TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION

The season had been long underway and we still had a few kudu to take off the property to meet our quota. 

It is a low fenced free range area where the owner surveys how many kudu are regularly on the property and then calculates how many he will take off. These will be divided up between mature bulls, old cows and bulls which are showing bad quality horns. 

We had done well through the season to date with some magnificent trophy bulls being taken and a number of old cows. Some of which had worn their teeth down to the gums and would definitely not make it through another winter. 

We still had a couple more cows to harvest and a plan was put in place. A herd was regularly seen coming out of a valley late in the afternoon. In this herd there looked like there were a number of suitable animals to take.

On this we decided to get out early in the morning to hopefully ambush them on their return from feeding in the flats during the night. 

We arranged to meet at the farm before sunrise and walk from there up the mountain behind the homestead and wait there for our quarry to come to us.

My alarm went off at 04:30 and I made my way to the farm. By 05:30 we had made our way up the mountain and Will and I sat by an aloe, admiring a sky lit up by the millions of stars unspoilt by modern day light pollution. 

As the sun started to break through and light up the sky we looked through our binoculars down onto the flats in search for the movement of kudu below. Soon the sun had risen and nothing had appeared.

Scanning the river bush below there was nothing. Raising my binoculars and scanning the ridges on the other side of the valley I noticed a lone red hartebeest. We knew of one which had been resident in the area for some time and had been causing quite a lot of damage to the stock fences on the farm. Breaking strands when moving from one area to the next.

It would be quite a stalk to get in on it but we decided that if Will stayed in our present position and I moved down he would stay in communication with me over hand held radios to guide me in. We looked down over the area which I would have to cover to get into a shooting position. We worked out even though it was a long way off I would have to carefully and slowly make my way down to the river bed where I would be out of site from the hartebeest. Once there I could go as quickly as I could before climbing out the other side for my final stalk. It would be quite open on the final section, so I would have to use the contours of the land. During this time I would be in full communications with Will to walk me in and alter plans if the hartebeest moved to a different spot.

I started my way down and at about 100 meters from Will I checked the radios were fine. All was good and we both sensed a great stalk ahead. Not long after this I heard movement behind me on the ridge. Looking back towards where I had come from I could see the herd of kudu we had been waiting for. We had reacted too early. If we had waited for five more minutes our initial plan would have worked perfectly. I quickly called Will and he said to continue on with the new plan as it was an animal we needed to harvest due to the fence damage.

I turned and continued down to the out of site river bed where I speeded up pace as I knew I was clear from view. Using a lone tree on the hill side as a marker I started my ascent. 

A touch of static on my radio which was turned down low brought me to a halt. Taking it out of my pocket I quietly called Will to see if he was trying to get hold of me. He said in a whisper that the hartebeest was still in the same area and was slowly grazing away from me so it was looking good.

The sun had now risen above the mountain behind me and I could see my shadow stretching out in front of me. Suddenly I felt one of a hunters worst feelings. The breeze on the back of my neck. It had completely changed direction and drastic measures would have to be put in place and quickly. Otherwise this stalk was over.

I quickly spoke to Will and told him the situation. I slowly moved back down the ridge and headed to the along towards the East. It would mean that I would have to do a big circle around and come in from the other side which would also mean that for part of the time I would probably loose communication with Will. 

I worked out where I would have to get to and made my way. As I approached where I thought the hartebeest should be, shading my eyes from the now bright sunlight Will came back into signal. 

I heard him say that the animal was not far from me but looking directly in my direction. There was no ways it could have seen or smelt me but as with all wild animals their sixth sense is amazing and is often the reason they grow to old age.

I crouched low and peered around an aloe to see if I could see it. There it was, about eighty meters from me standing as if on attention staring straight at me. I slowly positioned my shooting sticks and glanced away for a second. When I raised my eyes again there was nothing. The hartebeest had gone. 

Will quickly came on the radio saying that the hartebeest had trotted up and over a ridge to my right. I slowly moved in that direction hoping at any moment to see it but nothing. Then I saw it. About 500 meters away looking back in my direction. I had to keep going for it as the kudu were already gone and we needed meat for the farm. As the staff rations had finished.

I cut down to my left keeping the ridge between myself and the hartebeest and hooping to close the gap  before it headed to another area. After covering a couple of hundred meters I reached a farm track and there only about 200 meters from me standing facing me was the hartebeest.

I lay down on the road and extended my bipod. Making myself comfortable I found the hartebeest in my scope. It slowly turned broadside and walked a little but then stopped to look back at me. As if unsure what I was. I pushed the safety catch off on my Howa 308 and began to squeeze the trigger. The shot went off and the hartebeest jumped after being hit by the 155 grain Kriek monolithic hollow point. Through the scope I could see some blood on the side of the animal but it was not going down. Slowly walking away from me. 

I got up and moved quickly towards it keeping some bushes between us as cover. As I got to an opening in the cover I saw that I had actually got in front of it and could see it slowly walking parallel to me. I lengthened my shooting sticks and waited. As the animal came in front of me I whistled. It stopped and I fired, hitting it directly on the shoulder and knocking it down.

I radioed Will and said it was down where he replied that he knew as he had been watching the whole thing from his view point. He would head down to get the vehicle and come up to help get it out.

I walked up to check on why it had not gone down with the first shot and found I had been a little far back with the first shot.

It turned out to be an old cow which was well past breeding and her teeth were well worn down. The perfect animal to have taken out.

Her meat would be used for the staff on the farm as rations and the skin would be sent to Karoo Taxidermy for tanning, where it would eventually be a rug on the floor in one of the guest cottages on the farm.