Alex Svenson
08-23-2008, 11:10 AM
Tuesday August 20, 2008
I was up early for my second day of hunting. With an Impala under my belt, and the rust knocked off, I had my sights clearly set on a larger trophy, a Zebra. My wife was not horribly excited with the prospect of me hunting in Africa, and the one thing she asked for was a Zebra skin rug, so I knew I could not come home empty handed.
After a great breakfast, we made our way up a rocky mountain in our 4 x 4 in search of a herd of zebra we had heard had some sizable males. The terrain was extremely rocky and at times I had to shift from side to side in the truck to keep it evenly weighted. By the time we stopped to start our stalk, I was already soar from hanging on for dear life over the last hour in the car. After a great deal of walking up and down ravines, we finally found our herd. The Zebras were magnificent and as soon as we approached they caught our scent the stalk became increasingly difficult as we pushed them from hill to hill. After several hours, the Zebra made a big push and we reasoned we would not be able to catch them.
With a few hours left before lunch, we took the 4 x 4 down some dirt trails looking now for signs of other game. At about 1030 we located a herd of Blue Wildebeest at the top of a hill. I had not planned on hunting Wildebeest, but without much else to do before lunch, I figured we would hike up to take some pictures and perhaps hunt one if I found a male to my liking. As we started our hike and got closer and closer to the herd, we saw fresh signs of a small group of Zebra. Interestingly enough, Zebra tend to stay close to Wildebeest as many of the predatory animals like lions and leopards prefer Wildebeest to Zebra so by staying close, they lessen their likelihood of being something’s dinner. The droppings and prints indicated we might be lucky and come across some on our way to the Wildebeest so I switched the safety off on my rifle to be ready for a quick shot. Sure enough, about a mile into our hike, we spotted a few beautiful Zebra about 200 yards away in the trees. I hit the ground and we surveyed the herd. Sure enough there were several strong males that would make excellent trophies so we studied the wind and followed their direction until it was time to start the stalk. Fortunately, we were downwind from the start so the Zebra were not aware of our presence. I slowly made my way to within 160 yards before I had a decent shot. The Zebra was still in front of a few twigs, which made me concerned, I may nick a branch that would set off the lead on my .375, but I reasoned that trying to get closer would draw their attention to my position. I steadied my rifle and took a shot. Immediately I saw the Zebra go down and I assumed my shot reached its intended target of the Zebras shoulder. It began a quick sprint and soon we were off tracking the animal from the point where it took its first hit. Following the tracks for a quarter mile, I stumbled back on the Zebra which had set down about 150 yards away from where I was standing on an adjacent hill. I took aim and fired a final show into its heart and quickly made my way to collect my trophy.
The Zebra proved to be in excellent condition. I sent the skinner back to the truck to bring it up the hill and hoped it would make it. The heavy carcass would be too much for us to move on our own. After 45 minutes we gave up on our truck as the rocky and trees made passing too difficult. We used our radio to call on a local resident with a Land Rover who had no trouble reaching us within an hour. After backing in the flat bed of the truck, it took six of us to hoist the zebra up onto the truck. When we had it secured we were met with our next obstacle, the Land Rover would not start. With no other options we, cleared a trail for our 4 x 4 and made it up the hill to transfer the Zebra.
After a long morning we took a break before heading out to another property in search of more animals. As we drove along the ridge we spotted a good spot with lots of tracks. We made our way across several fields before find a massive heard of Blesbuck. These animals are magnificent and there were hundreds of them feeding. Unfortunately, the heard was no stranger to hunters and like the Impala from the day before kept just out of my range at all times. Satisfied with my Zebra and exhausted from the morning hunt we decided we call it a day. As we made our way back to camp the coldness set it. It was unseasonably cool for this time of year and when the temperature drops, the animals tend not to move around much which gave me hope we would find the same herd of Blesbuck close by the next morning.
I was up early for my second day of hunting. With an Impala under my belt, and the rust knocked off, I had my sights clearly set on a larger trophy, a Zebra. My wife was not horribly excited with the prospect of me hunting in Africa, and the one thing she asked for was a Zebra skin rug, so I knew I could not come home empty handed.
After a great breakfast, we made our way up a rocky mountain in our 4 x 4 in search of a herd of zebra we had heard had some sizable males. The terrain was extremely rocky and at times I had to shift from side to side in the truck to keep it evenly weighted. By the time we stopped to start our stalk, I was already soar from hanging on for dear life over the last hour in the car. After a great deal of walking up and down ravines, we finally found our herd. The Zebras were magnificent and as soon as we approached they caught our scent the stalk became increasingly difficult as we pushed them from hill to hill. After several hours, the Zebra made a big push and we reasoned we would not be able to catch them.
With a few hours left before lunch, we took the 4 x 4 down some dirt trails looking now for signs of other game. At about 1030 we located a herd of Blue Wildebeest at the top of a hill. I had not planned on hunting Wildebeest, but without much else to do before lunch, I figured we would hike up to take some pictures and perhaps hunt one if I found a male to my liking. As we started our hike and got closer and closer to the herd, we saw fresh signs of a small group of Zebra. Interestingly enough, Zebra tend to stay close to Wildebeest as many of the predatory animals like lions and leopards prefer Wildebeest to Zebra so by staying close, they lessen their likelihood of being something’s dinner. The droppings and prints indicated we might be lucky and come across some on our way to the Wildebeest so I switched the safety off on my rifle to be ready for a quick shot. Sure enough, about a mile into our hike, we spotted a few beautiful Zebra about 200 yards away in the trees. I hit the ground and we surveyed the herd. Sure enough there were several strong males that would make excellent trophies so we studied the wind and followed their direction until it was time to start the stalk. Fortunately, we were downwind from the start so the Zebra were not aware of our presence. I slowly made my way to within 160 yards before I had a decent shot. The Zebra was still in front of a few twigs, which made me concerned, I may nick a branch that would set off the lead on my .375, but I reasoned that trying to get closer would draw their attention to my position. I steadied my rifle and took a shot. Immediately I saw the Zebra go down and I assumed my shot reached its intended target of the Zebras shoulder. It began a quick sprint and soon we were off tracking the animal from the point where it took its first hit. Following the tracks for a quarter mile, I stumbled back on the Zebra which had set down about 150 yards away from where I was standing on an adjacent hill. I took aim and fired a final show into its heart and quickly made my way to collect my trophy.
The Zebra proved to be in excellent condition. I sent the skinner back to the truck to bring it up the hill and hoped it would make it. The heavy carcass would be too much for us to move on our own. After 45 minutes we gave up on our truck as the rocky and trees made passing too difficult. We used our radio to call on a local resident with a Land Rover who had no trouble reaching us within an hour. After backing in the flat bed of the truck, it took six of us to hoist the zebra up onto the truck. When we had it secured we were met with our next obstacle, the Land Rover would not start. With no other options we, cleared a trail for our 4 x 4 and made it up the hill to transfer the Zebra.
After a long morning we took a break before heading out to another property in search of more animals. As we drove along the ridge we spotted a good spot with lots of tracks. We made our way across several fields before find a massive heard of Blesbuck. These animals are magnificent and there were hundreds of them feeding. Unfortunately, the heard was no stranger to hunters and like the Impala from the day before kept just out of my range at all times. Satisfied with my Zebra and exhausted from the morning hunt we decided we call it a day. As we made our way back to camp the coldness set it. It was unseasonably cool for this time of year and when the temperature drops, the animals tend not to move around much which gave me hope we would find the same herd of Blesbuck close by the next morning.