AFRICA HUNTER QUEST©   

    Chapter 37 - THE PILGRIM’S SAFARI: DAY 8   

    The other hunters had gone by the time Donny arrived in the dining hall for breakfast. Donny’s PH was there having coffee. They both had ordered a hot breakfast before heading out. The plan was to travel northwest to a game farm in the Northwest Province. They were to arrive in time for lunch, and could spend the afternoon hunting kudu. The PH was optimistic about their potential opportunities, particularly now that the front had passed through.  

    They quickly finished breakfast, loaded up the truck, and were on their way. Donny felt the travel time could be put to productive use by playing 20 questions with his PH. His hunting experience so far and the politics he had experienced in camp had primed his questions pump.   

    D:    This is my first experience in Africa. Not only that, this is my first experience with hunting any animals bigger than a 150-pound deer. How would you assess performance of my rifle and ammo?     

    PH:    You have been successful with some very challenging shots. I initially took a chance with giving you the green light for anything other than a broadside shot. That gemsbok wasn’t going to give us a better shot than front quartering. The way you handled yourself at sight-in, the accuracy of your rifle, and your obvious comfort dry firing off my sticks all indicated you were likely going to hit what you were aiming at. The bullet was an unknown, but certainly heavy for caliber. Even though I don’t like that particular manufacturer because of typical weight loss from its bullets, I figured it had enough mass for good penetration. It did and has penetrated satisfactorily.   

    D:    Do you like the 270 Winchester as a plains-game chambering?   

    PH:    It can be okay with a premium 150-grain bullet on broadside shots. Rear quartering shots can be a problem. If the bullet doesn’t completely penetrate, the entrance hole doesn’t produce a lot of blood. I consider it minimal with little room for error.    

    D:    Can you make any judgments about bullet performance based on travel distance after the shot?   

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    PH:    Yes and no. Any chambering and bullet combo that consistently results in a recovered animal is satisfactory. The bullet should ideally fully penetrate somewhere in the boiler room for a good blood trail. That is key. If that happens, the resulting travel distance is of no real consequence. If the bullet doesn’t completely penetrate, the entrance hole needs to be large enough for good blood if the nostrils don’t produce any. If not, travel distance could become a concern, particularly on rocky ground where finding actual tracks could be necessary just to identify the direction where confirmatory blood can be found. The longer the travel distance, the greater the odds of finding ground where no sign can be identified. For that reason, I personally begin to get uncomfortable with anything less than a 30 caliber.   

    I like the 9.3s and 375s, but most Americans who hunt strictly plains game don’t use them. Magnum chamberings with deer bullets can be marginal to unsatisfactory. Magnum chamberings require a premium bullet. Even with a premium bullet, drop-at-the-shot can be a flip of a coin with the magnums.    

    D:    You mentioned 9.3s and 375s; are you a fan of big-and-slow bullets?   

    PH:    They just plain work. We hardly ever see North American or European plains-game hunters use them. Some really aren’t interested in the challenge needed to stalk the animals to get close enough for reasonable shots with those chamberings, particularly with something like the 9.3.   

    Besides being slow, the big calibers shoot bullets that are not trendy nor sexy. The BCs are low. They look like land torpedoes. Some hunters fancy themselves as snipers. They only want to use high BC match bullets shot from 7 and 300 magnums from bipods positioned on top of the truck. Most hunters from the eastern U.S. don’t have the experience to shoot them well at long range. Those hunts typically don’t go well. That’s what I thought I was in for when I first saw your rifle.   

    D:    I figured. After being here for a few days, I suspect I really couldn’t do your job. I would have a hard time helping some folks kill animals instead of hunting them. I figure that sometimes you might feel like you are babysitting spoiled brats.   

    His PH shrugged his shoulders.    

    PH:    They have their shopping lists of animals they want to shoot, and aren’t too particular about how they shoot them. The only thing that matters is they do.   

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    Client relations are the toughest part. If a client complains to the outfitter, I may not get rehired. I may even get black-listed if the client has really big money. It’s like any business; you have to give people what they want, within reason, and make money.   

    Getting the client to pay for an unrecovered animal can be very unpleasant. The good news is the outfitters and landowners generally support us when that happens. Even so, it can get ugly.   

    Every once in a while, I get a client who isn’t a very good hunter and really has no clue about safety. Those are the worst. There are times I wish I had a third eye, positioned on the back of my head. With those hunters, shooting off the truck is actually preferable from a safety perspective.   

    Donny nodded in sympathy.    

    D:    Tell me about the property we are going to hunt.   

    PH:    It’s about 12,000 acres of mostly gently rolling terrain. There are some rocky ridges in one portion of the farm. The brush is tall and moderately thick with occasional open spaces. The herd is well managed, and there will be plenty to hunt. While spot and stalk can work most of the time, we also look for fresh tracks crossing the roads. When we find those, we stop and dismount, then follow the tracks into the jess.   

    D:    I have read that they can be a tough hunt. On the hunting shows I have watched, the hunter sometimes comes up dry. What is that possibility on this property?   

    PH:    Finding them won't be all that difficult simply because of the herd number. Getting a good shot will be the greater problem. They hide in the thick stuff. You might be able to see the outline of the animal, but the shoulder could be obscured. If they spot you, they have at least a 200-meter safe space. If you get inside that safe space and they see you, they are gone.    

    They arrived at the new lodge just before noon. His PH had phoned ahead, and box lunches had been prepared for them. The team helped Donny take his baggage to his room. Once he stowed his suitcase, he collected his kit and they immediately started off.    

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    The terrain and vegetation were as his PH had described. There were no open vistas like there had been at the previous property. Abundant and relatively tall brush were prevalent as far as the eye could see. As they trundled along the dirt roads, Donny felt somewhat claustrophobic. The brush seemed to present a visually impenetrable barrier. Where Donny had believed he had been making progress at being able to better identify animals at the other property, this vegetation dragged him back to ground zero. He really couldn’t see anything more than 20 to 30 yards away on either side of the road. His lack of visual cues was beginning to be unnerving. How anybody claimed he could spot animals in these conditions was beyond his comprehension.   

    Donny heard his PH snap his fingers and saw he had signaled the tracker to stop the truck. He was peering intently in the 2 o'clock direction.    

    PH:    (Whispering) Kudu bull.   

    Donny had an immediate adrenaline dump. A kudu stalk. Finally. He was wearing his bino case harness and quickly pulled out his binos. He fixated in the 2 o'clock direction, panning left, right, up and down. Nothing. He felt like a blind man in a women’s nudist camp. The tease was well beyond frustrating to infuriating.   

    His PH motioned for the tracker to continue. While they had been momentarily stopped, Donny felt a light wind on the back of his neck and on his left ear. Not good. They were now trying to get down wind. Donny figured they would stop within ¼ mile, then stalk back to find the bull.    

    And so it was. When they stopped, Donny dismounted and stowed his binos in the truck. Extra weight. Wasted motion. Lack of focus on the shot preparation and the actual shot. He was, after all, the shooter. It irritated him, however, because he wanted a ‘big picture’ view of his intended prize, not the relatively puny one afforded by the field of view from his scope, even on low power.    

    He checked his elevation and windage turrets, congratulating himself as he did so. A shot with a 250-yard zero and 4 minutes of wind correction would virtually guarantee him a Darwin Award podium finish. He rezeroed his scope, cranked it down to its lowest power, then turned on its illuminated reticle. He was taking no chances. He dry-fired off the sticks at bush branches at least 200 yards away. He stuffed the magazine, chambered a round, and put his rifle on safe. He was ready.   

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    They turned right into the bush, wind at their backs. Within 30 yards of the road, Donny knew he was lost. How these men knew exactly where to go was incomprehensible. The combined internal GPS and target-acquisition radar of these men were on par with an F35. The phrase ‘babe in the woods’ surfaced and caught in a cranny of his consciousness.   

    They slowly arced their way back toward the bull. As they arced, Donny felt what little wind there was progressively rotate around to his face. The slow and deliberate pace of his team obviously indicated an elevated stalk mode, as if they expected to encounter the bull within the next step.   

    They slowly advanced for about 20 minutes. The tracker abruptly stopped, then slowly settled onto one knee. Donny and his PH followed in unison. His PH slowly brought his binos up and scanned from 11 to 1 o'clock ahead of them. He fixated on what was apparently the bull at the 1 o'clock position. Donny peered in the same direction, but again could see nothing but brush. He continued to stare and thought he detected some movement through the brush at least 150 yards away. Soon he identified the general silhouette of a kudu, most of which was masked by brush. As best he could determine, the bull was standing in one spot. The movement he had detected was from the bull’s head as it browsed on the adjacent brush.    

    By now, Donny automatically assessed the wind direction. Although he was disoriented by the brush, the wind model suggested by the first sighting from the truck and the stalking strategy adopted by his PH indicated the wind should be hitting the front or right side of his face. It wasn’t. Donny realized there now was no prevailing wind direction. Whenever he did feel any wind on his face, it was on the left side, potentially indicating a change in the prevailing direction. If so, any continued stalking would require a movement to the right to potentially gain whatever downwind advantage they could.   

    Donny smiled faintly as his PH motioned to the tracker to move right. The new strategy appeared to be an arcing maneuver, not really closing the distance, but heavily weighted to identify a clear shot at the bull. They had crept no more than about 5 yards when Donny felt a puff of wind on his neck. He inaudibly groaned; they had likely been busted. About 10 seconds later, Donny thought he heard the muffled sound of an animal running through the brush.   

    PH:    We were winded. I’m going to send the tracker back for the truck. We are going to the road to look for this kudu’s tracks where it crosses.   

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    Donny nodded his head. The PH turned and walked in what Donny thought would be the direction of the road. The presumption was the kudu had run in the direction of the prevailing wind earlier in the morning. They found the road within about 400 yards. His PH immediately turned right and began walking slowly, studying the dirt in the roadway for the kudu’s tracks. Within about 100 to 150 yards, he stopped and pointed to the ground surface.    

    PH:    This is where the kudu bull crossed. He was running at a pretty good clip.   

    By then the truck had arrived.   

    PH:    We’ll lunch, then see what the tracks tell us. It’s possible that he may not have run too far.   

    They quickly ate, then followed the tracker into the bush. They walked at a fairly brisk clip. Apparently, what the tracker could see was ‘obvious’, and Donny inferred that the tracks indicated the bull had been in an all-out sprint.   

    They walked for about 20 minutes. His PH said something in Afrikaans to the tracker, and they stopped and had a short conversation.   

    PH:    He’s still running like blazes. We could continue on, but the odds of finding of him quickly aren’t good. Do you want to continue or try something else?    

    D:    You are the expert. You pick what you think is the best option and that’s what we will do.   

    His PH nodded his head, then turned back toward the road. When they got to the truck, they mounted up and headed in the original direction that they had started.   

    They spent the rest of the afternoon on roads that crisscrossed the site. They came up dry. Donny found that he had trouble maintaining the focused concentration on the brush that was necessary for a glimpse of any animal, let alone a kudu. He supposed that part of it was lack of confidence. He had yet to truly spot anything first from the truck; at best, a distant second to his PH. Constantly scanning the brush seemed almost pointless without the positive reinforcement of at least some success. He suspected that his ineptitude was responsible for overlooking multiple kudu. Nonetheless, he worked at it the entire afternoon. It was psychologically exhausting.   

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    They got back to camp relatively late. Other hunters had gathered around the fire pit with their sundowners. When Donny finally was able to join them, all but one of the hunters had paired up, exchanging stories and experiences of the day.    

    Donny eyed the sole non-participant. He immediately understood why no one was talking with him. He was at least 25 years older than all of the other hunters, but that didn’t really seem to be the issue. It was his demeanor of intolerance. The Old Salt had at least put out the vibe of pleasant indifference. This fellow was somewhat beyond that category, headed toward grouch. Not nearly as overtly grouchy as the Geezer, but on the same playing field working his way toward the red zone. Donny decided to call him Another Old Geezer.   

    Donny was torn. He had just spent an afternoon looking for ghosts and needed something, anything positive as an emotional counterbalance. AOG absolutely did not look like a source of anything positive. But then again, neither had GG. Donny sensed he had some undefined internal topic that needed discussion, something that had yet to be articulated. He knew he needed to talk hunting, and AOG seemed seasoned enough to be way beyond Donny’s limited frame of reference.   

    Donny took a chance and sat down next to AOG.    

    D:    Hey.   

    AOG:     (An almost inaudible grunt)   

    D:    You have any good luck today?   

    AOG:    Nope.   

    D:    Neither did I. I’m here in camp specifically for a kudu. We spotted one from the truck. The wind wasn’t right. We drove on far enough to get the wind reasonably in our favor, then dismounted and put on a stalk. Found the kudu, but got busted by fluky wind. Tried tracking it for a while, but it was in launch mode. Tried spotting the rest of the day and couldn’t find any.   

    AOG:    Is spot and stalk your preferred hunting method?   

    D:    Yes. Either that or walk and stalk. I have decided I’m not going to shoot anything from off the truck.   

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    AOG looked at him and Donny could sense a change in his demeanor.   

    AOG:    First time in Africa?   

    D:    Yes. The experience is addicting. I never realized I had primal wiring until I started hunting here.   

    Donny saw AOG smile faintly.   

    AOG:    What chambering are you using?   

    D:    270 Winchester. I am using a 180-grain bonded-lead core bullet that I've worked up a load for.   

    AOG:    What do you think?   

    The question caught Donny completely by surprise. He was expecting an “I’ll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours” scenario where AOG would immediately share his chambering and bullet combo. The unspoken premise was that each would take the opportunity to underscore the wisdom and correctness of his choice based on the day’s or week’s Africa experience. AOG’s question about his chambering had presented the opportunity for a confessional as well as a testimonial. What had prompted the Ol’ Boy to ask that last question?   

    “Duh,” thought Donny. “I never gave a testimonial.” Donny then realized his subconscious had just identified the topic he felt he needed to discuss.    

    D:    I really don’t know.    

    AOG:    (Nodding his head) I understand.    

    There was an extended silence. AOG was affording Donny the opportunity to talk, if he wanted to. Donny struggled to give some premeditated, logical and coherent summation of the relevant issues, but he couldn’t.   

    D:    I’ve been successful so far. I took to heart what experts in Africa have to say about the 270 Winchester as a chambering and hedged my bet by loading up a heavier bullet. But based on what I have seen in terms of animal reaction and autopsies in the skinning shed, I sense I have been pushing my luck.   

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    AOG:    Luck certainly is involved. The degree of luck is influenced by the degree of risk you take for the outcome you want.    

    There was an awkward silence. Donny knew the onus was on him to continue the conversation, but he didn’t really know where to start.   

    AOG:    Shots at reasonable distances?   

    D:    Yes.   

    AOG:    Hit the spot on the animal you were aiming at?   

    D:    Pretty much.   

    AOG:    Reasonable shot angles?   

    D:    Yes.   

    AOG:    Satisfactory bullet penetration?   

    D:    Yes.   

    AOG:    Puny bullet hole?   

    Donny paused, then smiled ruefully. AOG damn-well knew the answer to that question before he asked it.   

    D:    Yes. I was in the skinning shed and was able to see what a premium 200-grainer out of a 300 Winchester could do.   

    AOG:    (Grinning like a Cheshire cat) To commandeer an old hot rodder’s axiom, there is no replacement for displacement.   

    D:    (Also grinning) And I suppose you shoot a 375 H&H?   

    AOG:    (Bursting out laughing) Used to. I’m now livin’ dangerously with a 35 Whelen.   

    Donny shook his head, smiling.   

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    D:    Another old schooler, preaching the gospel of big and slow?   

    AOG:    (Shrugging his shoulders) Horses for courses. 35-caliber is a proven performer in Africa. If every shot was going to be greater than 300 yards, I’d be using my 300 Winchester. But they’re not. At least three-quarters of the shots I have taken in my three prior trips to Africa have been less than 200 yards. About 90% of them have been less than 300 yards. So, the exception, by far, has been shots greater than 300 yards. I am not inclined to let the exception rule the rule, so-to-speak.   

    D:    Do you use one bullet in your Whelen for all your shots?   

    AOG:    Heavens, no. The work horse is my dual-lead cell 250-grainer. I use that for shots out to about 200 yards. Beyond that, I use a cup and core 225-grainer out to 300 yards. I have stretched that out to 325 yards once, but only because it was a full broadside, prone, off my pack. I really don’t want to take shots that far out. If I do, that’s kindly an indicator I really haven’t earned the animal.    

    D:    Between my friends back home and the hunters I've met over here, you are only the second one with a dual load.    

    AOG:    That’s not like I am setting a precedent. Holland & Holland did it with their 375 H&H over a century ago. Rigby could have done it by selling both 225-grain and 310-grain ammo for their revised rifle chambering based on the 350 magnum. Why they didn’t is lost in antiquity. Maybe had something to do with regulating their doubles. Regardless, I think it would have been a damn-fine idea. Beats having to have two separate rifles.   

    D:    Do you think your 300 Winchester is a satisfactory substitute for your 35 Whelen for what you have determined is your typical shot here in Africa?   

    AOG:    It can be. Bullet selection is critical.   

    D:          Then why have you chosen to use your 35 Whelen?   

    AOG:    Simple. At the end of the day, I believe hole size matters. That simple concept gets drowned out in all the terminal ballistics noise.   

    AOG closely watched the earnest young man sitting next to him. He could see him chewing on his simple tidbit answer. AOG gave him what he believed was sufficient time to metaphorically swallow, but he sensed it never occurred.   

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    AOG:    I look at my hunting as if I had to do it every day to survive on my own. That means eating and avoiding being eaten. In order to consistently eat, I need to do all of my hunting before the shot, not after. My tracking skills are rudimentary and can be considered very poor when compared to those of any hunter born and raised in Africa.    

    So, I am careful. I want to hit them hard. I want a big-a$$ hole that produces lots of internal hemorrhaging and facilitates free drainage from the animal, regardless of complete pass through. I shoot at the boiler room through the shoulder. Neglecting the brain, that is the legitimate, highest percentage hunting target on the animal. I avoid rear quartering shots if I can, but I am confident enough with my Whelen and 250-grainer to take one if I need to.   

    D:    Makes sense.   

    AOG:    Lord knows there is prevalent Africa experience where smaller calibers have worked. Less powerful chamberings have worked. Lots of combinations have worked. What can get overlooked, particularly in the case of Africa hunting, is some of those combinations were made to work because folks were making do.    

    D:    Huh? How so?   

    AOG:    Finn Aagaard gives good accounts of having to ‘make do’ with chamberings and ammo because the accepted or prudent ones were so damn expensive or tough to come by. His 8x60 Mauser was a hand-me-down. I might add that an 8-millimeter is .323 inches, way beyond a 30-caliber. I remember a table in his book that showed that his rifle had over 80 animals to its credit, including zebra, eland, hippo, and buffalo. Except for the hippo, he recognized that in order to make his hand-me-down work across such a broad spectrum of animals, his target had to be the heart. He was a highly skilled hunter and was able to consistently get close enough to hit the heart or take out the plumbing above the heart. The bullets he shot needed to penetrate through stout shoulder muscle and bone to get to the heart. I think that is why he put so much emphasis on shot placement and penetration because his chambering, possibly even his bullet, weren’t what were considered ‘optimum’. At the very least, not ‘preferred’.   

    I’m not that good a hunter. I sure as hell am not the tracker Aagaard was. Not if, but when I miss the heart, I want a big-a$$ hole to ideally perforate both lungs and

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exit the animal. Regardless, I want lots of blood, internal or otherwise, so that I can find the animal if I had to with my hopelessly rudimentary tracking skills.   

    Aagaard actually confessed that there was such a thing as not enough gun. He owned a 22 Hornet that he used on antelope that weighed less than 150 pounds. In order to make that system work, he talked about having to use only broadside shots, keeping the bullet off the shoulder, and missing rib bones when shooting at the lungs. He finally concluded that it was “stupid and irresponsible”, his words, not mine, “to try to make a pipsqueak cartridge work on big game”. So even a fine hunter like Aagaard, a strong proponent of shot placement and penetration, ultimately decided that you could choose a combination that was too small.   

    D:    Makes sense. He used his experience and skill set to determine what was too small. That is a decision I need to work out for myself.   

    AOG:    Exactly. Your comfort zone is different than mine. Your skill set is different than mine. What you decide could be way different than what I have decided. Our comfort zones are likely far removed from Aagard’s.   

    D:    You say you have been in Africa three prior times. What are you after this trip?   

    AOG:    Primarily kudu and nyala to complete my spiral horn slam. Got my eland and bush buck on previous hunts.   

    D:    Whelen and your 250-grainer?   

    AOG:    Yep.   

    D:    Have you gotten your kudu yet?   

    AOG:    No. Got here late this afternoon. We will be going full tilt tomorrow.   

    D:    Tomorrow is my last hunting day. No pressure or nuthin’!   

    AOG:    I hear this property is flush with kudu. Odds are you will find at least one to shoot at.   

    D:    They are calling us to supper. Wonder what’s on the menu tonight?   

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    It turned out to be grilled kudu steak. It was fabulous. There was a full buffet spread like at the previous lodge.    

    They all sat at a large circular table with the other hunters. Everyone had either a 30-caliber or a 7-millimeter magnum. It seemed like most had shot their animals from the truck and were fixated on hunt body count and horn dimensions. The few that hadn’t shot from the truck seemed more interested in talking about the number of steps they had taken on the stalk.   

    Donny excused himself and headed to his room. He needed to update his journal and send some emails. He laid out his clothes and kit, excited about tomorrow’s hunt.

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