36 http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com
inthethickbushandradioedJohantomove
theretohavea look.It wasbothexcitingand
nerve-racking to watchthe situation unfold
asJohanandScottslowlymovedthroughthe
bushhopingfora glimpseofwhatappearedto
beverynicekudu. I wasliterallyontheedge
of a rockwiththebinocularsweldedto myface
soasnottomissa singlemoment. Justthen,
wesawa thirdkudu! It wasanoldbull,allby
himself,anddefinitelythelargestofthethree.
Therewasoneslightproblem. Wecouldnot
warnthehuntersforfeartheradiowouldspook
thekudu. FreddieandI glancedat eachother
andshookourheadsindisbelief. Thiswasa
situationwherehuntingskillcombinedwitha
littleluckwoulddeterminetheoutcome.
ScottandJohanspookedthetwobullswhich
quickly moved toan area very close to the
thirdlargerkudu. Asthehunterscontinued
their stalk,they saw the three animals, and
Scott quickly took a shot. His Browning,
X-bolt Medallion, 300 WSM, with Barnes
TTSX 165grand LeupoldVX3 4-14scope
echoed,andthekuduallmovedfurtheraway.
I wonderedif hisbullethadmadecontac
orif thequickshothadresultedina miss. A
verytensesituationseemedtoworsen. I felt
utterlyhelplesswatchingthedramafromhigh
above. Wehadnochoicebuttostayputand
letthesceneplayout. Asthehunterspursued
thekudutheyagainspiedthebullsandScott
tooka secondshot.
“Hegothim!” Freddieturned to me with
a bigsmile.
“Whichone?”I asked.
“Thebigone.” AsScottwasstridinginthe
directionofhisprize,I couldn’tgetdownfast
enoughfrommyhighposition.Howthrilling!
Onhislastday,aftermanyhopefullongand
tiringhunts, Scott finallygothis kudu, the
“GreyGhost”ofAfrica.
ScottandJohanwerebeamingasbothhad
workedsohardtomakeit allcametogether.
Aftersharingstoriesandmakingsurewehad
plentyofphotos,Scott’skuduwasloadedinto
thetruckforitsjourneytotheskinningshed.
Scottendedhissafaribytakingtenanimals,
severalofwhichqualifiedfortheSCIRecord
Book,includinghiskudu.EricKrichbaumalso
hada tremendousweekandtookeightanimals
includinghislong-awaitedbluewildebeest,a
zebra,nyala,andofcoursehissable.
I enjoyed being with Scott on his first
safari,andsharingthesplendorofAfricawith
him. Forthefirst-timehunterinAfrica,it is
anentirelydifferentexperience– almostlike
a dream,yetliving it firsthand.Many times
I havereflectedonmyfirstsafariandhowI
wascertainI wouldonlyvisitAfricaonce.But
mylisthadgrown,andI hadfinallytakenmy
kudu on the morning of the last day. Andhavingaddedoneortwoanimalstothesalt.
Manytimeshetookanimalsthatwerenoton
hislist. Eachonehada specialstoryandset
ofcircumstancesthat leadhimtodecidehe
shouldseizethemomentandtakewhatAfrica
offered.Eacheveningafteranexcellentdinner
therewouldbea longlitanyofanecdotesof
successfulhunts,ofanimalsthatgotaway,and
ofsomethatendedinthesalt. Theseevening
storiesaroundthelapaareamongmyfavorite
times. It was another amazing day in an
enchanting land. Oh, how I love Africa!South Africa: 2018
The author and his long-awaited beautiful roan antelope.ScottWinklerwithoutfitterandPH Freddie van Zyl of African Trophy Pursuit, and the
wonderful last-morning kudu.On ourthirddayEricended bytracking
a wounded sable, but he and the trackers
found it the next morning. Unfortunately,
hyena and jackal had found it first, which
sometimeshappensina landwherepredators
areabundant.
Finally,onthe lastday,Scott’sPH,Johan
BothaandFreddieweredeterminedScottwas
togethiskudu. FreddieandI decidedtogo
toa highpointonthe concessionwherewe
couldseethebushveldbelow.Aftera coupleof
hours glassing, we spotted two nice kudu bulls