Well I haven't said too much about it here but I recently got back from S.A. where I spent a couple weeks hunting with my longbow. I was lucky to find a reasonably priced and fully free range outfitter. There were no fences, high or low. No hides, and no artificial waterhole. There is a river that runs through the area and the animals can go drink anywhere they please. It was nice to find somewhere that wasn't a "cheesy hunt farm"

Anyway , I got a kudu! I sat on the edge of a donga for hours and hours until this guy wandered by just before dark. I used some North American hunting methods to help lure him in and I guess it worked.

I did a more complete "story" at www.tradgang.com for those of you who want more details. It's posted under the "dark continent" forum.



The chef

Hey congratulations Chef. Well done. I'm glad to hear that there are hunts out there like that. Did you get out for Spring bear this year.
Take good care,
Dave

Naw, no spring bear. I was in SA so I can't complain. I'm actually really pumped to get after elk again. I think North American hunting is pretty exciting and we've got it all. Great topography, lots of animals and just great hunting. I might have found an interesting set up for bear this fall...time will tell.

cheers

Your photo prompt's me to make all kinds of comments and question but I'll just leave it with this. (that is really,really cool).
Must have been an increadable expiriance.

Sounds like a great hunt, that's why they say "patience pays off"

What was the shot distance?

Looks like you did it the hard way. Great Job.

It was about 25 yards, and obviously not a text book shot. It did work very well though and I expect he was down within a minute or two.

I had lots of steep downhill and uphill shots and I blew lots of them, just kept shooting too high. It's hard to get a spot to practice that's on a steep embankment.

I did do it the hard way and I'm sure proud of myself for sticking to my own way of doing things. Personally I'm not into waterhole hides, although I can see why guys choose to do it that way-it just isn't hunting to me and wouldn't have quite the same rush.

On another note after we hunted there Mark the owner of the place is considering switching to bowhunting exclusively. He likes the way we bowhunters "tick"

Mark thought we'd just wander around with our longbows and shoot nothing, once he saw our dedication and persistence he was pretty impressed. He also gave us the run of the place and we didn't have to have a PH breathing down our neck, which greatly helps with success when you're bowhunting.