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 and was from Mozambique. 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 everything African was incredible, and during my hunt 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 30ks 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.
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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 outdoor 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 everything just vanished. I was to discover over the next 9 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.
It was early on the third day, and my luck was about to change. We were in a different area, and in an 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 whenever 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.
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 Blesbuck, that I really started to appreciate the advantage of having a guide with me. It’s all very well shooting at just any animal that comes along, but it must be remembered that, put an animal on the ground, it costs you money, and while it’s not the one thing to keep counting the cost, it’s 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 firsthand 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 whatever 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.
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, this making for a long boring wait in a blind.. The most popular time of the year however 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.
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 however 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 himself to help. I found that I could not go anywhere in South Africa without 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. However 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 small 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. 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.
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 everything was ablaze, and it was only a few hundred metres 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. However 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 with a fire hose looking for any flare ups, fortunately, and to Chris’s enormous relief, the fire was kept out.
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 drinks 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
that I could hardly wait to be there.
Ray Scott (dream rider)
New Zealand
Archery Addix Forum Member
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