Hunting The Moyowosi 2008

Part III

We just got back to camp at about, and a delicious steak was waiting for us. Rene and Leoni Vincent, Wayne behind them, Dale Right, the man who manages the camps so well, and Paul Olivier

We are about to leave Fish Eagle Camp, and head to the Malagarasi Camp. Paul and the camp manager are sorting out some paper work, Dwight and Walter are sharing a laugh, and Leoni is looking with amusement at the rest of us

As you can see, the road was very muddy, and the truck was over loaded. Despite this, the "papparazzi" have no rest. No matter what one does, there seems to be at least one other person who takes his pictures!

Well and truly stuck. The wheels turn and the truck remains in place. The mud here is incredible. It sticks to you like super glue. And each time you put your foot down another layer stick to it.

There are workers and there spectators. The spectators are full of advice, most of the time it is not appreciated by the workers!

You can see how the mud sticks to my foot

The Malagarasi camp, hidden behind those trees across the river

These were displayed on our mess tent, and got me thinking. We have had a few discussions here about people feeling that one should not shoot an elephant or buffalo further than touching distance. I suggest they use these weapons so they can claim they are hunting "dangerous" game

On our way to our machan

Our wonky machan as it looks from the river

Precarious position to be in. There were holes in the floor big enough for the rifle to fall through. And one should be careful one does not nod off. A slight leaning forward is all it takes for a headlong drop into the watery mass below. All exciting stuff.

Alan is looking for my pocket camera, which fell out of my pocket, and into the undergrowth. Luckily, there was no water there. And despite the LCD getting a crack in it, it continued to function and still working!

We went by boat, and the rest of the crew went by car. They got to our hippo before us. The hippo is underwater just ahead of us in this photo

Recovery process in progress

See what Walter means when he says "paparazzi"?

Our hippo had one eye missing, a perfect candidate for our Out Circle Club!

Our hippo was a real fighter. He had several fresh wounds on his face and body. You can see one on the lower part of his lip

The bullet as we found it in his neck. He was facing us when I shot him. The bullet hitting him in the center of his nose, going through the brain and stopping in the neck

This is the entry to our second machan. Martin, our boat driver, had to put this silver paper mark to find the place.

The view from our second machan. The sitatunga  came out from the furthest part of the papyrus that you can see to the top right hand of the photo.

Alan on his way to our sitatunga. The grass is floating on water

Our sitatunga as we found him. Notice how he is sinking into the water. You can also see the bullet hole just under his ear

Notice the feet.

Two generations of the Vincents. It is wonderful to hunt with friends one has known for so many years, and shared so many campfires with

Dwight had some difficulty to stop laughing at Walter's jokes. The look on Paul's face says "is this guy part of the human race?"

We drove around for hours looking for buffalo tracks. We found several herds, but none was fresh enough to follow. Then suddenly we see this bull jump out of the bush a few yards away from us. He actually came around the bush, and we thought he might charge the car! He had other thoughts, and ran off. We ran after him, and saw him standing looking back at us. He was facing us at a slight angle. I aimed to put the bullet into his chest-neck junction. He moved his head just as I was pulling the trigger. The bullet hit him in the head, just under the horn over the left eye. It came out under the horn in the rear, went into the neck again, out again, and into his back! He dropped at the shot, and we ran towards him. As we got closer, he got up, and started turning around on wobbly feet. He dropped down again, and stood up. I thought I better put an end to him, and finished him off.

His tail was broken at the base, and cut off too. Another candidate for our Outer Circle Club.

You can see the very deep boss this bull has

He looked very healthy, but there sems to be a large number of parasites in his stomach

A small frog we found on the tail of the croc we shot

Alan is comparing his feet to the foot of the croc

I took this photo while we were driving down the river in the boat. These birds were nesting for the night

Our 15' 1" croc

Alan is pointing to the entry and exit points of the bullet. The croc was facing away from us, about 100 yards away

Walter, of course, has his own unique way of posing with a trophy

The 375 sure looks like a very small caliber next to his teeth

A small snake we found in the store eating a small frog

Alan has a live snake in his hands. We do not know what it was. The same day René found two snakes near their tent

A dug out canoe made from the trunk of a palm tree. Notice the water clearance at the back.

Mist rising off the river early in the morning

An oribi we shot for a BBQ, and very delicious it was too

On our last day of hunting, we went looking for buffalo. Not far out of the camp, we came across the fresh tracks of a herd of buffalo and started following them. About 5 ks later we caught up with them, and as the wind was favorable for a change, we managed to get parallel to them, and shot this old bull.

We left the trackers to skin him, and walked back to the truck. On the way we saw a herd of topi, and as meat was wanted at the camp, I shot this bull.