Okay, sorry it took me a little while to get this done but to put things in perspective, if you leave your watch on local time for hunting camp when you leave and don't change it as you cross time zones you will get home 40-44 hours after you wake up! When flying east you are going ahead of the sun if you change your watch as you cross time zones it will only be 24 hours according to the watch but your body is running like it has been going for the 40 hours. Anyways, the flight over wasn't bad at all and went off without a hitch. I got picked up by Nathalia Visser the next day and she took me to Pilanesburg National Park. I spent 2.5 days there then she came back and got me and it was off to Citadel, the main hunting lodge for Dries Visser Safaris. I got there in the afternoon and spent the rest of that day shooting my bow and just settling in. The next morning it was coffee at 0700 and then off to my first day in the blind primarily looking for Impala and Waterbuck. My PH for the day was Hien and we had just been in the blind probably 40 minutes when I looked out the window and saw something so I asked him what it was? It was a common Duiker and he got very excited saying " You must shoot this, it is huge!" Now for those of you that don't know a common Duiker is body size smaller than the average lab and huge horns on one are about 4.5 inches. The whole time he is telling me what a rare oppurtunity this is and how nice this one is I am thinking to myself that I don't have one of these on my list. All of this talking is occuring at a barely audible whisper because the duiker is only 12 yards away. Well his excitement must have been infectious because all of the sudden the idea pops into my head that this would be a great animal to shoot with the rivercane arrow that I put one og the Obsidian points on. As soon as I decided I wanted to shoot it I started shaking, almost to the point of the arrow bouncing on the shelf. Having told myself that I would not shoot at anything that wasn't trying to commit suicide unknowingly I waited until it was broadside and had been drinking long enough that it finally loosened up about as much as anything does over here, I concentrated on my spot, drew back and proceded to shoot a foot over his back! Not a very good start to my adventure. It wasn't 2 much longer when the Impala showed up. There were about 16 of them and they were at the water for close to 30 minutes I never had a clear shot at the ram. They mill about constantly. One of the things I had been told was to never shoot if there was an animal behind the one I was shooting at because if the arrow did a pass through and hit the animal in the back I would have to pay for it also. After the Impala left the Vervet monkeys showed up and then we started seeing waterbuck cows through the brush. Over the next hour they came and went and just kind of stood around. Eventually the bull made his apperance which caused more shaking on my part. When he came in to drink he gave me a beautifal broadside shot at 10 yards. Only problem was that there was 2 calves and 2 cows lined up right behind him that were also drinking. He drank his fill and walked off without ever giving me a clear shot. Once all of the cows had left also Hien asked me why I hadn't shot when he was broadside at only 10 yards away and I said "you told me not to shoot at anything with animals standing behind them" to which he replies, "You would have been okay, I don't think your bow would shoot through him." The next few hours were uneventful, nothing came in to drink again until a quarter to 4 at which time the Red Hartebeest showed up! They walked right in and weren't near as paranoid as the animals I had been watching all day. When the bull showed up last in line Hien again said that it was a very good one. I wasn't planning on shooting a Hartebeest originally but as I had suspected, my wish list didn't hold to much sway over me when a shot presented itself. It only took 15 minutes before I was presented with a 16 yard quartering away shot. The arrow hit just a little more than half way back on my side and came out roughly 1 inch behind the crease of the shoulder on the oppisite side. It actully blew threw him with enough speed left to roll the tip when it hit a rock! The Hartebeest takes off and we watch him go 60 yards and tip over. I lost it, I started jumping up and down and almost let out a war hoop but Hien reminded me that it was only 4PM and I stil might get a shot at something else before it got dark, He also commented that it was a good thing I hadn't shot the waterbuck. I was using Zephyr Sausquatch broadheads and he didn't think they would penetrate that well. I tried to settle down but that was pretty much a lost cause and finally begged him to call the truck at 5:30 so I could go and see my first African bow kill! The truck showed up and we got out of the blind to go see him. We walked up within 10 yards of the Hartebeest and looked him over. He looked dead to both of us so Hien set his dog down( a Jack Russell) and Jock ran over to the Hartebeest and proceeded to bite into his sensitive family parts. Much to my suprise the Hartebeest jumped up when this occurred which really amazed me like to the point of standing there with a dumb look on my face and my mouth hanging open
The Hartebeest wasn't going anywhere in a hurry and we where ablr to get the dog to come back to us. We followed him at a distance for 150 yards and he bedded down so we backed out and went back to the lodge for supper. I was pretty much dumbstruck by what had happened but I was told that this wasn't the first time this had happened. We went back out at 8PM and find him dead in his bed
Unfortunately I only have pictures of him on film because my camera bag, with the digital camera, got left in Nathalia's van when she dropped me off and I didn't realize it until she was gone. Since I promised pictures I will jump ahead a few days. Went to a blind that was just a half mile behind the camp early in the morning. At 0845 some Impala started coming in. It was 2 rams and both were shooters. One of them had a black face which was something I hadn't seen before and I decided that is the one I wanted. I had read and been told to shoot low at the bottom of the chest due to their string jumping speed. When I shot the arrow spun right towards him and he barely moved. It passed just under his brisquet without touching him. Fortunately it was only 10 more minutes before another one showed up and this time the arrow went right thru the back edge of his shoulder at the point where the go from a darker to a lighter tan at the midline of the body
. 80 yards and fell over dead, really dead, no suprises on this one. He did jumped hard enough as the arrow was passing through him to crack the shft at the cresting. This story telling takes longer than I thought, I will get some more here in a little while. I also need to consult with my journal and get my days straight. Joseph
Topic: I'm Back!!! (Story and Pictures added) (Read 11804 times)
