05/09/2019
I pushed the safety forward and took one last breath...
Facing black death.
Day 2:
With an early morning coffee to get the body going, we were off.
Today was the day, we told ourselves.
Well let me tell you one thing , mother nature does not mess around!
With Herman (my right hand) driving , myself on the tracker seat and the client on the back of the “bakkie” we were ready .
"STOP STOP” I yelled ! Fresh tracks ! We have missed them by a few minutes. 3 tracks, which only means 1 thing. DAGGABOYS!
In an area as big as this , lone bulls are (in my opinion) the way to go. Beautiful, old worn down, full of character bulls.
We loaded our rifles and ready to go , only 1 problem; this time of year the August winds pushes from every direction and does not stay constant.
We set out on the tracks , rifle in one hand , shooting sticks in the other.
We tracked these bulls for nothing more than 20min when suddenly the shining of ones horn gave them away. We took our time and walked with them, working as carefully as we can thru the thickets (not to mention the dry leaves on the ground) and taking the wind in consideration.
After about 2 hrs of walking with them ,we slowly started making our way around them.
They were slowly turning towards a big pond and this is where we would use the advantage and make our move!
We got to a point where we could see all 3 bulls grazing towards us , the wind perfect!
I got the client on the sticks ready to shoot, 1st bull too young, 2nd bull was very good ,but the 3rd! “That’s the one” I said.
Now they were getting close, 40 yards , 30 yards, 20 yards,15 and wouldn’t you know it mother nature hits AGAIN!
The wind turned and as you guessed the buffalo ran!
I lit up my pipe and we took a breather.
On the tracks for another 3hrs, we finally caught up with them and now they were grazing once again.
We started making our way around them , with it being so thick I wanted to put us in a position where they would graze past us or towards us.
We could hear them 40yrds infront but not even a glimpse , only bush shaking.
We got into a perfect position , with enough cover and an opening infront of us they have to come into this opening!
One problem (yet another) darkness was catching up and quickly.
What could we do accept wait?
Now they were 20-25 yrds infront of us, fighting with the Morretwa bushes like only testosterone fuelled buffaloes can do.
My palms sweaty , my breath shorter and shorter . I was getting buck feaver! (while trying to tell my client to calm down!) All the hard work coming together to this 1 moment.
MOTHER NATURE!!!!!!
Well you’ve probably guessed it, the wind turned!!
I called Herman, (to bring the Bakkie off course)we sat down on our butts and enjoyed the breathtaking sun set.
Africa has a lot to offer but she doesn’t make it easy on us!
To be continued>>>