My first trad hunt.

[storm5]

At the evening of the third day, a farmer called Hamish and asked if he knew of someone that would like to hunt for an eland cow up in the Drakensberg mountain.
He needed the meet for his farm, so we would get the hunt for a very reasonable price.
Hamish explained to me that the aria is very open and it would be very difficult to hunt there whit a bow. He figured that the only way that we could be successful, was to find them in on of the few small patches of forest that are there. I said that I’m fine whit that, and just being in the mountain and seeing all the animals would be grate.
We fond some eland in the bush, but they were all bulls. The scenery was fantastic and I will do it again if I get the opportunity. I’m sorry but I only did get one god picture from the mountain. I only wish my camera could show you how beautiful
This sunset really was.
   

[storm5]

Day six I was going to hunt a new spot that was perfect for spot and stalk ore an ambush.
 
Roy Barns were my PH for the last two days and he knew this property very well. We spotted the first Warthog as we got out of the pick up so this was locking rely good. After we had snuck around for a few hours we had seen a lot of animals, but newer got an opportunity. We decided that I should sneak back to a pond that we had passed earlier to sit for a few hours. Roy gave me a radio and I was of. I fond a nice spot behind some rocks and bushes, and settled in. After about an hour of watching birds and a very big lizard (about 2 meters long) a nice warthog came to drink.
 
He was out of range when he was drinking but then he turned and walked to me. As he passed about 5 meters in front of me, I lost my focus and overshot him whit about 2”.  Dang that was exiting.
I retrieved my arrow and cheeked that I really did miss. Got back in position and beat my self for missing a 5 meter shot    .

 And then they came, the most beautiful animal in Africa.
 
In the end I had 9 Nyala bulls around me, some young and some really big ones. I have dreamt of shooting a big Nyala bull for a long time, but on this tripp I was not going to shot any expensive animals. So instead I enjoyed several hours of their company, tacking lodes of pictures.
 
Even though I missed the pig, this turned out to be on of my most memorable day of the trip.

[beachbowhunter]

Fantastic hunt Aun!  That bow is a great one, glad you have it!

Guys, remember that these animals were taken by spot-and-stalk. You almost never see that in Africa!

     

[J-dog]

Keep up the pics! all the pics are awesome but that Kudu is just spectacular - they are my favorites then Nyala. So man you are getting me fired u p to go back.

J

[storm5]

Originally posted by J-dog:
Keep up the pics! all the pics are awesome but that Kudu is just spectacular - they are my favorites then Nyala. So man you are getting me fired u p to go back.

J

Do you mean something like this?      
 

Wow, that's cool! I am headed to SA tomorrow and can't wait. Congrats on your trophies ans be safe.

Bisch

[storm5]

Hope you have a fantastic safari. Take a lot of pictures and film. Enjoy every moment and stay safe.

[J-dog]

Yep thats it - Norway believes in torture huh?  

[J-dog]

Bisch - have a great hunt - lotsa people here be wishin they were with ya!

J

[tradtusker]

Thats an Awesome trip Aun
Congrats on some fantastic animals.
im so glade you spent so much time on the ground spot and stalking and not cooped up in a blind, and you did very well!
thanks for sharing your trip and great pics    

[storm5]

Originally posted by beachbowhunter:
Fantastic hunt Aun!  That bow is a great one, glad you have it!

Guys, remember that these animals were taken by spot-and-stalk. You almost never see that in Africa!
 

Norbert the bow is a beauty and shoots good, but for my next hunt I plan to build my own design long bow to hunt whit. If I succeed in building my bow, I think I will pas on the Horne bow to my brother.

[storm5]

Originally posted by tradtusker:
Thats an Awesome trip Aun
Congrats on some fantastic animals.
im so glade you spent so much time on the ground spot and stalking and not cooped up in a blind, and you did very well!
thanks for sharing your trip and great pics      

I love to spot and stalk. You get to see so much more of the land and wild life and it challenges you in a different way, I think.          

[storm5]

Some more pictures.
The lizard
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Magnificent! Congratulations again for your effort and skill!

[chrisg]

Great pics, Natal is such a varied province. The Bushveld there is nice and open and has a few hills, good for spot and stalk. Actually walk/stalk and spot/stalk are fairly common here. Many folk do use hides and waterholes too especially to start off but they move on to a greater challenge. Sitting in an 'aapkas' all day is boring! Outfitters like to give clients a more 'certain' shot, esp for visiting hunters where a trophy is an important part of the hunt. There are others who like yourself enjoy the challenge. To each his own. chrisg

[Zenzele]

[storm5]

Day seven was my last day. My flight out of Johannesburg where at 2315 so that meant that I could hunt in till about 1400, and we had to leave Lowlands at 1700.
Me and Roy went back to the same farm we hunted yester day. After only a short walk we came on a really nice Nyala bull, again I decided not to shoot and grabbed my video camera and got some god footage of him. Then we came on a group of Impalas. I tried to get in position for a shoot, but manage to spook them. As the day got warmer, we decided to go back to the dam and spend my last hunting hours there.
We got there and found a nice place to hide. It only took about 15 min before 3 really nice Impala rams cam to drink. They newer cam whit in shooting range and left after 10 min. Half an hour later to new rams came in. On of them started drinking about 22/23 meters from me quartering a bit from me. I felt god about the shoot and the arrow was away. I swear that if he had not moved, that arrow would have struck him perfectly. But he jumped to his right and I could see the arrow miss him whit about an inch. Man they are fast mowers. He only ran 5 meters and stopped, looked around then went back to drink some more. I decided that he was to jumpy now and to let him go. At 11pm a nice Impala ram came in to drink, he then proceeded to walk to me and passed about 9 meters in front of us. As he past me, Roy went “aaap” and he stopped right in front of me. I was already at full draw and, as he stopped my arrow was away. As I released the arrow, he jumped around and ran back were he came from. As he went over the ridge we could see that he was in trouble.
 
This was a perfect end to a perfect hunt.
As Hamish drove me to the airport, I booked our next hunt whit him. So in February I will be back whit my wife and kids, also to other families from Norway are going to join us.  

[Bushman]

Well done Aun Egil!
We need to go there together some day.

[storm5]

Originally posted by Bushman:
Well done Aun Egil!
We need to go there together some day.

Yes we need to do that. We can make a plan in October when Hamish is in Ulvik.
   

[the longbowkid]

that looks great!!