Sunset Kudu
When you have gained some experience as a hunter, there are a couple of things you become aware of, some immediately and some only after years of unknowing mistakes. You also gain a certain amount of understanding when a fellow hunter tells you that he is looking to shoot a Kudu. The time and effort that goes into the planning, tracking and stalking of this prize animal is always very intense and intensive, both physically and mentally.
We found ourselves is the Northern Province near a town called Dwaalboom, which is quite befitting as it means “wondering tree” and of wondering there is much to do here! It was only my friend Deon and I and we had decided to break away from everyday life for a while and headed north for a couple of days. We had about 20 farms to choose from and later derived a shortlist after looking at farm size, species, location and of course, price.
Again we opted for the classic and ethical method of walking and stalking, dropped off at a point and then making your way through the bush to the pick up or back to camp. It was a little early in the year so we had to battle the elements of heat, thirst and exhaustion with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees celsius! The morning session was from 6am to 11am and the afternoon from 3:30pm to 7pm and in between the sessions trying to stay out of the sun! To better our chances we were dropped off on opposite sides of the farm every time, this significantly decreases the amount of noise made while stalking and of course increases the total area looking for animals. Arriving the Thursday early afternoon we were in time to go check that the rifles were still sighted in and then off to the bush we went…
It was only on the Saturday morning that Deon eventually shot his Impala Ram after having many opportunities to shoot other species that were not on our list. Deon was looking to shoot a Brindled Gnu Bull and I was after a Kudu Bull, we had decided to take Impala too just to ensure something for the pot, not that the pot was easy to fill with this sneaky antelope! I had spotted a couple of Kudu Bulls but they were all quite young and needed some maturing first. Some females also presented themselves but at this time of the year they all have young ones with them which is a definite no-go! After hour upon hour of stalking in the intense heat and thick bush I realised that on this hunting occasion the Kudu will live up to its reputation of being one of the most difficult animals to hunt and rightfully earning its nick name as the Grey Ghost, seen for a split second and then disappears just after you can look him in the eyes and he can say, nice try…
After all was said and done, just being able to get to the outdoors, sleeping under the stars and refuelling on life it was one of the best trips yet!
Allie.
