First, a short preamble.
I work at sea and have a very non-fixed schedule. Supposed to be 2 months on, 2 months off, but I could be away for 4 months or 1. I cannot predict what it will be more than perhaps 3 months into the future. And then it can all change with one email. This makes it extremely difficult to book a hunt. All the hunting trips I tried to organise in the past requires booking and payment well in advance. They also do prefer groups over single hunters unless you want to pay a lot of money for the privilege. I do not have a group of friends or co-workers that want to hunt so that option is off the table. The "well in advance" booking and payment also throws a spanner in the works. Not knowing where you will be in 6 months to a year's time makes it extremely difficult to plan.
I have only gone hunting once before, back 2008. A shooting friend asked if I would go on the hunt with them. One of the group got sick hence the opportunity. I asked him what I must take along as was told just my clothes, rifle and ammo. Also, at that time I have never used a scope never mind own one. Thankfully my friend gave me a 4x Tasco which we fitted to my trusty "bulldog" .303 No1 MkIII*. Zeroed the scope with my 174gr target ammunition. Then bought two boxes of PMP brown box 174gr soft point ammo. Took around 5 shots to confirm the scope zero 50mm above point of aim at 100m. All set.
Monday morning around 03:30 a Hyundai Sonata and trailer stops at my house, the ou omie got out and opened the boot for my bags then got into the passenger seat. Apparently he did no see well in the dark, I had to drive. He'll pay for the fuel up and I pay for the fuel back. Bit lopsided arrangement, but at least I had transport. That was quite an exciting drive. If the car was traveling over 108km/h, the whole back-end started to swing alarmingly left and right. My first time with a trailer, but that felt rather dangerous. And I think the speedo was a bit generous. Actual speed was probably 10km/h less. Trucks overtaking us made me fear for my life.
Anyway, 12 hours and change later we arrive at the hunting farm. Some koppies, very few trees and low bushes. Moved into our chalets, unpacked and off to the range to check our zeros. When everyone was satisfied we went to the lapa and started the fire. This was the first bit of trouble. Apparently, "just bring your rifle, ammo and clothes" has an unspoken component that includes food and drink. Thankfully my loving wife packed some instant oats in my bag against my wishes, so I didn't go hungry. While everyone was drinking their beer, brandy and what not, I had to be content with Frisco, black.
Next day, bright and early with a feast of oats, rusks and Frisco we set off. First the farmer took us on the bakkie looking for eland. I couldn't afford to shoot an eland, but the two old men wanted them with a passion. My friend and I were after blesbok. They were reasonably priced and the farm had "plenty". The plan was to take the eland hunters to the eland then drop us off to stalk some blesbuck. And, like most plans, it did not quite work out like that. The eland showed us the farm. We could not get close enough for the old guys to get a shot until around 11:00. One shot later and a death dash of +- 100m one eland bull was ready for the chiller. The other old man had his chance around 17:00 as it was getting dark. 5 shots later and a coup de grace to the back of the head the second eland was ready for the chiller. Until this time, we have not seen anything else except swartwildebees (white-tailed gnu). The 5th member of our party couldn't be arsed about bakkies and stalked off at day break to the closest wildebeeste he could find. By noon he already had his 3 heads for pick-up. he spent the afternoon and the next day processing his carcasses. That night we ate eland liver and onions. At least old omie no2 knew how to cook it and it was great. There was also alot. Eland liver is huge! I didn't even mind the Frisco, black.
Day 2 dawned bright and cold again. The farmer agreed to drop us off at a camp that definitely had blesbuck, then took the old men off searching for more eland. We stalked that camp and saw a herd of rooi-hartebees and a lonely gemsbok. We got to within 80m of the hartebees and 150m of the gemsbok, so our stalking skills weren't too bad. Not a blesbok in sight anywhere. Around midday the bakkie picked us up again. After a quick lunch the farmer told us they saw some blesbuck and will drop us off close by again. Finally, a chance! off we went. Not long after, we saw two standing off into the veldt. The bakkie stopped about 350 m away. As soon as the bakkie stopped, they looked up and started running. And so we set off after them on foot with hope in our hearts. The bakkie left us again in search of eland. We stalked and tracked and listened and watched; to no avail. We did not see another blesbok again. Just before 6 we heard the bakkie and made our way there. Off to the camp for warmed up liver left-overs and Frisco, black. The old men could not get near another eland either.
I went for a shower. when I got back to the lapa everyone was in their chalets?! Apparently my friend and his other friend was getting pissed off at the old men for hogging the bakkie for the whole 2 days so far and let the old guys know. This caused a bit of friction and the old farts pissed of in a huff and a puff. That put me in a bit of a quandary. Old omie no2 was my ride home.
Day 3 was the last hunting day. Last shots to be no later than 13:00 so that there was time to slaughter the carcasses to a manageable size. Once again, after the abominable oats and Frisco, we set out. This time we had wildebeest on the target list. And of course that was when the damn things decided to play hide-and-seek. And once again the old omies went off in search of eland! My friend and I went walking again. What we did not know at the time is that the farmer got his workers to herd the wildebeeste towards us. We saw the lonely gemsbok again, but that was not on the approved list. Suddenly the herd of wildebeeste appeared to our left coming over the hill. I kneeled, found one running outside the main group, aimed for the chest, breathed in then out and jerked that trigger so hard that it was a complete miss. Bokkoors! One of the reasons that the Lee Enfield was such an excellent bolt-action battle rife is that a trained person can run that bolt very fast while in the aim. Any members that have shot the "mad-minute" in the army can attest to that. That is exactly what I did. One and a half seconds later the second shot went and no mistake with that one. The animal just summersaulted and came to rest legs in the air about 70m away. And that was when the excitement started.
When the first shot went, the herd changed direction straight towards me. One lesson I learnt that day is that swart wildebeeste are not very smart. If one starts running, the all run. The direction they run seem very random and unpredictable. And they were all running in my direction. There was a bush close by that I hid behind, praying that the herd run around it and not through it. The herd passed by to my relief. As they crested the hill behind us, two more shots were heard. The old farts gave up looking for eland and shot two wildebeeste. And yes, they were shooting in our direction.
Anyway, recovered the animals to the slaughter shed and here is another point that showed my lack of preparedness. I was asked how to cut up the carcass. As someone that has no meat processing knowledge, this question stumped me. Point was moot anyway, By the time they came to process my carcass there was only enough time to take the skin and head of and quarter the beast; boude en blaaie. And once again my unpreparedness was thrown in my face. "Where are your plastic bags to put your meat in?!" The farmer was nice enough to give me four bags with a flowery fragrance. Beggars can't be choosers. Later that afternoon we paid our dues and prepared for the long road back.
Next morning packed the car and trailer again and was on the road by 05:00. Old Fart no 1 left much earlier. Apparently he tried to convince no 2 to leave me behind. The trailer was around 3/4 full with one eland and 2 wildebeeste, That made me wonder where the second eland would have been packed if old omie no 2 managed to perforate another one? Anyway, I was driving again.* The extra weight in the trailer did not make it handle any better. No matter how we adjusted the balance, it now started to sway at around 102km/h on the clock. At an estimated 90km/h, Cape town was very far away. We got stopped a Worcester and almost got a ticket for a smooth trailer tire. I suspect that the swaying issue was caused by bad wheel alignment of the trailer which also accelerated the wear on the tires. I arrived home around 7 at night. As I proudly carried my prized meat into the house the wife got a sniff of the plastic bags and promptly kakked me out for putting meat in a perfumed bag...
*This is where it dawned on me that the only reason I was invited along was to drive Mr Daisy. If they couldn't find a driver, the whole trip would have been cancelled.
Epilogue
Apparently there were a lot of blesbuck on the farm in March that year. Every hunting party that went, shot more than a few and nobody used silencers. When we got there end of July, there weren't many left. The few left were alive by making sure that they were nowhere near humans. Lekker wild geskiet. All in all, the experience left a bad taste.
Another lesson I learnt the hard way. Unless you want to make mince with all the meat, do not shoot an animal in the run. That meat was really tough. We had to boil it to bits to make it edible. The biltong it made was very chewy.