Christer

Interesting on the shot placement on the steenbok.

I had a chance at an absolute record class klipspringer on my safari in 1994. The animal was on a low kopje of rocks but all I could see was the head and the gut with the chest hidden behind a tree trunk.

The PH yelled, "Shoot, Shoot, Shoot!" but I couldn't. I moved two metres to the right and the klipspringer was gone.

He asked me why didn't I shoot and I said all I could see was the gut and he said I should have shot it in the gut.

This was news to me as the previous animal I shot was the wildebeest and "The Long Trek". So I had learned my lesson in taking risky shots. However a .30-06 on a klipspringer probably would have dropped it OK with that shot.

I was hunting in the non-hunting preserve area of the game area. This had been permitted as the game on the property had been very stirred up by a helicopter doing live game capture. So the record head klipspringer was in a non-hunting area normally.

However my second chance at a klipspringer the next day resulted in it spotting us and running away leading us to a nice herd of eland, resulting in a very enjoyable though painful 5 km hunt (jogging and often bent over on the chase) and a good eland trophy.

So good luck on your next safari and eland.