Saturday, August 13, hunting day 8.
Susan and I, Berni, Paulus, and expert skinner Johannes, left the Kamab ranch about 6:30 for an hour plus drive to a ranch we hadn't hunted previously. Berni has the exclusive PH rights on the 20,000 acre ranch, all low-fenced. As I was interested in a Mountain Zebra, which were not available on the headquarters ranch, and a Waterbuck, which were scarce there as well, Berni set up for us, with Diethelm and Peter, the ranch owner, to hunt Peter's ranch for a day. We were actually the first trophy hunters on the place this year, with only meat animals being taken previously.
The ranch was located on the South side of the Auas mountain range, only a 30 or 45 minute drive from the Windhoek International Airport, but you would never know it if you were taken to the ranch with a blindfold.
We had brought Johannes with us as the meat from any animals we took would stay with Peter and his ranch, and we had high hopes/expectations of taking a nice Mountain Zebra, which I wanted made into a rug. The high hopes were on my part and Berni had high expectations. Arriving soon after sunrise, we immediately started cruising the Southern slope of the mountains looking for Zebra. The property line extended to the peak of the mountain range and for several miles along its Southern slope. We saw a number of Zebra herds and attempted a stalk twice, but even with the low hunting pressure the Zebra were skittish and the only potential shot I had was a Texas heart shot, which I declined to take.
After trying for most of the morning to locate a Zebra, we worked our way into more foothill-like country and started seening other game.
We had the biggest Kudu we saw during our entire visit to Namibia run across the track in front of us as we were cruising for potential game. At least he was the biggest on one side. Berni estimated he would go at least 55 inches on the left side, unfortuantely, the right side measured zero. The horn was broken off clean at the skull line. If he had had any significant horn on the right side I would probably have made a run at him, as I like trophies with "character", but a completely missing horn was a little too much character even for me.
As we were headed for a big waterhole to eat lunch, I spotted a Waterbuck run across the track in front of us. After screeching to a halt and doing some bino work, we actually spotted three Waterbuck bulls on a ridge just above us. Berni and I dismounted and started a stalk, with the expectation that we would be able to get a closer look at the three bulls when we topped out on the ridge.
This was harder work than we expected, as the entire ridge was covered with what I call "ankle turners". Baseball to softball sized pieces of weathered granite, many of which were disguised by grass and bush. Every step invited a sprained ankle or worse. To make matters worse, once we topped out on the ridge, there were no waterbuck to be seen. After an hour of glassing and working our way back and forth on the ridge we conceded to the Waterbuck and called for the truck to meet us at the bottom of the ridge.
We now belatedly headed for the waterhole again, only to spot another nice Waterbuck walking away from the waterhole as we began our approach. We spent another 30 minutes or so searching for him, also to no avail, although we saw several Waterbuck cows. Paulus and Johannes finally dropped Berni, Susan and I off at a concealed spot near the waterhole about 2:30 for lunch. As we were eating, Berni asked me if I would prefer a Waterbuck or a Zebra if we could only get one. I immediately replied Waterbuck, so we decided to stay put at the waterhole. Just a few minutes later, we spotted a nice Waterbuck bull working his way down to the waterhole on the opposite side.
As he went behind some bush, Berni and I made a move to close the distance a bit, as it was over 300 yards to where we expected him to take a drink. We left Susan snapping pictures from our lunch spot and got behind some bush at the water's edge. When he finally reached the waterhole he was 221 yards away.
I was already on the sticks and took the shot right after Susan had snapped the picture above. He immediately reared and ran off a few yards away from the water. With bush in the way, I struggled to get out in the clear with my rifle and sticks. Once I got set again in the clear, I could clearly see the bull was feeling very sicek, but Berni called out 285 yards and I sent a second shot. I rushed it and missed but a third shot a few seconds later ended the episode.
It was now nearly 4 p.m. after we got the bull loaded and headed off to the ranch headquarters. There we left Johannes to cape out the Waterbuck and picked up Englehaut (not sure of spelling), an employee of Peter's ranch. We declined Peter's generous offer of coffee and other refreshement and headed off again to try and locate a Mountain Zebra before dark. After nearly two hours of bouncing down the trails, just as the sun was setting, I spotted something that didn't look right ahead of us. A quick check through the binos showed a herd of Zebra!
As dark was rapidly falling, we headed on the down the track a bit further then stopped and set up for a shot. Berni had me on the herd stallion but he stopped just before he cleared a bush that was blocking my shot at 180 yeards. With the Zebra getting nervous, Berni redirected me to a dry mare at 200 yards standing broadside, shown dead center in the photo below.
At the shot, the mare sprinted about 50 yards and dropped. When we got to her, it looked like she had simply dropped straight down where she stood, with her legs beneath her. It took very little positioning to set up for pics.
After loading, we headed back to headquarters. There Johannes started the skinning process, while Peter and his girlfriend Charlotte insisted on feeding Susan and I. I have to admit that the German sausage sandwichs hit the spot, especially since we were still a few hours from being back at our home ranch. After eating, visiting, and drinking coffee with Peter and Charlotte, we stepped back outside to see how the skinning process was going. Johannes was nearly finished. I was shocked at just how massive the Zebra was. It was so thick, that it looked like a full size beef animal. I went to inspect where the bullet impacted and Johannes showed me where the bullet was still in the carcass, just under where he had skinned the offside. It appeared to be a heart shot.
The bullet, fired from 200 yards, still weighed 173 of its original 175 grains, and like the one retrieved from the Oryx expanded to about .650. I think I've found my new, more user-friendly, elk rifle.
We finally headed home, returning to Kamab Ranch about 10:30. Berni and I had a second supper, but Susan headed straight to shower and bed after a very long, but very rewarding, day.
