|
Part 6
Day 5; July 17th. We left the ranch very early in the morning in order to hunt Red Lechwe at Nelskraal. I had wanted a Lechwe from the first time I mounted one years ago. I know of three species: the Kafue, Black and Red. I never understood where the name "Red" came from as those I've mounted were more of a golden color with black shoulders and front legs. We arrived in the area as the sun began to rise and I saw Steenbok all over the place. What a great area to hunt them. Upon our arrival at Nelskraal, we were greeted by Dalton who is the area game manager. We discussed our quarry and soon were on the road glassing the creek bottoms and ridges rising up above. Every where I glassed there were herds of Impala, Zebra, Gemsbok, Wildebeast, Eland, Nyala and other antelopes. Finally, we spotted a fine ram bedded in one of the creek bottoms. But after staring at each other for no more than a minute, he rose out of his bed and began a curious motion that reminded me of a Whitetail buck trailing a hot doe. His head was down in a sneak position and as he walked he swung his head side to side. "That's what we call the Lechwe sneak" Meyrick commented. As soon as the ram gained some distance, he took off in a gallop, not stopping until he had put several hundred yards between us. Dalton said we would continue to drive around the country side and glass for more rams. We would look for a mature male, and patience is a virtue when hunting in Africa. Not far down the dirt road we spotted another ram bedded down. He was on my left (passengers side outside the US) and as I turned to comment to Dalton, I noticed a fine Impala ram standing skylined on the ridge. I stuck my head out the window and asked Meyrick what he thought about the ram and he immediately told me to gather my rifle. We were off and trailing the ram in a matter of minutes but he had already moved off at a fast pace. We spent the next 45 minutes trying to play catch up but this ram and picked up four mature buddies and the five of them were giving us hell. If they stopped within range: they would be standing in thick brush. If they stopped in the open, they wouldn't stand long enough for a shot: at any distance. I was heaving for air and ready to call off the race, but Meyrick insisted we stay on this ram. We were bumping all kinds of game, going up ridges and down into creek bottoms. Still the hunt continued. Finally, after crossing a high ridge clearing, the rams went through a brushy finger ridge. By the time we arrived to their exit point they had crossed another open field. But this time they had moved behind a large cluster of Acacia. I stayed directly behind my PH and we closed the distance to just over 200 yards. We could see them faintly through the brush and it appeared they would clear to our left. Meyrick set up the shooting sticks and I readied for their appearance. My eyes caught a fleeting Nyala bull out of the bush and my mind raced as this was my number one animal I came to Africa for. I wanted a good bull Nyala! "Here they come" whispered Meyrick. I snapped back into reality and focused my Redfield duplex cross hairs on the mature rams. "Which one?" I asked. "The second one, that's the one we're after" replied my PH. Just as I settled the cross hairs on the ram, the lead Impala started to bolt. I followed my ram a few steps then pulled ahead of him and stopped. As he trotted into my cross hairs, I squeezed the trigger as his shoulder moved into the X. At the moment of impact, the ram lunged forward, coming up on his hind legs. He stumbled and fell...motionless. My .280 did an excellent job once again. As I closed the 220 yards his horns kept getting larger and larger. All I could say when I walked up to him was "Damn, what a nice Impala." He measures 23.5 inches; a good ram Impala for the Cape region and a great trophy for me. I noticed how clean Impala were and this one has a great cape. Time was now 9:30 AM.....Continued....
|