Day 3 - Sable
So I am riding with Glenn and my dad again. But I felt like today is going to be a good day, wind was calmer and it was warmer. I get in my standard backseat position. I know the drill but after not seeing a Sable in two days I would be lying if I said concerns weren’t creeping in.
So we take off and there goes my dad again looking for a Blue Wildebeest. This guy loves to stalk them as it seems he has to do it all the time. We drop him and Brandon off and drive on. We come around a corner, I see the ass of a Sable. I get Rouan’s attention and we back up, we start a stalk and they are keyed up and on to us immediately. We did confirm there are two bulls and one is good the other is great. Roaun tells me they usually don’t go far and we just need to stay on them. Apparently, They didn’t get the memo as we bump them and I am getting on the sticks, we are jogging trying to keep up with them. We come around a corner and they are gone. So the way to think of this scene, is low land brush with a savannah rolling through it, that butts up to a hill and the cover runs parallel to the base of this hill. So the sable were running parallel and then they were gone. We found a small cut that we think they ran up as an escape path, we also talked with Willem and Ben and they said they were coming the opposite direction and saw us stalking something. This also told us the Sable definitely didn’t keep running parallel as someone who have seen them. They could have cut down the valley, but either way they had an escape route. Score one for the Sable.
We go pick up my dad and then we head to the other side other hill and we are going to work that ridge to make sure they weren’t just bedded up there and laughing at us as we walk by. The walk, though beautiful, didn’t provide any results, it was like they had disappeared. But we were back to the truck and riding around seeing if we can make something happen. The wind was picking up quick a bit. But we were hopeful we would get lucky, I think my dad did another stalk on a wildebeest but I can’t entire remember. Rouan and I decided to take a stalk in the general area that we had seen the Sables and see if we can make something happen. We go into the trail on the other side, to cover one potential escape path and a frequent hang out area, basically walking along the side of the mountain covering a hidden field, and then cross it where we lost the Sable. We then go over the parallel hill and sneak around, we finally decide to just sit down by a waterhole they sometimes come to. It was hot and it was mid day, made sense to me. The makeshift blind had fallen apart but we just sat in the shadows under a tree. The wind was so bad it was perfect, it was blowing towards the waterhole but we were about 150 yards away and you could see it swirling, meaning our wind was so bad it was perfect!
So Rouan and I are both playing on our phones, pretty much whitetail hunting at this point, when I look up and there is a Sable way off starting to make his way in. It isn’t the 2 from earlier and as this one is alone and has a black mask. He looks good and every time I see him turn his head I go wow! So we figure he will get water and head to the salt lick. He is completely calm and sure enough he gets his drink and starts walking to the salt. Im on the sticks and on him the whole way, Roaun tells me wait for him to stop wait wait wait….he stopped…BAM!! Sable DRT. I am pretty pumped and so excited that I almost threw up. It is a magnificent sable and I couldn’t be happier. I got a few minutes to myself to be thankful. We get him set up and then everyone starts coming to get pictures, high fives and congratulations. I did notice I hit it a little higher than I wanted, we determined we might have been 120 yards away and not the originally thought 200, hence the slightly high shot. Dead is dead though.
While getting pictures we hear a shot off in the distance, Kilian had another one in the Salt and it was the big breeder bull eland. I knew Kilian or Ben would get it, they are an awesome animal and this one was old with worn down horns and big dewlap. They thankfully had a wench which made life much easier.
It was then lunch time and the afternoon hunt. Lots of high fives for everyone at lunch and story telling, it was one of the more lively lunches.
I was pretty much on cloud nine and was spotting for my dad again. Rouan had gone with Ben and Kilian now to help them with their list and to get Ben anything. A few blown Wildebeest Stalks and that was that. We did see a few other ok animals. But we couldn’t find a kudu or wildebeest or red hartebeest. I also find out that my dad wants to shoot a warthog, this would be handy information for your spotter. In fact in the last light, we come around a corner and just as we pass a warthog comes out of a hole and it is apparently a good one. We pull the truck around about 100 yards and my dad does a quick stalk and BAM!! Suddenly the brush explodes 20 yards from the truck, and here comes his warthog and just as he gets within eyesight, he starts to go down. I whistle for my dad and finally they come over. Brandon and I load it quickly in the truck. It is a good one and I think maybe 8 inch tusks, old male either way. Pretty cool watching them come out of the hole.
So Dinner was steak and potato as well as some lamb. Definitely putting on weight. No drinking and an early night for me – black death was up.
