Matrix
AH senior member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2012
- Messages
- 50
- Reaction score
- 78
- Media
- 16
- Hunted
- South Africa, Limpopo, Canada, Virginia, USA, Ohio, USA, North Carolina, USA, South Carolina, USA
Sorry for the delay but I've been playing catch up since getting back and haven't been able to post.
Sadly all good things come to an end and this was one of them....it gets harder to leave SA every time we go there!
Once again we had an absolutely incredible hunt with Limcroma Safaris, everything was top notch as usual and best of all we got to see our old friends again. I will have to say that although I knew this would be an intense hunt I don't think I could appreciate how much so until actually doing it. Walk and Stalk is tough enough but doing it with a Bow adds another dimension to it.
We would start each morning cutting fresh tracks and were immediately on 3 old Dugga boys that were traveling together which made it that much more difficult. Finding them didn't prove to be an issue....getting in on them was another story. For such a giant animal they are VERY scittish.
Each day proved to be a chess match with them, learning a little more with each encounter about what we could get away with, where they liked to be at what time of day and how they would react when we would bump them.
As I said, finding them was not a problem, we'd cut there tracks each morning get the wind right and begin our stalk. I can honestly say that each and every time we would get within 30-35 yds of them and at one point was within 15 but the Bushveldt is amazingly thick and green this time of year and no shot was available or the wind would swirl and off they'd go.
This went on for 6 days and each time we got a little closer. By the afternoon of day 6 we had them narrowed down to two waterholes that they would hit. Based on what we'd experienced to that point we rolled the dice on which water hole they would head to and got the wind and got ahead of them. The gamble paid off and we were there waiting for them. It was just before dark and daylight fading fast by the time the shot presented itself but I was able to put it together and finally get the arrow in him at 40 yards.
The shot looked decent, a bit forward, but I wasn't completely happy with it....the other bulls had the group a little nervous and at the shot one of the other bulls jumped causing mine to pull back sharply. Now it gets interesting, its now dark with an arrow shot buff out there. We made the call to wait overnight and got back on them at first light, even enlisted the help of Franz, The Buffalo Assassin, to watch this guy work is incredible. In the maze of tracks he was able to pick mine out, determine how bad he was hurt and ultimately find him. There wasn't a lot of blood to work with but as long as there was some on the ground he had something to work with.
We got lucky as he left the other 2 bulls and was on his own, he traveled quite a ways but we kept the pressure on him and that worked in our favor. When we finally caught up to him we sent Selous, the tracking dog, in ahead of us to be sure he was down. He didn't go far and started barking, we made our way slowly and carefully to him and we could see him down, he wasn't going anywhere but was backed into a bad thick spot to watch his back trail that prevented another shot. Given a few more minutes or if we were just a bit later he'd probably have been done already...but I made the decision to put an insurance round in him to end it for his benefit and to ensure the safety of all of us.
Unless you have experienced a hunt like this its hard to put into words how intense and difficult it really is. These animals are incredibly big, smart and dangerous. All of these things add up for an Adrenalin filled experience to say the least!!
I've also got say that this hunt was extra special for me as my wife finally decide to actually hunt! She's to small to pull enough weight to bow hunt and didn't want to use a rifle so we set her up with a Ravin R9 crossbow. WOW is all I can say....she is deadly! LOL
She wanted a Giraffe and I set her up with an arrow for that specifically that matched the weight of my Buff arrows and the same broadhead that was 965 grains. She shot the Giraffe at 40 yds with a frontal shot and got complete penetration coming out the rear. It didn't make it but maybe 80 yards and we watched it go down! To say we were all impressed is an understatement.
South Africa is an extra special place and the people are some of the best you will find anywhere. Going back to Limcroma is like going home again. In our trips there we have made some truly great friends and they have become like family....In fact when we arrived Riann, one of the PH's laughed and said we were like old furniture there! LOL
I cant thank everyone there enough...My PH Jan is the best, he has become like a brother to me over the years and we work great together. Jennings our Tracker is just a wonderful person, always smiling and working hard. Not to leave anyone out but thanks to everyone, Hannes, Riann, Drian, Maryke, Amanda, Karen, Otto, Guillaume, Henco....they are all great people and I cant wait to get back and see them again!
And what a way to end the last day?!?! Wine and snacks on the Limpopo in the evening....This is how they roll!!
Sadly all good things come to an end and this was one of them....it gets harder to leave SA every time we go there!
Once again we had an absolutely incredible hunt with Limcroma Safaris, everything was top notch as usual and best of all we got to see our old friends again. I will have to say that although I knew this would be an intense hunt I don't think I could appreciate how much so until actually doing it. Walk and Stalk is tough enough but doing it with a Bow adds another dimension to it.
We would start each morning cutting fresh tracks and were immediately on 3 old Dugga boys that were traveling together which made it that much more difficult. Finding them didn't prove to be an issue....getting in on them was another story. For such a giant animal they are VERY scittish.
Each day proved to be a chess match with them, learning a little more with each encounter about what we could get away with, where they liked to be at what time of day and how they would react when we would bump them.
As I said, finding them was not a problem, we'd cut there tracks each morning get the wind right and begin our stalk. I can honestly say that each and every time we would get within 30-35 yds of them and at one point was within 15 but the Bushveldt is amazingly thick and green this time of year and no shot was available or the wind would swirl and off they'd go.
This went on for 6 days and each time we got a little closer. By the afternoon of day 6 we had them narrowed down to two waterholes that they would hit. Based on what we'd experienced to that point we rolled the dice on which water hole they would head to and got the wind and got ahead of them. The gamble paid off and we were there waiting for them. It was just before dark and daylight fading fast by the time the shot presented itself but I was able to put it together and finally get the arrow in him at 40 yards.
The shot looked decent, a bit forward, but I wasn't completely happy with it....the other bulls had the group a little nervous and at the shot one of the other bulls jumped causing mine to pull back sharply. Now it gets interesting, its now dark with an arrow shot buff out there. We made the call to wait overnight and got back on them at first light, even enlisted the help of Franz, The Buffalo Assassin, to watch this guy work is incredible. In the maze of tracks he was able to pick mine out, determine how bad he was hurt and ultimately find him. There wasn't a lot of blood to work with but as long as there was some on the ground he had something to work with.
We got lucky as he left the other 2 bulls and was on his own, he traveled quite a ways but we kept the pressure on him and that worked in our favor. When we finally caught up to him we sent Selous, the tracking dog, in ahead of us to be sure he was down. He didn't go far and started barking, we made our way slowly and carefully to him and we could see him down, he wasn't going anywhere but was backed into a bad thick spot to watch his back trail that prevented another shot. Given a few more minutes or if we were just a bit later he'd probably have been done already...but I made the decision to put an insurance round in him to end it for his benefit and to ensure the safety of all of us.
Unless you have experienced a hunt like this its hard to put into words how intense and difficult it really is. These animals are incredibly big, smart and dangerous. All of these things add up for an Adrenalin filled experience to say the least!!
I've also got say that this hunt was extra special for me as my wife finally decide to actually hunt! She's to small to pull enough weight to bow hunt and didn't want to use a rifle so we set her up with a Ravin R9 crossbow. WOW is all I can say....she is deadly! LOL
She wanted a Giraffe and I set her up with an arrow for that specifically that matched the weight of my Buff arrows and the same broadhead that was 965 grains. She shot the Giraffe at 40 yds with a frontal shot and got complete penetration coming out the rear. It didn't make it but maybe 80 yards and we watched it go down! To say we were all impressed is an understatement.
South Africa is an extra special place and the people are some of the best you will find anywhere. Going back to Limcroma is like going home again. In our trips there we have made some truly great friends and they have become like family....In fact when we arrived Riann, one of the PH's laughed and said we were like old furniture there! LOL
I cant thank everyone there enough...My PH Jan is the best, he has become like a brother to me over the years and we work great together. Jennings our Tracker is just a wonderful person, always smiling and working hard. Not to leave anyone out but thanks to everyone, Hannes, Riann, Drian, Maryke, Amanda, Karen, Otto, Guillaume, Henco....they are all great people and I cant wait to get back and see them again!
And what a way to end the last day?!?! Wine and snacks on the Limpopo in the evening....This is how they roll!!
