Tuesday, August 6, 2024

South Africa Hunt 2024 - Part 1 - Sable and Buffalo

 Eric and I had another major adventure - this time hunting in South Africa.

First a little background.  In 2014, I hunted plains game in the Eastern Cape.  There were multiple blog posts about that trip but this is an overview.  SA Plains Game Hunt 2014  I planned that trip for my 60th birthday and I had always expected to return.

With my 70th birthday approaching and with the grandkids at a good age to appreciate a safari, we made plans to come back for a hunt followed by a family photo safari.  It somewhat coincided with my work retirement (end of the year) so we planned to make it a special trip.  We've been working on it for a year and had put together a complicated program with various family groups doing add-on trips before and after the group safari.  I will blog separately about the rest of the trip - this post is the first one dedicated to the 6 days of hunting.  

It has taken me some time to get around to writing this because we had some complications.  At the conclusion of the family safari, Eric's family and I proceeded to Joburg and then home.  My daughter Amy and her family proceeded with Joan (my wife) to Cape Town for a couple extra days of touring.  When I landed in Atlanta, I got the message that Joan had fallen in her Cape Town hotel room and had broken her femur (she has a history of hip and knee replacements).  She required surgery to repair the break.  I went home, dropped off the rifles, spent a night in my own bed, and then flew back to South Africa.  So Joan and I spent an extra week in the Cape Town area as she recovered enough to make the trip home.

Normally I try to blog pretty close to real time.  The safari plus these complications and catch up with work have delayed my blogging efforts.  This time I'll be reconstructing from photos, notes and memories. But it's all pretty memorable.

I left Cincinnati on Sunday July 7th and connected thru Atlanta on my way to Johannesburg. The Atlanta flight was delayed a couple hours so I didn't get into Joburg until 10:30pm on Monday.  I was met and assisted with rifle clearance by the Afton House. Afton House  Elize at Afton House was extremely helpful during the planning process and she solved some of my problems about dealing with the rifles while we were on the family safari portion of the trip.  I was introduced to the Afton House on my last trip but the ownership has changed and the facility has expanded since then.  We used them several times on this trip and it was great.
Meanwhile, Eric and his family had already travelled to Cape Town and were doing fun activities like cage diving with sharks.
Eric planned to meet me for the hunt while his family toured along the Garden Route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
So I went to bed at midnight and got up at 4:00am to catch a 6:00am flight from Joburg.  Eric did pretty much the same thing to catch a 6:00am flight from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.  We both arrived at 7:30am on Tuesday July 9th.
In PE, we were met by our Outfitter and PH, Arnold Claassen of African Select Hunting Safaris.  African Select Hunting Safaris Website  ASHS Facebook  Arnold was my PH in 2014 and we have stayed in touch.  He has subsequently started outfitting himself.  He usually has a Jack Russell along on the hunt with him - this is Stossel.
Day Zero - after a six hour drive we arrived at our hunting property near Vanderkloof Dam in the Freestate.  Arnold selected this property because I expressed an interest in Cape Buffalo.  The ranch is a 35,000 acre property with high fence on three sides and the lake on the fourth side.  It is called Otterskloof Game Reserve Otterskloof Game Reserve  As we pulled into the main lodge, a film crew was assembling.  There were there to film an episode of the TV show "Alone".  We proceeded on to a separate lodge down in a valley where we had the lodge to ourselves.
Reality check as you come thru the gate on the way to the lodge.
We had a lunch of kudu spaghetti and moved into our rooms.

With the remaining daylight we headed out to the range where we sighted in my 375 H&H and Eric's 308 Win.
Once we had that set (surprising amount of adjustments were necessary), we decided to use the remaining light for a "look-see".  The dam (lake) was visible in the distance.
Almost immediately, Arnold spotted lots of game - wildebeest, kudu, lechwe, etc. Our tracker from the property, Koosie, spotted a nice sable.  Since sable was on my wish list, we took off on foot as the light was starting to fade.  We stalked into 200 yards, set up for the shot and he moved off.  We stayed on him and got to 300, then 250, he moved again.  As light was fading we got into 200 yards.  I got steady on the sticks and took a shot.  Felt good and seems like a hit but he moved off slowly.  We moved up for a follow up shot and I absolutely shot over the top of him (more on this tendency later).  He walked, we walked. He stopped partially behind a tree at 250 yards and Arnold said "hit him anywhere". I shoot.  He moves again, we follow again, I shoot again. 
At this point, Stossel, the Jack Russell is released and he runs ahead and gets on him.  I try to keep up but I don't cover ground as fast as Arnold and Koosie.  When I catch up, light is almost gone, the sable is laying down and bayed by Stossel - but his head is up.  It's a frantic scene but after getting the dog clear, I administered the finishing shot. Finishing Shot
Final count was 3 shots in the chest, one in the guts, one in the ankle - a bit of a rodeo.  Not the way I wanted it to go but in the final analysis, we got him. He was one tough animal.
And he was magnificent. 
Koosie and Ricardo, Arnold's tracker/skinner, got him loaded up
After 24 hours of travel, 4 hours sleep, a six hour drive - our Day Zero was done and we had this beauty in the salt.  Arnold always does a professional job with the photos. And it was a glorious evening.
Arnold and Stossel get a lot of the credit.
I crashed hard that night. The watch gave me 7,484 steps and only 2 flights of stairs - but it all happened at about 5:30pm.
Day One, Wed July 10 - the target is Cape Buffalo.
This is a great property for buffalo.  There is some cover but generally good visibility.  There is some contour where you can get visibility to glass.  Ricardo and Koosie start in the tracker seat but Ricardo soon gets picked up to go deal with the sable.
The only downside is that it is extremely rocky.  Rocks from softball to suitcase sized.  Sometimes they are quite visible and sometimes they are hidden in the long grass.  Some areas pretty flat but also big valleys with steep hillsides.
So we drive, stop, spot, hike, stalk and repeat again starting at sunrise.
On this stalk, we got into 30 yards on a group of bulls.  Arnold peeked over the rocks and decided that none of them are good enough. We stand up and they sense us and clear out.  Video of them leaving.  On the move
On this stalk, we saw a good bull but he busted us and started moving.  We cut over the top of this hill and tried to intercept them as they came out into this big open valley.  There was a momentary chance but I wasn't quick enough and they were on the move.
That's them trotting away in the distance.
The rocks are treacherous.  I had to watch my feet all the time and was paranoid about falling and breaking a rib on those rocks.  Everything has spikes and prickers - this is acacia.
But it's gorgeous country alive with game. We saw giraffes, rhinos, sable, roan, wildebeest, lechwe, kudu and more.
We stalked all morning - up and down those rocky hill sides.  We had several close encounters and saw some magnificent bulls.  We stopped for a field lunch and then kept on the hunt.
As the day went on, I started to fade.  I was having trouble keeping up - especially on any uphill hikes.  I was getting some cramps and didn't realize that I was dehydrated.  It was getting late in the day and I wasn't sure that I had another long stalk in me.  That's when Arnold spotted a really good bull.
He was with some other buffalo and bedded in a fairly open spot.  We were cross wind from him and had to back out, loop around using the contour, and then creep up to a rise.  They were still there but about 180 yards away.  We had the wind in our favor now but not much cover.  We belly crawled across an opening and got behind a bush at 100 yards.  No chance of getting closer.  They were on their feet mulling about.  Arnold got me up on the sticks, on the right animal and a young bull walked in front. We waited for the longest time with the target bull quartering away and the young bull in front of him blocking the front and head of the target.  Finally the young bull moved a bit and I told Arnold I could make the shot.  He said take it and I did. Video of the shot.  Shot Video

It was a hit but he was on the move.  Another large bull was paired with him.  They circled and stopped.  We moved up and Arnold set the sticks.  I had a perfect opportunity for a follow up near broadside and I shot over him at about 150 yards (more on that later). Follow up attempt

He was clearly affected and not moving as well as his partner.  They ran to the right and Arnold wanted to run down the point of this rocky and brush covered ridge to get another follow up.  I was out of gas and told Eric to keep up with Arnold and take a follow up shot if he got a chance.  Eric was carrying Arnold's spare 375 H&H.  They went down the ridge and out of my sight as I sat down on a rock.  I heard a shot, saw the two bulls come running out in front of me with the one obviously trailing and shaking its head.  They went about 250 yards and the hit one stopped in a bush/tree in a dry drainage.  The other one kept circling behind it and seemed to be either encouraging the wounded buffalo to run or doing guard duty on it in case anything approached.

Arnold, Koosie, and Eric came back to me.  I asked what happened and Arnold said "Eric shot him in the horn.  He just shook his head like a fly was bothering him."

So we had a conference.  Arnold said that we have a situation.  "You see that bush in the dry creek?  He's waiting for you there."  But Arnold was very concerned about his buddy if we went in for a follow up.
We gave him some time.  I felt that my first shot, although quartering quite a bit, was good.  We still had some light but it was getting late.  Surely a 300 grain Barnes TSX in the rib would do its job?

So we walked down off the hill into the creek bed and walked in on the tree where he was waiting for us.  All the time, Arnold is alert for his buddy.  We get to 100 yards, Arnold can see him in the bush, he sets up the sticks, I get on the scope and...nothing.  He wasn't there.

Koosie, who was trailing behind us, said he saw two buffalo run out the back and down the valley.  They were moving pretty good.

At this point, we go to the bush and try to pick up the trail.  Koosie can pick up the trail of the two running buffalo but not blood.  He and Arnold start to follow the track and I am out of gas.  I try to keep up for awhile but on the steep rocky hillsides, I'm weak and afraid of falling.  Arnold sends Koosie ahead on the trail and he starts looking with Stossel (the dog) back where we last saw the bull.  He goes over the valley carefully while Eric and I sit and rest on the hillside.  

Arnold comes back and we have a conference.  Light is starting to fade.  We are far from the truck.  I'm out of gas.  We agree that Eric and I would slowly make our way back in the direction of the truck.  Arnold would go catch up with Koosie.  In all probability, we are going to have to give him the night and come back to pick up the trail in the morning.

Arnold, Koosie and Stossel are out of sight down in the valley.  Eric and I slowly started heading back to the truck.  Light was fading.  As we're picking our way over the rocks, we're discussing what we should do if a bull were to stand up and start running.  During the day, we had discussed hunter mistakes that resulted in the shooting two different bulls.

Suddenly we heard a grunt that was close but from a direction in front of us.  Eric was immediately on alert but I thought it might be a warthog or something.  I had read or seen videos of a "death bellow" and I was convinced this wasn't it.  To me, they are a long, final collapsing of the lungs and this was a short grunt.

We continued slowly moving and after a couple minutes there was another loud grunt.  At this point, Eric is alert and concerned and I'm pretty sure that's not our buffalo.

We keep moving slowly.  Each grunt pinpoints the direction better for us.  We heard a third one and decided to stop and wait for Arnold.  We had a pretty good idea of where it was coming from.  As we sit down to wait, Arnold, Koosie, and Stossel emerge from the valley and they hear another grunt.

Arnold immediately knows what it is.  They come over and join us about 100 yards from the source of the grunts.  Arnold can see black in the bush but he is on alert for our bull's buddy.  He let Stossel go in on the bull and he barked a bit but it's not like he has an animal bayed.  He was under that tree beside my hat in this photo. Video of Stossel moving in - listen for the grunt.Stossel moving in
We circle around and walk in on him ready for a charge the whole time.  Alert for his buddy but not seeing any other buffalo.
And there he was.  Arnold confirmed that he was dead - no insurance shot needed.  Here's a video of the approach.  Walking in on him
What a relief!  And what an awesome hard boss.  Even if it did have a bullet wound.  .
While we still had light, we got a couple of in place photos. Koosie called for the recovery team on the radio.  Eric's 375 entered the horn and never exited.  You can see the blood spot on the right horn in the below photo.
Arnold pulled him out from under the tree with his truck.  Pull him out

The entry wound was near the last rib and it didn't exit.  The angle looked right for the opposite shoulder.  It was probably 4" higher than optimal but it got the job done (eventually).  It was about 1 1/2 hours from the shot until we had him.
It now seemed pretty clear that the two bulls that ran off into the valley were two different bulls.  The recovery point wasn't too far from where he first holed up to wait for us.

The 14 man recovery team showed up in a pickup with a trailer.
We got him positioned for some photos in the headlights of the trucks.
Here's the team that made it happen.
The recovery team then got him in a metal sled. 
And manually lifted him...
...up into the trailer...
...for the ride back to the skinning shed. Video of loading the trailer. Sled into the trailer
He filled the trailer.
I was exhausted but ecstatic.  I thought we had a mess on our hands and was prepared to return in the morning for tracking.  What a relief to find him.  I guess that I learned something about death bellows.  These grunts weren't anything like what I expected.
The watch said 22,202 steps taken along with elevation changes equivalent to 67 flights of stairs.  It was plenty for a 70 year old, semi-sedentary, dehydrated hunter.  I had charlie horses in my legs during the drive back to the lodge and during the night.  The younger guys seemed unaffected.

This concludes part 1.  I'll pick up the story in another post when time allows me to compose it.

Related posts:





Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)