By Frank Berbuir
It is end of August and I am lucky to be back again in South Africa to hunt with bow and arrow.
We are on a nice farm, managed by a lovely couple, on the border of the North West Province close to the Limpopo Province. We are familiar with our small hunting camp – our Jagkamp – from a former trip.
The landscape and scenery along the Crocodile River is stunning. There are some challenging and very rocky mountains, as well as dense bush and open plains, and we try our luck on stalking in these mountains for a bushbuck. However, because of the sharp rocks and high grass everywhere, it is not only difficult and noisy, but also risky – falling on these sharp-edged stones or twisting one´s ankle is not what we need.
In Africa everything is defending itself! Every bush and tree has thorns, the stones are jagged and sharp, and even the grass sometimes has barbs. So we have decided to sit in a pop-up blind close to a natural waterhole. Izak, my experienced PH, chose this location because of several bushbuck that roam in this area. Our day starts early with a 30-minute morning walk to the blind. It is quite crisp but slowly the sun rises and makes us feel comfortable. First early morning visitors are guinea fowls running around the waterhole followed by other colorful birds.
Our 360-degree ground blind.
Giraffes close by our blind.
Buffalo encounter on our way to the blind.
After an hour a black stork landed and started hunting for fish. Roughly an hour later three giraffes came close to the blind. Then it became quiet for the morning. In the afternoon we were sitting there again when suddenly from the mountains a herd of ten mountain reedbuck walked to the water. There was a stunning buck in the group but he was not what we were looking for. They stayed quite a while and it was interesting to observe them and their behavior, especially the youngsters that started playing around. Surprisingly, they were alerted and moved quickly away when a bunch of baboons came to the waterhole with a lot of noise. It was more or less over for that day when the light faded away and the baboons had finally left.
On our way to the blind the next morning we had a unexpected encounter with some buffalo that luckily were not interested in us at all and moved into the bush, but anyway that wakes you up when you are as close as 50 meters. After about three hours in the blind nothing had happened except for some doves and francolins flying around. Around 9 o´clock suddenly Izak tapped on my shoulder pointing to the right and murmured: “Frank, there is a bushbuck standing behind a tree. You better make yourself ready.” I saw it and could feel my blood pressure rising. Quietly I lifted my bow and soundlessly put an arrow on the rest. The bushbuck started moving slowly forward, staring at our blind. We both sat motionless in our chairs. Luckily the ram went into the right direction and would probably come right in front of our blind at about 25 meters.
“Stay calm and focused,” I reminded myself. Finally, after about two minutes that felt like eternity, indeed the buck stood in front of our blind.
“Wait until he is calm and will lower his head for drinking,” Izak whispered. Luckily the bushbuck turned slightly to the waterhole and offered a quartering away position.
Equipment:
Bow: Mathews Z7x @ 70 lbs
Arrow: Carbon Express Maxima Hunter 350
Broadhead: Silverflame 2-Blade @ 125 grain
Optics: Zeiss Victory Binocular & Nikon Rangefinder
Release: Scott
Camo: Sniper Africa
Now was the right time to smoothly pull my bow at full draw and set the dot of my sight on his vitals.
With a slight tap on the trigger of my release, the arrow flew on its deadly mission, and within a split second hammered into and through the antelope. The ram jumped up, turned around and ran back in the direction he came from, but after roughly 50 meters we could see him stumbling, falling down, and finally expiring.
What an extraordinary performance again of my bow and arrow. We waited for a couple of minutes before we stepped out of the blind and walked to the bushbuck.
Overwhelmed and more than happy with this awesome trophy animal, Izak and I knelt next to him, and after a few minutes of silence in respect, we arranged the buck for some pictures. Back at our camp the “Happy Hour” beer tasted excellent.
Once again, I had a tremendously good hunt with unforgettable impressions and memories in South Africa.
Shoot straight, take care, and always good hunting – “Waidmannsheil” and “Alles van die beste.”
The beautiful landscape along the Crocodile River.
Habitat of the bushbuck.
View from our blind.
Landscape of North-West.
Bio
German hunter Frank Berbuir is passionate about the outdoors and hunting – especially bowhunting, which he has practiced for more than 25 years. Although he’s bowhunted in several countries, he’s become addicted to hunting in Africa since his first safari in 2004. Frank is a mechanical engineer and a director for supplier quality development in the automotive industry.
