Mark,
I was shooting a 72 pound Dakota longbow. It was one of Rick's older bows, but he had fashioned a new riser for me just prior to the hunt. I chrono'd it against my 70# black widow recurve and my 75# hummingbird longbow just prior to leaving and it shot the heavy arrow about 5-10 fps faster than both.
For the few of you still waiting for the end, here goes....
The last day had me feeling sad to be ending my stent in Africa and anxious about returning home. I knew that my return would be chaotic (though I never would have dreamed how much), but I longed to see my 3 boys. Still I hated to leave Africa behind. The few that have been blessed enough to hunt there will understand the feelings that I experienced as I started up my last day in this enchanted place. The morning was beautiful, like most I had hunted. I hunted a new stand, still hoping for an opportunity at a zebra or eland. The African sun greeted me warmly. The cool morning air slowly gave way to the warm African sun. Like most mornings, I started in a heavy jacket, but shed the clothes as the sun approached the middle of the horizon. I basked in its warmth and reflected upon all that I had seen. For the last time before returning home I listened to the cacauphony of birds and watched the parade of animals as they came to water. Several species came and went. Nothing new appeared and I was satisfied catching them both on camera and on video. Though the African landscape had already etched a place in my memory, I knew that the pictures would fill the hearts of 3 adventurous boys back home. My morning came and went without me launching an arrow. I drew on several warthogs and kudu cows as well as a nice springbok who refused to stand still long enough for a well focused shot. I was content just being there. These are the moments that truly make me appreciate traditional bowhunting. I love to take game with my bow, and frankly would use other equipment if I wasn't adept at doing so with my traditional equipment. But the moments that make a lasting memory within me are the moments when I am able to back away from the self imposed pressure of taking game and just enjoy what is unfolding around me. There is no better place to do that in my opinion than in Africa, likely the very birth place of human kind. Like the lion I had observed at Etosha sitting alone on the grasslands, I was unhurried, unpressured, and simply enjoying all that I had been blessed to partake in. At midday we went back to camp and had a wonderful brunch while discussing plans for our final hunt together. My step Dad had decided to go to the sister ranch in pursuit of blue wildebeast. I would return to the water tank hide more to say 'good bye' to an old friend than to take game. I spent the afternoon journaling my adventures so that my boys would be able to experience it with me some day in the future. As usual, I saw a variety of animals though the pressure I had placed on this single site was showing some as animals were giving the hole a little more caution. As darkness began to creep out of the horizon I spoke softly to Danie, thanking him for all that he had done for me during the trip. Just as we were about to call it quits a shadowy form moved out of the brush just along side of our hide. Danie strained through the camera lens to capture it on film. It was a duiker, a female. It walked out of my frame of view. The form appeared a few minutes later. It looked bigger than before. I lifted my binoculars to discover that a male duiker had now come to drink. He had noticeable horns and I decided to take a shot. It was hard to pick a spot on the shadowed form. Unlike the oryx, this little guy was all brown and picking a spot was difficult in the low light. I strained to find a shoulder and released. He ran. I imagined that I had heard the arrow strike flesh, but I was unsure. Danie and I reviewed the film footage but the darkness was too much for my camera. Finally we were forced to do what most hunters do...look for sign. My arrow lay 10 yards past the waterhole, covered in red blood. I returned to the spot where the animal was standing and immediately found blood and lots of it. 15 yards away lay my duiker. As I approached it I realized how diminutive (that is small) the animal was. I called to Danie and he came to inspect it. His elation caught me by surprise. He was ecstatic. At first I thought that he was simply humoring me, but shortly after the trackers arrived to pick us up I realized that this truly was a special kill. All of the men were extremely excited over my "muey duiker". In fact, this was the largest duiker that any of them had seen taken with any equipment. Later the animal would hold the record for the 5th largest ever taken with archery equipment in the country. My pint sized trophy was the pride of the whole camp. I was sad to see it all end, but the experience was one which will last in my memories forever.
I will post my final pictures shortly. Brady
Topic: Better late than never. (Read 4524 times)
