When I knew I was going back to hunt bushbuck, I put a Sig Sauer Whiskey 5 scope on the old Winchester Model 70. I would shoot a 150-grain Nosler Partition bullet in the 270 Winchester. With the Sig’s oversize objective and battery powered reticle, I figured I would have the edge in quick shooting.
For this, my fifth safari in southern Africa, I told my PH Wighardt van der Gryp that I hoped to get a chance at a bushbuck. Their reputation I knew well. Fighters that survive in the crocodile-infested riverine environments, making a living between dusk and dawn on the islands and among the braided river bottoms.
We went into the orange grove just before nightfall and worked our way uphill, looking between the lines of the trees where we might see anything from springhares to bushpigs. Because there were three languages being spoken we missed a few cues as I tried to sort out what the trackers were saying and what I was hearing from the PH.
And then we saw the bushbuck. The female exited left and the male looked back over its shoulder, only its head visible in my scope and that’s what I shot for at 75 yards.
The animal vanished in a turn of its body and we looked for it a few minutes in the alleys and would have lost it altogether but for John, one of the trackers, who happened to turn his head and see the animal complete the circle behind us.
John tapped me and I turned quickly. What I saw in that instant was the chocolate brown of the body, the white bands on its chest and the tops of its legs then watched the animal’s horns, head and shoulders go between two trees and shot at what I could see, and took the bushbuck through and through with the 150-grain Partition.
There followed a moment’s discussion in three languages. Then our three trackers went right to the spot we saw it last and found blood and hair in the leaves and duff beneath the branches of the orange trees.
A mature bushbuck’s horns make a quarter twist. And the opposition of the horns will empty your entrails on the grass. It is one of the antelope the old timers say will kill you.
The night was full dark now and with no light except that from Polaris and the southern cross and the three flashlights belonging to the trackers.
Wighardt cast a light down one row and down the next and there we saw our bushbuck with its chin on the ground and murder in its eye. This bushbuck was not going out easy. And then the animal lunged at one of the trackers, who had circled around in front of the animal. With its head down, the daggers aimed at his guts, the animal lunged. But this was not Phineas’s first rodeo. Quick as lightning he grabbed a horn and steered the animal up then danced out of its way. I shot it again when it was clear of trackers.
We knelt around the old warrior cut up with old wounds and rippled with scar tissue. I haven’t looked at a lot of bushbucks, but I will never look at them the same again.
Eight-years-old, maybe older, the dagger points worn down from thrashing and thrusting other bushbucks and keeping leopards and hyenas at bay.
This was one the hyenas wouldn’t get. I laughed at them under the stars.
Required Reading
In Africa, I always carry a copy of The Perfect Shot: Mini Edition for Africa. I’ve carried my well-thumbed copy on five safaris. This little book by Kevin Robertson and Safari Press provides a concise knowledge of the game animal’s habits and habitats and body position for heart, lung, brain and spinal column shots for all angles.
Sunglasses for Safari
On this safari, I carried the very cool compact folding Popzulu ballistic sunglasses with orange lens. The glasses come in a clamshell style case that fits in a pocket. When it’s time to put them on, the glasses emerge from the case and fold out to fit comfortably over ears and nose with wraparound protection. I love these glasses. MSRP $139
Visit https://popticals.com/pages/ballistic-glasses-and-safety-eyewear
# # #
If you want to hunt Africa and need to talk about it, contact Gary Lewis garylewisoutdoors@gmail.com