Red hartebeest

We walked the mountains on the cattle farm regularly, checking waters and fence lines for any problems. We also just went for the time out in the bush as every time you go you will experience something new.
We manage the numbers of kudu on the property by taking a few trophy bulls a year, some old cows and any bulls with bad horn quality. This totals up to about 15 animals a year. There is also a herd of Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) on the property which are increasing in numbers.
We regularly see them but they are very wary and quickly head up the mountains where they have the advantage of being able to see any danger from a long way off. We often try to get in on them but more often than not a kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) or a baboon (Papio ursinus) will give the game away and off they go.
My good friend and owner of the property Will. A retired Scots Guards officer from the UK often headed out early in the morning to see what we can get. We climbed many of the high peaks and it was not uncommon to record 20-30 kilometres in a day. Not always getting what we were looking for but always enjoying the walk and the beautiful scenery of the area. We often sat at the top of the high peaks and scanned with our binoculars to see the good numbers of free ranging game he has passing through his property as there is only a 4ft stock fence for the cattle as a boundary. This often flattened by the Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) who travel through to graze and get water.
The Hartebeest are often seen in a specific area and on any given day we often see a nice herd of about 10 animals. Ranging from cows and calves to a couple of bulls. One of which is normally a mature male. On this particular morning we were both carrying our 375 h&h’s. Will’s a nice wooden stock CZ550 and mine a Zastava, which is like an old friend and has been on many an adventure with me. We climbed the usual mountains and put the world to rights as we went along with discussions on future plans for the farm and our hunting diaries for the forthcoming season.
We saw many kudu but this time they were not our intended quarry. Will had kindly offered me the chance to try for a Red hartebeest bull for myself. I say for myself as I have hunted many with clients, but this would be my first if I was to get lucky. We scanned the areas where we often found them and it wasn’t long before saw the herd standing in the broken bush area at the base of one of the many hills. Looking through them we could see that there was a bull by the darker colouration of his coat. Shining in the sunlight as if he had been polished. We started putting a plan together on how we would be able to get from where we were to a shooting position without being compromised.
We had it. Well we thought we did. We would move down from our position and into a dry riverbed. From there we should be able to move undetected to within 200 metres for a shot. Off we went, full of confidence and sure of our ability. Slowly moving up to a spot we had identified from above as where we could shoot from we slowly peered over the bank in high expectation of seeing a herd of undisturbed hartebeest. What we found was completely the opposite. The herd had moved due to a kudu bull who had unknown to us been resting up in the shade of a wild olive tree. He had sensed our presence and moved out alerting the hartebeest of something untoward coming from out direction.
We continued on with our walk deciding to return later in the day to try our luck.
On our return a few hours later we saw the herd again. Will stayed on the high ground and I moved down alone. The sun was dropping quickly so I knew that I had to cover the ground quickly. For some unknown reason the herd was not particularly phased by me. They stood and watched but continued to graze. I moved up the dirt track and eventually got to 250 metres from them. Will, still on the high ground could see this all unfolding. I stopped and quickly looked with my binoculars to ascertain where the bull was in the herd. He was standing at the back which made for a nice shot. I got down and made my rifle ready. He was now looking straight at me. I presume wondering what this thing was doing lying down in the road. I steadied myself and took a deep breath. He turned broadside and I knew this was my chance. Holding the cross hairs on the half way line up his body, knowing the 250g bullet would drop slightly at this distance. I squeezed the trigger. I saw him jump and run. The rest of the herd followed him. He vanished out of site behind a patch of bush.
Will quickly joined me and we walked slowly up to where we had lost sight of him. The herd had stopped. We scanned through them but he was not there. A good sign. I have found in the past that if the herd bull goes down the rest of the herd stop as they think he thinks it is safe. As we walked up they moved on and then we found him. Only about 20yds from where we had lost sight of him. The shot had been perfect and on later investigation had taken the top of his heart out. He was theoretically dead while he was running away.
We organised the recovery team and we skinned him off into the night. The following day a quick trip to the taxidermy and the next step was in the making.
His flat skin is now lying on the floor of my house and the European skull mount on the wall. His steaks have made for fine dining on the BBQ and we have had many a venison stew from other parts. All washed down with a nice glass of red wine.
We have taken a few more since this one and we have found that it doesn’t take long for a new bull to come in and take over. Bringing new genetics into our ever growing heard of hartebeest.