08/10/2023
A long read.
The Moon and the Rain – An African Safari
In January of 2009 I visited an Archery range in Santa Fe Texas to shoot some 3 D targets. While there a gentleman representing an outfitter from South Africa was there booking hunts. He was offering a raffle for a bow hunt for $25 a ticket and I bought one ticket. A few days later I got a call saying I had won but the booking had to be completed quickly. Looking at flights it was booked for my sister and I as she wanted to go too for March 12. Since there was not a lot of time till the hunt, it meant getting everything together for the hunt quickly. I should back up and say my hunt was free for a Blue Wildebeest, Impala, Gemsbok, and 2 Warthogs. Since that was part of the free package, taking money for extra animals in case of opportunities during this 14-day hunt. Considerations and preparations were added for a much desired leopard hunt. First, it was verified this was not a Malaria zone. Traveling to South Africa, it is recommended either having a tetanus shot or booster. Carry light weight clothing as well as good walking boots. I recommend carrying a Leatherman type tool that has either pliers or needle nose on them to pull camel thorns from the sole of your boots. Most outfitters are set up for laundry and done every day for you so you do not need to bring a lot of clothing. Typically 3 sets are sufficient. For sunscreen, I prefer Bull Frog unscented as it dries and doesn’t come off sweating.
Its highly recommend before your trip to think and develop a plan for what you will do with your trophies as far as taxidermy work. Plan with either your taxidermist or have alternatives if you are having it done abroad. Doing it here in the states, check with your taxidermist to see if he has special tags to give to you for identification of your trophies and a certain shipper he prefers to use. All should be figured out before you make the trip to make the best choices. Conroe Taxidermy in Conroe Texas has always been a great professional help. Sit down and design a layout with them. They gave me written instructions for the outfitter and the dip and ship outfit he uses to ensure proper handling/skinning of my mounts to get the best job possible. An example, the tendency for skinners on caping out an animal is a “back cut” and while this is fine for most animals, it is not for animals with a ridge mane such as sable, Nyala, Gemsbok. Doing a back cut it will never and I say never be straight and perfect so the taxidermist has to work with that and the mane will never be done as good as possible, so on those animals a belly cut is best. Attentions to detail in these types of things are covered in the written instructions. It is essential on the first day arriving to be clear to the outfitter and reminded throughout the hunt. The temperature at the time of this hunt was in the high 90’s but almost zero humidity so very comfortable for this Texas boy.
Bow of choice was a Hoyt ### at a 70 # pull. Since the animals are bigger and their hides are much tougher than whitetails and Easton Axis 400 shafts was the perfect choice. My famous 2 blue and 1 pink 3” fletching, as they can always be found no matter the colors on the ground. Rocky Mountain Titanium 100 gr broad heads were my choice due to such great performance history with them, so extras were stocked up for the trip. I was truly impressed with the Rocky Mountain Titanium arrows. They went through this thick hide brute like butter. A Bushnell bow rangefinder was also purchased with the ARC system in it for angled shots. Bushnell 12x binoculars were another optics enhancement. I utilized Realtree camo in a lightweight configuration. Equipment choices were completed with a ### hard case that was TSA approved and lockable.
Typical daily practice means shooting out to 70 yards just for confidence so, to prepare for the hunt, doubling the daily number of shots per day for complete muscle memory and reflex shooting was mandatory.
A week before the departure, the remainder of the leopard permits had been pulled back by the government so that squashed that, but onward anyway.
So, the big day arrived, and we were off to South Africa to hunt with Badger Bush Outfitters in Thabazimbi in the upper Limpopo region. We flew with Virgin Airlines to London with a full day layover (another story for later) Then to Johannesburg where we were picked up and made the 4 hr. trip to the lodge. When we arrive, we received the famous South African welcome and went to unpack in the individual chalets. So, then the Professional Hunter suggested that we go out and spent an hour shooting to make sure no adjustments needed to the sights and such. We hurried to get an hour and a half sit in the blind at a nearby water hole. To add to complications, it was raining. We did not see much at all that evening, but it was still a good sit in a nice hide. A blind as we call it in Texas.
That evening at dinner the weather came up, the rainy season was still going on and a bit later than normal. It was a full moon. Imagine that, bow hunting with those 2 obstacles. Well, that’s why it’s called hunting, not killing. You make the best of it no matter what!
Day 1 –
The following morning, we travelled for about an hour to another farm to hunt. Once there we sat in a large, elevated blind overlooking and concrete water trough. Off course it was cloudy, and the PH was concerned about the amount of animal traffic to the water with all the rain and moon. But less than an hour after getting into the hide, the animals started to move in and behold, the first was an incredibly old impala ram. There was no hesitation in letting a shaft fly and he was down 40 yards away. After a few quick pictures the trackers came and picked the ram up and we were back in the hide. And here comes another impala, a real trophy of a ram and again the shaft flew true to its mark! Same routine, pictures and back in the hide. Multiple animals started showing them to the surprise of everyone. Three Nyala bulls came out milling around the trough and a salt block. Finally, the biggest one poised himself broadside right in front of the water trough and the arrow flew straight and all the while my sister was in the blind and had her Nikon camera at burst mode capturing the flight of each arrow. This turned into a cool picture as the arrow completely passed through, hit the concrete, and bounced back toward the animal sideways and the photo captured it that way. Sixty yards away the beast fell to my excitement! Three animals down in two hours, what a fantastic rush. Well, it was the rut on the impalas. They roar simulate to stags. The old males that were way past breeding avoided the heard and were always by themselves. A third old boy appeared and I could not pass him up so, well you know the drill, another in the salt. Mind you these old impalas are in their last season and basically do not have teeth. Their horns are thick and shortened with blunt ends so I can’t pass these old warriors up and let the Jackals get them.
As the day went on many animals came in for water. A troop of Vervet monkeys came in and provided some entertainment for us with their monkey antics. You just must be extra quiet and still, so they don’t warn everything for miles you are there. I had a nice Gemsbok come in, but my PH felt I could do better, so I passed it on to him. Lots of Warthogs started coming in with their babies but no big males. The Impala roar is so cool as they are in full swing. This first day in the blind has been so cool and amazing considering the “Moon and the Rain.”
Day 2 –
Awakening to the sound of the birds, pea fowl as they call them in Africa is an experience. After a wonderful breakfast we headed to the bush. Eland was the focus animal for the day, so I was going to be patient and hold back on letting arrows fly unless a monster of an animal showed up. Like the day before, an amazing number of animals showed up at the hide. The Vervet Monkeys caught us and warned we were there and to my dismay, no Eland showed up. On the way out we spotted a nice Warthog, so getting out of the buggy and off to make a stalk! After making a good stalk on him, the arrow flew and, whack, another animal in the salt so the day was still fantastic! Once again to the lodge for another wonderful evening at the Brie and Eland steaks for hopeful luck. That evening the bush babies were very vocal. They make a unique sound and just added more to the experience of Africa.
Day 3 -
The morning brought great excitement and wonderment. In Africa you just never know what was next or around the corner. This is part of what makes Africa so great to me. Today we went to another farm and drove looking for opportunities to do a stalk. After a few hours we saw a heard of Blue Wildebeest also known as poor man’s Buffalo. The PH wanted to make a stalk on them and positioned us upwind of them and we just eased our way through the bushveld. We got within 40 yards of the heard. Waiting patiently as they fed around us the old bull finally provided a perfect broadside shot. Whack, the arrow struck the triangle on the shoulder and another complete pass through. The old bull only went about 30 yards before he expired. Such a wonderful beast. After pictures we were back at it looking for Eland again. Even though we did not find any it was still a wonderful day, and the old bull was in the salt, icing on the cake!
I could sense Dad and Dan were smiling down on me. I could hear Dan saying,” Way to go Bubba!”
Day 4 –
One thing not mentioned was it rained on us every day so that added to the “Fun” of the trip. My PH was amazed at the number of animals we had opportunities on as for this time of the year with both a full moon and the rain. To be bow hunting, he felt it was totally fate for me. We travelled to another farm to try our luck. The hide we sat in there at the water hole had a thatch roof on it but as more daylight came in, we realized that baboons had torn a hole in the roof, and it was slowly lighting up the inside. We decided to wait it out a bit before trying another spot and then heard the announcement!! Zebra’s, they are very vocal and announce themselves coming in. A magnificent stallion appeared at the water hole. He was only 20 yards from me totally broadside, no wind, totally calm drinking water. My PH was nudging me to shoot, my sister posed to hit the shutter button on the camera. I stood there and watched him finish and then slowly walked off. My PH then asked, why did you not take the shot? The PH said the odds of getting such a perfect shot on a zebra like him was extremely low, I could see he and my sister were both puzzled. I finally answered them. Zebra was not really on my list, but I was in such aw of this stallion I could only watch him in his glory. To this day I have never had another opportunity on a Zebra even with a gun, go figure. We then drove around looking for a stalk and we came across a beautiful Impala Ram with 25” horns and I slipped an arrow through him. Twenty yards he was down and another wonderful trophy in the salt. That zebra is still with me in my heart and mind to this day! My sister is taking some fantastic shots with her Nikon camera and having a field day. Wow another fantastic adventure to add to the memories.
Day 5 –
Well today the usual camera operator decided to go into town with the PH’s wife to do some shopping and I headed out to another ranch. When we got to the gate I looked with amusement at the sign above the gate. It said “Dung Beetle Ranch.” I was laughing at this for a while. Well, the hide on the water hole here was not elevated but sunk in the ground. This put me at the level of the heart on most of the animals, so it was important to be very slow and stay in the shadows within the blind to keep from being seen. Again, lots of animals come to the water there. I heard a Kudu come in and had several nice bulls 15 – 20 yards away. The PH was very confused as I did not take a shot. Once they were gone, he tapped me and said why did you not take one, you do not like Kudu? Since I already had a nice one and could tell none was bigger, it was important to improve over the one previously taken. He just shook his head at me in disbelief. After about an hour we heard baboons. The troupe came in for water and I had to stay very still in the shadows as they were looking to the blind to see if there was anyone in there. The troupe always comes in first and the Alpha male hangs back and watches for danger, when they are done, they go back out and begin to watch as he comes in for water. I am watching them like a hawk and when they leave, I get ready for King Kong to come in. Here he comes very slowly and looks at the hide. I am backed up in the corner completely hidden by the shadow of darkness. He is totally facing me as he leans down to drink. I draw and place a pin right on the base of the skull and spine. Releasing the shaft, there was no movement of the baboon as the shaft pe*******on is all the way through him into the dirt. He died instantly and was pinned to the ground. My PH was incredibly happy as he did not want to track and retrieve a wounded baboon. So, we decided to sit and wait for something else to come in. Soon the troupe began to call for him and we thought we may get another shot at one, so we got ready.
Roughly 30 minutes of them making all kinds of noise, I catch a glimpse of movement out past the one I had on the ground. As I focused on it, I realized it was a Leopard! As he got closer, I realized it was a monster male. I drew my bow back but dropped my bow arm which takes the poundage weight off the hold. That big ole cat walked 7 yards from me broad side from my left going right, directly towards the dead baboon. He was doing this slowly watching for movement from the baboon. He then stopped and a moment later sprung on the dead baboon grabbing him by his neck and started shaking him like a dog does a snake. He then drops it and looks at him then grabs him again and gives him a good shake again. Now guys I was pumped at this, but I am going to leave you hanging for a minute. This whole time my PH cannot see any of this at all. He just knows there is something big going on. As the big souped up house cat grabs the baboon again, my PH leans over gasping and now can see the big cat. There I am pumped up! I raise my arm and I am at full draw and the cat takes a step holding not only my baboon but my arrow as well. Well, me being me, Honey Badger as I am nicknamed, I hollered “Hey, this is not a McDonalds drive in, drop my baboon! The bad ole puddy cat dropped it and turned and looked straight towards me. Being in a pit and somewhat disadvantaged, my head is only about a foot above his in height, He gives me a snarl and a bark and turns and picks the baboon up and walked straight towards his mountain home. I kept my bow up until I was satisfied he was not coming back.
Suddenly, my PH scrambled to get out of the blind and all I knew is I heard strange noises coming from behind me. After about 20 min he came back into the hide and sat down and stared at me. All I could do is smile and said “WHAT?” He gathered himself and finally said, you are as crazy as I have heard about Texans. DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED BACK THERE, WELL LET ME TELL YOU. THAT CAT WAS SO CLOSE IT WOULD HAVE ONLY TOOK 2 -3 MAX JUMPS TO GET INSIDE OF THIS BIG METAL BOX! I would not have been able to get my gun up to shoot him, did you not realize that? I calmly said, no I did not as I would have put a shaft through his nose in which would have gone straight to the brain, and you would have had to figure out what we were going to do with a dead cat. He then sat there thinking, and then said, do you really think you could have done that? I said, “was I shaking or hesitating or backing up?” He said no, I said then you got your answer. After a few minutes of thinking he said “I need a beer” I busted out laughing at him, and I too sat down. I told him what an experience and here my sister was not there to see but also not to capture with her camera. What a shame. Well as we sat there my PH then said, you honestly got a rush out of this, I said “heck yes I did” he said Well let me tell you something that may deflate you. I said good luck with that, he pulled his wallet out and pulled a piece of paper out and handed it to me. It was a copy of my leopard permit that was cancelled, it stated it for the area I was in and it directed to guess what, “the Dung Beetle Ranch” and I guess he saw the light go off and he said “ yes this is where we were going to set up/bait for your leopard hunt. That was your cat you saw at 1:00 in the afternoon, broadside at less than 10 yards. Well I looked at him and my reaction was not what he expected, I said then it was a successful adventure as there is no way I would have missed him, and maybe I will be able to hunt him again next year. Since then no permits have been released in South Africa. The memory that many will never have will last forever. How many hunters have you had that stood up to a full-grown leopard and told them this was not a McDonalds drive-through. The PH looked at me and smiled and said “you know what, I will never forget this, and it will go down as my best hunt ever! I said I am glad to hear, and glad to share it with you but there is one other thing, he said. What is that? I said get out and wash your underwear out and then find my arrow. So, at his point we knew with all the scent around the hunt was over and headed back to camp for another great evening. It was a verrrry long evening as the discussion of the days hunt went on and on lol. They think I am insane.
Day 6-
Well, what can I say, life in Africa is a blast! Today we head over to another farm to hunt. I am so thankful of the access the PH has all over the place here. We start at a hide and there is an old ram Impala hanging around who was past his peak and broken down. He stopped and posed for a picture that I took and then I sent him a shaft, he did not go 5 feet. A few pictures and the trackers came to pick him up and we continued to hunt.
Still in the hide, suddenly herds of animals came in for water and salt followed by a group of Gemsbok. Really pumped and got excited as this was also high on my list. What seemed to take forever, a nice animal gave me a quartering away shot and I took it. Releasing the arrow, my brain said oh no as it flashed to me that she took a step more and it was almost a rear shot. My PH was congratulating me on an excellent shot, and I looked at him and said I think I messed up. He said what do you mean, I told him and he laughed and said “your basic instincts took over, as I am watching the flight of the arrow and yes it went into the hip but went all the way through and came out the other side just in front of the opposite shoulder”. He said, “you clipped both lungs and the top of the heart”. I looked at him and said “how can you be so confident”? He pointed at where she was standing and said see your arrow on the ground , then grabbed me and turned me to the right and said there she is 60 yards away laying there. I guess sometime overthinking can block out the vision as I inspected the animal, the arrow did exactly as he said he saw. I was breathing a sigh of relief. After a few pictures, he said let’s move to another hide over here so off we went.
The next spot was a double hide, a tall one and across another pit type. The only animals that came in were some young waterbuck bulls, so they posed for a few pictures and went on their merry way. I might add “Still no sign of an Eland”. Back to the lodge we headed. The adventure for the day has not stopped yet. As we were driving and looking ahead, there were strange looking markings in the dirt in front of us. My PH said, “see those”? They are Mamba tracts. He pulled up over them and was looking and saying these are very fresh. As he did I looked out my window and IT WAS fresher than he thought cause there was a black Mamba standing upright by my window looking at me at face height . They get 12-14 ft long. As I VERY QUICKLY rolled up my window, the snake then turned his focus to the trackers in the back of the buggy and started to advance to them, I grabbed the PH shoulder as he had not seen the snake yet and said Drive! Well he hit the gas and the 2 in the back almost fell out. It was another exciting day in Bushveld for me at least LMAO.
Day 7 –
It was another brilliant morning sunrise to start the day. My sister was being taken to Pilanesberg refuge to do a photo safari while I was off on another adventure on the bus. The PH and I talked a bit and I wanted to try my luck again at the Dung Beetle Ranch. He knew there was a large amount of Eland there, so I said let us go. After we got set up in the hide, we began to watch all the wildlife come in for water. Wildebeest, Kudu, Impala, Nyala, and on and on but nothing I wanted to take. Suddenly, a Bushbuck came out from behind us on the blind side to the PH. The Bushbuck has one side broken in half and went straight to water as I looked on with amazement. These guys are so colorful. When he finished and walked off the PH and I commented, very strange and rare to see them during the day, as they are almost nocturnal animals during the day and at noon not least. Then we looked at each other and both said, why did you not take him? With a bow it is indeed rare to get one during the day. Sometimes you get caught up in the moment and things slip by. Just like the Zebra stallion I passed up without thinking. An hour later I heard a slight noise and to my amazement coming from behind us again was a different Bushbuck. This guy went to the same spot to get water as the other. Without hesitation I drew back and let fire. The PH was into a nap at the time, and it startled him. What did you shoot? I said, “Bushbuck down!” He said, “We will let us give him a few and we will go track him, I laughed and said look to the left, the animal went 5 ft and fell dead. So, after some photos the trackers got him, we got back into the blind for the next critters to show.
A group of Hartebeests came in followed by some Blesboks, including a white one I should have taken, but let him walk. As we were driving back to the lodge my PH got a call, it was the farm owner of the first place I hunted. He said he had a problem as his old giraffe bull past his breeding capability, had been fighting the young but breeding bulls and broke the neck on one and the leg on another. He wanted to know if I would come and take him out of the heard and at $500 USD, well I asked could I try with my bow. The farm owner agreed but wanted my PH to bring a rifle in case we could not get into range and a clear shot with a bow and I agreed that I would use the gun if needed. We set up to go the next morning to hunt. Unbelievably excited at this opportunity, and yes, I would take a giraffe that was an old past his breeding bull. Simply put, it is proper management for the herd. Most of the other animal species in Africa sense this and push the non-breeders out but the giraffe does not. They can live 30 years so the herd can suffer as too many years without out new offspring is not good for the heard.
Back to the lodge, and I listened to my sister tell her story of the photo safari and then I got a phone call. It was a family emergency, and I was forced to call and change our flight to the next day at noon. The PH tried to talk me into staying one more day, but it was a medical emergency and I knew there would be more safaris, so we left the next morning early, so no giraffe this trip. My PH went over and shot the animal before he killed any younger bulls.
An amazing trip by all rights. The odds were against us from the start, but it was a blessed fantastic adventure anyway. I had the Nyala bull mounted full size as they are such beautiful animals. One day I will take a monster Bushbuck and have him full mounted too. I typically take 2500 to 3500 photos on a trip like this, so it is not all about pulling the trigger. Yes, Africa is in my blood and my soul and yes God has blessed me through my father to appreciate, understand, to enjoy, protect and be a good steward for the perfection he gave us. I give him praise for it, I give my father praise for what he bestowed on me. I give thanks to all that have hunted and fished with me and shared in my adventures. I truly hope this story of the “Moon and Rain – an African Safari” brings a smile, amazement, a desire to share in the great outdoors and opportunities that have been bestowed upon us! God Bless all!
