SOUTH AFRICA: Search For The King Of The Mountain - Eastern Cape, SA

[Trogon]

I hunted the Eastern Cape, SA the last week of July with @Nick BOWKER HUNTING SOUTH AFRICA. My main interest was a 20 animal cull package with several hoped for trophies added on, which was asking a bit of extra effort, but Nick graciously agreed with some flexibility on cull animals. All sounded good to me, and thanks to efforts with Nick and my PH Ben Pringle, I have to say all was successful!
I was able to share the new camp (Hopewell Lodge) with fellow AH members @Hogpatrol and @markm, as well as a few first time hunters to Africa. The new lodge has excellent lodging and meals were enjoyable, with a good variety of wild game to try (the impala livers with bacon and onions were a standout for me).
My target animals were Cape Eland, Common Reedbuck and the very desired Vaal Rhebuck. I have hunted with Nick and Ben two times previously and had confidence in the opportunities on my desired animals, then it would be up to me. For the Vaal Rhebuck and Cape Eland, hunting involved areas in the foothills of the Winterberg Mountains. I wish I could say I did okay with this but the higher elevation (up to 5,500 feet for the Vaalie) really tested me, even by the end of the trip.
Weather wise, we experienced a couple mornings with a good frosting, but usually warming into the 60's. A couple days and nights had substantial rains, and a couple very windy days.
The day we looked for Vaal Rhebuck we left the lodge before daybreak. Pausing to exit a gate, Ben pointed out a shooting star, which I took to be a good omen. our drive took us a bit past Bedford up into the moutains. The pothole situation on paved roads is pretty deplorable in spots. We ended up in a valley to start and got a flat tire starting on the 2-track. While Ben and Marva changed out the tire, Ben pointed out a small group of Cape Mountain Zebra climbing a hillside. As lighting grew better, multiple Mountain reedbuck, Cape Kudu, and Fallow deer appeared. A couple black-backed jackals spooked and ran off, not presenting a shot opportunity. We glassed this huge valley for Vaalies but none were found. Francolin began calling as the sun infiltrated the clouds, as we drove higher in elevation a troop of baboons ran ahead of us.
To be continued.....

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Sounds exciting! Can’t wait for more. 20 cull animals + a trophy list? Wow! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Trogon]

We continued up the slope, the road became much steeper and narrower. Ben looked over at me and told me if the truck slipped near the edge to bail as I was next to the hillside (I first thought he was kidding me but the look on his face told differently). Baboons ran ahead of us, and several jackal buzzards wheeled overhead. This was a slow crawl, getting around some large rocks in the roadway, and some spots holding onto the dashboard. My other thought was looking down the hillside on the drive back, how fun that would be!
Eventually we came out on top of the mountain, everywhere you looked was all grass and rocks, very few small trees. More Mountain Reedbuck and some Springbuck ran over the other side. Some controlled burns were seen in the distance. Slowly we dropped into a large open valley and began scanning all of the hillsides. My 8x32 power Zeiss binoculars were not up to the task, I could recognize "Springdots" but the duller colored reedbucks were much harder to see. Ben and Marva recognized two groups of Vaalies, one group with a single ram but that was younger. A Swarovski scope Ben had a window mount for was perfect for scanning. We made it to the bottom of the valley and saw more Springbuck and Mountain Reedbuck, Traveling down this valley, we headed toward another hilltop that Ben had visited previously.

 

[Trogon]

We saw a couple kudu cows and fallow deer at the bottom of the valley, then began winding our way up another hillside. The terrain grew fairly steep and rocky. There was a shed we skirted near the top and pulled up next to it and scanned the mountaintop, I saw two reedbuck run to an elevated point and Ben immediately exclaimed there were Vallies with them. The Vaalies stood up and were staring at us from over 500 yards away, skylined. One ram and 5 ewes. Even at that distance with blue sky behind them, I could see the horns extending above the ears of the ram. Ben was working on a plan to cut the distance but there was zero cover, just grass, herbs and alot of rocks. We slowly tried to cut the distance and all of the rhebuck and reedbucks tipped over the side and disappeared. I was hurting with the elevation (over 5000 feet), felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen. Crawled to the edge and saw the reedbuck running down the mountainside, the rhebuck were well ahead of them. I sprawled out on the grass and tried to regain my breathing while Ben and Marva looked at the rhebuck, which had run to the opposite hillside. I think I inhaled most of the grass on that hilltop.
We stayed there for a while, when the rhebuck herd suddenly up and crossed back to the hillside we were on. Something spooked them but couldn't see what. Slowly they moved closer to the base of the hill but much too far for a shot. Marva remained up top with a radio, while Ben and I traveled very slowly back down the mountain. We traveled back up the road to a point we could try a stalk. The rhebuck had stayed put but we weren't certain of exactly where (what looked flat from the mountaintop had some rolling plateaus with dips in the land). We got out of the truck quietly and slowly crept through nearly waist high grass, which thinned out to rocks, small shrubbery and knee high grass. Fortunately the wind was blowing into our faces. I was creeping directly behind Ben, and he paused and whispered" Round chambered, yes?" Then a little further, " remember to push your safety off when we get off the sticks", then a bit further, prepare for a quick shot when you get on the sticks". My pulse was already elevated and I was starting to get the shakes. Ben carried the quad sticks like a large inverted "V"; we moved several feet, with Ben slowly scanning ahead all around. We began to approach a point where the grassland was falling away from us on all sides. I was really nervous at this point, having stalked a couple hundred yards and still no sign.

At the same time I saw Ben quietly and purposefully pivot to his left the six rhebuck stood up about 100 yards distant, I slid the Sako rifle onto the sticks, got set as quickly as possible and saw the buck closest to us but clear of the ewes, he was quartering away the ewes were already moving. Ben was whispering for me to get set to shoot, they weren't going to stick around. Dropped the reticle behind the ram's shoulder and squeezed the trigger and immediately lost track of the ram. The ewes had ran toward another hillside and Ben quickly counted twice, with only the five ewes seen. They had ran through a smaller valley which we headed down, nearly immediately finding a paintbrush wide blood trail. At the bottom the Vaalie lay.

 

[PARA45]

Wow, can't wait for the rest. Keep it coming.

 

[Trogon]

I can't describe taking this animal. This was the animal that I had dreamed of, reading an article where someone hunted their Vaalie in the snow. Had the shakes really bad, standing there with the rhebuck at my feet. I think I was laughing like an idiot, Ben was just as excited as I was. Marva walked down to meet us and help carry the rhebuck back to the truck and drive toward a proper photo area up top that Ben had picked earlier.
After photos, took a break with our packed lunch, and enjoyed the absolute quiet. I'll never forget this hunting day, so many things could have changed the outcome. It was midafternoon and we drove back home, all I could think about was what a special animal I was able to hunt. All credit for this success goes to my PH, Ben Pringle.

 

[Trogon]

I actually have to make a pretense of "working from home" today so will add more later as I can. After a slew of emails, thinking I should have begged to stay in the EC. Cost be damned.

 

[Frederik]

Super Vaalie well done sir.
On my list as well.

 

[TXhunter65]

That's a start!!!! Congrats on a magnificent animal.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Its a pleasure to read how appreciative you are about this incredible animal.
Congratulations on getting a very special trophy.
Those landscape photos bring back such great memories of that high country. The solitude .....

 

[gillettehunter]

Good looking Vaalie. I've taken 2 and have enjoyed the hunts. They can be a challenging little bugger to hunt. Congrats
Bruce

 

[Trogon]

Thanks for the kind remarks, much appreciated.

 

[Firebird]

Awesome ram-excited to hear more about your trip. Never enough details

 

[RLL]

Well done and looks like you had a good trip!

 

[Hogpatrol]

That is some awesome trophy. You're a hell of a marksman on those sticks too!

 

[Trogon]

That is some awesome trophy. You're a hell of a marksman on those sticks too!

Lol, you make me blush @Hogpatrol. Not even in your league. Was great being in camp the same time as you and @markm, thoroughly enjoyed it. BRT!

 

[Trogon]

On the way back to the lodge, Ben went off on a side road, mentioning looking at some bushbuck (I had said that if a bushbuck surpassing what I hunted last year appeared, I'd be very interested). The road wound up into thick forest with some scattered clearings of grass and small thorn trees. Went all the way up, as far as the road went and started glassing clearings below. On the opposite hillside Ben spotted a very dark bushbuck, over 600 yards away. He viewed through the spotting scope and I took a turn, looked very good for length, but daylight was running out, and starting from the bottom was going to be a real slog, very difficult. So we moved down the hill and stopped above a several acre clearing. Immediately a young bushbuck ram was spotted that slid into some acacias. Ben then pointed out another ram coming out, beautiful but not old. Seemingly ignored us just 50 yards below. The young ram approached and immediately the older ram stiffened up and stalked about stiff-legged, the mane erect on it's back, tons of white spots and a throat and chest patch. Very cool to see so close. As the sunlight dwindled and the baboons barking and turaco's calling slowed down, we pulled away.
As we drove the gravel road back to the lodge a Cape Eagle Owl plopped onto the road and stared at us. Extremely similar looking to our Great Horned Owl in North America except the eyes were orange instead of yellow. On the drive at nightfall Aardwolf and Bat-eared Fox were seen, sometimes Steenbock and the Spotted Thick-knees seemed to like perching there as well.

 

[Trogon]

This report isn't in chronological order, cull hunting was mixed in different mornings or afternoons, sometimes dependent on the weather. If very windy we walked scrubby valleys protected from the wind (for impala and warthogs), if pleasant then springbuck were pursued on more open grasslands

. One area we visited seemed to have a decent amount of Common Duiker that usually started coming out late afternoon; spotted a leopard tortoise walking in the road in the same stretch we found one last year. Driving further a couple duiker were seen running into thickets; when we returned a nice one appeared at the edge of a thicket so we parked the machine behind a large clump of bushes and Ben set up the sticks, 100 yard shot. Never moved and flopped over dead. Shot a cull warthog near the road but couldn't add a couple friends that were with him.

 

[Trogon]

Initially I had requested hunting blue wildebeest; after success on the Vaal Rhebuck, Nick and Ben offered the choice of hunting Common Reedbuck instead; pricing was similar and I could have a "Reedbuck Slam", having hunted Mountain Reedbuck two years ago. So the next morning (beautiful hot pink sunrise) we traveled to a cattle ranch I had hunted previously for Sable; pretty large grassland paddocks comprised of tall grass and small acacia trees. Many fallow deer were present, even had a couple having a real scrap until they noticed the truck. Seemingly drove one area after another, very difficult to see any reedbuck in the long grass. Ben approached a younger pair and pointed out the ram, just the tips of his horns above the grass, before bolting away. Saw a very nice Cape Kudu bull and cow along a small stream bed. This area has received alot of rain and many basins were full of water but made for greasy driving. As we approached a small marsh a large ram stood up, ready to flee. Ben quickly stopped behind several acacia trees and we were able to pick a hole through the brush, settle the reticle on the shoulder and fire, dropping him instantly. He had solid bases and a great looking animal overall. I'm pleased to have made the switch, he's a dandy in my book!

 

[Trogon]

Cape eland was the other target animal besides the Vaal Rhebuck. I had never seen any eland during my prior two visits to the Eastern Cape. The day after hunting rhebuck, we traveled to a large cattle ranch under cloudy skies, having rained heavily overnight. There was a large, old mansion with substantial gardens (I think it is a feature every summer during the Bedford Garden Festival). This would have been interesting to see more of the grounds, but we were hoping for Eland and bushbuck sightings. Right away we began seeing a good variety of birds, several large ponds near fields held a few species of ducks that Ben called out, yellow-billed ducks, Egyptian Geese, a small teal I don't remember, cormorants and a darter. African Spoonbill was a nice surprise, Hadeda ibis being obnoxious not so welcome. As we began climbing the mountain, a small group of Crowned Hornbills watched us pass by, and African Hoopoes flew ahead of us. I'd have been happy just birding here.
As we wound up higher, clouds began to settle in and visibility began to drop. We scanned some crop fields and pockets of forest but not much was seen. I heard a bird call that I never expected to be here, an African Fish Eagle flew in and perched near the largest pond (this was a very nice "get" for me). As it was still early and viewing at any distance was poor, we left and pursued culls for the rest of the morning, and came back for the afternoon. We went fairly high up as it was sunny, a couple cow eland walked away into a forested valley. A couple cliff views didn't turn up anything worth pursuing, but a cow was spotted by Ben in a lower valley below us, which we watched for a bit, but she was alone. We sat on the cliff edge we visited earlier until dark, only a couple bushbuck ewes came out right before dark though. While sitting there, had a Grey-headed Bushshrike come within several feet, which was unexpected. A bushbuck barked behind us which startled me, I thought it was Ben's beagle Sloo. A pleasant evening nonetheless.
A day later we visited a different ranch with not good results, I discovered that eland had exceptional eyesite and the terrain was a small flat valley with large ravines leading up into tall, rocky cliffs. Ben led us down one hillside after viewing a number of eland in a scrubby forest at the bottom. We walked a lower ridge out hoping to come above them but walked into eland in thick brush and spooked them. Headed down another finger and viewed a small herd across another valley, all young bulls, cows and calves. We were pretty well hidden but a couple cows and a bull stared at us from 200 yards away (wind was in our face so should have been fine). Looked through a number drinking from a small stream, eventually they moved out of site.
We came back to this ranch a couple days later early in the morning. Ben traveled up a small rise so we could glass a large open field from behind a few trees. At the far edge of the field, a handful of eland were feeding but began to filter back into the forest. Marva and Alvin were sent around in a long loop to come in behind them and slowly bump them hopefully in our direction. We moved to another finger ridge that had good views of the opposing hillside. This was a long wait before seeing any eland. Slowly eland began to appear, some cows and a small bull, some calves but that was it. Ben realized the group had split and most of them were likely passing below us. Ben snapped up the sticks and we traversed back the way had walked earlier. He spotted a small herd below us in a pocket of scrub brush and trees beginning to graze. There was a huge one-horned bull in the group which got the excitement level up, as Ben picked through the foliage he asked me to consider that animal. But then another large bull stepped into a clearing which had his attention immediately. The sticks came up quickly and I settled in with the rifle, the bull slowly turned toward a cow and I fired, breaking the shoulder, He turned again

and I fired into the other shoulder, with the bull moving into the trees. The others milled around, interested in the bull but didn't leave. Eventually he came out of cover and the herd began to leave, jumping a cattle fence which he couldn't. Fired another shot while he was hobbling away, and another which dropped him.
What a big, beautiful animal. I can't think of a description that fully describes how I felt hunting eland, different from the rhebuck, this was an imposing animal, the largest I've hunted. Grateful for the opportunity to hunt such an animal. The reality of how this animal was going to fit in the Land Cruiser was daunting but a winch, extra help and a couple stout poles, Ben got it loaded. Long, slow drive home.