miss very often and I couldn’t explain this one at all.
Everything spooked, sheep one direction blesbok the other. It is a fenced sheep pasture sure enough but it is probably 5000 acres. So we started over. Drove to the high point and started glassing. Found them now walking parallel to the fence as faraway from us as they could get. So we drove to get ahead of them and then walked like ducks up the hillside to cut the distance. Finally they came into view,
At first just horns over the rise in the hill and then the line of a back and then enough vitals to make a shot. I was on the sticks and Wik said to take the middle one on the shoulder. So I did and it spun and ran about twenty yards and was down and done. So I missed the easy shot clean and at 200 it was perfect. The blesbok was old and although he isn’t the prettiest trophy, I was happy to put my hands on him. A father and son from Australia would kill the other two later in the day after much trial and error. But by the time we finished cleaning and prepping animals and cleaned ourselves up, and ate some lunch, the sun would reclaim the sky and the animals would come out to warm themselves and feed. And we had a hunch that a bushbuck would be out enjoying that afternoon sunshine.
So we headed towards our ph’s property and the little dark bucks that tiptoe the thick spekboom jungles there.
View attachment 26925
Through the gate, drain the bladder, do some quick glassing. Nothing is sight but the property is immense. We drove awhile and then came to a little canyon with a creek in the bottom. Sure enough a male Ostrich is in the bottom picking gravel from the creek bed. It didn’t see us and we reversed about half a mile before we stopped. Loaded 235 gr tsx into the .375 wby and started a walk. Cold, drizzly and gray but at least we were hunting. Cresting the hill of the canyon Wik set up the sticks and I got on them. The male
Had his back to us but caught our movement. I aimed for the bullet to angle in behind his leg as he was angling away and I didn’t want to destroy a drumstick!
At the shot the big bird flailed oddly then ran into the trees and brush. We didn’t find blood but there were scuffs on the earth where we could sort of track him. Honestly it took a minute to sort it out. By that time Wik saw him walking on the hill at 250 yards. On the sticks. Aim in front of the leg this time and pray. . . Hit hard he ran a short ways and half laid down, half fell down. I was crestfallen. Every animal I had shot went down with one shot but here I was getting my butt kicked by an ostrich.
Walked up on him and he is still
Blinking. So I gave him one more. The ostrich was a disappointment. He had flies under his wings and flies in his feathers and he was wet and had burrs and stickers in his feathers. And when he died his penis came out and wiggled around. I can say I have hunted ostrich successfully but it wasn’t something I need to do again. I think the weather hurt the appearance of the bird and the bugs and the fact that I had to shoot more than once, all combined making it an un appealing experience. Not a bad one. Just not one I need to repeat either.
And then I saw the feet-prehistoric looking two toed monstrosities. I love ostrich feathers and the eggs are extremely cool, I even love the meat. But I have been on my last hunt for dinosaur birds.
We had one more sheep pasture project to take care of. Several blesbok males had escaped my PHs property and taken up residence in a a neighbors sheep herd. The neighbor was kind about it and we had full run of the place in order to shoot one of the rogue blesbok.
Blesbok aren’t jumpers but they will crawl under a fence. Warthogs constantly dig pathways under a fence so escapes can and do happen. A herd of sheep is easy enough to find but hard to stalk in. We were fortunate that with the weather the sheep were down in a huge valley out of the wind. The blesbok were with them but laying down. Just black horns sticking up from a roll in the earth. We had elevation and could see them from far off.
I loaded the 7mm-08 with 150 gr nosler ablr bullets and we started walking. The sheep obliged us, moving off but not spooking. At 200 yards the blesboks started standing up. . . And feeding away from us. . . So we followed, keeping the distance about the same. We did this for half hour or more. They went over a hill and finally turned broadside. And finally the male I was after stopped and looked right at us. 150 yard chip shot. I was already on the sticks and aimed at his shoulder and —-missed. I was stunned. The camera footage is really funny because I turn and look at the ph and my face full disbelief. Honest. I don’t miss very often and I couldn’t explain this one at all.
Everything spooked, sheep one direction blesbok the other. It is a fenced sheep pasture sure enough but it is probably 5000 acres. So we started over. Drove to the high point and started glassing. Found them now walking parallel to the fence as faraway from us as they could get. So we drove to get ahead of them and then walked like ducks up the hillside to cut the distance. Finally they came into view,
At first just horns over the rise in the hill and then the line of a back and then enough vitals to make a shot. I was on the sticks and Wik said to take the middle one on the shoulder. So I did and it spun and ran about twenty yards and was down and done. So I missed the easy shot clean and at 200 it was perfect. The blesbok was old and although he isn’t the prettiest trophy, I was happy to put my hands on him. A father and son from Australia would kill the other two later in the day after much trial and error. But by the time we finished cleaning and prepping animals and cleaned ourselves up, and ate some lunch, the sun would reclaim the sky and the animals would come out to warm themselves and feed. And we had a hunch that a bushbuck would be out enjoying that afternoon sunshine.
So we headed towards our ph’s property and the little dark bucks that tiptoe the thick spekboom jungles there.
View attachment 26925
Attachments
Last edited:
