Feb 3, 2018 | Bowhunting, News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]America and South Africa: 1980s
Buffalo with a Bow … seven species. Part 1
By Dr Adrian de Villiers
It was the early 1980s, and it was time for something different. I decided to focus on wild oxen of the world, starting with a bison – ‘Red Indians’ had shot thousands with longbows off horses. I booked a hunt with Paul Mooney in Marathon, Texas.
Paul wanted to make a video, and nearly got me killed by a cantankerous old bison. There were a few salient facts that he had not mentioned before we set out… Lone bison bulls are chased out of the main herd, and their eyesight is not that good in thick bush. When herd bulls bump into lone bulls, a huge fight ensues, so when you startle a lone bull, he just attacks to defend himself as he thinks he’s been seen by the herd bull.
Early one morning we spotted a large lone bull. Paul said it was not big enough for a trophy, that I should do a “mock stalk” for the video to be used later. It was hot, so I took off my white T-shirt and stuffed it in my pocket. Wearing my soft moccasin shoes, full camo overalls, gloves and a face mask, and staying in the shadows, I stalked the bull up to 25 yards. Paul, all six-foot-six of him in blue jeans, cowboy boots with noisy leather soles, a huge camera and a white Stetson, lumbered noisily ten yards behind me. Of course, the bison saw him and charged us. As I ran, I was terrified it would get me. In Marathon the cedar trees grow up to 12 feet and give good cover, but they are NOT climbable! There is also cholla, yucca, and cat-claw, all very unfriendly to humans.
I slipped in between the trees zigging and zagging, but the bison kept after me. Fortunately, a cat claw bush pulled the white T-shirt out my pocket, and the bison attacked it with a vengeance. After that I kept two T-shirts to throw out behind me if I was charged again!
A few days later I found a nice bull grazing towards me with the wind right, and I had great cover. The bison was walking towards a strong, five-strand barbed wire cattle fence that would protect me if he saw me and charged. He couldn’t see me from behind a cactus plant, so I drew my bow, very quietly sneaked right up to the fence, and sent a perfect shot from twenty yards as he was quartering away. He bolted off, then stopped and looked back. I was motionless in the dense shadow of a cedar tree. I watched, shaking from adrenalin. The bull swayed, lay down, and within less than a minute it was all over. I was thrilled – my homemade bow had worked flawlessly.
I next booked a hunt with my friend Luchs for an Asian (Indian) water buffalo as it was a step up in size and not quite as aggressive as the Cape buffalo. Water buffalo are similar in size, behaviour, and characteristics, but the Indian/Argentinian version has deep, swept-back horns as distinct from the very wide, straightish horns of the Asian/Australian species.
By now I had replaced my American Archery limbs with Pearson Spoiler limbs which shot incredibly well. My handmade bow was shooting like a dream. I sighted it in up to 80 yards. I sighted it at such long distances, not just to hunt, but to get in a second arrow on a wounded animal. We didn’t work out the kinetic energy or momentum in those days; I just used the heaviest bows and arrows that shot well. My guess is I was using about 120 foot pounds, and 1000-gr arrows.
A large herd was grazing in a swamp very close to a deep riverbed which afforded secure cover to get in really close. The snag was that the banks of the river were so steep, and the grass on the top of the bank was so short that it would be impossible to shoot from either, as they would surely see us and take off. I clambered up the bank and peeked over. Twenty yards away was a depression surrounded by high grass, and there was a huge willow tree making dense shade underneath it, a good place to hide as the noonday sun burnt down on us. As soon as the herd moved behind the thick cover, we sneaked into the thicket and made preparations. The best bull was at 50 yards, which was too far for me for a first shot in those days, and the wind was blowing hard, which made a long shot difficult.
“We’re going to just have to sit and wait and see what happens and take it from there,” I said.
I was hoping the heat would make the herd head for the thicket, but they seemed to be immune to it. We waited for four hours before they started grazing along the river bank towards us.
“Here they come!” I nocked an arrow. The river was only 25 yards away and the wind was blowing obliquely towards it – they would only smell us when they were farther past. We stayed hidden as the herd slowly passed close by, the biggest bull at the back. Then the lead cow picked up our scent and sounded the alarm. They started to stampede. I drew my bow – the shot would be difficult. I knew I should lead the buffalo by a full body length not to hit it too far back or even miss it… even at 20 yards.
I hate aiming in front of an animal, it just doesn’t feel right, but the huge, two-bladed Thunderhead did its job. Too far back or not, at sixty yards the buffalo stopped and fell over. My Asian water buffalo would be #1 SCI for a long time.
I now knew my bow and arrow combination was adequate for buffalo, and set my sights on a Cape buffalo hunt which I organised in Hoedspruit, South Africa. I also knew I needed to be ultra-careful with the beast known as “Black Death.” It would have been easy to shoot one from a tree stand along the river, or at a regular drinking hole, or buy a truckload of animal feed, dump it and come back a few days later and sit in a hide. But I wanted the walk and stalk method, on foot, up close and personal.
It was very dry and cold that September. Although the hunting season had officially ended, farms with a “P3 Exemption certificate” may hunt all year round, and as I was shooting only old bulls it would not affect the breeding program. The bush was desolate, not a leaf on a branch and very little grass away from the river. The animals could spot me from a mile away. I slowed down to a snail’s pace and stayed in the shadows. The whole morning passed with no result, not even a glimpse of a buffalo. Then I came to a dry riverbed and stalked along the edge opposite to the wind, hoping to catch one at a pool in the river. Just as I was giving up hope, I saw a large dust cloud behind me with red-billed oxpeckers rising out of it.
“Buffalo. They’re coming, think and fast.” Jogging along to keep ahead of them I suddenly saw an opportunity – a huge, dry tree on the river bank with a horizontal branch sticking out about six feet from the base of the tree. An easy climb. Fully camouflaged, I sat on the branch over the riverbed. My plan was to spot a big bull at the back of the herd and shoot as it passed under me. I estimated the distance to where I thought they would walk at 30 yards – perfect. I set my sights and waited. Where I sat was an old hippo slide, a good spot to exit the deep riverbed. As the buffalo started getting nearer, the herd trailing behind the leader by thirty yards, I scanned them with my binoculars to look for a nice bull. I was expecting to take a thirty-yard shot on a moving animal, when the leaders suddenly veered up the hippo slide right in front of me, passing me just ten yards away. I was totally safe, only two yards above them, out on a limb, literally, when a really nice bull stretched out his front legs to get out over the top of the bank. My arrow took him right in the heart. He jumped, ran thirty-five yards and went down hard. The herd bunched up behind him in turmoil, not knowing what had happened or what to do. Then another nice bull, not as big as the first, was straddled over the edge right in front of me, trying to push his way into the herd.
“When am I ever going to get another chance like this?” I asked myself. Ignoring the fact that I would now be in for double the cost, I sent another perfect shot. The second one died almost touching the first.
I was elated – my first of the Big Five. I was on my way.
BIO
Adrian is a retired radiologist, game breeder and professional hunter and bowhunter. He is desperately trying to get the next species of buffalo, the fearsome gaur. They have been protected in India and Indonesia for years. If anyone knows where he can legally bowhunt one, please email him @ sarc@icon.co.za
I had moved from being a handgun hunter to trying out a bow and arrow, and wanted to be the first person in Africa to shoot the Big Five and a hippo, legally, with a bow and arrow. In those days the local archery establishments knew very little about the sport – they were usually gun shops with a few bows in the corner somewhere, so I contacted many famous bowhunters and American Archery manufactures. “What arrow weight and what poundage should I use to shoot a Cape buffalo and elephant?” I asked. No one really knew.
I wrote to Fred Bear and I have a copy of that letter dated 1986! He replied that one could NOT kill an elephant with a bow and arrow, no matter how heavy the arrow or how strong the bow. To cut a long story short, by 1992 I had shot the Big Five and a hippo – with bow and arrows.
I had been shooting a PSE Mach 1 on 80 # but wanted more poundage. However, as I increased the poundage by getting American Archery to make me 105# limbs, the cast magnesium risers started to break regularly. (Not something you want to happen when you are drawing down on dangerous game!) So I decided to make my own bow riser out of T4 aircraft aluminium. It shot beautifully and weighed a staggering nine pounds, but it was as steady as a rock at full draw. I could not find a stiff enough arrow off the shelf, so I inserted a 2419 arrow into a 2512 aluminium arrow, and used one of Andy Simo’s (New Archery Products’ president) 273 gr stainless steel African Broadheads.
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Feb 1, 2018 | News, Uncategorized
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”View article in E-ZINE” color=”orange” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fafricanhuntinggazette.com%2Foctober-november-december-2018%2F%23october-november-december-2018%2F146-147||target:%20_blank|”][vc_column_text]By Terry Wieland
In his book, African Rifles and Cartridges, John “Pondoro” Taylor often mentioned “cheap Continental magazine rifles,” and his comments were usually disparaging. Taylor set great store by reliability, not only of the rifles he used, but of the cartridges and bullets they employed.
The two major names in “Continental magazine rifles” were Mauser of Germany, and Mannlicher-Schönauer of Austria. No one could knock either on the grounds of workmanship or materials; they were legendary then, and they’re legendary now. Where Taylor did have a point was with Mauser sporters (or sporterized military rifles) chambered for some eminently forgettable cartridges.
Today, most hunters have never heard of the 10.75×68 Mauser or the 11.2×60 Mauser. There were several, mostly rimless, in the 9mm to 11.5mm range (.358 to .44 or .45, roughly.) In the case of the Mauser, many appeared in East Africa between 1919 and 1939, built on surplus military actions, and produced in one- and two-man shops across Germany. These were most likely the rifles Taylor had in mind.
In the years after the Great War, the British gun trade was struggling and the German trade was desperate. Tanganyika, of course, had been a German colony until 1919, with many European settlers. Once it joined Kenya and Uganda in what came to be known as British East Africa, the greatest big-game hunting region in the world, it was natural that German gunmakers would look there for new markets. And, with ex-military Mausers readily available, those naturally became the basis for building inexpensive hunting rifles.
If you look at the cartridges themselves, there is nothing much wrong with them except bullet construction. Often, the bullets were flimsy, flew apart, and didn’t penetrate. This was not true of all, but there was enough to lend the rifles a nasty reputation.
John Taylor himself was not anti-Mauser, by any means. His Rhodesian friend, Fletcher Jamieson, owned a .500 Jeffery on a Mauser action, which Taylor used and liked very much. If a Mauser-actioned rifle came with the name Rigby, Jeffery, or Holland & Holland on the barrel, it immediately got Taylor’s vote.
This is where it becomes very tangled, because all the actions in those days were made by Mauser at Oberndorf. Firms like Rigby and Jeffery used them to build some pretty flossy rifles. So what do you call them, a Jeffery or a Mauser?
And the cartridges? The .500 Jeffery is actually the 12.5×70 Schuler, designed in the 1920s by the firm of August Schuler to create an elephant round that could be chambered in a standard military Mauser 98. W.J. Jeffery adopted it and renamed it, yet when Taylor was writing, and praising the cartridge at length, the only ammunition available came from Germany. Conversely, the .404 Jeffery was probably a Jeffery design, but it was adopted by Mauser as a standard chambering, and renamed the 10.75×73.
As you can see, there was considerable cross-over and adoption of each others’ design. The great London gunmakers had nothing but respect for Mauser Oberndorf, and the compliment was heartily returned. Both probably considered the periods 1914-18 and 1939-45 as highly inconvenient impediments to trade.
After 1946, the supply of Oberndorf-made Mauser 98 bolt-action rifles dried up, although other manufacturers stepped in to produce Mauser actions, and sometimes entire rifles. The London trade built rifles on whatever they could get — the Enfield P-14 and P-17, Brevex Magnum Mausers from France, Czech Mausers from Brno, Santa Barbara actions from Spain. Even with Rigby or Holland & Holland engraved on the barrel, however, these never carried the cachet of, say, a .416 Rigby, made in St. James’s Street, on an Oberndorf magnum action.
Sine the war, a lot has happened with both Mauser and its first and greatest associate in London – John Rigby & Co. The Mauser factory was razed in 1946 on orders of the French occupation forces, and its name and trademark passed through various hands before, in 2000, becoming part of Michael Luke’s Blaser conglomerate based in Isny im Allgäu. Rigby also changed hands, and was moved to the U.S in 1997. There it became the center of varying levels of fraud and ignominy before being purchased in 2012 and moved back to London. The purchaser was the Blaser group, which put Rigby under the management of Marc Newton with a mandate to return the Rigby name to glory.
One way to do this was to resume manufacture of the famous Mauser 98 action, so that Rigby could once again build its .416s on an action with the Mauser banner on the ring, and make its traditional stalking rifles in .275 Rigby (the name Rigby bestowed on the 7×57 Mauser when it adopted it in the early 1900s.)
Since 1946, the various owners of the Mauser name steadfastly refused to make any of the company’s most famous (and, in my opinion, by far the best and greatest) product: The turnbolt 98. Even after it took up residence in Isny, making the 98 once again was not on its immediate list of projects. As far as I know, it was not until the Rigby acquisition that it began seriously looking at it. Whether it was Marc Newton who persuaded Mauser, or whether that was the secret plan all along, hardly matters.
Around 2010, Mauser had taken a hesitant step towards making a 98 again. Using a magnum 98 clone produced by Prechtl, Mauser made a few .416s, but with a price tag of $40,000, I don’t imagine they sold many. Then they acquired Rigby and, in a surprise move two years ago, Mauser announced it would once again make the magnum action, supply it to Rigby, and also make entire rifles in Isny. Now, they have added the standard-length action to the line. In London, Rigby is using it to make its Highland stalking rifle in .275 Rigby, while in Isny, Mauser is chambering it in the venerable 7×57, 8×57 JS, 9.3×62, .308 Winchester, and .30-06.
Whatever John Taylor might think of these, he could never call them cheap. The standard model in the less expensive “Expert” grade lists for $9,100.
All of these calibers are familiar to Americans except, perhaps, the 9.3×62. This is an old and highly respected big-game cartridge in Europe. It was designed in 1905, and became a standard Mauser chambering. Even John Taylor thought quite highly of it, with the right bullets, and today ammunition is loaded by Norma, among others, in a wide variety of bullet weights and types.
Now, for the first time in many years, a hunter can go to Africa with a complete battery bearing the Mauser banner — a .416 Rigby for the big stuff, a 7×57 for plains game, and a 9.3×62 for in between.
It’s a funny thing, but in 1956 when Winchester introduced the .458 Winchester Magnum, and hired East African professional David Ommanney to tout the rifle for them, all predictions were that this was the end of the line for the big nitro-express cartridges, for the magnificent double rifles that fired them, and for all those “archaic” rounds like the .404 Jeffery. The .416 Rigby was consigned to the trash bin, and even the .375 Holland & Holland was put on the list of threatened species.
It’s now 60 years later, and look what’s happened: The .416 Rigby came roaring back, and has become a standard chambering; the .375 H&H is stronger than ever; there is a very vigorous market in double rifles, both old and new. Many of the nitro express cartridges are being made by Kynamco, loaded with Woodleigh bullets from Australia. The Mauser 98 — an action that is now 120 years old — is still the most popular bolt-action basis for a dangerous-game or plains-game rifle.
Anyone who buys a new Mauser, however, is not merely wallowing in nostalgia. There is still no better, more reliable, or versatile action on which to build a rifle, whether you’re culling wildebeest or pursuing pachyderms.
Through the 1960s, African Rifles and Cartridges and even John Taylor himself were disparaged. As an ivory poacher, Taylor did not command the reverence of professionals like Sid Downey or W.D.M. Bell. He died in 1955, and his books, Big Game and Big Game Rifles (1948) and African Rifles and Cartridges (1948) went out of print. It seemed to be the end for everything.
As it turned out, the books were reprinted, first by Trophy Room Books and The Gun Room Press, respectively, and Taylor’s reputation was gradually rehabilitated. Today, anyone interested in the history of African hunting and the actual performance of rifles, and of bullets on big game, should read Taylor. His earlier, smaller book, Big Game and Big Game Rifles, is unfairly neglected, in my view. I bought it from Ray Riling Arms Books in 1966, for $6. I was absorbed by it then, and still go back to it now when I want to recapture some of the magic.
What the old-timers learned and knew is still worth learning, and well worth knowing. Many years ago, boxing writer A.J. Liebling wrote in the New Yorker, quoting Heywood Broun, an even earlier writer, “After all, the old masters did know something. There is still a kick in style, and tradition carries a nasty wallop.” It seems that every new generation of boxers needs to learn this, and while Liebling and Broun were both writing about boxing, it could just as well have been big game and big-game rifles.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”View article in E-ZINE” color=”orange” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fafricanhuntinggazette.com%2Foctober-november-december-2018%2F%23october-november-december-2018%2F146-147||target:%20_blank|”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jan 29, 2018 | Bowhunting, News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]South Africa: 2017
Hunting giraffe with bow and arrow
By Frank Berbuir
It is the beginning of August and I am very happy to make it back to beautiful South Africa. Once again I want to hunt with bow and arrow, together with my friend and professional hunter Izak Vos from Vos Safaris. After a long overnight flight from Europe I am happy to see him. Before we leave the Gauteng province to head up north to the Limpopo we quickly visit an outdoor and hunting shop to get me some more Sniper African clothes and a pair of these special wildebeest/ kudu leather hunting shoes – excellent shoes for hunting in Africa.
During our drive to the Limpopo Province close to the Botswana border, Izak and I enjoyed talking about our ambitious hunting plans for the following eight days. After our extremely successful bowhunt on a Cape buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck and bushpig last year, I decided to take along again for this hunting adventure my trusty and reliable Elite GT500 bow. With 90 pounds draw weight and together with the Easton Full Metal Jacket 250 Dangerous Game arrows and the Muzzy Phantom SS 200-grain broadhead resulting in a total arrow weight of 800 grain, I had excellent experiences the year before. I felt very comfortable with that equipment and bow set-up last time and all the shooting and practices went very well in the preparation this time again. “Never change a winning team,” was my thinking, especially with regard to our intention to take a Cape eland.
It was on the third day of hunting that Anton, the landowner and farmer visited us in our hunting camp and asked if I would like to hunt a giraffe bull with bow and arrow. At that time I did not really think about a giraffe. Why shoot a giraffe – for the trophy or for the meat? A giraffe is a game animal like any other, and you can hunt it legally in South Africa and other African countries with rifle or bow, whichever weapon is legally approved.
“I’ve not taken a giraffe before,” I said. “But probably with that bow and arrow combination it is possible, and I could step up to the plate.” A giraffe could be twice as heavy and tough as a Cape buffalo and so it would be a great challenge. I know hunting a giraffe can be a touchy and sensitive topic for some, and especially for the anti-hunters, but Anton explained why he wanted this bull taken.
“Guys, I have right now four giraffes here, a female, two young ones and this big mature bull which is about 15 years old, the son of the big female giraffe. The two youngsters are from him, which means he mated with his own mother. Moreover, he disliked another mature bull I had, and continually fought and chased him, till in the end he died, due to all the tough fights. So, if I want to refresh the bloodline of my giraffes, I need to take him out. That´s the major reason.”
Izak and I looked at each other, and after a short discussion I said, “Ok, let´s go for it.”
The next morning after breakfast, Anton picked us up and we drove close to the area where we have seen the giraffes the days before. He said we should phone him in case we needed him. We jumped off the vehicle and walked for about a kilometre before we glassed the four giraffes for the first time, and started our walk and stalk. Even though it was winter in Africa, it became quite warm, about 25°C (77°F), and I started to sweat – probably also because of the excitement. The giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis (kameelperd in Afrikaans), is the tallest animal on earth and really big as well. But because they are so well camouflaged, we had to look very carefully for them, and be wary not to spook them.We focused on their heads feeding on leaves in the tops of acacias. Being nearly six metres tall (20 feet), they can see a hunter approach from a long way off, and with a few gentle strides can create a lot of distance between them and the hunter.
This happened a couple of times when we first spotted them and tried to sneak in with extreme caution. Several times we could shorten the distance between them and us down to 70 or 60 metres, always keeping the wind against us and hiding behind some bushes or trees, which was quite challenging with four pairs of eyes checking their surroundings. But when we wanted to get closer we were busted. For several hours all our stalking attempts were in vain, when suddenly the big bull separated himself to the right from the other three, and went to some higher trees to feed. Now we had a small chance to sneak in closer to him using some scraggy bushes as cover. Izak crept slowly forward, and I followed in his tracks directly behind him. We stopped at the last ambush between the giraffe bull and us.
Izak took my rangefinder, checked the distance and whispered, “He is standing steady at 40 metres nicely broadside – now or never, Frank.” So rock´n roll, it was up to me now.
I nocked in the arrow quietly and pulled my Elite GT500 bow, smooth and calm, to full draw. I needed to take a step to the right for a clear shooting window and aimed with the 40 metres pin of my Spot Hogg sight to where Izak told me – a spot above the front shoulder at the height of the “chest bumps” or protruding knobs on the chest, roughly 10 to 11 inches back to get a heart or lung shot. I could feel my heartbeat in my own chest while aiming and finally tapping on the trigger of my Scott release. The Easton Full Metal Jacket Dangerous Game arrow was on its deadly mission, and within a split second hammered into the giraffe´s body where I had aimed. “Yes,” Izak said. He had followed the action with his binoculars. “The arrow went in exactly where it should and the penetration is good.” Indeed, even without binoculars I could see that only the rear part of the arrow with the feathers was sticking out and blood was running down the shoulder – unbelievable. The giraffe immediately started to run after the impact, and the three other giraffes followed him. We tracked his getaway with the binoculars and then started to walk after him. He ran about 400 to 500 metres and then stood behind a tree. We saw him slowly lower his head and then finally sink to the ground. An absolutely amazing picture – I will never forget when this big majestic animal went down.
Izak smiled at me, shook my hand, hugged me and said: “Congrats, well done my friend, he is down but let´s just take some time to be sure before we approach him.” It was a good thing that we waited – definitely you do not want to get hit by a hoof of a dying giraffe. Then all was quiet. Silently we walked to the bull and the congratulations from Izak were overwhelming.
We phoned Anton, and he was also very happy and congratulated me heartily when he arrived with the bakkie. They asked if I would like to stay with the giraffe for some minutes while they drove back to pick up some of the farm guys for loading this roughly 1.4 tons huge giraffe.
“Take your time”, I replied. It gave me the chance and time to bid farewell to this magnificent animal and to finally realize my bow and arrow’s success.
When they returned we arranged the bull for some nice and respectful trophy pictures. Then six South Africans, a German, and with the help of the winch, loaded this giant in 10 minutes onto the Land Cruiser. Very impressive to see how these guys can load. Back at the farm the Castle Lager beer tasted excellent. The skinning and slaughtering of this colossus was another challenge for the farm workers. The next day a refrigerated cargo truck came in to pick up round about 900 kilograms of meat. The trophy, backskin and leg bones went to Izak´s uncle Jan Viljoen, my taxidermist of confidence, who did a fantastic job on my trophies before, but that´s another story.
One more time, thanks very much to Izak for the great organization, his experience and company, Anton our host, and as well to all the nice people I had the opportunity to meet during this fantastic time.
“Baie dankie and Alles van die beste.”
Frank
Equipment:
Bow: Elite GT500 @ 90#
Arrow: Easton Full Metal Jacket 250 Dangerous Game with heavier inserts
Broadhead: Muzzy Phantom SS 2-Blade @ 200 grain
Optics: Zeiss Victory Binocular & Nikon Rangefinder
Release: Scott
Camo: Sniper Africa
German hunter Frank Berbuir is passionate about the outdoors and hunting – especially bowhunting, which he has practised for more than 18 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 risk manager in the automotive industry.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”14054,14055,14056,14057,14058,14059,14060″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jan 26, 2018 | Bowhunting, News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]South Africa: 2015
Stalking Black Death
By Joe Byers
Day One, just past dawn, three bachelor Cape buffalo bulls slipped into a large patch of extremely thick bush on the Rock Haven property. Professional hunters Piet Otto and Rassie Erasmus glassed their location from a high vantage point half a mile away, but the swirling wind decided them to postpone a stalk.
Late morning the wind abated, and the two PHs, their client and I began slipping into the thickets of the Limpopo Province. I hoped to take a Cape buff with a crossbow. My friend, Victor Gavin, was a Vietnam War veteran who had survived three helicopter crashes and as many landmine explosions, and trauma had taken its toll – he could walk, but not crawl, which complicated the stalk.
With the wind in our faces, we inched through brush so thick that Erasmus had to cut a route with clippers. He moved the ground litter aside with each step so that we could tread silently in soft sand. An hour into the sneak he cut fresh tracks and signaled for Victor to be ready to shoot in an instant. Fifty metres farther, I suddenly sneezed. Attempts to muffle the sound made it louder, then leaves rustled and sticks snapped directly in front of us.
I knew that animals often sneeze as well – so though the buffs were alerted, they did not stampede, but the element of surprise was gone. Erasmus walked us half a mile ahead of the location and asked Otto to follow the spoor, a maneuver that could push the bulls from the thicket.
Victor laid his pre-1964 Winchester .375 H&H magnum on the cradle of sticks, anticipating the bull stepping from cover. Once in the open, we hoped the bull would hit our scent, stop for a second, and allow a shot.
Thirty minutes of suspense passed, when Otto appeared behind us. “I spotted the bull in its bed,” he whispered. “It was swinging those big horns from side to side watching for danger and checking the wind, so I backed out.”
Hoping the bull would remain hidden, we followed Otto into the thicket again. This is crazy, I remember thinking. If a buffalo charged, we’d barely have time to blink, much less aim and shoot. There were no large trees for cover, and the danger of our pursuit became very clear. If black death came knocking, we were there to answer. But at the bedding site we found the black ghost had vanished without a sound. Erasmus chose to back out and use the day’s experience to devise a plan.
In North America, after a shot at deer or elk, you can be virtually assured that the animal will flee and that you can stalk it with little worry of harm. Not so in Africa. In fact, Cape buffalo have been known to remember persons that harmed them years earlier, and retaliate.
As Cape buffalo pass their breeding prime, they are forced from the herd by younger males who take on the breeding rights. As one might expect, these senior males are the grouchy old men of their species and become short-tempered, mean, and prone to charge without provocation. These solitary males are known as Dagga Boys, from the Masai word, “mud”. As the buffalo ages, it loses the hair on its rump, making it prone to sunburn. To remedy the situation, the old males wallow in mud.
Perhaps the scariest element of Cape buffalo is its memory. Elephants have great memories, and Cape buffalo have also proved this characteristic. They are notorious for waiting patiently in ambush for hunters who have wounded them, and charging in revenge.
I had the good fortune to hunt pronghorn antelope in Montana with Nikki Atcheson. This incredible lady had hunted buffalo a few months earlier and literally had felt the wrath of an angry retaliation.
Hunting with her party, she shot a buffalo in dense brush, wounding the animal. Always a dangerous situation, she, two Professional Hunters and two trackers took up the spoor. As the trail led into thick bush, the buffalo waited in ambush, ran past the two trackers, bowled over the two professional hunters and horned Nikki, tossing her like a rag into the air. Eventually, the two PHs killed the buffalo, but the beast seemed destined to wreak revenge on the hunter that wounded it, and died on top of her. Fortunately, Atcheson was flown to the nearest hospital and the prompt attention of her safari company and the skills of professional medical attention saved her life.
Studies have shown that Cape buffalo can remember a negative experience from two years previously, and react. And they sometimes charge hunters for no apparent reason. I hunted with a PH who guided a rifle-hunting client to a sleeping buffalo in Namibia. The two sneaked up on the buffalo and shot it in its bed. They were celebrating and about to take pictures, when a second buffalo suddenly charged from the bush. Luckily the PH still had his stopping rifle in hand. Buffalo charge thousands of times, reportedly goring more than 200 people each year.
In 2015, two friends and I conducted a crossbow safari, using three brands of crossbows of modest power, and took 15 animals with 15 arrows. Sizes ranged from a huge eland bull to a bushbuck. The performance of this ancient technology was so impressive, I wanted to up the ante and try for Cape buffalo.
I discovered the CAMX 330 crossbow which was built for extreme durability and power, providing over 100 ft.-lbs. of kinetic energy, well above the minimum required for dangerous game. I experimented with heavy crossbow arrows, eventually developing a 720-grain shaft and broadhead combination that shot consistently.
Buffalo hunting with archery gear is particularly challenging due to the physical nature of the beast. Eons of fighting has developed skin on its neck that can be two inches thick. In addition to a tank-like body, the beast has developed overlapping sets of ribs. For the archer, this means an arrow must penetrate a tough, thick hide, stout muscle, and cut through two sets of bone just to reach the vitals.
Because the Rock Haven property had limited water resources, Erasmus erected a tree stand near a waterhole with the most recent tracks. Trail camera images showed the big bull usually watered at night, yet occasionally drank just before dark, a behavior I hoped to exploit.
Day 3. As the safari progressed, Otto and I focused on ambushing a bull at water, while Gavin and Erasmus stalked a different area on foot. The Rock Haven property is aptly named as it has two large mountains with huge boulders. These high rock outcrops were ideal for glassing the valley below, but moving from observation to hunting took plenty of effort. One passage, known affectionately as “The Devil’s Throat” was particularly rough.
Although each day got Gavin closer to a shot, one promising stalk was ruined when the senior hunter stepped on a stick and spooked the buffalo. Erasmus had a tradition that such hunting transgressions were addressed by a “penalty drink,” a stout shot of blended whiskies and hot peppers. “If you miss a shot or snap a stick, you will pay the consequences,” he laughed, as we all cheered Gavin as he took his “medicine” at the evening campfire.
Apparently, the good-natured kidding the previous evening made a difference, because Erasmus and Gavin sneaked through the same area and found the buffalo bedded and possibly asleep. “Aim for that tiny leaf,” whispered the PH, choosing a lethal spot on the huge animal that faced away from them. Gavin took a deep breath, settled the 1×4 reticle on the spot and squeezed the trigger.
At the recoil, the buffalo stood and took a few steps into the bush, completely disappearing. Gavin was ready for a second shot, but sneaking into the dense thicket seemed unwise. Then they heard heavy breathing, an indication of a double lung hit, and finally the death bellow.
The bull I hunted proved to be a wily adversary. I had arrived in camp Monday at noon and planned to begin the hunt the following day. However, wind conditions from the waterhole tree stand were perfect, and my PH suggested that I begin right away. In America, the saying goes, “The best time to hunt a tree stand is the first time.” Once a tree stand has been hunted, human scent is present and there is the chance to be seen or heard.
Ironically, the same premise would apply to my buffalo quest. Although the stand had been in place for a month, most of the cloth concealment had blown loose, and we took no scent precautions.
We entered the stand at 3:00 p.m. and about two hours later, the buffalo stepped into an opening 75 yards away. My heart pounded as I envisioned getting a shot the first evening of the hunt, but conditions soon changed. The waterhole I watched was also used by a host of other animals, including a herd of wildebeest. The buffalo seemed intent on drinking until a wildebeest saw movement in the treetops and began alarm snorting. Within minutes, the buffalo turned and trotted away.
Early the next morning, we revisited the stand and improved concealment with green cloth that was stapled fast so it wouldn’t move. We also used scent reduction, spraying all our gear and clothing to minimize human scent. Despite these steps, the next five sits had no buffalo sightings. Wildebeest, impala, and warthogs drank unconcerned, but the buffalo only drank at night and seemed to approach the water from a variety of directions.
Sitting in the open tree stand overlooking the water took great patience. Animals constantly looked up, and the slightest movement or sound would stampede them. Finally, on the sixth night on stand, the buffalo showed up in daylight. Instead of approaching the water directly as did the wildebeest and impala, it stood stoically, scenting and watching. Finally, it stepped to the water, drank head on, and then turned broadside as wildebeest approached from behind. Seizing the opportunity, I raised my crossbow, sighted on the animal’s heart, and squeezed the trigger. At that instant, the bull rotated back toward the water and the arrow struck the brisket instead of the shoulder.
The big bull raced away and we followed to evaluate the shot. We found a small amount of blood, yet nothing that showed a mortal wound. With darkness approaching we decided to return in the morning.
My PH had videotaped the shot and we played the footage in slow motion to better judge the effect of the shot, yet it was inconclusive. After a long night of worry and self-examination, we headed back toward the waterhole, Erasmus with his .458 and Otto with a .375. We picked up the trail and sneaked along the spoor, hoping to find the bull expired in its bed.
The bush was thick, and the two big guns sneaked, duck-walked, and glassed the brush to catch a pre-emptive strike. I followed with my crossbow, although it would be useless if the wounded animal charged. We located where the buffalo had spent the night, finding no blood or sign of distress.
At this point, the crossbow hunt became a rifle hunt – I asked my two PHs to kill the animal if they got the chance. As we followed the spoor, the buffalo seemed to walk in a direct path. We planned to circle ahead and ambush it as it passed by. Otto and I made a quarter-mile hike while Erasmus slowly followed the track.
An hour later, we were in position when we heard the distinct sound of a snapping stick. The buffalo was heading toward us, and I hoped against hope to get another shot. For the next 15 minutes, I held my breath, mentally pleading for a second opportunity.
Finally, Erasmus approached from the opposite direction indicating that the buffalo had sneaked past us and crossed a two-track 300 yards away. How such a huge beast could travel in dense brush without making a sound seemed impossible.
Each morning we traveled the two-tracks on the property looking for fresh sign. We restricted our stalks and searches to those with the wind in our faces. Buffalo fear neither man nor beast, and often flee with the wind at their rump so that they can smell what is following them. Our worst nightmare was a sudden wind shift where the bull could smell our tracking efforts and ambush us with a deadly charge.
A trail camera caught an image of the buffalo drinking at the waterhole two hours after dark on the third day of the recovery, yet my crossbow launch was the last time the animal was seen. Crawling on hands and knees was the only way to approach the buffalo, yet doing so was in invitation to disaster. Once pressured, it moved, fed, and drank at night.
Although I had hunted Cape buffalo ten years earlier, my opinion and respect for this huge animal increased dramatically. I had exploited its strategy – by drinking with other animals, it used them as bodyguards to detect danger by scent or sight.
In keeping with African tradition, a hunter who draws blood pays the trophy fee, and counting out the payment was dutifully done. “I don’t believe a brisket hit will be fatal,” Erasmus said. “I once guided a buffalo hunter who shot an arrow through the top of both lungs. I had to kill it a few days later with a rifle, and was amazed that the lungs had nearly healed in such a short time.”
Seeking another chance, I rebooked for the following year. Had the old bull learned my scent? Would it remember the hunter who harmed it? In 23 years of African bowhunting, I’d never lost an animal and I didn’t intend for this one to be the first.
Bio:
Joe Byers has been captivated by African hunting since his first trip in 1994. He is a regular contributor to the African Hunting Gazette, blogs prolifically on TheHuntingPage.com and has recently published “The Ultimate Guide to Crossbow Hunting.”
For more information on this ranch-style hunting, e-mail Rassie Erasmus at bowhunt@rassie.co.za[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”14066,14067,14068,14069,14070,14071,14072,14073,14074,14075,14076,14077,14078,14079,14080,14081″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jan 23, 2018 | Hunting News, News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Adventure Re-Lived – Our Mission
At Kanati we help our clients re-live their adventures by providing an elite taxidermy experience.
Kanati – The Name
Kanati: [ka-nah-tee] (Cherokee) guardian of the hunt
Kanati was the first man and guardian of the hunt. He taught people the skill of hunting, and preserved the tradition of hunting. We wish to be a modern-day Kanati, the guardian of our clients’ hunt, to preserve their story by means of careful attention, superior craftsmanship, and utmost respect for their animals.
Custom craftsmanship
With our diverse experience over many years in the industry, we’ve developed a distinctive process that allows us to treat each project as uniquely as the animal itself. We never rely entirely on stock forms that offer only generic sizes and poses. Instead, we resize and re-sculpt our forms to fit the animal and create the ideal pose. Any pose is possible! Muscle detail is added, veins, and eye expressions are sculpted in as well. We utilize an extensive reference library to ensure the anatomy, posture, and expressions are synonymous with the species.
This very time-consuming process of sculpting, fitting, and sculpting again is one of the most vital aspects of what we do, and the difference is very evident in our finished work. This process results in a finished mount that is not only true to size, but is also presented in an artistic and accurate way.
We correspond with our clients throughout the process with regular updates and progress photos, and encourage our customers to engage with us, ensuring they get the completely customized finished mount they deserve.
Creative Design
As designers, we develop comprehensive designs that focus on the impact of the whole composition, as well as the specific details that make a scene unbelievably lifelike and effective. Our services include conceptual sketches, 3D renderings, and scale model construction.
We work closely with our clients to make sure the piece will best utilize their display space. Extreme care and thought goes into the presentation and composition of that animal to ensure that it is exhibited in a way that enhances its natural strength and beauty, and looks good.
Scenic Environments
We believe taxidermy is more than just animals, and crafting a carefully thought-out environment is essential to enhance the presentation. Whether we are placing a leopard in an acacia tree, or setting an ibex on a rocky outcrop, each one of the scenic dioramas we create is accurate, lifelike, and vibrant. This gives the wildlife environment an authentic feel with an outdoor backdrop.
Our scenic and themed environment capabilities are constantly expanding as we innovate and create new proprietary products and techniques. These capabilities include rockwork and indoor mountains, replicated trees, foliage and ground, water features, animatronics, lighting and sound.
Team
It all started over 20 years ago when founder and president, Wes Good decided to try taxidermy as a hobby by working on small mammals he hunted himself. Driven by his passion for design and art, he hasn’t looked back since.
“It’s our team that’s our secret source, these guys are incredible!” he says. “Their desire to provide a better taxidermy experience and care for our clients is what drives us forward.”
This talented team of 18 experienced artisans and customer-support personnel work together to make the magic happen! Each team member has a specific area of focus and expertise, ensuring consistent results.
Studio
The studio, located in Eastern Pennsylvania, has a far-reaching footprint. Our in-house logistics team regularly ships Kanati works throughout the entire United States and around the globe. We work extensively to coordinate a smooth, worry-free journey for our clients’ trophies all the way from the field to the trophy room.
The current 14,000 square foot facility has space to house projects from the biggest African species to full-size trees and large indoor mountains.
How we can help
We are driven by our simple mission: “To give our clients the best memories they can have from some of the greatest experiences they ever had, so they can re-live those adventures again and again.”
For us, it’s more than mere taxidermy. It’s the craft, the art, the design—the things that make our trophy displays memorable.
To work with us or ask questions, give our team a call at 717-933-4828 or email info@kanatistudio.com. Check out kanatistudio.com for more information and a catalog of our works.
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Jan 16, 2018 | News
Without cheating or trying to achieve unjust advantage.
AHG Vol23 # 3 Editorial
This is the definition of FAIR, as an adverb in the dictionary. It puts into question, or at least should question, everything that this industry is about and stands for.
Please stay with me on this extended editorial. Though I have discussed this topic ad nauseum while running this magazine for many years, it is now central to the current debacle in the professional hunting industry of South Africa today.
Let’s start with FAIR, and how this actually relates to FAIR CHASE – which is what we all hear bandied about. According to Boone and Crockett, it is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.
Breaking it down:
Ethical, by definition is a personal framework of what is acceptable or not. What a Christian man in Alabama and a Muslim man in Dubai feels is ethical – is simply not the same. So how do we think we can use the term in describing so definitively what to do for ALL hunters? Both Alabama and Dubai residents love their hunting – but their ethical canvas has different colors on it – period.
Sportsmanlike, could pertain to the caliber of artillery used, be it a bow, a hand gun or a rifle, with a plethora of calibers and variations therein. All shooters profess to be sportsmanlike. This year we even had an international hunter in Mozambique charge up to and throw a spear into a buffalo! To him, that was sportsmanlike. We assume here that all hunters are fit and able bodied. Those with a limb missing, or struggling with any number of physical impediments, or are simply getting on in life and can’t physically cope – how do we have a cut-off time for them? Does one carry them on one’s shoulder as Cliff Walker did so incredibly with his wounded warrior some years back, or allow them to shoot off a vehicle because they are simply unable to walk, thus giving them a conscience-clear reason to ‘hunt?’ Others think if you are not able, you should not be hunt.
Lawful pursuit – that is clear, with no need for interpretation..
Free ranging –I am not certain about North America, but I gather there are numerous operations where North American big game is taken on properties that are not free ranging in the true sense of the word. As South African PH, Jason Stone recently said on Facebook – it is either free roaming, (ranging) which in Africa means it is Government land, or it is fenced (ranched), and that can be either by the government or privately. One could argue that some species have a home range that could fit many times in a large fenced area, and therefore they are free ranging, or free roaming. I’d agree, but strictly speaking if there is a fence – it is not free, and has to be managed. Even the mighty Kruger National Park, with 2 million hectares has to manage the diversity of species. Because they have let this slip with too many elephant, there are consequential impacts on other species. (Ron Thompson from the True Green Alliance is far better qualified to talk on this subject.) In Africa there are government-controlled free roaming areas, (wilderness areas, concessions and community lands), government-controlled fenced areas (parks, national parks) and then private areas (ranches). Only the last two apply to South Africa.
So every animal, strictly speaking would fall foul of the esteemed B&C criteria. And that goes for the majority of the game in Namibia, too. I can hear the uproar. If a farm is 20 000 hectares (50 000 acres), the sable are definitely free to roam, and that is more than enough space for buffalo to breed, move around, etc. But folks, it is still fenced. And when there is a drought – well we can (and many do) feed their game, especially the high-value ones, give them supplements, or spray them with disinfectant…all of which does not happen in the free-roaming wilderness.
Now the South African hunting fraternity has had at the centre of their squabble, the lion. Whether it is hunted, killed, captive bred, farmed, ranched, drugged, canned, whatever – this king of the African beasts has taken front and centre stage for the professional hunting industry. Ironically, not because of its conservation status, or wellbeing as a species, but because of money, the law and the right to hunt on one side, and public shame and what is ethically right or not, on the other.
For many years, and even now, South African game has had man’s helping hand. Be it the outfitter, or the PHs or the ranch owner, man’s hand was there to help feed, breed, tag the ear, or buy at auctions or nearby farms to stock up levels run low from over shooting on a property that could not sustain a natural population. And this was quite fine and acceptable. And the species could have been kudu, buffalo, sable – you name it. It certainly included the controversial pachyderm – white rhinoceros. Everyone at PHASA was happy with this. The South African taxidermists made their share of the fortune mounting and shipping these beasts, regardless how they were hunted.
The lion, however, with its mythical status has stirred up something quite different. Whether it was the video footage the world has come to see of how a lion acts when it is shot, or the giant PR campaign of Cecil, the fact remains this is one species that, despite the law of South Africa saying it is OK to farm, relocate, and shoot, there is now a faction of Professional Hunters that have said ENOUGH. They quit PHASA en masse.
Not only did they do this, they went publicly via social media to proclaim their stance. They do not want to be part of an association that allows, condones – whatever the word is – that goes along with the laws of South Africa where Panthera leo can be hunted like this. And this is no fringe community. These are some of the Who’s Who of hunting in South Africa, and while standing for your belief is an admirable quality, as many have told me and have admitted publicly, they have a past that has included the shooting of lions that are what we have come to know as CBL – captive-bred lions. They have now formed a new association. Originally Dallas Safari Club was at the forefront of saying they will only accept PHASA members at their show. Now they are going to have to choose one association or the other, or if they allow both, or any hunting association, it means – hey, Dallas is happy with this arrangement. SCI has never been as rigid on this stance – so one can assume nothing will change.
Digressing to the rhino. We all know that the only solution for the rhino’s survival is the farming, harvesting, and trading of their horns. Demand is there (in the East) and will not go away. Naïve, gullible city dwellers think there is another solution, but there is not. Protecting them costs money, and the practice of put and take, farming, hunting on small areas has saved the species. It is one of South Africa’s greatest conservation achievements.
The lion, however, is more complicated. What can be done about this? If there is no hunting of them, and consequently no ranching, or farming of them – the numbers will decline. Fact. Poaching will continue (because of the demand), the cost of keeping them at photo safari camps means we will have a limited number, and then what? Having a ranch rearing this species ensures that the seemingly unquenchable demand is met.
I have on good authority that the demand included this practice being done at the very highest level of Association Presidents who espouse the principles of the Fair Chase that I speak of above. Most importantly, then the species will not be under threat.
But it leaves two areas of contention.
The hunters’ views of each other, and the anti-hunting public’s view of hunters.
Let’s start with the public. While we continue to proudly sit next to a felled elephant, buffalo, kudu, leopard or lion – the feelings from the public will by and large all be the same. So we must not think we will win any favours from the public this way. A lion is a lion – whether ranch-reared in South Africa or hunted over 21 days in the Zambezi Valley, the anti-hunter feels the same. And whether it is a lion or an elephant – and this industry should heed this warning – because after the lion, it could just as well be the giraffe. We have already experienced their venom.
So that leaves the hunters’ views of each other. Why we have to continue the infighting is beyond me. To be running each other’s values, standards or ethics down, when we have such a strong common foe, is madness. If someone has a squeaky-clean past, has never done this type of hunting, or doesn’t engage in ranch-reared hunting – then that is one thing. But if you have a past – and you wish to move on in a new direction – do that, but don’t have a slanging match.
I think what we need to be looking at, is what are acceptable norms and boundaries for ranch-reared animals, in general, including the lion?
What are acceptable forms of breeding, rearing, releasing into an enclosure and then hunting each species? And then start explaining that ear-tagged buffalo, to photos of the prize sable, to hectare-penned in nyala, is all outside the concept of free roaming.
In conclusion – B&C continues on point 5 – Behave in a way that will bring no dishonor to either the hunter, the hunted, or the environment.
Animals have been bred to be hunted, whether ranch-reared lions, nyala or buffalo. This leaves one with the age-old personal dilemma: is there dishonour to the hunter?
On day 18, in the Zambezi valley, over bait, you have hunted a male in his prime and head of his pride. Or, on day three, walking the Limpopo bushveld on 500 acres you hunt a beast that was bred to be hunted. Which is less – or more honourable for either the hunted or the hunter?
I am not sure – you have to be the judge.
Richard Lendrum
Richard@africanhuntinggazette.com
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