NZ Hunter – August 2019

elbow and said he was still alive. He was

concerned that in the tight confines of

the face, the ram could be ready to give

us a pointy problem.

JJ made the decision; we would all

go. There was no access down in the

immediate area so we went back up to

the truck and drove along to a very steep

cutting. JJ advised us to get out and walk;

he would drive down alone. “We lost the

bulldozer cutting this track” he said

“once I start down, I’m committed – I

won’t get back up.”

He edged forward in low, climbing over

rocks and sledging down in places but

made it to a location where we could

sidle and drop down to where the ram

had disappeared. We had trouble finding

our way back to the exact location but

finally spotted a pinkish tree that we

had seen from above. Then we found

scuffed dirt, hair, spots of blood and

broken foliage. Tension was high as we

all kept our eyes peeled, scanning for a

disgruntled bushbuck.

“Over here” called JJ “he’s finished!”

We lifted the ram, a beautifully marked

animal, out to a clear area. Incredibly, both

shoulders were broken, and there was

massive chest damage. I couldn’t believe

how he’d reacted to the shot given that

he’d been completely unaware of any

danger. His horns were just under 14”

and I decided then that he would make a

great shoulder mount.

Southern Mountain

Reedbuck:

My next hunt was to be after a

species of mountain antelope

quite unique to southern Africa. JJ

explained that these small animals live at

elevations from 1500-2500m upwards all

year round. They like steep rocky slopes

that afford some cover amongst the rocks

and scrub, with access to grass meadows.

They are lightweights at 25kg to maybe

40kg for a big ram, but they look heavier

as they are quite leggy and can really put

on the pace when they need to. Their

main predators are caracal and eagles.

As you would expect, their coats are

quite different from other lower-dwelling

antelope, with soft and woolly greyish/

fawn fur and a big fluffy tail like a Whitetail

deer. Their horns are short and bend

forward at the tips.

We drove through an area called

Geelhoudskloof, which JJ`s father and

family had farmed previously, so JJ knew

it like the back of his hand. He had hunted

it all himself with a bow. Most of the first

hour’s travel was winding up the steep

tracks in the dark as we needed to be

at the highest points on the property at

first light to catch the reedbucks out still

feeding. Leaving the vehicle, we walked

and sidled to scan into some west-facing

basins almost like our alpine grass fields.

We sneaked over the lip to sit and

glass the first basin. After some time, JJ

pointed out a loose group of ewes, but

we couldn’t find a ram accompanying

them. He said they could be very difficult

to spot when they were lying down and

often if they sighted you first and they

thought you hadn’t seen them, they

laid their necks down, trying to avoid

detection – and it normally worked!

After some time, he sent Derick off to

walk around the edge of the bluffs,

to see if any further animals could be

spooked. Two separate groups of three

and four ewes, plus another pair zipped

off to disappear in scrub cover in steeper

areas and we were just going to move to

another spot when a lone ram sprinted

through the middle of the basin. He must

have been lying down. He knew where

we were and stopped 400m away on a

knob to watch us; he looked young and

his horns were lacking in forward curl, so

he was safe.

We decided to move to the next

watershed around the corner. Desmond

spotted a large puff adder basking in the

sun. Trackers are very wary of these snakes

• being so deadly – I suppose that’s good

Mountain reedbuck

country, JJ and

Derick

Mountain reedbuck

August / September 2019 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE 23

elbowandsaidhewasstillalive.Hewas

concernedthatinthetightconfinesof
theface,theramcouldbereadytogive

usa pointyproblem.

JJmadethedecision;wewouldall

go.Therewasnoaccessdowninthe
immediateareasowewentbackupto

thetruckanddrovealongtoa verysteep
cutting.JJadvisedustogetoutandwalk;

hewoulddrivedownalone.“Welostthe
bulldozercuttingthistrack”hesaid

“onceI startdown,I’mcommitted– I
won’tgetbackup.”

Heedgedforwardinlow,climbingover

rocksandsledgingdowninplacesbut
madeit toa locationwherewecould

sidleanddropdowntowheretheram

haddisappeared.Wehadtroublefinding

ourwaybacktotheexactlocationbut

finallyspotteda pinkishtreethatwe

hadseenfromabove.Thenwefound

scuffeddirt,hair,spotsofbloodand

brokenfoliage.Tensionwashighaswe

allkeptoureyespeeled,scanningfora

disgruntledbushbuck.

“Overhere”calledJJ“he’sfinished!”

Weliftedtheram,a beautifullymarked

animal,outtoa cleararea.Incredibly,both

shoulderswerebroken,andtherewas

massivechestdamage.I couldn’tbelieve

howhe’dreactedtotheshotgiventhat

he’dbeencompletelyunawareofany

danger.Hishornswerejustunder14”

andI decidedthenthathewouldmakea

greatshouldermount.

Southern Mountain

Reedbuck:

My next hunt was to be after a

species of mountain antelope

quite unique to southern Africa. JJ

explained that these small animals live at

elevations from 1500-2500m upwards all

year round. They like steep rocky slopes

that afford some cover amongst the rocks

and scrub, with access to grass meadows.

They are lightweights at 25kg to maybe

40kg for a big ram, but they look heavier

as they are quite leggy and can really put

on the pace when they need to. Their

mainpredatorsarecaracalandeagles.

Asyouwouldexpect,theircoatsare

quitedifferentfromotherlower-dwelling

antelope,withsoftandwoollygreyish/

fawnfuranda bigfluffytaillikea Whitetail

deer.Theirhornsareshortandbend

forwardatthetips.

Wedrovethroughanareacalled

Geelhoudskloof,whichJJ`sfatherand

familyhadfarmedpreviously,soJJknew

it likethebackofhishand.Hehadhunted

it allhimselfwitha bow.Mostofthefirst

hour’stravelwaswindingupthesteep

tracksinthedarkasweneededtobe

atthehighestpointsonthepropertyat

firstlighttocatchthereedbucksoutstill

feeding.Leavingthevehicle,wewalked

andsidledtoscanintosomewest-facing

basinsalmostlikeouralpinegrassfields.

Wesneakedovertheliptositand

glassthefirstbasin.Aftersometime,JJ

pointedouta loosegroupofewes,but

wecouldn’tfinda ramaccompanying

them.Hesaidtheycouldbeverydifficult

tospotwhentheywerelyingdownand

oftenif theysightedyoufirstandthey

thoughtyouhadn’tseenthem,they

laidtheirnecksdown,tryingtoavoid

detection– andit normallyworked!

Aftersometime,hesentDerickoffto

walkaroundtheedgeofthebluffs,

toseeif anyfurtheranimalscouldbe

spooked.Twoseparategroupsofthree

andfourewes,plusanotherpairzipped

offtodisappearinscrubcoverinsteeper

areasandwewerejustgoingtomoveto

anotherspotwhena loneramsprinted

throughthemiddleofthebasin.Hemust

havebeenlyingdown.Heknewwhere

wewereandstopped400mawayona

knobtowatchus;helookedyoungand

hishornswerelackinginforwardcurl,so

hewassafe.

Wedecidedtomovetothenext

watershedaroundthecorner.Desmond

spotteda largepuffadderbaskinginthe

sun.Trackersareverywaryofthesesnakes

• beingsodeadly– I supposethat’sgood

Mountainreedbuck
country,JJand
Derick

Mountain reedbuck

August / September 2019 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE 23