Have a great hunt. I have a cape buffalo from
Kimberly shot last spring and it was pretty dry then.
Kimberly shot last spring and it was pretty dry then.
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Back to Africa I go!...(I know, I'm crazy)
Originally posted by Selfbowman View Post
Originally posted by Selfbowman View Post
I know what ya mean Arvin! And tell the misses, anytime y'all need anything, do not hesitate to call!!
Each critter I was lucky enough to shoot will stand out in my mind forever, but I'd have to say my first Impala holds a special place. Even though they are one of if not the most common critter in Africa, they've been my nemesis. They are very alert and extremely jumpy. Last year, I made as good a shot as I possibly could have made and the dang thing ducked the arrow like he'd starred in the movie The Matrix. I had nightmares over that for a while. My second shot at Impala came last year on the same trip, a nice ram came in chasing a herd of does and i put an arrow in nearly the exact spot I was looking, but a little bit of a duck again from him caused my arrow to strike a couple inches higher than I'd have liked for it to and he was off into the African brush, only to be seen on my video of the shot from now on. On my return back earlier this summer, I only one solid opportunity to take a big ram, but my focus was on getting my wife her kudu so I'd made a promise with myself (and Lammie too because he knew I don't have much restraint on holding back if I got a good shot at a critter I like, especially pigs [emoji16]) that I wouldn't shoot anything on that sit UNLESS it was a sable. It worked out that morning as she took a beautiful kudu and gemsbuck 15minutes apart. My Impala would just have to wait and I was fine with that.
Fast forward to this trip, when we sat up on this day, we saw a group of Impala on the way to the blind. Upon arrival, Lammie said there was a really good ram in the bunch that was extremely old (11+years old) that he'd placed off limits for a long time due to his size and horn conformity, but was down really bad in weight due to age and the drought. He said if he came in, he'd be extremely recognizable because he'd look like an old man walking and look like skin and bone. As luck would have it, about an 1 1/2 hours in, the old fella made his way into the water hole and looked exactly like Lammie had explained, and with his compressed stature, his horns looked enormous coming in. Slowly, he circled in and made his way to the waterhole. It must have been the one for me, because we gave him every shot in the world to leave out. As Lammie slowly opened the shooting window, it creeped causing the ram to go on alert, but finally calming back down. My turn came next as I was so in tune tiring to focus on what I needed to do that I failed to watch my bow and my tip hit the top of the blind causing it to pop and again alerting the ram. I guess with his age, his hearing and vision were dwindling away as well, because he calmed again and slowly went to drinking. This confirmed to me, this was not happenstance, this was meant to be. I glared thru the window at the spot I wanted to hit, slowly started drawing and in the back of my mind as I drew I thought "go lower". Generally if a thought like that comes into my mind, I let down, start over, and refocus so everything is re-aligned in my mind and muscles, but I was to far in and before I knew it, the arrow blazed a path thru the air and into the Impala in the spot I was glaring a hole thru low on his shoulder and the rest as they'd say is history.
You can see how worn down the old fella was. Definitely wouldn't have made it through to next season.
Lammie inspecting the old fella up close. He had actually started growing a secondary ring on his horns below the main bases which is really rare I guess and not seen very often at all except in old old males.
He really doesn't look as big in pics as he really was as he'd broomed off both tips, but still was in the 25inch range. I was pumped to say the least.
DRT broadhead carried along for the ride and guided by "Neetz"
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkLast edited by MedicineMan7; 09-04-2016, 06:26 AM.Comment
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Congrats on a great tripComment
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Man o man that's awesome .Comment
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That was an incredible shot!Comment
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Back to Africa I go!...(I know, I'm crazy)
The first day found me 18ft up in a tree waiting for a wildebeest to appear. I was setting at a trail intersection where they'd been throwing hay out for the critters (since grass was essentially non existent) and a big wildebeest bull had been frequenting every morning, except for the one I sat there of course. The air wasn't long that morning and I saw lots of critters including a really nice Nyala bull, but I was there for the wildebeest so he got the pass.
Like I said, my sit was short as I was picked up about an hour or so in as they'd spotted the bull I was after at another spot not to far away so quickly we changed plans and I crawled into a popup. As if on que, 10 minutes later I heated loud foot steps to the side of the blind and the bull appeared out of nowhere right in front of me at 20 yards. I calmed mused and waited for the perfect shot to present itself but after 30 minutes all I had was frontal or hard quartering away shots and the bull decided it was time to find other things to do and he walked away without a care in the world.
Checking cameras showed the bull had been frequenting a watering hole so the 3rd day we sat up there hoping he'd make his way there. Animals poured into the spot not just for a drink, but also for the alfalfa [emoji16]. Finally, the bull made his way thru the crowd and gave me a perfect 18 yard shot. I've always had a hard time on dark targets picking a spot to shoot, but thankfully one of his streaks on his hide lent me a good spot to focus on and before I knew it my arrow was in its way. The VPA broadhead and heritage shaft hit just a touch below my spot and buried up in the opposite shoulder. We called the trackers in, but thankfully they weren't needed. Although the bull didn't fall in sight, he only made it a 150 yards before expiring right off the trail. My nemesis had been beat!
This was the 4th animal is been blessed enough to take on my trip, and really completed what I'd wanted out of the trip, to get my Impala and a wildebeest.
They were WAY bigger than I thought they were. When we loaded him on the trailer (or should I say attempted to load), the back of the 4wheeler lifted off the ground.
As Bisch had said, helping guide the arrow was "Durk".
Pretty sure the ol' longbow likes Africa just as much as I do...
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkLast edited by MedicineMan7; 09-09-2016, 03:05 PM.Comment
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Just wowComment
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Love the vid that's great shooting .Comment
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It must be an amazing feeling to be hunting on a continent that holds the beginnings of man with a tool almost as old as the history of us. I loved watching the video great shot!
RichardComment
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