Today, we are staying close to home. Ray said we’re going to hunt on their ranch, the one surrounding the lodge, because there are a lot of nice springbuck just a few miles back. Since we were in the dead of their winter, combined with a severe drought that they were having, I knew this was going to be my last hunt. We’d seen only a few young warthogs up ‘til now because they’d either moved out of the area when the water holes dried up or they were hollowed up in their burrows. In any case, I could tell we weren’t likely to find a shooter on this trip.
We’d seen a lot of springbuck though during my other hunts, enough to whet my appetite for this one.
We’ve had the most ideal hunting weather so far that I’ve ever had on an extended hunt like this. Seven days out of the eight have been cool, clear & calm. Come to think of it, everything has turned out better than I expected it to be, the hunting, the cozy bush lodge, all the meals as well as our hosts. Ray Kemp and his Lalapa Safaris operation has been outstanding from start to finish.
Yet another fresh, sunny afternoon greeted us as we finished lunch and headed into the terrain behind camp. About a mile in, we encountered our first springbuck, a small group of two or three ewes and one nice looking ram. “A pretty good one” according to Ray. “A pretty darn good one” if you asked me. I was ready to line him up! “But I think we can do better,” he finished.
These are some of the prettiest little animals I’ve seen on the plains, with their white and tan bodies shining like gemstones in the sun, making the jet black horns of the rams appear heavier than they really are. And they don’t stick around very long in the one place either. My eyes were still admiring the ram as we eased on down the road.
Past the next rise, another springbuck ram grazed near the edge of the plateau we were on. He looked like a ‘sure enough’ shooter to me too, but Ray wanted to continue on since it was still early. “If we don’t bother him, he won’t go too far,” Ray explained as we cruised slowly away. This was a lesson I’d learned from previous hunts. We always took our time and were careful not to push the animals too hard. We kept on at a steady pace, and eventually we always got our shot without spooking them out of the country.
Another thing I learned about these springbuck is that they never seem to be too far from an escape route. As we dipped down into a narrow valley coming off that mesa, I spotted more tiny white antelope on the crest of next hill, a half mile ahead, and up, at the same time Ray was tapping the top of the cab for the cruiser to stop.
“Oh this is the one! This is our boy,” Ray said still peering through his binoculars, “That’s a good ram.” Immediately my pulse quickened. Blood pressure went up.
Meantime, Lalapa’s other PH, Scotty, had ridden along with us to help me in the shooting chair and so Ray could video the hunt, so the planning began for our final stalk of the trip. Since the trail we were on lead straight up to the top of the hill where the ram now stood watching us, we decided to take it. Even if we pushed him over the other side, we figured we could catch him in the wooded valley somewhere. The hunt was on!
Halfway to the top, about 200 yards away (as usual), antelope started going over the skyline. That sent us backtracking so we could take the low road that wound around to the other side instead of going up. But when we got to where we could see them, our ram wasn’t with the herd. He had backtracked too! Standing defiantly at the top of the hill, he stood there glaring down on us. We had no choice but to turn around and try it again.
This time, when we were partway up and he peeled off the ridge out of sight, we kept going to the top to try and spot him from above. We eased on up. Once on top, Ray jumped out and snuck over to the edge to locate him. There were two rams in the group and Ray wanted to make sure we were on the right one. He found him right away. They were still close to the bottom of the slope but we needed to back up about 50 yards before moving out to the ledge.
One of the most beautiful hunting scenes appeared below me as we rolled into position. A golden grassy savannah, dotted with green acacia trees, sprawled away below us into the valley landscape. The sun was to our back and dark blue-grey mountains loomed in the distance. Several springbuck grazed below, their bright colors dazzling in the afternoon rays. There was no breeze and it fell deafly quiet after the cruiser was shut off. My ‘big’ ram was below with the rest of the herd, calmly grazing now and picking his way through the trees.
We were also parked in some cover, which was great but I only had one narrow window where I could see clearly to the valley floor. That meant I’d have to wait. It also meant I’d have to turn the whole chair at angle to shoot, which left me with nowhere to anchor my left arm like I had on all my previous shots. Awkward? Yes. But not impossible. While Scotty held the chair steady, I waited anxiously, fixing the scope on the place where I though I might be taking the shot. Slowly he stepped closer. Ray filmed, and my anticipation grew with every passing second.
All our whispered questions, answers and directions got progressively
more serious as my ram neared the gap. When I could see him just about to
reach it, I leaned into the scope for the last time. Seemed like only seconds
and he was there! Boy did he look small and far away.
I still don’t know how I ever held it still on him long enough to squeeze a shot, but once again the rifle cracked! The springbuck ram was hit perfectly. He barely made half a circle before flipping over backwards.
My first safari ended with one of the most elegant animals on the plains, also one of the smallest, a common springbuck ram.
