African Hunting Gazette – July 2019

http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com 93

progresswithoutspookinganytsessebe.
Atthelastbushbetweenusandtheanimals
westoppedandcheckedthedistancewith
therangefinder.
“Thebullisstandingtotheleftat 38
meters,”Izakwhispered.“Youwillnotget
closerandyouhavetowaituntilheturns
quartering away or broadside but you
bettergetready.It’snowornever,Frank.
It’sShowtime!”
Itwasuptome.I knelt,nockedinthe
arrow quietly, and set the sight on the
correct distance. Stillcalm, I pulled my
bow smoothlyto full draw.I angled my
upperbody a bittotherightfor a clear
shooting window, and aimed with my
sightpinonhisvitals.
I couldfeelmyheartbeatingfast,andit
seemedlikeeternityuntilthebullstepped
to the right and stood quartering away.
I take a deep breathandfinally tap the
triggerofmyrelease.
The arrow was on its
deadlymissionandwithina
splitsecondpenetratedthe
antelope ́sbody.
“Yes,” Izak whispered.
“The arrow is completely
in and you can only see
fletches sticking out.”The
bull jumped, and together with rest of
the herdwas running away. Wetried to
followhisdirectionbeforehedisappeared
betweensomebushes,thenheardnothing
more. We were in suspense. After a
20-minuterestwefollowedthetracksand
bloodtrailfromthespotwherethearrow
hadpenetrated.Atfirstthetrailwasclear
and easy to follow, but after 50 meters
therewasnomoresignofblood.Happily
I had an excellent and experienced
professionalhunteratmysidewhois also
anexperttracker.Hefoundthetracksof
thebullandcarefullywentforwardwith
mefollowing,whenhesuddenly stopped
attheedgeofa bush,shookmyhand,and
huggedme.
“Congrats,welldonemyfriend.Yougot
a tsessebe!” he said. I was surprised and
bewildered.
“Whyareyoucongratulatingme?”
“Lookaround the bush!” he smiled. I
did,andtherewasmyfine tsessebebull.
Overcome, I knelt down, and evaluated
themagnificentanimal.Ithadagainbeen
an incredibleandchallenging experience
with bow and arrow, and finally I was
able to take this magnificent animal.
After some great pictures we radioed the

Happyhunteranda happyPH.

There were

plenty of eyes,

ears and noses

farmertopickusup,andwhenhearrived

and saw the bull, the joy was complete

• a happy farmer, happy
  professional hunter and
  happybowhunter.
  Once more a
  tremendously good
  hunt with unforgettable
  impressions and memories
  together with my friend
  and PH Izak Vos from
  Vos Safaris in South Africa. Shoot
  straight, takecare,always good hunting,
  “Waidmannsheil”and“Allesvandiebeste”.

GermanhunterFrankBerbuiris passionate

abouttheoutdoorsandhunting– especially

bowhunting, which he has practised for more

Equipment:

Bow:MathewsZ7x@ 70 lbs

Arrow:CarbonExpressMaxima

Hunter 350

Broadhead:SilverflameXL2-Blade

@ 125 grain

Optics:ZeissVictory Binocular & Nikon

Rangefinder

Release:Scott

Camo: Sniper Africa

The rather comical common tsessebe or

sassaby (Damaliscus lunatus lunatus) is

one offive subspecies ofAfrican antelope

DamaliscuslunatusofthegenusDamaliscus

and is most closely related to the topi,

korrigum(Senegalhartebeest)andbontebok

in the same genus. The name tsessebe is

derived fromthe Bantu Tswana language,

“tshesebe”.Abletorunatspeedsupto 90

km/h,theyare foundprimarilyinAngola,

Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,

Swaziland, and SouthAfrica. Males weigh

137 kg and females weigh 120 kg, on

average. Their bodies are chestnut brown.

Thefrontsof theirfacesandtheirtailtuftsare

black;theforelimbsandthigharegreyishor

bluish-black.Theirhindlimbsarebrownish-

yellowtoyellowandtheirbelliesarewhite.

Bothsexesgrowhorns- those ofthemale

are generally between 37 and 40 cm, females’

hornsbeingslightlyshorter.Formales,horn

size plays an important role in territory

defenseandmateattraction,althoughhorn

sizeis notpositivelycorrelatedwithterritorial

factorsofmateselection.Tsessebearesocial

animals butdeclaretheir territorythrough

a variety ofbehaviors. Territorialbehavior

includes moving in erect posture, high-

stepping,defecatingina crouchstance,mud

packing, shoulder-wiping, and grunting.

The most important aggressive display of

territorial dominance is in the horning

of the ground. Anotherfar more curious

form of territory marking is through the

anointingoftheirforeheadsandhornswith

secretionsfromglandsneartheireyes.They

aregrazersthatutilizea widerangeofgrass

species,butselecttheleafoverthestems.

Theypreferfreshgrowth, and are attracted

to burnt areas.

than 19 years.Althoughhe’sbowhuntedin

several countries, he’s become addicted to

hunting in Africa since his first safari in

2004. Frankis a mechanicalengineerand
      risk manager in the automotive industry.

Bowhunting – South Africa 2018