Derrick Poor | Bowhunter | Kentucky USA
My buddy Charles and I arrived in South Africa for a seven-day bowhunting trip, this being our first visit to South Africa. What a beautiful place, we could hardly contain all the emotions and excitement upon arriving. After landing, Afton lodge members met us at the airport and took us in for a great one-night stay with wonderful food and delicious cold beer. The next morning, we were picked up by our outfitter (Dries Visser Safaris) and set out to the designated hunting area.
On day one, we hit a blind to see how our luck would play out. At first light my professional hunter excitedly said, “Jackal right here, grab your bow!” I made a great shot which impressed my PH. We were off to a fast start! A little bit later, we had some gemsbok come in which, at the time, was hot on my list. The more I watched the more I became interested in these beautiful exotic-looking animals. As luck would have it, a cow came right in, and the PH assured me that this was a very large and mature gemsbok. We watched for fifteen to twenty minutes while I debated whether I wanted to take it. She ended up moving off and I was regretting not taking the shot, so I told my PH if the cow came back I wouldn’t miss out on her second time round. That cow teased us for what felt like an hour, as she rubbed bushes and small trees in a spot we had no chance for a shot. She finally came back within range. I did not hesitate to take a great shot and she disappeared from sight as she ran off into the bush. On recovery, her horns measured forty-one inches!
As the days passed, we encountered so much wildlife, every day felt like a dream. I ended up taking a trophy impala, warthog, blesbok, and the best hunt of all, a beautiful buffalo cow, which was an adrenaline-packed spot-and-stalk hunt with my buddy Charles and our PH. As we slipped through the brush, we found the cow and I made a decent shot. Light was fading quickly, so we picked up the trail and carefully tracked the buffalo down. We managed to get closer and put a second arrow in. We continued tracking the buffalo, but it was getting dark quickly. We were all moving through the brush, one PH to the left and another to the right, me in the middle and Charles right behind me. We worked hard to try to locate the buffalo. Not long after, one of the PHs shouted, “to the left!” We had stumbled within fifteen yards of the buffalo which suddenly jumped up and startled Charles causing him to fall back into a thorn bush. The buffalo continued towards us as the PH aimed his rifle, finishing off the buffalo. We all looked around, hearts pounding to make sure everyone was okay. Once the dust settled, we all had a good laugh at Charles as he wiped the blood from his arms.
Bowhunting in South Africa is truly amazing and cannot be put into words to describe the experience. A dream that always seemed so far out of reach and one that has its fears and
anxieties for anyone. All I can say is, come give it a try for yourself, a trip of a lifetime that you won’t regret or ever forget.
