Hunting in Africa
The Oryx, taken in Africa
Oryx (approx. 280 kg)
Oryx seems to be the toughest animal in Africa. There are some mystic
stories about the toughness of this animal. One evening Frank told us a
story about tracking a huge Oryx bull for nearly 8 miles after hitting not
good enough. From the ammo point of view I was quite sure that the cartridges
should work well. At this morning we drove by Jeep to a waterhole called
“Buxtehude”. Frank controlled the status of the basin. Water is one of
the most important think in the African bush. Afterwards be began with our
stalk. After ten minutes stalking thru the bush we saw thee Oryx in approx.
400 yards from us away. They directly came toward to us. We stalked to the
next three. My boots were squeaking because of the sandy and dusty ground.
That's the reason I got the nick name
“Collani – the squeaking foot...” from my hunting guide Frank.
I was prepared with the tripod model “Stoney Point”. “Please look at the first bull on the left – he is a really old guy, the other two are less old” Frank said to me. From my experience I estimated the distance not more than 90 yards. I took the crosshair of my Zeiss Diavary 3-12X56 on the left front side of the shoulder. And even before Frank could yell I hit the Oryx at the left leg. The animal’s signs were like a horse, trying to get rid of the rider. He runs away to the left side for approx. 80 yards. “Well – you hit the animal” Frank said to me before he took a cigarette out of his jacket. “Lets wait for a moment”. After waiting 10 minutes we got to the place who I hit the bull. There were no blood signs. But Frank was an experienced hunting guide. He saw some signs in the sand and he exactly could tell me where I hit the animal. “Frank – look over there approx. 50 yards, the bull is lying down nearby a bush”. I took my binoculars and had a look to the bull. He was still alive. “Bend down quickly…” Frank said. The tripod was ready for a clear neck shot. I shot the second bullet and the Oryx didn’t move any longer.
We only found the bullet from the second neck shot. The first shot hit the bull exactly the left shoulder, penetrated thru one of the lungs, the liver and the milt before the bullet remained in the stomach. The second shot also didn’t exit but the bullet worked well and expanded like the typical mushroom form but the lead separated from the copper jacket. This bullet was covered and the rest weight was approx. 65%. After taken the pictures we tried to get the Oryx into the Jeep. At least at that moment we knew this animal has to be a lot heavier as expected... Only with the cable winch it was possible to get the animal into the Jeep.
This Oryx bull was scored as a silver medal bull. Both of the horns have a length of 31 ½ inches and the base have a circumference of 8 ¼ inches. Therefore the total sum of points is 202. The Oryx had a weight of more than 280 kg. Frank told us that it is not normal that an Oryx bull will achieve such weights.
Conception & Realization: Collani Interactive