South Africa 2008: May 23- The Hunt

The big day had come at last! I was more than ready to get up at 4:30 and head out. Even Dad didn't seem to mind the early start too much. We headed out to a large cattle ranch with our professional hunter, Rory, and our 3 trackers. Getting to the field at about 6:30, we started to look for a nyala. Our excellent trackers spotted several, but they were still relatively small.

It wasn't until several long hours later that Rory suddenly tapped on the roof of the Land Cruiser for the driver to stop. He had seen a big nyala on a hillside in the distance. We left the truck and headed out on foot. After nearly 45 minutes, we found him, about 120 yards away. Rory signaled me to sneak up next to him and we quietly set up the cross-sticks. I sighted on the bull, but there was a bush in the way, and I didn't want to risk a bad shot. By this time, though, he had seen us, and took off into the thick brush. We hurried to an opening, and the trackers spotted him going over a nearby hill. We got back to the truck and followed. As we came over the hill, we saw him again, about 250 yards away in some low cover. I would get another chance at a shot.

I stood up in the back of the truck behind Rory and rested the rifle on his shoulder. And then the "buck fever" hit. My knees were shaking so badly I could barely stand up, but I kept the scope on the bush the nyala was standing behind. After close to 10 minutes, he had calmed down enough to take a step from behind the bush (and I had calmed down enough to stand up straight). I clicked off the safety catch and rested the crosshairs behind the bull's shoulder.

Bang! 250 yards away, the big nyala dropped like a stone. Rory nearly yelled "That was one hell of a good shot!"

The next part was difficult. If you think walking through brush in the States is bad, try fighting your way through the thickest mess in the African Bushlands! Rory went first, hacking away with a machete, and I followed close behind, with Dad and one of the trackers following me. The others had gone to find a route for the Land Cruiser.

Eventually we broke into the tiny clearing where the bull had been. It took only a minute to find the animal. It was massive! Rory said it was one of the largest nyalas he'd ever seen... easily a Gold Medal Trophy! Needless to say, I was beyond ecstatic. When the truck finally came, we moved to a more open space and took pictures. We each had a celebratory Coke, and headed back into the bush to find an impala.

It didn't take quite as long to find an impala as it did for the nyala, as they are as abundant as whitetail deer in the States, but it still took a long time before we found a big one. The impala saw us at the same time we saw him, and took off into the brush with his small herd. This animal also took a great deal of tracking on foot. We hiked for close to a mile before we finally were able to sneak up on the herd in a large open space.

Rory set up the cross-sticks, and I sighted the rifle. Bang! An 80 yard shot, and the impala dropped out of sight in the grass.

As we moved into the opening to find the impala, we heard a crunch to our right. We turned to see 3 full-grown rhinos staring at us from no more than 60 yards away. They sure look a lot bigger on foot than in a truck! Thankfully they didn't seem to mind too much that we were there... Rory pointed out (unnecessarily) that we had no cover if they charged us.

We found the big impala only a few yard from where I had shot him. I had hit exactly were I meant to. It took quite some time before the truck found us, but we had a good time swapping hunting stories with Rory in the meantime. We got pictures, then headed back to camp.

What a great day is has been! Two huge trophy animals in one day. I couldn't be happier... none of us could!

--Andrew