Lee M
AH fanatic
Day 10
Today three of us went 2 hours south (1 hour south of Windhoek) to hunt a very rocky and hilly area that had a good population of mountain zebra. It had other animals as well, but this was our main target. Hunter101 went to another farm near the main ranch to stalk a kudu, as this was his remaining primary bow target.
The mountain zebra area was even rockier and steeper than I expected and I was amazed that the trucks were able to get up and down the way they did. As we were only spending one day here and we knew that this was a more open hunting area we all had guns. I borrowed a .300 WSM from my PH. We drove for about 30 mins, came around a bend and spotted a few baboon running up a side hill. There was a big one but I was a little slow getting out and into position for shot. I walked toward them and a small one appeared and started to move off at about 250 yards. I took a crack at him and was lucky to see him topple over immediately. I guess I had no excuses about using an unfamiliar gun if I got a crack at a zebra. We soon spotted a small group of zebra but they were about a mile away and saw us long before we did. We tried to drive around to get on the other side of the hill for a stalk, but could not find them again. Bill and Dakota were in another vehicle and had similar luck. Bill did manage to stalk into position and get a 200 yard shot on a good stallion. It ended up at the bottom of a ravine and was a difficult but doable recovery.
There was a leopard hunter in camp so we stopped and checked two baits for him. There were pics of a hyena, numerous honey badgers and a genet, but no leopard. The property was very large, so there no issue with us hunting one section as the area that the baits had been getting hit was a few miles away.
We saw another group of zebra before lunch, but they were too far off with no good approach.
After lunch we headed back out and saw another group that was closer. We made a stalk but when we got to about 350 yards another group of zebra came from a different direction and messed up the whole situation. So we went back to the truck and headed off. We spotted a group of 7 or so zebra at the top of one of the hills. My PH glassed closely and said it looked like a group of 5 stallions and 2 mares. I have good eyes but I laughed and said -> looks like 7 black and white zebra to me. I can usually see game as good as the guides and trackers, but in this hilly rocky terrain I was always the last to see the zebra and even this took some time. Their stripes were perfect camo. They were a good 1000 yards above us and content to stay there and watch us. So we made a stalk up the side of the hill while our tracker moved up the other side. They decided to bolt and for some reason came right down the hill towards the truck, where none of us were at. They circled around to the left trying to make a loop back towards their previous position and we were fortunate to be in the right spot and intersect them at about 200 yards. I was on the sticks but they were clumped together and Zebra parts were facing every direction. After about 5 seconds one cleared from the group and was facing me and I took a front-on chest shot. It dropped like it was a head shot, but I wasn't 100% sure as it went out of site. I was thinking of taking two (as I wanted to do some chairs and also possibly a demaska mount) but hesitated wondering if the first was down, and then they all bolted. We hiked down to the spot and took some good pics with my zebra. It was a mare and one of the smaller ones of the group but still nice and had great distinct markings. It will make a great rug or demaska. My PH has also had good success taking a few clients on bow hunts here and said the key is to stalk up over the top and drop down on them. That would be a fun hunt but would require a few days and a good set of lungs. Billc and Dakota had some good opportunities in the afternoon and Bill added to his "funky" animal collection taking a crooked horn waterbuck.
We saw numerous Oryx, Hartebeest, warthogs and a very nice kudu during the day as well. We headed home at dark and had a nice dinner at the main ranch. Hunter101 was also successful getting a nice kudu with the bow after a few early blown stalks. We headed off to bed knowing we had one more day of hunting before it was over. And what a day the last one turned out to be...
Today three of us went 2 hours south (1 hour south of Windhoek) to hunt a very rocky and hilly area that had a good population of mountain zebra. It had other animals as well, but this was our main target. Hunter101 went to another farm near the main ranch to stalk a kudu, as this was his remaining primary bow target.
The mountain zebra area was even rockier and steeper than I expected and I was amazed that the trucks were able to get up and down the way they did. As we were only spending one day here and we knew that this was a more open hunting area we all had guns. I borrowed a .300 WSM from my PH. We drove for about 30 mins, came around a bend and spotted a few baboon running up a side hill. There was a big one but I was a little slow getting out and into position for shot. I walked toward them and a small one appeared and started to move off at about 250 yards. I took a crack at him and was lucky to see him topple over immediately. I guess I had no excuses about using an unfamiliar gun if I got a crack at a zebra. We soon spotted a small group of zebra but they were about a mile away and saw us long before we did. We tried to drive around to get on the other side of the hill for a stalk, but could not find them again. Bill and Dakota were in another vehicle and had similar luck. Bill did manage to stalk into position and get a 200 yard shot on a good stallion. It ended up at the bottom of a ravine and was a difficult but doable recovery.
There was a leopard hunter in camp so we stopped and checked two baits for him. There were pics of a hyena, numerous honey badgers and a genet, but no leopard. The property was very large, so there no issue with us hunting one section as the area that the baits had been getting hit was a few miles away.
We saw another group of zebra before lunch, but they were too far off with no good approach.
After lunch we headed back out and saw another group that was closer. We made a stalk but when we got to about 350 yards another group of zebra came from a different direction and messed up the whole situation. So we went back to the truck and headed off. We spotted a group of 7 or so zebra at the top of one of the hills. My PH glassed closely and said it looked like a group of 5 stallions and 2 mares. I have good eyes but I laughed and said -> looks like 7 black and white zebra to me. I can usually see game as good as the guides and trackers, but in this hilly rocky terrain I was always the last to see the zebra and even this took some time. Their stripes were perfect camo. They were a good 1000 yards above us and content to stay there and watch us. So we made a stalk up the side of the hill while our tracker moved up the other side. They decided to bolt and for some reason came right down the hill towards the truck, where none of us were at. They circled around to the left trying to make a loop back towards their previous position and we were fortunate to be in the right spot and intersect them at about 200 yards. I was on the sticks but they were clumped together and Zebra parts were facing every direction. After about 5 seconds one cleared from the group and was facing me and I took a front-on chest shot. It dropped like it was a head shot, but I wasn't 100% sure as it went out of site. I was thinking of taking two (as I wanted to do some chairs and also possibly a demaska mount) but hesitated wondering if the first was down, and then they all bolted. We hiked down to the spot and took some good pics with my zebra. It was a mare and one of the smaller ones of the group but still nice and had great distinct markings. It will make a great rug or demaska. My PH has also had good success taking a few clients on bow hunts here and said the key is to stalk up over the top and drop down on them. That would be a fun hunt but would require a few days and a good set of lungs. Billc and Dakota had some good opportunities in the afternoon and Bill added to his "funky" animal collection taking a crooked horn waterbuck.
We saw numerous Oryx, Hartebeest, warthogs and a very nice kudu during the day as well. We headed home at dark and had a nice dinner at the main ranch. Hunter101 was also successful getting a nice kudu with the bow after a few early blown stalks. We headed off to bed knowing we had one more day of hunting before it was over. And what a day the last one turned out to be...
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