Post by dreamrider on Apr 8, 2020 5:40:47 GMT -5
THE DARK CONTINENT
Part one
The place that all boys at some stage in their lives dream about. Ever since the explorers Livingston and Stanley wrote of their experiences, Africa has been the Mecca for explorers and hunters alike. Years after those two great explorers, came the hunters such as Selous and Karamajo Joe Bell. Some time later came the great bow hunter Howard Hill. Followed by a vast host of bow hunters such as Swinehart, Fred Bear, and in more recent years, Gary Bogner, plus many others that have regaled us with their wonderful bow hunting stories over the years.
As a boy I was not immune to the romance of hunting Africa, and although I have been hunting with a bow for over 40 some thing years, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever go there.
Three years ago, I became aware that time was passing me by, and after a major health scare some years back I convinced myself that there was no reason why I could not at least do some serious dreaming, and maybe kick a few tires by looking into the possibilities of going there for a hunt. If I found that it was going to be completely impractical,… well I could say at least I gave it a try.
In so doing I never realizing what a can of worms I was about to open.
I suppose you could say that it all started getting serious when a few years ago I had Dr Donall Thomas Jr of American traditional Archery magazine fame, and his wife Lori stay with my wife Jan and I in our home in Helensville. Don is co editor of that wonderful mag.
One evening he was enthralling us with his wonderful hunting adventures in South Africa. I asked him about costs and where, in his opinion was the best place to hunt. His reply was South Africa is a great destination, but dollar for dollar Namibia was about as good as you can get. Maybe not the range of animals as in Sth Africa, but what is there, is often better trophy quality. He proceeded to fill my head with dreams of hunting in Namibia to the point where I became like a dog with a bone. I couldn’t let it rest.
A few months later my son Bruce and I were in a very fortunate position to be Chital, and buffalo hunting in Australia with our very good friend, the late great Australian bow hunter Bill Baker. One evening we got talking about bow hunting in Africa, as he himself had been there with good success a couple of years earlier. He started filling my head with things like, how easy it was to organise a hunt in Africa, and that the cost, though steep was well worth it. I mentioned what Don Thomas had told me about Namibia, and Bill agreed saying, that he and a few mates had organised their next hunt, and it was to be in Namibia. But unfortunately before they could go they had to cancel out, as a cyclone had all but wiped him out on the Queensland coast. (Sadly for Bill, another African hunt was never to be). He gave me a contact in Namibia and it was then I realized that I was hooked, I would never be happy unless I hunted in Africa.
I spent many hours on the computer learning as much as I could, going into many, and varied web sites asking numerous questions, and making a regular nuisance of my self. After 6 months of fact finding, I sat down and wrote up a list of what I wanted to hunt in the way of game, what my budget would allow, where I would like to go, and what sort of gear I would need to take.
I had no ambition to hunt any of the big six – Elephant, Lion, Cape buffalo, Leopard, Rhino and Hippo. I had long ago excluded these from my wish list. They were way too expensive, and I would have had to hunt in several different countries, but far more importantly, they can either bite me or trample me, so they were out of my reckoning. Although I have to admit I have always had a sneaky private dream about some day going after a Cape buffalo. But that is where it stays, as Jan said “only in your dreams buddy”. I decided that plain’s game would be my main target. Plains game is mostly browsers and grazers eg Kudu, Zebra, Impala, Gemsbok, Springbuck, Wildebeest just to name a few, and after getting a rough quote on what each of these species would cost. I soon realized that hunting in Africa was not going to be cheap, but far more affordable than I had ever imagined. I have been told that if you hunt any where else in the world, you may be able hunt one or two species for about the same cost as hunting an incredible range of game in Africa. The next thing for me to do was to work out where I wanted to hunt.
Africa is a huge diverse continent, and there are many destinations for the keen hunter. I realized that the countries like Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and others, were all far too expensive for me to even consider. Usually twice, and some times treble the cost of South Africa and Namibia. I would dearly have loved to hunt Zimbabwe, as it is a very natural beautiful country. But the political climate put a stop to any thoughts of going there. I have already mentioned that Namibia had been highly recommended, so I definitely decided to go there. One day I happened to be talking to my mate Kevin Watson about my planned hunt in Namibia, he made a suggestion that, as I was paying to fly all the way over there at a cost of $3600 return, and that it was most likely to be my one hunt of a life time. Had I considered incorporating a second hunt in Sth Africa at the same time? I initially laughed the idea off. What about the expense? But it stuck to me like a burr, and after a lot of thought I decided that it was a great idea. I would be over there for 20 days instead of 10. I would be able to experience life in different camps, meet a wonderful diversity of people, travel the two different countries and more importantly, see a greater variety of game. I decided to go for it.
Now that I had decided where and what I wanted to hunt, I set about booking my self into the best outfitter I could afford. I soon found out that you can’t just contact them, and say I want to be there in a few months. Oh no, bookings were out to two years, and what had been left over on the third year, was usually in the wrong moon phase. When booking a hunt in Africa it is very important to book and plan several years in advance, and to take into consideration the phase of the moon, this has an enormous influence on the activities of the animals. Something I will talk about at a later stage. The out fitter I decided on in Namibia after studying their web sight, and getting in touch and talking to supplied references was the same one that Bill Baker had recommended. Vieranas Safaris, which is up in the north western corner of Namibia, bordering the northern semi Namib Desert. A six hr drive from the capital Windhoek, (pronounced vindhook). Vieranas is a bow hunting only place. Owned and operated by Roger and Amelia Coomber. It consists of 22’000 acres, 5’000 of which is high fenced. As the client I got to choose where I wanted to hunt. I hunted in both areas with great success. They also have use of a range of large concession blocks owned by other farmers in the area.
Roger is originally from the UK. A very enthusiastic bow hunter, and is the Chairman of Namibia Professional Hunting Association’s Bow hunting Committee. . His enthusiasm for all things bow hunting is second to none. I found him to be great company with a wealth of information, which he gladly shared with me during the course of my stay. Amelia originates from Dorsland (Thirst land) Trekkers (1870’s), who settled in those parts around 1928, coming to Namibia from Angola 1928, , and both her and Roger took over the family farm from her grandparents. They could see the future potential in game farming, and have never regretted their decision .After making contact I booked Vieranas with out any hesitation.
Now I needed an out-fitter in South Africa. So it was back to my friend Don Thomas via internet this time, as he was back home in Montana USA. One of the outfitters he mentioned was Buchholz Safari and Lodge. Which he told me is based in the Limpopo valley 3 hrs north of Johannesburg. Now, as soon as I heard the name Limpopo my ears immediately pricked up. Limpopo is steeped in history, the stuff of many stories and legends. After talking to the people of Buchholz and doing some back ground research, I was hooked. Buchholz is owned by Chris Van Schalkwyk and is also, bow hunting only. Chris turned out to be a very friendly knowledgeable South African whose family history dates back to the early Dutch settlers of 1651, and can lay claim to being the 15th generation South African, Chris was eager to help me fit in his part of the bookings with my hunt in Namibia. Not an easy thing to do. But Chris was extremely helpful, and details were finally ironed out. I was to arrive at Buchholz on the 26th August, hunt for 9 days then onto Vieranas for another 10 days.
The Buchholz owner Chris and a Hippo skull
Before I discuss equipment, I would like to digress a moment .I can not emphasis enough the importance of doing your home work. The diversity of game ranches in South Africa is incredible. Some are small only a few hundred acres, to the majority that consist of many thousands of acres. Some have great accommodation, some not so, some have inflated ideas of charges, some will have bow hunting only.( Very important as African game are incredibly alert, and any excessive hunting pressure can make a difficult hunt into an impossible one). Avoid at all costs a rifle hunting outfitter. Some will say they are a bow hunting only, but can and often do slip in rifle hunters. So be aware and do the home work.
Another thing one has to be aware of is, bow hunting in South Africa will almost always be done behind wire, and you have no choice. It’s the law. While this may be abhorrent to many, some of these game farms are huge. Also keep in mind that if it wasn’t for the wonderful game management of the South Africans, there would be no indigenous animals there at all. It would all be cattle ranches .These animals are 100% wild, and believe me are not easy to hunt.
When it came to the requirements of equipment, I talked to both Roger and Chris. Then knowing roughly what I would need went straight around to Kevin and Carol from Advanced Archery. Between us we came up with a comprehensive list.
We set my Hoyt Vectrix up to 65lb for the species that I would be targeting, between 55lb – 70lb was recommended.
The recommended arrow weight was between 480grn – 600grn, it was suggested the heavier the better.
As I like hunting with the slim carbons and I only draw 26and a half inches, I could not get an arrow with enough weight. We settled on the Beman max-4 400 (the heaviest I could buy ), put in a plastic weight tube, and used a 125 grn broad head. I managed to get an arrow weighing in at 535 grn. This also had the added advantage of making the bow quieter. We then spent a lot of time getting the bow shooting as quietly as possible. In Africa the game are particularly wary and fast, noisy bows do not cut it over there. By the time the arrow arrives, the animal has often reacted to the noise resulting in wounded animals. With my set up, not one animal reacted before the arrow arrived.
Also be sure to take plenty of arrows. I settled on two and a half doz. It is amazing the diversity of animals and bird life that always seemed to invite a probing arrow. Also take plenty of broad heads and replacement blades. I can assure you there are not to many corner archery shops around out there. I found a complete back up bow gave me a feeling of security. I never needed it, but it was great to know it was there if any thing went wrong with my no1 bow.
Broad heads were the next thing that was discussed. Both outfitters recommended a multi fixed blade that preferably cuts on impact. Neither of them was very enthusiastic about mechanical heads, as they had seen too many disasters with them. Rodger was also a little cautious about the use of the traditional single blade, after a strange experience he had with a European traditional bow hunter last year. This particular hunter wanted a female Kudu for the skin. Roger later told me how the story unfolded. The hunter in question put a nice shot into the rear of the lungs, the Kudu cow let out a grunt from the force of the hit. She ran off for about 100 meters then slowed down, they both expected her to fall over but she stayed on her legs and wandered off. Later while tracking her they were puzzled by the lack of blood. They only found a couple of spots, eventually having to give up on her. Something that all hunters hate to do, particularly the African’s as the predators almost always get into them during the night. The next day the hunter left for home with the promise that if Roger found her during the next day, he would try to save the skin and send it on.
76 hrs later Roger had hunting with him, a well known bow hunter from the states, when out stepped the same Kudu cow looking fit and healthy. Roger could not believe his eyes. He immediately turned to the American hunter, and said shoot that cow. The cow was dispatched with a shot through the heart. When they did an autopsy on her they found that the original arrow had indeed double lunged her. The conclusion they came to was that the single blade broad head, had gone straight through slicing with the grain, and before the lungs could collapse, had sealed up again, and because of the good clean pass through, no further tissue damage occurred. The cow seemed to be completely untroubled by the wound, and would almost certainly have lived a normal life. Neither the very experienced American, nor Rodger had ever witnessed any thing like it. Roger later sent the skin to the original hunter explaining why there was two broad head holes in the hide!!. Roger has no doubt, that had that been a multi blade broad head, it would have been a nice quick kill.
How ever it must be said that there is no doubt in both Roger and Chris’s mind, that when hunting large dangerous thick skinned animals, a heavy robust single blade is the only way to go for maximum penetration.
I settled on two broad heads to take with me. The G5 125 grn striker for thin skinned game. This little broad head performed outstandingly well, it is a cut on impact plus has replaceable blades, and is scary sharp straight out of the packet. I would recommend this little beauty to anyone hunting small to medium game. The second broad head I chose was a German Kinetic. This is a single blade broad head and is made by a firm in Germany. It had been highly recommended to me by a bow hunting friend in Spain, as he had used this broad head on three separate occasions while in Namibia, and was absolutely thrilled with its performance. The quality and the precision machining is out standing, It maintained a high degree of accuracy’ no matter what I put it through during practice. The only down side to this broad head is the high cost. I had decided that if I had a chance at a Zebra I would use the German kinetic. The Zebra is a very tough stocky animal, and is renowned for its ability to absorb a lot of punishment.
It was late on the fourth day in South Africa when a group of Burchell’s Zebra came in, three females one foal and a majestic stallion. As soon as my guide Carlos saw him he started getting very excited. Get that stallion if you can he told me, he is an outstanding trophy. After many draw backs and false alarms, I managed to get a shot in. Well that stallion seemed to go into instant overdrive, I can tell you, I have never seen any animal move as fast as him. Judging by his reaction, I felt quietly confident that it was a heart shot. By the time we got onto his trail it was dark. Darkness closes fast in Africa, one minute you can see, the next minute it’s dark. The initial blood trail was very patchy, it was getting late, and we all started to get worried. A couple of trackers were bought in. I had been told earlier by Chris that these African trackers could follow a fart in a thunderstorm. A slight exaggeration, but in short order my wonderful Zebra was found 180 meters away. The German kinetic had cut through both lungs, and had sliced every artery from the top of the heart. The fact that the stallion had traveled so far after that damage, is testament to the incredible toughness of that powerful stocky animal. In fact all the African game that I was lucky enough to shoot, were incredibly tough, their ability to tenaciously hang onto life is legendary. I think it may be the harsh environment they live in where every bush they encounter could conceal an enemy that is out to devour them.
It’s for this reason that, I went to great lengths to find out the best kill zone on the various animals that I was likely to encounter. Both Chris and Roger were very clear in their advice. Forget all about what I had previously learned about shot placement. The African plains game has their lungs well forward and their heart very low and even further forward. Forget the “behind the front leg crease shot for these animals”, in fact put a shot any where behind the front leg and it’s most likely going to be a gut shot. Very early on in my enquires Chris sent me a shot placement chart (which is now established on his web sight). I found it to be an enormous help and set up all my practice shots with that advice in mind. If I had to quote which was the best piece of advice I got during my build up for Africa that would have been it with out a doubt.
I felt confident that I had the best of advice and the correct equipment to handle anything that I may face. I had put in a lot of research into where I wanted to go, and believe me it paid off. Both of the out fitters I chose were outstanding, and I have made some wonderful lasting friends.
During the twelve months before departure I put in a lot of leg work to try and build up my fitness, plus a lot of practice on the range and out in the field. I recommend that all the field practice be done with the bh you intend to use. I was very fortunate as Advanced Archery had my bow so well tuned, that any broad head I tested grouped in the same place. Putting in the time testing all your gear well in advance of the hunt, is time and money well spent, it pays off in the end.
When I arrived at Johannesburg via Singapore I had been travelling for thirty two hrs, twenty two hrs of actual flying, the rest waiting in airports. It was a great relief to have a young smartly dressed young man jump out and say, are you Ray Scott,? I am to be your hunting guide; my name is Carlos let me take your luggage. On the three hour journey up to the Limpopo, I got to know this likable enthusiastic young man. He was 23 yrs old, and was of Portuguese extraction. He was a fully qualified ph, as all the professional hunters and guides have to be .He told me that to qualify, they had to have a large amount of experience in the bush. Also to be able to accurately estimate distances for both the bow hunter and the rifle hunter. Part of their tests cover being able to identify all the game animals plus the abundant bird and plant life. If that is not enough, he has to be able to identify every track left by the incredibly diverse numbers of animals, and to also to be competent, at tracking wounded animals. He also has to prove his ability to shoot extremely accurately with a rifle. His general knowledge about every thing African was incredible, and I was often left open mouthed, when he would casually point out a set of tracks and identify them from the cab of the four wheel drive, as we were cruising along at around 30 ks heading to the blind chosen for that particular days hunt.
He once told me of an experience he had with a rifle client and a Zebra. The client put a badly placed bullet into a zebra mare, and then followed up with an equally bad second shot. They tracked the poor animal for a whole day but it kept eluding them. The next day Carlos set out on his own, he refused to give up on it. It was almost dark on the second day, when he managed to put in a well placed shot to bring her down. They had covered over 9 Kilometers over the two days, through some fairly diverse terrain. My respect for both the Zebra for its determination not to give up, and my growing admiration for this remarkable young man knew no bounds.
Carlos confided in me that, while he had guided many rifle hunters on other hunting concessions, he had very limited experience with bow hunters. He said that he was very keen to learn as much as he could from me. Over the time that I hunted with Carlos his enthusiasm for the bow was very evident, so much so that I got out my “back up bow” which was another Hoyt, and set it up for him so he could practice at the same time as me. I soon realized that he was a natural. I feel sure that this helped him obtain a greater understanding of the bow and its limitations, which ultimately helped me, in my hunting success. To encourage the young man further and to try and show in some small way my appreciation, I gifted him that bow before I left for home. He told me that his next goal was to qualify to become a ph for the big six. Apparently to achieve that goal is a long and involved undertaking, but if his enthusiasm is anything to go by, I feel sure that in time he will achieve it.
.
Buchholz safaris in South Africa is a wonderful camp, it consisted of several luxurious sleep outs with the center area making up the liquor bar, and breakfast bar, plus out door dining and bbq. This is where it all happens, it’s where everyone eventually gathers to tell their lies, and get their excuses properly worked out for the telling. Later that day Carlos asked me if I would like to go for a bit of game spotting. Even though I was suffering extreme fatigue and jet lag, wild horses would not have kept me away from my first real glimpse of the game that I had traveled so far to hunt. It wasn’t long before I was drooling over the wonderful animals that we saw. We spotted Kudu, Zebra, Impala, wildebeest and even a couple of enormous Eland. They were undisturbed but wary of the vehicle. But as soon as we set out on foot to have a closer look every thing just vanished. I was to discover over the next 10 days that they had not only a great and diverse hunting area, but the game had to be seen to be believed, the number and variety was truly amazing. That evening I made my excuses early and headed for bed. As I lay there I was thinking, this is going to be a cake walk, there was so much game around I couldn’t miss. Two days later after having seen plenty of animals but with nothing of trophy size, I was starting to think that this might be a little harder than I had originally thought.
Local transportation
It was early on the third day, and my luck was about to change. We were in a different area, and in a elevated blind, when a large group of Blesbuck came in. Now Blesbuck are a strange medium sized animal with a large white blaze on their face. Their antics can sometimes boarder on the hilarious, and when ever they were around we were always highly entertained. Carlos pointed out a really nice ram that was in the group, indicating to me that it was a good trophy, and was I up to it? Trying desperately to keep my pounding heart under control, I chose a spot and gently squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a stone. The arrow had taken out his spine, I had forgotten to take into account that I was shooting from an elevated blind, and the shot was slightly high, although with immensely satisfying results. I had my first kill in Africa under my belt, and I was ecstatic. He measured 15 and half inches, and I was assured that he was a very worthy trophy.
Blesbok feeding
Ray’s Blesbok
When I first started hunting in South Africa I must confess that I was a little resentful having a guide breathing down my neck all the time, after all I had spent many years back home hunting as a loner. But it was after that experience with the Blesbok, that I really started to appreciate the advantage of having a guide with me. Its all very well shooting at just any animal that comes along, but it must be remembered that, put an animal on the ground and it costs you money, and while its not
the done thing to keep counting the cost, its certainly a great advantage to be told what is recognized, as a good trophy. After all it takes time and experience, to be able to become familiar with strange animals in an environment that we are not accustomed to. I found it wonderfully informative having Carlos and later Roger with me. They would spend many hours whispering about the habits and prospective merits of individual game that came into the blinds. I found that the excitement of seeing the wonderful variety of animals and learning first hand about their habits was just as rewarding as the shooting of them.
The blinds that I hunted from were many and varied, ranging from a portable pop up to casually erected blinds, utilizing what ever materials that were at hand, to the wonderful dug out pit blinds that Roger had on Vieranas in Namibia. These were dug out to an approx depth of 2-3 ft and either brick or mud walls with a solid roof, this was then able to support the several tons of soil that was shoveled on top. From outside they just looked like mounds of dirt with a hole to shoot through. These particular blinds were very comfortable, exceptionally quiet, and most importantly kept an even comfortable temp. All these points are very important as we would spend upwards to 10 hrs a day in them.
Typical hide.
Long before I departed for Africa I was told that there is basically two seasons to hunt. There was the green season, just after the rains when the growth was good and there is plenty of cover. The spot and stalk method was mostly used then with moderate success. It must be remembered that as there was plenty of water available on the ground after the rains, the animals rarely came in for a drink at the water holes, thus making for a long boring wait in a blind.. The most popular time of the year how ever is in the dry season from May through to Nov, with July, August and Sept the premium time to be there. It is very hot and dry and the animals come into water every 2-3 days, making it a wonderful experience watching the animals cavorting around the blind.
Warthog
Unfair advantage I hear you saying, not so, believe me in that hot dry almost arid climate at that time of the year, the animals have all the advantages. We only needed to move a finger outside the blind and we would not have seen another animal for the rest of the day. It is in fact the only way to hunt at that time of the year. I would compare it with tree stand hunting for whitetail in the autumn fall in the USA. It’s often the only way that you can possibly get to see an animal, and in my case while I was in Africa, I used the adage -When in Rome -------.
Towards the end of my stay at Limpopo I was really keen to get an Impala. I had tried on several occasions but they so far had eluded me. There had been plenty coming in but were either females or young rams, not quite in the trophy class. We had heard that there was good numbers on another game ranch. But although there were some good trophies there, it was a rifle hunting concession. I did not rate my chances of success but how ever we went to have a look. As there were no blinds on this place we decided to take a pop up blind with us. On the way into the property we called in to see the owner. Like all the African’s that I met over there, he was very friendly and was almost falling over him self to help. I found that I could not go anywhere in South Africa with out a large extremely friendly farmer trying to ply me with either huge quantities of food or drink, usually of the alcoholic variety, their hospitality is outstanding. Of course it could have been that looking down on my modest 5ft 6 inches, they just felt sorry for me. When he saw my bow the look on his face was worth a thousand pictures, I don’t think he had ever seen a bow hunter before. How ever he took it in his stride and took us out to have a look at where he thought we could put up the blind. We drove way out to the back of the farm to an old mud brick building. He explained that it was his grain and feed shed for his stock, and often there would be a slight spillage of grain on the ground coming out of the holes in the grain sacks, that the inevitable rats would chew through. He said that the wild animals would often come around looking for a free treat. Carlos decided to put the pop up under a tree near the building. However I felt that we seemed to be sticking out like the proverbial sore toe. As it turned out only a few animals came into within 100 meters of us. They would see the pop up and slam on the breaks, then high tail it out of there. It was very frustrating as we could see with the bino’s that there was some real nice Impala out there. At the end of the day Carlos was discussing with me where to go tomorrow. I told him I knew exactly where we were going tomorrow and that was right back here.
The next day a very confused Carlos couldn’t believe it when I set up “inside” the grain shed. I forced open a window in the front and the back, and worked out my possible shooting lanes and distance’s then settled down to wait. Within a couple of hrs we had been visited by Kudu, Wildebeest and Eland, eventually around mid day a mob of Impala with a very nice ram came in. It turned out to be the easiest shot of the entire hunt. I got in a nice hit at only 12 meters; he had absolutely no idea what had hit him. Carlos said he would never have believed it if he had not seen it for himself.
Eland cow
My Impala
My all to short a stay at Buchholz finished on a tragic note. A couple of days before I was due to leave for Vieranas in Namibia, we noticed a fire burning out of control many miles away. Despite the concerted efforts of the locals to bring it under control, it kept spreading. On my last day, my hunt got called off as the wind had whipped up the fire and it was heading our way. We were told to get back to the camp compound, urgently. On our return we couldn’t believe our eyes for it seemed that for miles every thing was ablaze, and it was only a few hundred meters away from the main camp compound. That fire went over the top of us like a freight train. Fortunately the large compound had earlier been well mowed, making it impossible for the fire to take a hold inside. How ever we were all in fear of the sparks flying around as most of the buildings, were roofed in the old traditional thatch. One spark and it would have gone up like tinder. We were kept busy patrolling looking for any flare ups, fortunately, and to Chris’s enormous relief, the fire was kept out.
Fire surrounding camp
At the height of the fire we had a little light relief, when 5 very wide eyed, shell shocked, Spanish bow hunters arrived in camp, right in the middle of all the mayhem. Apparently the van driver had been racing the fire along the country roads to try and get to the safety of the compound before it closed in. They only just made it by a matter of minutes. Although the new arrivals were extremely anxious, they were never in any real danger as their van driver, knew every inch of the area, and no way was he was going to get caught out there. But I often chuckle to my self when I remember the looks on their faces when they arrived. Their ruffled feathers were soon settled back in place after Chris had plied them with more than a few beers later that evening.
I have since heard that almost the entire farm was lost to the fire. Fortunately Chris suffered no stock loses and I hear that the grass is starting to grow again. The govt stepped in and helped with extra feed for all the farmers in the district. But I heard that a black farm worker got caught in the fire with a tragic loss of his life. Also a huge Kudu got caught in the fire on a neighbor's farm, and had to be shot as did a nice trophy Waterbuck. Three horses had to be put down, and another neighbor lost part of his home and that is only what I have heard about. It really bought home to me the frailty of human life and that we don’t know what is in store for us all, at any time.
As much as I enjoyed my experiences with Carlos and Chris and his lovely wife Ria at Buchholz, I was really looking forward to my hunt in Namibia. I had read and heard so much about this wild rugged country and its chequered history that I could hardly wait to be there.
Part two to be posted soon
Part one
The place that all boys at some stage in their lives dream about. Ever since the explorers Livingston and Stanley wrote of their experiences, Africa has been the Mecca for explorers and hunters alike. Years after those two great explorers, came the hunters such as Selous and Karamajo Joe Bell. Some time later came the great bow hunter Howard Hill. Followed by a vast host of bow hunters such as Swinehart, Fred Bear, and in more recent years, Gary Bogner, plus many others that have regaled us with their wonderful bow hunting stories over the years.
As a boy I was not immune to the romance of hunting Africa, and although I have been hunting with a bow for over 40 some thing years, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever go there.
Three years ago, I became aware that time was passing me by, and after a major health scare some years back I convinced myself that there was no reason why I could not at least do some serious dreaming, and maybe kick a few tires by looking into the possibilities of going there for a hunt. If I found that it was going to be completely impractical,… well I could say at least I gave it a try.
In so doing I never realizing what a can of worms I was about to open.
I suppose you could say that it all started getting serious when a few years ago I had Dr Donall Thomas Jr of American traditional Archery magazine fame, and his wife Lori stay with my wife Jan and I in our home in Helensville. Don is co editor of that wonderful mag.
One evening he was enthralling us with his wonderful hunting adventures in South Africa. I asked him about costs and where, in his opinion was the best place to hunt. His reply was South Africa is a great destination, but dollar for dollar Namibia was about as good as you can get. Maybe not the range of animals as in Sth Africa, but what is there, is often better trophy quality. He proceeded to fill my head with dreams of hunting in Namibia to the point where I became like a dog with a bone. I couldn’t let it rest.
A few months later my son Bruce and I were in a very fortunate position to be Chital, and buffalo hunting in Australia with our very good friend, the late great Australian bow hunter Bill Baker. One evening we got talking about bow hunting in Africa, as he himself had been there with good success a couple of years earlier. He started filling my head with things like, how easy it was to organise a hunt in Africa, and that the cost, though steep was well worth it. I mentioned what Don Thomas had told me about Namibia, and Bill agreed saying, that he and a few mates had organised their next hunt, and it was to be in Namibia. But unfortunately before they could go they had to cancel out, as a cyclone had all but wiped him out on the Queensland coast. (Sadly for Bill, another African hunt was never to be). He gave me a contact in Namibia and it was then I realized that I was hooked, I would never be happy unless I hunted in Africa.
I spent many hours on the computer learning as much as I could, going into many, and varied web sites asking numerous questions, and making a regular nuisance of my self. After 6 months of fact finding, I sat down and wrote up a list of what I wanted to hunt in the way of game, what my budget would allow, where I would like to go, and what sort of gear I would need to take.
I had no ambition to hunt any of the big six – Elephant, Lion, Cape buffalo, Leopard, Rhino and Hippo. I had long ago excluded these from my wish list. They were way too expensive, and I would have had to hunt in several different countries, but far more importantly, they can either bite me or trample me, so they were out of my reckoning. Although I have to admit I have always had a sneaky private dream about some day going after a Cape buffalo. But that is where it stays, as Jan said “only in your dreams buddy”. I decided that plain’s game would be my main target. Plains game is mostly browsers and grazers eg Kudu, Zebra, Impala, Gemsbok, Springbuck, Wildebeest just to name a few, and after getting a rough quote on what each of these species would cost. I soon realized that hunting in Africa was not going to be cheap, but far more affordable than I had ever imagined. I have been told that if you hunt any where else in the world, you may be able hunt one or two species for about the same cost as hunting an incredible range of game in Africa. The next thing for me to do was to work out where I wanted to hunt.
Africa is a huge diverse continent, and there are many destinations for the keen hunter. I realized that the countries like Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and others, were all far too expensive for me to even consider. Usually twice, and some times treble the cost of South Africa and Namibia. I would dearly have loved to hunt Zimbabwe, as it is a very natural beautiful country. But the political climate put a stop to any thoughts of going there. I have already mentioned that Namibia had been highly recommended, so I definitely decided to go there. One day I happened to be talking to my mate Kevin Watson about my planned hunt in Namibia, he made a suggestion that, as I was paying to fly all the way over there at a cost of $3600 return, and that it was most likely to be my one hunt of a life time. Had I considered incorporating a second hunt in Sth Africa at the same time? I initially laughed the idea off. What about the expense? But it stuck to me like a burr, and after a lot of thought I decided that it was a great idea. I would be over there for 20 days instead of 10. I would be able to experience life in different camps, meet a wonderful diversity of people, travel the two different countries and more importantly, see a greater variety of game. I decided to go for it.
Now that I had decided where and what I wanted to hunt, I set about booking my self into the best outfitter I could afford. I soon found out that you can’t just contact them, and say I want to be there in a few months. Oh no, bookings were out to two years, and what had been left over on the third year, was usually in the wrong moon phase. When booking a hunt in Africa it is very important to book and plan several years in advance, and to take into consideration the phase of the moon, this has an enormous influence on the activities of the animals. Something I will talk about at a later stage. The out fitter I decided on in Namibia after studying their web sight, and getting in touch and talking to supplied references was the same one that Bill Baker had recommended. Vieranas Safaris, which is up in the north western corner of Namibia, bordering the northern semi Namib Desert. A six hr drive from the capital Windhoek, (pronounced vindhook). Vieranas is a bow hunting only place. Owned and operated by Roger and Amelia Coomber. It consists of 22’000 acres, 5’000 of which is high fenced. As the client I got to choose where I wanted to hunt. I hunted in both areas with great success. They also have use of a range of large concession blocks owned by other farmers in the area.
Roger is originally from the UK. A very enthusiastic bow hunter, and is the Chairman of Namibia Professional Hunting Association’s Bow hunting Committee. . His enthusiasm for all things bow hunting is second to none. I found him to be great company with a wealth of information, which he gladly shared with me during the course of my stay. Amelia originates from Dorsland (Thirst land) Trekkers (1870’s), who settled in those parts around 1928, coming to Namibia from Angola 1928, , and both her and Roger took over the family farm from her grandparents. They could see the future potential in game farming, and have never regretted their decision .After making contact I booked Vieranas with out any hesitation.
Now I needed an out-fitter in South Africa. So it was back to my friend Don Thomas via internet this time, as he was back home in Montana USA. One of the outfitters he mentioned was Buchholz Safari and Lodge. Which he told me is based in the Limpopo valley 3 hrs north of Johannesburg. Now, as soon as I heard the name Limpopo my ears immediately pricked up. Limpopo is steeped in history, the stuff of many stories and legends. After talking to the people of Buchholz and doing some back ground research, I was hooked. Buchholz is owned by Chris Van Schalkwyk and is also, bow hunting only. Chris turned out to be a very friendly knowledgeable South African whose family history dates back to the early Dutch settlers of 1651, and can lay claim to being the 15th generation South African, Chris was eager to help me fit in his part of the bookings with my hunt in Namibia. Not an easy thing to do. But Chris was extremely helpful, and details were finally ironed out. I was to arrive at Buchholz on the 26th August, hunt for 9 days then onto Vieranas for another 10 days.
The Buchholz owner Chris and a Hippo skull
Before I discuss equipment, I would like to digress a moment .I can not emphasis enough the importance of doing your home work. The diversity of game ranches in South Africa is incredible. Some are small only a few hundred acres, to the majority that consist of many thousands of acres. Some have great accommodation, some not so, some have inflated ideas of charges, some will have bow hunting only.( Very important as African game are incredibly alert, and any excessive hunting pressure can make a difficult hunt into an impossible one). Avoid at all costs a rifle hunting outfitter. Some will say they are a bow hunting only, but can and often do slip in rifle hunters. So be aware and do the home work.
Another thing one has to be aware of is, bow hunting in South Africa will almost always be done behind wire, and you have no choice. It’s the law. While this may be abhorrent to many, some of these game farms are huge. Also keep in mind that if it wasn’t for the wonderful game management of the South Africans, there would be no indigenous animals there at all. It would all be cattle ranches .These animals are 100% wild, and believe me are not easy to hunt.
When it came to the requirements of equipment, I talked to both Roger and Chris. Then knowing roughly what I would need went straight around to Kevin and Carol from Advanced Archery. Between us we came up with a comprehensive list.
We set my Hoyt Vectrix up to 65lb for the species that I would be targeting, between 55lb – 70lb was recommended.
The recommended arrow weight was between 480grn – 600grn, it was suggested the heavier the better.
As I like hunting with the slim carbons and I only draw 26and a half inches, I could not get an arrow with enough weight. We settled on the Beman max-4 400 (the heaviest I could buy ), put in a plastic weight tube, and used a 125 grn broad head. I managed to get an arrow weighing in at 535 grn. This also had the added advantage of making the bow quieter. We then spent a lot of time getting the bow shooting as quietly as possible. In Africa the game are particularly wary and fast, noisy bows do not cut it over there. By the time the arrow arrives, the animal has often reacted to the noise resulting in wounded animals. With my set up, not one animal reacted before the arrow arrived.
Also be sure to take plenty of arrows. I settled on two and a half doz. It is amazing the diversity of animals and bird life that always seemed to invite a probing arrow. Also take plenty of broad heads and replacement blades. I can assure you there are not to many corner archery shops around out there. I found a complete back up bow gave me a feeling of security. I never needed it, but it was great to know it was there if any thing went wrong with my no1 bow.
Broad heads were the next thing that was discussed. Both outfitters recommended a multi fixed blade that preferably cuts on impact. Neither of them was very enthusiastic about mechanical heads, as they had seen too many disasters with them. Rodger was also a little cautious about the use of the traditional single blade, after a strange experience he had with a European traditional bow hunter last year. This particular hunter wanted a female Kudu for the skin. Roger later told me how the story unfolded. The hunter in question put a nice shot into the rear of the lungs, the Kudu cow let out a grunt from the force of the hit. She ran off for about 100 meters then slowed down, they both expected her to fall over but she stayed on her legs and wandered off. Later while tracking her they were puzzled by the lack of blood. They only found a couple of spots, eventually having to give up on her. Something that all hunters hate to do, particularly the African’s as the predators almost always get into them during the night. The next day the hunter left for home with the promise that if Roger found her during the next day, he would try to save the skin and send it on.
76 hrs later Roger had hunting with him, a well known bow hunter from the states, when out stepped the same Kudu cow looking fit and healthy. Roger could not believe his eyes. He immediately turned to the American hunter, and said shoot that cow. The cow was dispatched with a shot through the heart. When they did an autopsy on her they found that the original arrow had indeed double lunged her. The conclusion they came to was that the single blade broad head, had gone straight through slicing with the grain, and before the lungs could collapse, had sealed up again, and because of the good clean pass through, no further tissue damage occurred. The cow seemed to be completely untroubled by the wound, and would almost certainly have lived a normal life. Neither the very experienced American, nor Rodger had ever witnessed any thing like it. Roger later sent the skin to the original hunter explaining why there was two broad head holes in the hide!!. Roger has no doubt, that had that been a multi blade broad head, it would have been a nice quick kill.
How ever it must be said that there is no doubt in both Roger and Chris’s mind, that when hunting large dangerous thick skinned animals, a heavy robust single blade is the only way to go for maximum penetration.
I settled on two broad heads to take with me. The G5 125 grn striker for thin skinned game. This little broad head performed outstandingly well, it is a cut on impact plus has replaceable blades, and is scary sharp straight out of the packet. I would recommend this little beauty to anyone hunting small to medium game. The second broad head I chose was a German Kinetic. This is a single blade broad head and is made by a firm in Germany. It had been highly recommended to me by a bow hunting friend in Spain, as he had used this broad head on three separate occasions while in Namibia, and was absolutely thrilled with its performance. The quality and the precision machining is out standing, It maintained a high degree of accuracy’ no matter what I put it through during practice. The only down side to this broad head is the high cost. I had decided that if I had a chance at a Zebra I would use the German kinetic. The Zebra is a very tough stocky animal, and is renowned for its ability to absorb a lot of punishment.
It was late on the fourth day in South Africa when a group of Burchell’s Zebra came in, three females one foal and a majestic stallion. As soon as my guide Carlos saw him he started getting very excited. Get that stallion if you can he told me, he is an outstanding trophy. After many draw backs and false alarms, I managed to get a shot in. Well that stallion seemed to go into instant overdrive, I can tell you, I have never seen any animal move as fast as him. Judging by his reaction, I felt quietly confident that it was a heart shot. By the time we got onto his trail it was dark. Darkness closes fast in Africa, one minute you can see, the next minute it’s dark. The initial blood trail was very patchy, it was getting late, and we all started to get worried. A couple of trackers were bought in. I had been told earlier by Chris that these African trackers could follow a fart in a thunderstorm. A slight exaggeration, but in short order my wonderful Zebra was found 180 meters away. The German kinetic had cut through both lungs, and had sliced every artery from the top of the heart. The fact that the stallion had traveled so far after that damage, is testament to the incredible toughness of that powerful stocky animal. In fact all the African game that I was lucky enough to shoot, were incredibly tough, their ability to tenaciously hang onto life is legendary. I think it may be the harsh environment they live in where every bush they encounter could conceal an enemy that is out to devour them.
It’s for this reason that, I went to great lengths to find out the best kill zone on the various animals that I was likely to encounter. Both Chris and Roger were very clear in their advice. Forget all about what I had previously learned about shot placement. The African plains game has their lungs well forward and their heart very low and even further forward. Forget the “behind the front leg crease shot for these animals”, in fact put a shot any where behind the front leg and it’s most likely going to be a gut shot. Very early on in my enquires Chris sent me a shot placement chart (which is now established on his web sight). I found it to be an enormous help and set up all my practice shots with that advice in mind. If I had to quote which was the best piece of advice I got during my build up for Africa that would have been it with out a doubt.
I felt confident that I had the best of advice and the correct equipment to handle anything that I may face. I had put in a lot of research into where I wanted to go, and believe me it paid off. Both of the out fitters I chose were outstanding, and I have made some wonderful lasting friends.
During the twelve months before departure I put in a lot of leg work to try and build up my fitness, plus a lot of practice on the range and out in the field. I recommend that all the field practice be done with the bh you intend to use. I was very fortunate as Advanced Archery had my bow so well tuned, that any broad head I tested grouped in the same place. Putting in the time testing all your gear well in advance of the hunt, is time and money well spent, it pays off in the end.
When I arrived at Johannesburg via Singapore I had been travelling for thirty two hrs, twenty two hrs of actual flying, the rest waiting in airports. It was a great relief to have a young smartly dressed young man jump out and say, are you Ray Scott,? I am to be your hunting guide; my name is Carlos let me take your luggage. On the three hour journey up to the Limpopo, I got to know this likable enthusiastic young man. He was 23 yrs old, and was of Portuguese extraction. He was a fully qualified ph, as all the professional hunters and guides have to be .He told me that to qualify, they had to have a large amount of experience in the bush. Also to be able to accurately estimate distances for both the bow hunter and the rifle hunter. Part of their tests cover being able to identify all the game animals plus the abundant bird and plant life. If that is not enough, he has to be able to identify every track left by the incredibly diverse numbers of animals, and to also to be competent, at tracking wounded animals. He also has to prove his ability to shoot extremely accurately with a rifle. His general knowledge about every thing African was incredible, and I was often left open mouthed, when he would casually point out a set of tracks and identify them from the cab of the four wheel drive, as we were cruising along at around 30 ks heading to the blind chosen for that particular days hunt.
He once told me of an experience he had with a rifle client and a Zebra. The client put a badly placed bullet into a zebra mare, and then followed up with an equally bad second shot. They tracked the poor animal for a whole day but it kept eluding them. The next day Carlos set out on his own, he refused to give up on it. It was almost dark on the second day, when he managed to put in a well placed shot to bring her down. They had covered over 9 Kilometers over the two days, through some fairly diverse terrain. My respect for both the Zebra for its determination not to give up, and my growing admiration for this remarkable young man knew no bounds.
Carlos confided in me that, while he had guided many rifle hunters on other hunting concessions, he had very limited experience with bow hunters. He said that he was very keen to learn as much as he could from me. Over the time that I hunted with Carlos his enthusiasm for the bow was very evident, so much so that I got out my “back up bow” which was another Hoyt, and set it up for him so he could practice at the same time as me. I soon realized that he was a natural. I feel sure that this helped him obtain a greater understanding of the bow and its limitations, which ultimately helped me, in my hunting success. To encourage the young man further and to try and show in some small way my appreciation, I gifted him that bow before I left for home. He told me that his next goal was to qualify to become a ph for the big six. Apparently to achieve that goal is a long and involved undertaking, but if his enthusiasm is anything to go by, I feel sure that in time he will achieve it.
.
Buchholz safaris in South Africa is a wonderful camp, it consisted of several luxurious sleep outs with the center area making up the liquor bar, and breakfast bar, plus out door dining and bbq. This is where it all happens, it’s where everyone eventually gathers to tell their lies, and get their excuses properly worked out for the telling. Later that day Carlos asked me if I would like to go for a bit of game spotting. Even though I was suffering extreme fatigue and jet lag, wild horses would not have kept me away from my first real glimpse of the game that I had traveled so far to hunt. It wasn’t long before I was drooling over the wonderful animals that we saw. We spotted Kudu, Zebra, Impala, wildebeest and even a couple of enormous Eland. They were undisturbed but wary of the vehicle. But as soon as we set out on foot to have a closer look every thing just vanished. I was to discover over the next 10 days that they had not only a great and diverse hunting area, but the game had to be seen to be believed, the number and variety was truly amazing. That evening I made my excuses early and headed for bed. As I lay there I was thinking, this is going to be a cake walk, there was so much game around I couldn’t miss. Two days later after having seen plenty of animals but with nothing of trophy size, I was starting to think that this might be a little harder than I had originally thought.
Local transportation
It was early on the third day, and my luck was about to change. We were in a different area, and in a elevated blind, when a large group of Blesbuck came in. Now Blesbuck are a strange medium sized animal with a large white blaze on their face. Their antics can sometimes boarder on the hilarious, and when ever they were around we were always highly entertained. Carlos pointed out a really nice ram that was in the group, indicating to me that it was a good trophy, and was I up to it? Trying desperately to keep my pounding heart under control, I chose a spot and gently squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a stone. The arrow had taken out his spine, I had forgotten to take into account that I was shooting from an elevated blind, and the shot was slightly high, although with immensely satisfying results. I had my first kill in Africa under my belt, and I was ecstatic. He measured 15 and half inches, and I was assured that he was a very worthy trophy.
Blesbok feeding
Ray’s Blesbok
When I first started hunting in South Africa I must confess that I was a little resentful having a guide breathing down my neck all the time, after all I had spent many years back home hunting as a loner. But it was after that experience with the Blesbok, that I really started to appreciate the advantage of having a guide with me. Its all very well shooting at just any animal that comes along, but it must be remembered that, put an animal on the ground and it costs you money, and while its not
the done thing to keep counting the cost, its certainly a great advantage to be told what is recognized, as a good trophy. After all it takes time and experience, to be able to become familiar with strange animals in an environment that we are not accustomed to. I found it wonderfully informative having Carlos and later Roger with me. They would spend many hours whispering about the habits and prospective merits of individual game that came into the blinds. I found that the excitement of seeing the wonderful variety of animals and learning first hand about their habits was just as rewarding as the shooting of them.
The blinds that I hunted from were many and varied, ranging from a portable pop up to casually erected blinds, utilizing what ever materials that were at hand, to the wonderful dug out pit blinds that Roger had on Vieranas in Namibia. These were dug out to an approx depth of 2-3 ft and either brick or mud walls with a solid roof, this was then able to support the several tons of soil that was shoveled on top. From outside they just looked like mounds of dirt with a hole to shoot through. These particular blinds were very comfortable, exceptionally quiet, and most importantly kept an even comfortable temp. All these points are very important as we would spend upwards to 10 hrs a day in them.
Typical hide.
Long before I departed for Africa I was told that there is basically two seasons to hunt. There was the green season, just after the rains when the growth was good and there is plenty of cover. The spot and stalk method was mostly used then with moderate success. It must be remembered that as there was plenty of water available on the ground after the rains, the animals rarely came in for a drink at the water holes, thus making for a long boring wait in a blind.. The most popular time of the year how ever is in the dry season from May through to Nov, with July, August and Sept the premium time to be there. It is very hot and dry and the animals come into water every 2-3 days, making it a wonderful experience watching the animals cavorting around the blind.
Warthog
Unfair advantage I hear you saying, not so, believe me in that hot dry almost arid climate at that time of the year, the animals have all the advantages. We only needed to move a finger outside the blind and we would not have seen another animal for the rest of the day. It is in fact the only way to hunt at that time of the year. I would compare it with tree stand hunting for whitetail in the autumn fall in the USA. It’s often the only way that you can possibly get to see an animal, and in my case while I was in Africa, I used the adage -When in Rome -------.
Towards the end of my stay at Limpopo I was really keen to get an Impala. I had tried on several occasions but they so far had eluded me. There had been plenty coming in but were either females or young rams, not quite in the trophy class. We had heard that there was good numbers on another game ranch. But although there were some good trophies there, it was a rifle hunting concession. I did not rate my chances of success but how ever we went to have a look. As there were no blinds on this place we decided to take a pop up blind with us. On the way into the property we called in to see the owner. Like all the African’s that I met over there, he was very friendly and was almost falling over him self to help. I found that I could not go anywhere in South Africa with out a large extremely friendly farmer trying to ply me with either huge quantities of food or drink, usually of the alcoholic variety, their hospitality is outstanding. Of course it could have been that looking down on my modest 5ft 6 inches, they just felt sorry for me. When he saw my bow the look on his face was worth a thousand pictures, I don’t think he had ever seen a bow hunter before. How ever he took it in his stride and took us out to have a look at where he thought we could put up the blind. We drove way out to the back of the farm to an old mud brick building. He explained that it was his grain and feed shed for his stock, and often there would be a slight spillage of grain on the ground coming out of the holes in the grain sacks, that the inevitable rats would chew through. He said that the wild animals would often come around looking for a free treat. Carlos decided to put the pop up under a tree near the building. However I felt that we seemed to be sticking out like the proverbial sore toe. As it turned out only a few animals came into within 100 meters of us. They would see the pop up and slam on the breaks, then high tail it out of there. It was very frustrating as we could see with the bino’s that there was some real nice Impala out there. At the end of the day Carlos was discussing with me where to go tomorrow. I told him I knew exactly where we were going tomorrow and that was right back here.
The next day a very confused Carlos couldn’t believe it when I set up “inside” the grain shed. I forced open a window in the front and the back, and worked out my possible shooting lanes and distance’s then settled down to wait. Within a couple of hrs we had been visited by Kudu, Wildebeest and Eland, eventually around mid day a mob of Impala with a very nice ram came in. It turned out to be the easiest shot of the entire hunt. I got in a nice hit at only 12 meters; he had absolutely no idea what had hit him. Carlos said he would never have believed it if he had not seen it for himself.
Eland cow
My Impala
My all to short a stay at Buchholz finished on a tragic note. A couple of days before I was due to leave for Vieranas in Namibia, we noticed a fire burning out of control many miles away. Despite the concerted efforts of the locals to bring it under control, it kept spreading. On my last day, my hunt got called off as the wind had whipped up the fire and it was heading our way. We were told to get back to the camp compound, urgently. On our return we couldn’t believe our eyes for it seemed that for miles every thing was ablaze, and it was only a few hundred meters away from the main camp compound. That fire went over the top of us like a freight train. Fortunately the large compound had earlier been well mowed, making it impossible for the fire to take a hold inside. How ever we were all in fear of the sparks flying around as most of the buildings, were roofed in the old traditional thatch. One spark and it would have gone up like tinder. We were kept busy patrolling looking for any flare ups, fortunately, and to Chris’s enormous relief, the fire was kept out.
Fire surrounding camp
At the height of the fire we had a little light relief, when 5 very wide eyed, shell shocked, Spanish bow hunters arrived in camp, right in the middle of all the mayhem. Apparently the van driver had been racing the fire along the country roads to try and get to the safety of the compound before it closed in. They only just made it by a matter of minutes. Although the new arrivals were extremely anxious, they were never in any real danger as their van driver, knew every inch of the area, and no way was he was going to get caught out there. But I often chuckle to my self when I remember the looks on their faces when they arrived. Their ruffled feathers were soon settled back in place after Chris had plied them with more than a few beers later that evening.
I have since heard that almost the entire farm was lost to the fire. Fortunately Chris suffered no stock loses and I hear that the grass is starting to grow again. The govt stepped in and helped with extra feed for all the farmers in the district. But I heard that a black farm worker got caught in the fire with a tragic loss of his life. Also a huge Kudu got caught in the fire on a neighbor's farm, and had to be shot as did a nice trophy Waterbuck. Three horses had to be put down, and another neighbor lost part of his home and that is only what I have heard about. It really bought home to me the frailty of human life and that we don’t know what is in store for us all, at any time.
As much as I enjoyed my experiences with Carlos and Chris and his lovely wife Ria at Buchholz, I was really looking forward to my hunt in Namibia. I had read and heard so much about this wild rugged country and its chequered history that I could hardly wait to be there.
Part two to be posted soon
