My son and I spent 18 days in Zim. and Mozambique a few years back. We had a few weird happenings happen. I now beleive in some of the native superstitions. I will now go out of my way to find a 'Witchdoctor" to bless my hunt! Has anybody got any stories?

69deer,
Don't be fooled by those "happenings". Satan will give you a thousand gallons of pure water to get you to drink one drop of poison. Be careful of what you ask for.

Went on a long trip to Zim one year and had a string of bad luck. One of the trackers overheard me talking about some really strange dreams I was having probably from malaria meds. All the trackers got creeped out. Later the head tracker explained how if we found the witch who had put the hex on me we could force her to change our luck back and the dreams to go away. Or we could just kill her. I laughed, he didn't. One more reason I keep going back. There is virtually no chance of having adventures like that in Texas.

quote:

Originally posted by smarterthanu:
Went on a long trip to Zim one year and had a string of bad luck. One of the trackers overheard me talking about some really strange dreams I was having probably from malaria meds. All the trackers got creeped out. Later the head tracker explained how if we found the witch who had put the hex on me we could force her to change our luck back and the dreams to go away. Or we could just kill her. I laughed, he didn't. One more reason I keep going back. There is virtually no chance of having adventures like that in Texas.

Unless you go to the Fifth Ward area in Houston.

On my most recent trip to Namibia to hunt eland with Vaughan Fulton, we often checked for fresh tracks around water points on the cattle farm we were hunting. At one such area, we had spread out and were looking for fresh tracks and I came across a porcupine quill. I picked it up and was heading back towards Vaughan, who also had a porcupine quill in his hand. I had read somewhere (maybe a Capstick book) that picking up porcupine quills is bad luck, and I intended to ask Vaughan if this is true.

Anyone who has hunted cattle farms knows that one must cross numerous fences a day, especially around watering areas. This hunt was no different and I had crossed dozens a fences up to this point. Well, I'm crossing over this fence when a lug on my boot got snagged in the wire at the fence post and I ended up busting my ass both on the fence wire and the stone foundation on the other side of the fence. I ended up with minor cuts on both hands and forearms as well as a slightly sprained ankle.

After I was able to put some weight back on my ankle, I started to pick up the porcupine quill but stopped, turned, and hobbled back over to the Toyota to clean my scratches up. Vaughan had already called out to see if I was alright and I had grumbled that I was okay, but he came over along with the property owner to further check on me when he saw me cleaning blood off my arms and hands. I was fine and relayed the story of what had happened as well as what I had read about picking up porcupine quills. Vaughan dropped the quill he had picked up like it was a hot coal.

The story got retold several times over the next day or two and no one would touch a porcupine quill for the rest of the hunt despite seeing dozens - not Vaughan, not the property owner, not his sons who hunted with us for two days, and certainly not the trackers.

I've since done a search on the internet to see if it is in fact considered to be bad luck to pick up porcupine quills. I have found no such reference and have concluded that I am simply a damn klutz.

Jorge 400,

It's funny you should mention the porcupine quill. When Gert and I were stalking a springbuck he picked up a couple of quills and handed them to me. I put them in my vest. You told me the porcupine quill story at camp and we had a good laugh. Anyway, I put the quills in my bag and forgot about it.
When I unpacked my bag at home the quills were broken and someone had stolen my scope and rings out of my bag. Coincidence? I don't know, but I'm not picking any more up.

Guys, you got it all wrong! I picked up porcupine quills on the nicely swept path to my leopard blind in CN and got this big fellow before dark:



Three weeks ago a large raven feather lay fresh across the trail to my bear stand and I picked it up and stuck the feather in my pack's shoulder strap. An hour before dark this guy came along:

Five years ago when I was on a hunt in the East Cape my friend and I came across a porcupine carcass and grabbed a couple handsful of quills. The only resulting bad luck I can think of is that it's taken me five years to get back to Africa for a hunt. Maybe you need to pick up more than one???

Ann, I would say proof enough, but you have lady-luck on your side.

Weird stuff can happen on safari. When a friend and I went to Zambia in 2005, we were assigned separate tents. Now I have never been what you would call terrified of anything in my whole life, and enjoyed the sounds of lions, hippos, etc. at night. However, I woke up in the middle of the first night in my tent with an overwhelming and unspecific feeling of fear and dread that just cannot be described. I mean real terror! Well, I pulled my rifle a little closer, finally got back to sleep, and figured that it was a result of a combination of my malaria meds and excitement. It has never happened since.

Well, 4 or 5 days later I happened to mention it to my Buddy in camp and he went on to amazingly describe the same event his first night. And this guy has pretty cold nerves; he grew up in and has defected from a communist country. And he wasn’t even taking the same malaria meds.

The reason? Something that they fed us the first night? Jet-Lag? Maybe a leopard walked through camp in the dark and some ancient sixth sense kicked in that I never had back in civilization? I sure don’t believe in curses, but if a witch doctor has offered me a cure during that episode, I would have purchased whatever Ju-Ju he was selling.

Once wounded an impala. Every where we went, everyday he showed himself just long enough to get our attention but never another shot. We followed his distictive tracks everyday for hours. Once in a sandy, easily tracked area the spoor simply stopped. The tracker said the ram had flown away, turned and walked off leaving us to laugh at his actions. Nobody could explain the lack of sign though! We never saw the ram or his tracks again either but the next day I finally made a one-shot kill on another ram - my first success since wounding the impala.

Witchcraft? Supernatural? Luck? Who knows but my next trip was successful without the help of a witchdoctor!

My son and I had a great time taking plains game in Zim. On the last day,before going to Mozambique,we had a monkey shoot. The natives wanted us to shoot all the monkeys that we could. Our P.H. thought it was a great idea. We found a tree loaded with monkeys, and had a blast. The natives were on the ground holding their sides laughing! It was fun! We took about 10 crop raiding monkeys from that tree. It was a great ending to a fun part of the trip. At dinner that night we talked about the monkey shoot and the other P.H.'s told us that was a very bad and unlucky thing to do. The owner told us it was bad medicine and that they only shoot monkeys on the last day of the entire hunt.Well, Off to Moz. we go. We get to the so called embassy to check in. Out comes the witchdoctor to do his thing. He looks and smiles at my son, walks over to me, looks at me.He says some jibberish, walks away and tells our porters that I'm some kind of bad luck. Yep, he was right. I got my binos stolen, lost a custom knife,drew 3 drops of blood on my first buffalo bull.$7.500 gone. Two days later I get the ok for another bull. $2,500! Great! 2 days later,I get another chance. A 375 solid on his shoulder, we give him time. An hour later we take up the trail,find huge piles of blood, it gets late so we back off until morning. The next morning comes and it is just the P.H., myself and my son. No government scout, no trackers and we cannot find the bull! We had to leave that night to drive back to Zim. They decided the bull was dead and the next day the scavengers would lead them to it. The horns would be sent back to Zim. I killed every plains game that I shot at with one shot. But I just could not kill a Buff. I will be going back with my youngest son in 2 years and you can bet I will hug a witchdoctor!! No matter what!

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Guys, you got it all wrong! I picked up porcupine quills on the nicely swept path to my leopard blind in CN and got this big fellow before dark:



Three weeks ago a large raven feather lay fresh across the trail to my bear stand and I picked it up and stuck the feather in my pack's shoulder strap. An hour before dark this guy came along:

Impressive and beautiful!

The more time I spend in the bush, the less I seem inclined to scoff at witchcraft

Ann, my wife is a firm beleiver in porcupine quills as well.

My daughter bought a bag of witch doctor bones at a tourist trap. She was going to give them to one of her friends when we returned. Well after we returned home she dumped the contents of the bag on the floor of her room and was looking at the bones and colored pebbles. She did not pick them back up and came to dinner. The dog went into her room and ate one of the bones. A couple of weeks later the dog went bat shit crazy and had to be put to sleep.

quote:

Originally posted by Cunningham:

quote:

Originally posted by smarterthanu:
Went on a long trip to Zim one year and had a string of bad luck. One of the trackers overheard me talking about some really strange dreams I was having probably from malaria meds. All the trackers got creeped out. Later the head tracker explained how if we found the witch who had put the hex on me we could force her to change our luck back and the dreams to go away. Or we could just kill her. I laughed, he didn't. One more reason I keep going back. There is virtually no chance of having adventures like that in Texas.

Unless you go to the Fifth Ward area in Houston.

SO TRUE!! Also around Greenspoint Mall (we refer to it as "Gunspoint" Mall)

I don't personally greatly believe in this sort of stuff, but also do not "play" with it, or want anything to do with it.

The more you believe in it, the more "real" it is.

There are a lot of witchcraft stories in my home area from the original settlers in colonial days. And some of the accounts are from truthful persons.

I have also seen some very weird stuff.

As I said I don't want anything to do with it.

Hi Guys:

I might as well add a yarn or two to the segment. The first time I was in Africa in Tanzania on a tented Safari.

I sometimes get a very special feeling, or sixth sence as it seems when in immediate danger or intense situitations.

I was snug in my bed, in my tent, my very first night in Africa. At about 2:00 AM I woke up with a start and had a very wierd feeling. I listened intentlty and flipped on my flashlight, nothing to be seen or heard. I figured just first night jitters, grabbed my 300 RUM and slid it next to me in bed.

The next moring when I got up, I steched and took a walk outside my tent. There was these big tracks in the sand right outside my tented window. I asked one of the trackers to come and look. He says... Hmmmmmm lion.... Big Lion... ???? I said holy shit, next night my 416 repaced my 300 RUM as my bed partner...LOL

Fast backward, year is around 1999 or 1998, I am on an Elk Hunt high in the Montana Mts. My guide if you want to call him that, drops me off at the base of this mountain and says I will swing buy with the horses and pick you up at around 4:30.

As I travel alone accross the base of this out cropping, I get the mysterios feeling again, I stop and turn and listen, nothing. I take a few steps and turn again nothing out of the ordinary, but my hairs are starting to stand on the back of my neck. I check my trusty 300 RUM, one up the pipe and have my thumb on the safety.

I travel about 20 more yards when I turn suddenly and bearing down on me is about a 500 pound grizzly. I yell and wave my hands, then pull up my rifle. To say I was scared shitless would be an understatement. All I kept on thinking was if this brute comes past the big rock on my left I am shooting ....tag or no tag, that rock was about 20 yards away. The bear stopped just shy of the rock, woofed twice and headed in the bush.

Sometimes it just doesn't pay to temp faith and don't hurt to have your lucky rifle with you.

Regards... Jim P.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc... One of the older logical fallacies and one of the more common.

I have only been to Africa once and i doubt i will ever get there again, but my first experience wasnt great, but still worth it !for the trip, When one night there in Africa, i got a visit from the ''Nightmare ''[night spirit,not pleasant] if you dont know what it is, read the dictionary, had this experience many times before, but didnt think it would happen to me in Africa .I know exactly how GL Krause feels ,as i have had that feeling before ,one of absolute menace and hate, and dread and the only way i can describe it is like having every cell in your body scream in terror !!!!!! well the next morning i got up and couldnt find my hat of all things ! told PH ''my hats gone '',looked everywhere for it then found it ! Then ''found'' my passport was gone, and all the cash i had brought for ''extra plains game '',My 470 was inexplicably shooting 7 inches to the right at 20 yards, and lost i 2 animals which PH said he had never lost before .I got the feeling the PH and his offsider thought i was bullshitting ,to get out of paying me paying trophy fees ,I said ''Are you going to get the Police in to deal with it '' and they said'' NO !!! all our workers will be locked up for a week,if we do that, and we cant use them if that happens, we cant do that '' i thought F..kin Great !!! I had to call work at home, and tell them i needed an extra week off work to get an emergency passport, each day [for four days]i went into the Embassy, it was the same story,'' oh yes what is it ?'' i was here yesterday i need my passport to get home,'' oh !!!! umm i will see if anyone knows about it ''????? ''F ...k me ''hmmmmmm in the end i got passport half an hour before my flight and had to rush to the airport to make it in time .I dont know ! but dont tell me there isnt ''other wordly crap that doesnt go on '' cos there is more to life than just coincidences ,there is something malevolent and evil out there !!!

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
I have also seen some very weird stuff.

A couple of strange things I have personally experienced:
- while camping with two friends in a single tent, on a very rainy night but no lightning, we had a small dim buzzing light half circle our tent about 6 inches off the ground. This was private property, no one else around and we were camped in among trees and bushes so it could have been no reflected light either
- driving from the city to home one night, I was a passenger and had about a half dozen, (one by one with intervals, on a moving car) small "balls of fire" hit against my rear passenger side window. I compared these to oncoming headlights which were very different. Also if the "balls" were fire they should have started fires burning in the summer grass on the side of the road.

(edited to add words in the italics)

Nice sunglasses Ann! Fee,Fi,fo,fom,to you NitroX!

as usual, shootaway makes no sense. how do you spell MORON?

fi fi fo fom I smell the blood of an english man,said the giant when jack climbed the beanstalk.

Ahhh .... I was on my first safari long ago and the PH was telling us of the time he had a client (very rich European industrialist) shoot a white kudu. The blacks were very upset and said that it was very bad luck to do such a thing. After the evening celebrating ended, everyone went to bed and jokingly told the hunter that he was obviously in big trouble... He died that night in his sleep. I told the Ph that he had scared the poor man to death ... Years later I was on a safari in Zim and was told that the cook (superb fresh hot baked goods daily) was a witch doctor. Near the end of the trip the well dressed 40ish year old man came to be complaining of a headache. I gave him some Tylenol.