I just got home from a great hunt in South Africa. I hunted with a couple friends who were using wheel bows, and we hunted 10 days with Matsuri Safaris in Limpopo Province. All these animals were taken with my Sarrels Blueridge longbow(50#@29.5"), full length Easton Full Metal Jacket .400 spine arrows with a 75gr brass insert, and 150gr German Kinetic broadheads. (Except the guinnea fowl, where I used a judo point)
The first day started off great with a fine Steenbok shot at 12.5yds!
The next 2 days were plagued with swirly winds, and although we still saw a lot of animals, not many came in close enough to think about shooting them.
On the 4th day we went to a blind in the morning and did not see much. At about 9:45am, the PH suggested we move to a different blind. There was a flock of guinnea fowl in front of us, so I decided to shoot one before we left!
We moved to the new blind and spooked a gemsbok off when we drove up! He came back once, but did not like something, and spooked and run off. At about 1:30pm, a herd of Impala came in. My PH pointed out a real nice ram and told me to shoot him if the chance arose. About 15 minutes later he came in to about 21yds. I made a really bad shot, coupled with his trying to do the matrix move on me. All that resulted in me hitting him in the neck. We tracked him for a ways and finally found him, but he was still alive. After jumping him a couple times, I elected to put him down using the PH's rifle. Although I do think he would have expired from my shot, I did not feel good about having it be drawn out! He was a really good Impala, measuring 25.5" on both sides!
Day 5 started in the same blind where I shot the impala on day 4. At about 8:15am a nice Gemsbok bull came in and I got a shot at him at 14yds. These are some beautiful critters, and are fine eating also!
We saw a ton of critters the rest of the day, but nothing to shoot at! Day 6 found us at a new blind, called the Brick House. About 9am some nyala bulls came in. The PH told me there was a shooter, and to get ready. When I first saw them, I got really nervous!! I finally managed to get a shot at the biggest bull at 11yds. SWING AND A MISS!!!! Yep, I missed a calf sized critter at 11yds. I was very upset with myself, and talking to myself, trying to figure out how that could have happened. The PH told me to settle down because they were coming back. When they came back in, there was an even bigger bull than the one I had missed. I ended up getting about a 12yd shot on him, and did not miss this time! The track was short, and this is what was at the end!
I really think that God must have jerked my arm to make me miss the first nyala because he knew the other bull was there for me!!!!
Day 7 & 9 were filled with a gazillion animal sightings, but no shot opportunities.
Day 8 was a fun morning. We had a large group of Impala come in, with several nice rams. I decided to shoot one. The shot happened at about 18yds. The arrow sunk low, and all the animals exploded to run off. I could see my arrow in the dirt, a clean miss!!! Well, they came back in, and another one gave me a 13yd shot that I took full advantage of.
When we got out of the blind to get my ram, we retrieved the first arrow and found that I had hit the first one. We tracked it for a long ways, but did not recover him! Keep reading, and you will see that there is a good ending to this one!
Bisch
Topic: Just got back from South Africa! (Read 8483 times)
