Heat waves danced in binocular as I looked out across the
expansive plain. It was the dead of winter but when you are hunting just south
of the equator, winter definitely isn't like it is in Alberta. The thermometer
hovered near the 30-degree mark and I wiped the sweat from my forehead as we
continued to glass. It was the third day of our Namibian safari with Leopard
Legend Hunting Safaris and we were on the massive Sesfontein Conservancy. This
was definitely real Africa. We had over 650,000 acres of free-range territory
to hunt and the list of species was as varied as the terrain. We were in the
heart of the Namib desert but the terrain was not what one would imagine. The
vast plains gave way to rugged mountains that rose several thousand feet out of
the desert floor. It was a harsh landscape and a handful of springs scattered
throughout area were its lifeblood. But, despite that, wildlife flourished and
Vanessa and I had already taken two of the biggest springbok we had ever seen
in our lives and I'd taken a beautiful Hartman's zebra stallion that had
recently been mauled by a lion; likely a member of the pride we'd seen a day
earlier.
But, on this particular morning we were in search of
giraffe. And, not just any giraffe but a huge, dark bull we had seen the
previous evening. Giraffe is typically pretty low on the list for most hunters
heading to Africa and on our first Namibian trip I'd felt the same. That was
until we'd seen literally hundreds of them roaming the expansive plains. With
animals like giraffe that most of us have only ever seen in zoos, it easy to
believe that they are big dumb creatures that would provide no experience to
the hunter. It's also easy to believe that these huge creatures don't require
management like deer, elk and moose do here in North America but both could not
be further from the truth. These are wild animals, very wild in fact, that do
need to be managed and after our first trip, I vowed to return to hunt them in
a natural, free-range setting.
We had our regular tracker and game guard with us but we
also had a truck full of young camp help. A big bull giraffe can weigh in
excess of 4,000 pounds and once on the ground, it takes a lot of help to deal
with them. L'wyk, our Professional Hunter (PH), and his tracker studied some
huge prints in the dry riverbed. Even I recognized them as giraffe. They had
spent quite a bit of time feeding in the area and it wasn't obvious which
direction they had headed. I glassed up the riverbed and through a small
opening in a mopane tree I caught a glimpse of some giraffe several miles away.
We got back on the truck and headed up the river.
Not only is vegetation sparse in this region, it's short,
well, shorter than a giraffe anyhow and even though we were still a couple
miles from the three females and the big bull, they spotted us and took off
across the plain. L'wyk shook his head and mumbled something about this being
as bad as it could get. We continued to drive up the riverbed, somewhat
paralleling the running giraffes. We weren't gaining any ground but we weren't
losing any either. The cover increased in density as we drove and the giraffes
seemed to lose interest in us and stopped running, albeit in the wide open.
L'wyk said, "From here we walk."
I grabbed the 375 H&H and L'wyk and I headed toward the
giraffes, utilizing what cover was available. The giraffes definitely knew
something was up but they seemed content to remain where they were. I was
shocked when over the course of the next hour we got to within a couple hundred
yards. L'wyk slowly slid the shooting sticks up in front of me. The ideal shot
was right where the head joins the neck but it was a small target at 200 yards
and the big bull was slightly quartering making the target even that much
smaller. The crosshairs seemed steady on the sweet spot and as my index finger
tightened on the trigger, I felt confident the next thing I'd see was the huge
animal crashing to the ground. "You missed, " L'wyk barked.
Indeed I had. We took off on a run chasing the fleeing
giraffes. It seemed pointless as each of their effortless strides equated to a
dozen of ours but as they climbed a steep ridge, the big bull paused. "Two
hundred and eighty yards," L'wyk said matter-of-factly.
"Seriously?" was all that I could respond.
Not only did the big bull look much closer, I'd just missed
a shot at nearly a hundred yards less. I found the sweet spot on the neck but
after the hard run my breathing was laboured and the crosshairs would not
settle. I quickly lowered the crosshairs and found what I figured to be the
base of the neck. I knew I'd get some substantial bullet drop at this range and
everything between where the crosshairs sat and the bottom of the brisket was a
kill zone. It was the best possible scenario at this range. I'd been warned
about body shots on giraffes but everything seemed perfect. I squeezed the
trigger.
You could tell by his reaction that the big bull was hit
hard and an audible "thwack" of the 250-grain bullet was confirmation
of a solid hit. I worked the bolt on the rifle and found the big bull in the
scope again. He was running hard from left to right but I could tell he was
running dead. He covered about 20 yards before cascading to the ground. I had
my giraffe!
With the help of the Land Cruiser and several very strong men,
we managed to get the huge beast set up for photographs and then the monumental
task of field dressing began. Up until this point, all of the animals that we
took had been transported back to camp whole and processed there but that
obviously wasn't possible with the giraffe. But, four hours later, we had it
cut into manageable-sized pieces and were on our way to town with the first
load of meat. When hunting these Conservancies in Namibia, the meat from the
hunt goes to local villages, in addition to some much needed money from hunting
licences and trophy fees. We dropped the first load of meat off at a school in
the village and all of the kids came out and sang for us in gratitude for the
much needed protein. The conservancy truck followed us back out and the
remainder of the giraffe, including intestines, legs and meat were loaded on it
and taken back to the village to be distributed among the residents. It always
baffles me that many North American hunters automatically assume the meat is
often wasted in Africa and nothing could be further from the truth. Every ounce
of protein is utilized in a much more efficient manner than we ever see in
North America.
The remainder of the hunt was incredible and in total we
took three springbok, two gemsbok, three zebra, a giraffe, klipspringer, brown
hyena, spotted hyena and two ostriches. This was our third trip to Africa and
without question it was the most incredible landscape we have experienced. The
sheer beauty of this desert region defies description and its unique
inhabitants offer and incredible challenge for the hunter. In addition to the
animals we hunted, we saw a rare pride of desert lions, elephants and while we
never saw any rhinos, we saw tracks several times. Namibia is a shining example
in Africa of how beneficial hunting is to both wildlife and residents.
For those in search of an African destination to get their
feet wet on their first safari, Namibia definitely fits the bill. It's the
safest country on the continent and it offers the real African experience at a
bargain price when compared to countries like Tanzania, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique. Leopard Legend runs their Conservancy hunts out of well-appointed
tent camps. Evening meals are cooked over an open fire and consist of a variety
of local game taken on the hunt. While there we tried meat from all of the
antelope species we took as well as the ostrich, zebra and giraffe. You will
never taste meat as fine as that cooked over a mopane fire under a blanket of a
million stars in the southern hemisphere. If you are looking for that real
African experience, a hunt with Leopard Legend in Namibia definitely satisfies.
For more information, contact L'wyk and Julene Jansen van
Vuuren at info@leopardlegend.com or check them out online at
www.leopardlegend.com or contact their Canadian representatives, Mark and Cindy
Zimmermann at mark@selecttaxidermy.com
