Here's my zebra hunt from Kamanjab, arranged by Mims Reed and completed last week. Helmke von Bach, the ranch owner and PH at Kamanjab, let me know quickly that the mountain zebra hunt was likely to be the most challenging hunt of our trip. Kamanjab is a beautiful, rugged ranch of 28,000 acres with plenty of steep kopjes to hold his large herd of mountain zebra. On our second day of hunting, we got a feel for just how spooky the zebra can be when we were spotted by a group of 10 or so as we stalked through thick thorn brush. We saw a cloud of dust and heard hoofbeats that could have been from an old western. At about 500 yards, all we saw where a blur of stripes and tails as they stampeded through the acacia.

The next morning, as we drove out for the hunt, we flushed a herd of 7 or 8 who ran parallel to the road then up a ridge and halted. We drove on, stashed the truck, and began a stalk. The first complication was a giraffe who walked over and stared at us. Helmke was clear that as long as the giraffe looked at us, the zebra knew where we were. Our first task on the stalk was to crawl away from the giraffe, so he'd ingnore us and settle the zebra down. This we accomplished with a crawl through the acacia. Don't forget the leather gloves! We eased ahead in a dry wash and crept towards the ridge. Soon Penti spotted the zebra just below the crest of the ridge, masked in thick brush. Here's where my buck fever kicked in. Helmke set up the shooting sticks, and I peered for an opening in the brush for a clear shot at about 200 yards uphill. All I heard and read led me to want to avoid a shot through brush, while Helmke had indicated that their shots were almost always through a light screen of mopane or acacia. He felt the shots were ok as long as the brush was light and close to the animal.

I waited, looking for an opening as the zebra started to mill about. One moved into a partial opening, I sighted and took a quick shot which I immediately regretted. Sight picture was high as the 375 went off, and I knew that I had aimed over the brush. I had the sinking feeling that we might be tracking a wounded zebra for a long time. Helmke had told of their tracking such an animal for 3 days and 15 miles until they finally lost it.

We looked closely, found no blood or hair, and pronounced it a clean miss. I think I needed to get a miss out of my system, was overjoyed it wasn't a superficial wound, and got the jitters out of my system.

After a long walk and a failed chance at a ghostly kudu, we returned for lunch and to pick up my son Zack who slept in to get rid of the last of his jet lag.

That afternoon, we climbed a kopje and spotted a band of zebra at about 3/4 mile. The zebra were at the base of the next kopje and we hoped unaware of us. The rocks as our landmark, we made our way closer, seeing no sign of the herd. As we neared the base of the kopje, a group of 5 zebra bolted behind us. They had held tight till we moved past then raced off. I thought the stalk was blown, but Helmke and Penti thought this was not the whole herd. We quietly climbed the kopje and Penti crested the rocks and immediately spotted the rest of the zebra. Helmke moved up and set up the sticks. I eased forward and was looking much further away until I spotted a zebra in a clearing right in front of me. I held on the shoulder, shot the Whitworth, and watched the zebra react to the shot, which I knew was a good one. We heard the rest of the herd storm though the brush and come into a clearing about 175 yards out. Four came out followed by a straggler. Helmke assured me that this was not my zebra, but the stallion looking back for the one I shot. I was so appreciative of his experience, as I could easily have mistaken this one for the one I shot. We found the downed zebra about 40 yards from where she had stood, and had, thank God, run downhill. Interestingly, although the tracking was simple, we found only 5 blood drops near where she fell. I was beginning to appreciate more how much Helmke likes bullets that exit.

Helmke says, "Now the fun begins." We're in thick brush half way up the kopje with 10 minutes of sun light left. He starts to walk for the truck, which we were using since the 4wd bakke broke a spring that morning. Pitch dark, 30 minutes later, we see 2 sets of head lights coming. Hallelujah, the bakke had been fixed during the day. The skinners now cut a path with their pangas and Helmke bulled the bakke up the hill, where we winched the old mare into the back with great effort. I learned later that we would have been out till 2am if we'd had to skin and quarter her on the kopje.

The zebra took a single .375 260 accubond though the near shoulder, through the lungs, and the bullet imbedded in the far shoulder. Weighed later at 57% retention. At 40 yards, through bone, I couldn't ask for better bullet performance for plains game.

A great hunt and great experience. More to follow. Bob

Bob: Sounds like a great hunt. Congratulations on the success. Gary T.

By the way, this is the picture of the PH/Ph.D. and the Ph.D. In addition to being a registered PH with the Namibia Professional Hunters Association, Helmke was a professor of agricultural economics at a university in South Africa before returning to Namibia to run the family ranch after his father's death. My Ph.D is in psychology, now on the business side of health care. We had by far the most interesting and far ranging discussions I've had with any hunting guide, from the history of Namibia to land use and land reform, to African languages and customs, to geopolitics. Bob

bob,

Great story and I would like to tackle one of the M.zebras some day...

Mike

Great story Bob! I will be hunting in Kamanjab next year....how is your PH doing with getting their hunters a leopard? Wolf

Since I wan't hunting leopard, I can't say much about it. We saw leopard tracks and a probably leopard kill. Helmke gave me the option of taking a leopard if we saw one, but it wasn't in my budget. I'm not sure how he'd organize if leopard was my goal. If I were you,I'd correspond with him ahead of time to learn about how he'll approach it. When your there make sure you ask him about his own leopard hunts for cattle killers. By the way, the chairs in our roooms were decorated with leopard and cheetah hides from cattle raiders. Bob