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cchunter in Africa july 2003 – part one

I said goodbye to wife and children close to the passport control at Landvetter airport, Gothenburg. This time I was travelling alone to South Africa for seven days hunting. For some reason I took a seat so I could watch the loading of the luggage, and I could not see them load my gun case. At the boarding I asked them to confirm that they loaded weapon and ammo, but they had not. So after searching all over the airport they finally found it and loaded it.

After the plane change in Amsterdam, I meet Jasper and his girlfriend in Johannesburg. We made a quick stop in Pretoria were we had breakfast and meet Frederik (Safari-Hunt). When we finally arrived in Messina in the afternoon we changed from the sedan to the bakkie and went to buy soft drinks, beer and liquor. In the camp we installed us and shot in the rifle. When the sun was down the other hunters arrived in camp and we sat by the fire for a drink before dinner.

Early the next morning we were driving along the fence on our way to the waterhole to check the tracks from last night. Suddenly we see four Bush pigs coming over the road and sneaking under the fence, with just one problem. The last one is too big for the hole so he starts to run along the fence as we jumps out of the car trying to get a shot at him. With a moving target on 150 yards plus and no good rest I can’t take a killing shot so we have to see him disappear into the bush.

At the waterhole we find fresh tracks from Blue Wildebeest that we decides to take on. After an hour we can see the heard and realises that there is no big bull there. This is how the first day moves on and we are after Zebras and Impalas too without result.

The second day is set up for the Eland and we move on about 15 miles west from the camp to another area. On the way to pick up the tracker we see a lot of nice Impalas and some other game. During the day we walks almost all the time and follow tracks and once in a while we bumps into some Elands. None of them are though the big bulls that we know should be in the area.

In the afternoon we decide to take an Impala for the video and that works out well. I pick the largest male in a heard and give him a broadside on 150 yards with the 270 grains Rhino bullet which makes the work fine. Later on we look for baboons along the Limpopo River but they are teasing us on the neighbour side.

On our way back to our camp we have a great ride with a lot of game to view. At the fire the sun downer tastes good after all walking in thick bush during the day. For dinner we have Impala made over the fire. At around midnight the bed is calling.

Friday morning, back hunting on the camp area and we have a nice stalk on Blue Wildebeest. We can see that there is a big bull in the heard and the only problem is to get him free for a shot. We moves in position and there is no way to shot since the heard is moving and the dust is protecting them. Finally after about five minutes of position changes they have had enough of us and start running. Two Zebras runs just in front of the car and we takes on there track but it seems that they are running so we walks back to the car.

We moves on to the kopje were we should meet the others for a nice braii. On the menu there is Impala meat, sausage and toast, but before the lunch we stalk after an Eland bull that the other saw resting, our luck is somewhere else and we can only hear him when he walks away from us.

After lunch the young Dutch that are staying in the camp rides with us on the bakkie. Maybe he brings good luck because after only ten minutes in the afternoon we spots a Steenbok and after a short walk I can take the shot within 30 yards and he is down directly.

Later in the afternoon we find Eland tracks. We walk for them a long way, but when we find them the bulls are to small. The sun sets and we drives back to camp. On the way we have another chance with the Wildebeests but the opportunities are to short for finding the bull and take the shot. We also stalks a nice Kudu bull with the bow and manages to get him wiyhin 35 yards when we get some thick thorn bushes in our way that we can’t go through without making two much noise.

After a nice dinner we enter the bakkie and heads for Messina to see what the Friday night has to offer. At Harris that seems to be the #1 place we meet a lot of interesting people and there is also a lot to watch. I almost don’t know what to do with all these beauties to watch.

No, no, I am not talking about girls if you thought that. Here at Harris the walls are covered with trophies of different animals and they sure looks like something I would like to bring home. We have a nice evening and on the way back the biltong we had from Jaspers father tastes good. Our planes for the Saturday hunt are changed a little bit due to the late hours.

To be continued……..

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Christer Hansson

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