Ranchero Safaris Client Reviews...

 

Memory of the hunt

As a small boy I often accompanied my Father on several hunts throughout South Africa and more often in the Northern parts of our beautiful country, also known as the “bushveld”.

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The elusive Kudu Bull “the phantom of the bushveld” has always been close to my heart, for its pure beauty and stature.

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I finally got the opportunity to hunt this magnificent creature on a visit to Magnus and Jewell Crossberg's at Ranchero Safaris in the Far Northern bushveld close to Messina. This is a landscape guarded by giant Baobab trees, riddled with dry sand riverbeds and with rocky outcrops to breathe in the majestic landscapes stretching out into the African bush.

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Magnus and I jumped into the jeep and off we went to the first prominent koppie (rocky outcrop) to scan for my kudu bull, very often one can catch a glimpse of the “phantom” perhaps crossing a dry riverbed from the rocky vantage point, however no such luck for us on this afternoon.

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I was in for some serious hard stalking on foot , I thought , as we crossed the dry riverbed on foot for the third time. The wind was in our favor and we made the utmost effort to avoid stepping on the dry leaves scattered on the ground. Suddenly a massive Kudu jumped into our sight, catching me completely off guard, all I could utter was a desperate there! over there! As the elusive creature disappeared amongst the mopani trees, a very calm Magnus assured me that we need not be discouraged as that was a young bull and assured me that we would encounter more kudu as we carried on stalking in and around the river bends.

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The sun started to set as we decided to approach a clearing in the mopani veld, a location on the farm that animals are often spotted, maybe this was my chance,

Suddenly, a troop of baboons in the massive Baobab right in front of us, , startled by us, stepping into the clearing. With a hell of a racket the baboons took off into the surrounding bush.

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Silence set in again, Magnus took out his binoculars to get a final view of the clearing.  

Massive Kudu Bull, Over there, Magnus exclaimed pointing towards the side of the clearing just past the Baobab on the left, take dead rest on my shoulder. 

 

At this point I knew that I should not ask questions just act as I steadied my .308 Remington rifle, I saw the magnificent creature filling up my scope sight, with very little time left I placed the cross hair on the Phantom’s chest a little bit low just beneath the bulky neck and gently squeezed the trigger.

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The shot rang out and I knew from the sound of the impact that it was a direct hit, the Kudu Bull fell back and we knew it was down, as we congratulated each other on the successful stalk and result. 

 

My heart dropped to my knees as Magnus very calmly said , “reload again, and shoot” I immediately turned my attention to the kill spot as the kudu darted into bush out of the clearing, Oh NO I thought as we ran towards the commotion, with my rifle held in a safe direction I bashed through the shrubs and small mopanies in our way, were bent like twigs in an effort to find my bull, all of a sudden we heard the thumping of hooves cracking the silence , and off we went into its direction.

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As we broke through the bushes in front of us, I saw the magnificent creature on the ground, down, but still able to possibly make another dash, as my second shot rang out, I knew that this was a successful hunt.

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What an exceptionally magnificent “once in a lifetime” experience, my first kudu bull and it measured 57 inches.

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With thanks and appreciation to Magnus Crossberg from Ranchero Safaris, for “Delivering My Dream”.

Adriaan Venter