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If you haven't figured it out by now, Buffalo hunting in South Africa is as difficult and challenging as any other area in Africa. I’ve seen the videos where some idiot walks up to a bull in RSA and skewers it. The South Africans I am hunting with have seen them too. They insist that something must be amiss, either the buffalo had been domesticated or something fishy was going on. Because this hunt, like last years’ is like stalking pronghorns on dry oak leaves – only in this case, the pronghorns can turn you into salsa. Ok, enough of my rant. It’s all I can write about tonight because we started up on the track of 2 bulls at 6:30AM and tracked straight through till 4:30PM. We heard them crashing off but never actually saw them. They were always a step ahead of us.
Watch the day's progression in this Video (3 minutes, 10mb) There are a lot of experienced buffalo hunters who think what I am doing (stalking buffalo on foot using the classic African tracking method) is stupid with a bow. I realize it is far more challenging and not conducive to bowhunting, but I am hopeful. If the right combination of things can fall into place, I’m confident I can kill one. With the exception of the first days' fluke, we've not had those conditions. But we are starting to wonder whether on days like today we are wasting our time with this method. There was no wind (what little there was, was swirling) and with the dried leaves covering the ground we might as well had cow-bells around our neck. These animals are wide-awake and completely wild. So we’re thinking about trying alternate methods if today's conditions continue to persist. While I have my heart set on killing a good bull through stalking, I have no problem hunting a waterhole or setting up an ambush. I prefer not to go the alfalfa route. I haven't given up. Today was just a bad day. I’m confident that I can kill a buffalo on foot on his terms. We just need the weather to cooperate and so far it has not. We got back into the truck around 5:00 PM and swung by a water source called the "big dam". The area has Hippo's in it and that was my first time seeing a Hippo. They are a formidable creature and are considered the most deadly of the Big 6.
Watch the Hippo Video shot on Day 4 (1 minute, 2mb) We left that area as it was getting quite dark. On the way back to the lodge Coleman yelled "Buffel" which is Afrikaans for Buffalo. There they were feeding out into a pasture - a small herd about 10 strong. They paid little attention to us. Jimmy then drove right up to them and they barely moved. It would have been a chip shot - 30 yards broadside to a nice bull but of course, I never picked up my bow. It's no wonder so many people kill their buffalo from a truck. They are obviously used to them, especially when it is getting dark. It's so difficult for me to comprehend how these animals can be so conditioned to the vehicles yet so wired as soon as you step out of it. Our whitetails would not let you do this back home.
Watch this Buffalo Video shot on Day 4 (3mb) They eventually moved off and we headed back to camp. It was good to see buffalo even though it was nearly black out and from the truck. I am exhausted to the point where I have no appetite and all I want to do was climb in bed and sleep for 12 hours. I’m calling it quits early and hope that tomorrow brings a better report.
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Our Professional Hunters for this safari is: Madiakgama Safaris |
