SB - SW Lowveld

PH Comment - Alan

As usual, a great hunt with SB. It was very wet and the first few days there was plenty of rain. First day we tracked a lone bull but had to quit as it gained a large herd. Tracks were tough to find because of the rain and most bulls seemed to be in herds still. Day 2 we had a slow start but around mid-morning we found a very fresh lone bull track and after checking for 20 minutes we heard him but couldn't see him it was thick and stoney, eventually we spotted him but he was only he only ran 50 yards stopped. We snuck up and around 30 yards from where he was standing and then gaining broadside, SB put a good shot and he took off. We waited a few moments then moved forward little by little until we could hear him it was clear he was down but not yet dead we cautiously moved around the thicket where we heard him in and eventually saw him lying down. We had to get within 20 yards or less to see clearly enough to finish him off. He would have died soon if we had waited for longer for the first shot went through both lungs. Day 3 we found the loan bull track and tracked 9 kilometers only to find that it had joined the herd late afternoon we saw two bulls on the road 1 mature 40 plus but decided he needed a few more years to breed the other was young. Day 4 we followed along track early but he busted us so we let him be and continued looking for others we found tracks of two bulls followed for less than an hour we were bumped by a giraffe cow and calf which ran past us. We continued for a little then in the track suddenly did a U-turn now facing back we had come from in the meantime the giraffe must have run past the buff and spooked the old one which ran into the open where we had just been and presented SB with a great shot his first shot was perfect and then he made a brilliant running second shot. Buff only ran 30 yards and died. In all a great area excellent camps and staff we saw rhino at different lion Buffalo not so fair as zebra wildebeest and parlor some water back plenty of water and grass.