I recently went to Phalaborwa in Limpopo hunting. We were looking for mainly Waterbuck but also managed to bag Impala, baboon and Warthog. The Waterbuck hunt was an amazing experience.

We were walking with the wind blowing onto my right cheek when we saw movement about 200m to the right. Stopped and saw Wildebeest grazing. I did not want to shoot Wildebeest but would take a Zebra and decided to stalk a bit closer as very often you find Wildebeest and Zebra together. We were about 100m when I saw the "ring" of the Waterbuck and my heart did a triple flick flack. The bush was very thick and we had a very slow stalk. We could see three Waterbuck cows but not the male. We got closer to about 40m from on of the cows, she was looking directly at us, she stood and stared at us but with the sun behind us and a stiff breeze in our face she could not make out what we were. This now became a waiting game. From the left we saw another movement and out of no where came a herd of about 12 Impala who walked at an angle toward us, if they kept their path they would just walk past us at about 20m, thank goodness that’s the way it played out, we were in deep shadow and they did not see us, we breathed a sigh of relief our position was not bust. We had not yet moved as the Impala were still in view when a young Kudu bull walks down the same path as the Impala, he too slowly walked past. By now we had been on our haunches for about 20 minutes and hadn’t moved a muscle and were really starting to cramp. By this time I had seen the Waterbuck bull lying down about 10m to the left of the cows under a tree, buck fever hit me like a sledge hammer. I could not frigging believe it when a second Kudu walked out – a cow. At that moment my tracker moved slightly, for the next 5 minutes her eyes were glued on us. She eventually decided we weren’t a threat and carried on her way.

We backtracked about 30m to use a termite mound and a large rock as cover and go around to a better angle and to get a clear shot at the bull. This stalk of about 40m took about 30 minutes, thankfully the wind stayed fairly brisk the whole time in our face. We eventually got behind the rock where I could get a clear shot. The bull was still lying down where the cows had now joined him. Lying down on my elbow on my right side I aimed low and put pressure on the trigger. The shot rang out, dust flew as the 4 Waterbuck ran off, the bull stopped on top of a small koppie about 40m behind where he was lying. We sat tight, about 30 seconds later we heard his horns hit the rocks on the koppie as he fell. He was mine.

This was the most exhilarating experience and hunt I have ever had, when I look up at him on the wall (in 4 months time…) his spirit will live on forever.

Nice story and good shot too!
I remember the good stalks more than the good trophies every single time. Luckily you managed both on this hunt.

Nicely done! Congratulations!

Thats a way nice animal you have there, well done,loved the tale. What rifle is that you've used for this stalk?
Steve

OK, that's done it. You've stuffed up my day. Thank you very much for leaving me green with envy!

Congratulation, keep building on the 3M's: Moments, Memories & Magic.

Weidmannsheil, good shot!
- mike

Nice one.I was in masina this weekend and also got a waterbuck bull.

That's a GREAT story ..... it's what hunting is all about. When you're too old to hunt, you'll still remember that day ..... good for you !!!

great hunt! thanks for sharing

Very Nice

What rifle is that?

That is a wonderful trophy! Your rifle appears to be a Sauer 90, if so what caliber? It really doesn't matter you obviously had a great safari, congratulations. Adrian

Thanks for all the comments.

The rifle is a .416 Riby with a custom stock on a CZ 550 action. I used a 350gr Speer Mag Tip loaded to 2300fps. All the animals shot except the Waterbuck went straight down without taking a step.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmara:
Nice one.I was in masina this weekend and also got a waterbuck bull.

Have you got any photos?

Excellent, thanks for posting.

Great story and a magnificent trophy!

That is a great looking cz 550 and I'll bet it works as well as it looks. Adrian

its good to see that the spider webs and dust is off the 416 now and it drew blood

nice one

quote:

Originally posted by 375 fanatic:
its good to see that the spider webs and dust is off the 416 now and it drew blood

nice one

Thanks boet