Hunting in Africa
Greater Kudu, taken in Africa
Kudu (approx. 350 kg)
The ice has broken at last
with the success of the Steenbok. With new impressions and ideas in my mind
we got out for the last morning out in the African bush. Frank drove his
Jeep to the bumpy way. The savannah was this morning in a beautiful light.
We saw herds of Oryx on the left and right side of the pad. It is not a
joke –at least after fifteen minutes we saw some animals. “Today we
will go to the Wolfs Hills” Frank said to us before lightning a cigarette.
After a half our drive to the Hills we climbed this hills. From this point
we had a marvelous view into the bush. Martin our tracker discovered some
Oryx and some Kudu cows. Suddenly Frank spotted one nice Kudu bull 500
yards ahead of us. Martin and my hunting guide discussed a short moment in
Afrikaans I couldn’t understand. The decision was taken – we should try
to stalk this bull. “Right over there is a big three at that clearing.
There is a nice bull...” Frank said to my wife. The Kudu bull was feeding
quietly. We started our stalk to the bull. Meanwhile Martin and my wife
just stayed at the top of the Wolfs Hills observing the bull and our
actions.
Our hunting guide knew the area very well. The farm is more than 88 square
kilometers big. “I saw a lot of our beautiful World like Europe, North of
America, Alaska, Canada, Asia, Australia,
Nepal,
India and more but Franks
hunting farm is a jewel, a beautiful paradise” I was lost in thought.
“Please stay right behind be…” Frank was interrupting my mind. “…
we have to be very careful because there are two Oryx bulls and they can
destroy the hunt”. My pulse rate was speeding up – the tripod was at the
same moment ready. I only saw the right shoulder of the Kudu bull but the
rest I was not able to see. The Kudu was standing behind a bush. And before Frank jailed I pulled the trigger
and the bullet were out of the barrel. The Kudu was hit exactly at the
aiming point and he did a full circle and after he went down for good. The
distance was less than 60 yards. Stalking this bull was a great job. In was
very proud of myself!
I put the empty case into my jacket pocket. The Kudu did only 8 yards before he went down. A perfect shot. The bullet entered to the right shoulder, wounded the lungs, stroke thru the left rips but did not exit.
This
trophy is one of the most beautiful trophies taken by me ‘till now. The right
horn has a length of 44 ¾ inches and a circumference at the base of 10 3/5
inches. The left horn has a length of 45 ½ inches and at the base a
circumference of 10 3/5 inches as well. This trophy scored 282.6 points,
which missed the bronze medal for less than 10 points. The weight of this
bull was approx. 350 kg.
We
found the well-formed bullet. After recovering the bullet I determined that
the copper jacket was separated from the lead. The weight of the bullet was
approx. 70%.
Conception & Realization: Collani Interactive