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Kudu hunt Jul 07 |
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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Posted: July/08/2007 at 13:40 |
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I have just returned from my second hunt this season and took a beautifull bull. Herewith a pic to drool over. When I have a chance I will show more pics and tell the story.
See story at end of comments received.
Edited by 8shots |
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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looks like a dandy did you use your hand loads??? if so,did it make you feel like you accomplished something good??
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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Dale Clifford
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: July/04/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5087 |
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lets hear the rest of the story
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silver
Optics Master Joined: November/04/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2291 |
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You are "evil." We are all so jealous... |
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"If we weren't all crazy we, We would go insane." Jimmie Buffet
WWW.formitch.com |
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cheaptrick
MODERATOR Joined: September/27/2004 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 20844 |
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Tagged.
Nice animal!! |
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If at first you don't secede...try..try again.
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Beautiful kudu, 8shots! I'm envious! I've always thought kudu are the most handsome of the horned African game animals!
Congratulations on a fine bull! |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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Boy I wish I had a high fence and some of those running around my farm.
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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Thanks for all your responses. Herewith the hunt:
Hunting the elusive grey ghost of One moment the veldt is empty and the mind wanders whilst the soul drinks deep on the peace and quite of the That morning we left our campsite near Willowmore in the Spekboom, gwarrie and wild olive trees make up most of the vegetation. The eastern and southern slopes can be so thickly wooded that a person struggles to walk through it, whilst the western and northern slopes are more sparsely covered. These more open slopes are ideal areas to cover whilst waiting for kudu to appear. I took a short hike over the mountain and found a nice vantage spot to lie in wait. The view was breathtaking, with the valley stretched out far below me. I was wearing new Sniper 3D camo, and was confident I would not be seen by game coming over the ridge in front of me. I was thinking of the days of preparation that lead to this moment. My rifle, a 300 H&H was loaded with the new load I had developed. A 200gr Nossler Part was sitting on top of 68gr of S385 powder, to give a velocity of 2850fps. The Leupold 3,5-10x40 was zeroed at 200m and should be about 8inches low at 300m. The area I covered was going to leave me with shots from 200m to 400m at a stretch. And then he appeared. I could see from the curls that he is the one I had been hoping for! Unfortunately I had left my rangefinder behind, so I guessed the distance at 350m. The first shot went just over the top. He turned to look at me, but the camo did its job. In vain he stared in my direction. I quickly ejected brass and took the second shot. This time the bullet took him in the chest. (I later discovered I was just off centre and the Nosler went through his left shoulder, breaking bone). He got up and struggled down the steep slope. I could see he was not going to go anywhere, so I allowed him come right down to the bottom of the kloof, where it was easy to finish him off with a final shot, rather then risking a poorly placed shot through the shrub. As the veldt reclaimed its silence a kudu cow appeared higher up then the bull. She started walking in my direction. I could see from the path she was following that she was going to come very close to me. Again I sat quietly and allowed the camo do the work. When she was about 75m away, I gave her a full frontal chest shot. She dropped on the spot, or so I thought! I called in the recovery crew and directed them to the cow first, which was nowhere to be found. The search area became wider and wider, and I became more concerned. Did the bullet fail, did she get up and did I mark the wrong spot? As the situation became more hopeless, with not even a bloodspoor, one of the recovery crew members looked down and called out. The cow, unseen by me, had dropped in its tracks and tumbled about 50m down the slope! The bull and the cow were now close to the bottom, making final recovery a lot easier. |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Great story and nice pics... but if I'm ever able to hunt in Africa, would it be considered poor form if I elected to skip the time-honored testicle swallowing ritual?
BTW -- what is a "kloof?" Not familiar with that term. |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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Rifledude, you will not escape the "testicle ritual"! Specially if you come hunting with me! The truth be told, this is the first time I saw the guys swallowing it! The ritual in South Africa is generally smearing a bit of blood on the fore-head and swallowing a small peace of raw liver, which is a lot more acceptable. Some guys dump the testicle into the drinking glass afterwards, which the first time hunter has to drink from all night. People normally joke about swallowing the testicle, but as these pictures show, are actually done by some! The ritual of blooding has come under a lot of discussion lately. Is it barbaric, is it a serious induction into the brotherhood of hunters or is it just some fun we are having with the greenhorns? These questions remains largely unanswered.
A kloof is a ravine. It is an Afrikaans word that has been adopted even by the English speaking. It is pronounced like "hoove" but beginning with a "CL" sound. Below is a typical kloof. Do not be fooled by the bush, it is a lot denser then it looks. If you shoot a kudu in that and you do not mark it correctly, you will have a long search on your hands for the carcass.
Herewith picks of the more standard "blooding". Do you do something similiar in The USA? |
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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uh when i kill something we drink beer, if somebody else kills something we drink beer
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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Pyro, I like beer a whole lot better too! The ritual you see here is only done once in a lifetime, that is when a hunter kills his first animal. I think the rite of passage is a fairly universal concept, even on this forum where a person start off as an Optic Grasshopper and then have to earn the rights to become an Optics Master. This ritual is never forced on any-one and if the hunter decides he does not want to do it, we respect that. (he just does not get invited along on the next hunt! (Jokes ) A little bit like Fear Factor stuff. |
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Bigdaddy0381
MODERATOR Georgia peach Joined: February/27/2007 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 13682 |
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8shots
Big
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P&Z Firearms , Pro gun cleanings and gun repair and wood refinishing.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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O.K., good. I'm anything but a greenhorn when it comes to hunting, just never been to Africa. Would that disqualify me from having to take part in any perverse, twisted ritual involving a testicle? Don't mind having blood smeared all over me -- pretty much happens every time I field dress/skin/quarter/bone out a game animal anyway, so I would choose that option. If forced, I would reluctantly eat a piece of raw flesh from most regions of the carcass if that's what was required to shoot a kudu as nice as yours, but I'd have to draw the line at eating the male sex organs of any beast.
I pretty much adhere to the beer ritual Pyro advocates!
Thanks for the explanation of a kloof. Now I can impress friends at parties with my newfound knowledge of obscure Afrikaans vernacular. Edited by RifleDude |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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beer is good beer is good lets go drink some beer!!! my dad took a nut sack off a pronghorn and wrapped it on the gear shift knob in his pickup and when it dried it was like a leather cover.
the whole testicle thing sounds like a challenge for edgar hanson deck boss on the northwestern!! Edited by pyro6999 |
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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8shots
Optics Jedi Knight Lord Of The Flies Joined: March/14/2007 Location: South Africa Status: Offline Points: 6253 |
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Rifledude, having made your first kill you are pretty safe from further abuse. You can safely come to Africa as we recognise The International Codes of Induction to the Brotherhood of Hunters (Known as ICBH). I think this treaty was signed in the 1800 when the Alabama visited the African coast.
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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WHEW!!!.... thanks! Glad to know you have an induction reciprocity policy.
Now, I just need to find a way to come up with the funds to go!
Pyro, we need to find an excuse to meet up, kill something, and drink some beer! Edited by RifleDude |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Ah, a fellow fan of the "Deadliest Catch" show!... |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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hell ya i wanna go try that just once |
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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im telling ya man you ought to come up here in the fall then maybe you could take me out for some varmints |
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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