Africa...

Dinner that night was taken with the other hunting party (from Sacramento CA) their PH and the camp managers. All nice folks, very pleasant dinner and conversation. Certainly a different attitude to hunting than I, and I saw this a bit especially back at the Lodge in SA talking to groups heading through, some are here to hunt, that would be me, some are here to shoot this, this, this , this and oooooh that to... but I digress. The camp managers were most interested in hearing about the elephant as they have not seen any (the sign is there but they have not seen one) in around 5 months. Happily showed them my pics... ;) ;)

Back to bed with the warning that it would be wise to wander around too much during the night as the lions have been coming in closer and closer, sure, no problem... now for that 150yd walk through the dark to get back to my chalet !!!!! :) ;) Slept REALLY well I must say (maybe that expensive bottle of red the nice folks from the US were sharing helped ;) ).
 
We had arranged with the camp that we would drop off one of their guys at a maintenance shed a few KMs from the main camp and here would collect another of their staff who would drive us out in our vehicle and drop us off back in the area we were the afternoon before (yes he was that nice of a Kudu), he was one of their few English speakers as well. Once he dropped us down near the water he would head back up and park up on a track a few KMs away so we could spend the morning hunting our way back up from the water. Driving out from camp we had our two guys plus one of theirs in the back, Obano had my rifle and pack (containing my camera - damn damn damn damn). About 1km from camp in the first light we came to a small dam wall, there laying on the top of the wall, looking at us, paws folded under their chins were two small lion cubs... they looked adorable and we slowed to look...as we moved just past the damn wall there was a very loud sound, a very cranky sound, there was Mrs Cat and Mr Cat standing....Mrs Cat was clearly not at all happy about our presence and expressed it... she was snarling, teeth bared and making all kinds of cranky sounds.... Mr Cat just stood and looked between her and us... the guys swing my pack in the window to me and I tried to fish the camera out.

I was watching through the driver window past Boet and a bit out the back cabin window, there were in fact three cubs that were making their way from the dam to the tree line behind Mrs Cat. She alternated between looking at them and turning and snarling at us. One small saviour here at this point despite assuming that as soon as the cubs were into the trees Mr and Mrs Cat would follow, Boet didn't shut of the truck, he also suggested I not get out to take pics (no shyte Sherlock !!!!!!!). At this point the adult cats were about 30yds away. Once the three cubs made the trees something strange happened.... Mrs Cat spun back to us and let out a sound I will never forget, something well past angry !!!!!!! The next words I remember were "f%#k she is going to come". and that she did.... like a bloody rocket (the male was just loping along behind her and parallel to us). We accelerated (that thing about not shutting off the vehicle probably saved one or two of the guys in the back) but she kept pace and made ground for around 120yds, she was trying but could not get enough ground or speed on us to leap, thankfully..... !!!!!! I was watching through the back window (I remember Obano starting to move my rifle around as well) and then she peeled off and into the trees. we drove onto the maintenance shed a few KMs up the road and stopped.
 
To say the guys in the back were rattled was an understatement !!! I pointed out one had turned WHITE (he made a turned black joke at me after an hour crawling through ash/burned grass back on Cape Buff). I never did get my camera out as it all just happened so bloody fast...

So we dropped off our passenger and collected our driver... :) He got us down onto the approach to a dam and left us, he explained where he would be and where he would come to if he heard a shot (I suspected correctly that he would not hear any shots as he would be asleep ;) ). And off we went, first down to the water where we stopped and glassed for about 45mins... lots of game coming in and it was a nice time to be sitting still however after the afternoon before I was not going to do anything (like unpacking and playing with a camera) that may impact on my ability to hunt ;) ;)

Off in the distance we could see a bull.... he was hanging back above the water with no apparent intent to come down.... and he looked the part as well... :)
 
Some quick checks of the wind and such and we set off, it required a bit of skirting around and back tracking (thanks to the wind) and that he was moving along in a random sort of way (I think he had a sense something was up and he was working to keep the wind in his face, but that is speculation on my part). I got a better look at him from about 250yds out but no shot, the bull from the afternoon before was better, probably the same length but with more spread, this one was just fine however. We spoke and decided to commit to this one now and so, if the shot presented I would take it ASAP... saves chitter chatter at the crucial moment... :)

I will also add that it was not without some trepidation that we were wandering around here as, with some switch backs and such, we were actually walking back toward where we had least seen Mr and Mrs Cranky Cat and Co head.... :eek: Seems the instruction was that if she came like she had earlier (I hoped not to see sign of ANY of them again, the deal was kneel and shoot into the charge straight on, no warning/scare shot as "she will have you as you cycle the bolt", as committed as she was earlier, she probably would not turn. I did truly hope it not come to that, and it didn't. Still, an unusual feeling knowing you are not the top of the food chain... ;)

Onward after Kudu... the next 45 or so minutes seemed to slip by as I truly expected to get winded and that would be that, we had left Obano sitting under a tree and just Boet and I made the close in. Then it all seemed to happen in a flash, Kudu was there about 90 yds away, almost broadside, and a little higher up a small rise. I was next to a small tree and no time for those shooting stick things, that was fine by me (this is how I had mostly practiced stationary shooting with this rifle anyway), cross hair settled on the shoulder and bang (frankly I didn't hear the shot), cycled the bolt and settled again. The bull was laying right where I had fired at him but he had turned his head and chest slightly up hill and away from me. I was more than sure he was DRT but, as is the done thing, I got the "shoot again shoot again" instruction... so I laid the crosshair as far forward on the body as I could and angled the second shot forward/through/across the body. In the pics you can see it further back down the body toward the midsection and the first is just behind the shoulder. Of course we found the second was not needed, but again, I understand the thinking !!!

So....







Gear all hung up while we waited to see if we heard the truck moving around and toward the spot we agreed to meet if there was a shot....or two... yeah....no, didn't think so.... ;)



Obano walked back to where he was parked up and I took pics... ;) As usual, lots of pics... ;)

After about 45mins we heard the truck coming along a track behind the small rise we were on so walked over and guided it through the bush to where we were. It was not till it was time to load the bull that I realised how bloody big they are... !!! Heavy !! And with a greasy hide. This one was also covered in bush ticks. As was I when he was finally loaded.
 
WOW! I feel like I'm watching a movie! Andy, so good of you to take the time to share!
 
Back at this camp they have a concrete pad and block and tackle for processing game. Makes life that much easier for sure.. !!!!

You can also get an appreciation of the size of the bull here...



One of the more interesting butchering tools I saw...



When then headed for some shade and a cold drink as it was frankly getting bloody HOT !!!! While doing so we had a chat to one of the managers and told her about Mr and Mrs Cranky Cat and the kids, I asked if there was a feedback card I could fill out as I thought they were just rude with all that snarling and such.... ;) So we go 20 questions...where, when, cubs ??????? CUBS ???? How many, what did the male look like old/young etc etc. It seems that this small group was news to them, the cubs most certainly where, and it was an additional small pride to the ones which are resident. Except that our guys were excitedly telling stories to her staff about the charge I think she may have though us to have been making it up... ;) Our theme of seeing their wildlife (that they had not seen or seen in many months was to continue - I put it down to the amount of walking we did). Some plotting about what now... ;)
 
Top notch writing mate!!! :cool: :thumbup: The lioness charge had to have been one of those moments that you'll never forget!!! :eek:

I can't imagine what it must be like to think you might be the hunted while out hunting. Whoa.

AWESOME!!! :D
 
SpyderPhreak said:
Top notch writing mate!!! :cool: :thumbup: The lioness charge had to have been one of those moments that you'll never forget!!! :eek:

I can't imagine what it must be like to think you might be the hunted while out hunting. Whoa.

AWESOME!!! :D
Click to expand...
......getting hunted while having breakfast is an even worse experience... damn near ruined my coffee...but we shall get to that !! ;)
 
Andy,
You are one of a few who remembers and uses your camera all the time even while hunting. And your photography skill is outstanding.
Congrats on the bull!
 
This awesome thread just keeps getting better! Thanks for sharing these fascinating stories & photos Andy! :thumbup:

I can't help thinking your nickname could be Andy the ASH1e though Pichunter would be more accurate in this thread! ;) :D
 
Trying to post up some more but for whatever reason BF keeps having a hissy fit..!

Thanks for the complements guys, I will keep at it.
 
So with some talking over lunch and cold drinks (no beer, I drink beer at lunch my afternoon siesta sees me waking up well after dark ;) ) we decided to try and set out after a Warthog for the afternoon. We had certainly seen plenty in our travels around this place but none that fitted the bill. They really are ugly ugly critters....especially as they get older...!!!!
 
The plan for this was a bit similar to chasing the Kudu, we would have the driver drop us off and we would walk a route that (this time) took us up and over a saddle and down onto a small water course (dry at the moment), we would follow this up till we hit a small dam/rock pool that was holding some water and then across and meet another track where we could be met if either we took something or just got that far.
 
Worst case, we just followed the track back around to where we started later (in reality it would be back up and over the hill). This is all well out in a direction 180degs from where we hunted in the morning.

Heading out there were a couple of photo opportunities...

Ugly Ugly Ugly...

 
And a small group of Kudu hanging near a dam (you can see one of them in the background of the pic above) ...

 
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