CONVENTIONAL HUNTING

Slow down – discover a different world

LONG-RANGE HUNTING has been the rage for quite some time now; proof of this lies in the popularity of long-range precision calibres such as the 6.5 Creedmoor and the .338 Lapua. The .30-06 Springfield, .308 Win and .243 Win seem to have kept their positions as top sellers, but it seems to me the classic hunting calibres such as the .303, the 7x57 and even the venerable 9.3x62, are all but forgotten. Let me be clear: I have nothing against the new, sleek, aluminium-stocked, muzzle-braked, hightech tools; these rifles certainly have their place and their purpose. To each his own.

For the past couple of years, videos have been doing the rounds on social media, showing shooters picking off blesbuck at vast distances. Undoubtedly most of these shooters are crack marksmen and in most videos I’ve seen, they execute a clean and highly efficient kill. However, when I watch these videos, it always feels as though something essential is missing.

Long gone are the safaris of old where a client would spend a month or two with a PH, pursuing twenty-odd representative trophies at leisure. Local hunters rarely spend more than a weekend or long weekend on a hunting trip. Escaping the rat-race to spend just a few days in the bush with family, friends or colleagues is the norm. So much effort goes into those precious few hours we have available for hunting, that it is essential to make the most of this time.

The smoky taste of fire-boiled coffee in the morning, the icy early morning travel on the back of a bakkie to the drop-off point, and the great camaraderie around a campfire are all just side-dishes to the main event. To fully savour the experience and immerse yourself in the bush, to really see and absorb nature, not merely notice it, I believe there are few better ways than stalking until close to your quarry. This involves all the senses; it forces you to be keenly aware of your surrounds and, in the case of the weekend hunter, momentarily isolate yourself from human interaction.

Ideally, you should hunt alone, but since most landowners insist that a guide accompany you, he should be there merely to witness the action – you should be the hunter. All too often, the hunter merely trudges after the guide, not noticing his surrounds. I am

not saying you shouldn’t follow instructions from a PH or a guide; I am merely suggesting that during these hunts, the initiative should be from the hunter, not the guide.

SUCH HUNTING INVOLVES moving slowly and unseen through the bush, with the minimum of noise. It involves much stopping, listening and watching. The idea is to let nature carry on with what it is doing, with as little disturbance from you as possible. While this is achievable in dense parts of the bushveld, you should not attempt this in the Karoo unless you’re willing to crawl for very long distances.

During the stalk you will be able to take note of the world of nature: the termites or ants on the tree next to you, the toktokkie hiding under the fallen rooibos leaf, the trapdoor spider’s nest, and much more. If you are very lucky, you may come across the spoor of a female leopard and her two small cubs. These are the kind of delicate

details that emerge when you move slowly.

In ideal conditions, the quarry can even be moving towards you, which is far more desirable than your crashing through the bush towards it. You should see the quarry before it scents, hears or sees you. If you hear the alarm pfrrrr from a wildebeest or the bark of a kudu before you’ve sighted either one, you have already blown it.

Slow stalking in bushveld does not guarantee success, but you will learn from your mistakes and steadily improve your skills. And you will enjoy the challenge so much more. Some of my most memorable experiences have occurred

during such stalks.

MANY YEARS AGO, while still in high school, my brother and I were meat-hunting for farm rations near Waterpoort, north of the Soutpansberg. Armed with an open-sighted .303 Jungle Carbine, we were moving slowly from tree to tree at the foot of a koppie, using mopane and lekkerbreek trees as cover. Suddenly we saw leaves moving and there, less than five metres away, was a massive kudu bull, browsing, blissfully unaware of our presence. Branches obscured his body, and, being young and over-eager, instead of waiting for him to move, we acted too hastily. He escaped unharmed, but to this day the memory lingers with me. On another occasion, while out with only a camera, I had a warthog make a U-turn within arm’s length of me after it had trotted right up beside me. It was hilariously funny to see it speed off.

Last year, in early August, I was in Marken to hunt blue wildebeest in a unique setting. The farmer was removing the wildebeest because he was putting cattle into the area, which are susceptible to bovine malignant catarrhal fever, also known as snotsiekte, of which wildebeest are carriers. There were about five wildebeest remaining in the camp which was located on the rockstrewn slope of a mountain, covered with large trees beneath which grew seemingly impenetrable clumps of kruisbessie bushes. The ground was covered with dry leaves, and my stepping on these sounded like crackers going off, echoing through the forest. I was forced to move very slowly, and it took me almost three hours to catch up with the wildebeest. When I finally did, they were extremely close, rendering the scope on my .308 more of a hindrance than a help. I let them go, not wanting to take unnecessary chances on wildebeest in such unforgiving terrain.

Should I have taken the shot? I think not. Being sure of the result of your shot is crucial and cannot be over-emphasized. So many weekends are ruined by hastily-taken shots which result in wounded and sometimes lost animals. I returned empty-handed. Nevertheless, this exciting close-up experience made my whole trip worthwhile.

So the next time the call of the wild takes you to the bushveld, consider slow hunting and getting up really close. I am sure you won’t be disappointed. There is enormous satisfaction in learning to be a skilled hunter.

Slow stalking in bushveld does not guarantee success, but you will learn from your mistakes and steadily improve your skills. And you will enjoy the challenge so much more