One happy couple hunting South Africa’s gray ghost

The old kudu is waiting

Today, we spent the whole day tracking “him” – the very special kudu bull we saw yesterday. When Orange River Hunting & Safari’s told Freya they had a particular kudu planned for her, we both had a hard time fully understanding what was so special about it – until we saw it in the bushes yesterday! It had a really wide spread – its horns didn’t just go vertically upwards, they were spread wide and it is clearly an older kudu.

We spent the first hour and a half driving around in a huge area where our PH Mel felt that Freya’s kudu was living. But there aren’t very many animals to be seen out there – it’s just as if they haven’t gotten out of bed yet. It was definitely because the sun hadn’t really caught on yet.

We choose to stop and get out of the jeep. We might as well spend the time on something else until the animals wake up. We look at tracks and see to which animals they belong. We always find the tracks surprising us. They either look bigger or smaller than we imagine. 

Then, we saw two elands out on the hill to the left – there were also red hartebeest and some springbucks. We stopped and changed the plan a bit, as otherwise, we would just spend most of the time driving around. 

We will see if we can spot some red hartebeest and an eland, as Mel tells us that it needs the meat and the hide. They can always use springbok – among other things for the cheetah they have chosen to bring in to reintroduce here in the area. It fits very well with our plans as we have just seen all three animals, and we set course over the red hill at a fast pace, so they don’t have too much of a head start.

When we get to the top of the hill, however, they have all disappeared. 

We agree to follow the tracks of the eland again. Up and back down the red hills – no eland, no springbok, no red hartebeest. We go and go and go… and suddenly, Freya spots something out of the corner of her eye. We stop. It’s a springbok that stands and watches us from a hilltop about 300 meters from us. We laugh a little at the situation – now, we are the ones being watched. We could really use a thermal spotter or binoculars here, so we would have a better chance of spotting the wild animals in this huge area.

It is almost lunchtime, and we drive back towards the Hunters’ House. We are starting to recognize some of the places we drive past. It almost feels like home – at least, it feels good! We turn the last corner and out onto the fairly straight dirt road that leads up to the house where we stay.

Siesta and a great afternoon hunt

It is well past lunchtime now, and we head back towards the house, where a delicious hot lunch is served to us. We can hardly wait to get out again – now we know where HE is! But no, no – now it’s just time for a little siesta first. Okay, we know we’ve actually been out for a lot of hours the last few days, but we are just so excited and looking forward to having to go out again and look for Freya’s kudu, the handsome one!

We lay down on the bed for half an hour and talked about our trip so far. We both agree that this place is something very special to us. We feel like part of the family already and know that we will be visiting this wonderful place again. This place, the surroundings, the people, and the values are just right, so it’s hard not to fall in love with everything!

Fortunately, time passes quickly – we just have to drive a bit out into the terrain where we hope we can sneak up on the kudu from the other side than we came from before – the same way it disappeared. Mel and Biela spot it at a good distance. We are getting ready, and now, an hour-long and very intense stalk begins!

Adrenaline and redemption

We stop, and we all scout with the binoculars. It’s almost always Biela who spots it again – maybe it’s because he rises higher than the rest of us do, or it’s just because he really has a good feeling about it. THERE, he says, speaking in Afrikaans to Mel… now, we’re only about 400 meters from it.

We go a little closer to some bushes to hide. Here, we stand for a few seconds just to catch our breaths. Mel sets up the shooting sticks, and I pull the rifle out quickly and easily from the rucksack.

We have a nice view from here and can also see why the kudu is standing still. Maybe luck is with us now?

To its left, two fine kudu females have come out of the bush. Yes! Its focus has shifted! The kudu bull walks towards the two females – and stops approximately 75 meters from them. This gives us a huge advantage. It is now standing in front of a tree with its side facing us. It looks towards us for a moment but stands still. It’s absolutely perfect, but it has to be fast now.

Freya looks through her optics and sees him clearly now. There is no time to hesitate now – it may be the last chance before the sun’s rays give up for today. She asks me for the distance and gets the answer: 240. She turns her ballistic turret to 250 meters, looks through the optics, turns the safety off, and increases the pressure on the trigger while exhaling slowly. Everything goes really fast, but it feels like it’s in slow motion! I can see the rifle bounce on her shoulder; she reloads and looks at the kudu again. We all tell Freya it was a good shot – right on the shoulder. 

We have both done many hours of training at the shooting range out to 500 meters, and Freya participated recently in a field shooting weekend with ranges out to 600 meters, so we are confident in this type of shooting.

Final thoughts

The bonfire is lit when we get back. We talk on the terrace while the food is being prepared. The conversation flows across the fire. We talk about today’s hunt, about what we have seen, about the thoughts we have had, and about the experiences we have as first-time hunters in this fantastic country. We also talk about what hunting does for the country and about the obvious benefits of it for the country’s economy, for the local population’s private finances, and for wildlife.

Through hunting, we create an incentive for the locals to see their land as something that needs to be looked after, and that can create growth and a better standard of living. We are talking about the fact that all of us hunters have a responsibility to communicate what hunting can do – and what costs a hunting ban can have. The importance of hunting is clear to us, and it is wonderful to feel how we all have a common goal, namely to preserve the world’s animal species in the best possible way. It is an essential and important conversation to have – and something all hunters should be talking about much more than non-hunters.

Fatigue is starting to set in. It has been an eventful day. A quick bath, and then it’s just under the covers for a good and much-needed night’s sleep. We can both feel that we are out all day and on foot most of the time. Tired and full of experiences and good food, we fall asleep in each other’s arms.

Life in the Kalahari is fantastic, and the dreams take us out hunting again! This is what we are full of right now, and we feel good and complete. Completely right to be, right here, right now!