We're here in South Africa's stunningly beautiful Eastern Cape with Nduna
Hunting Safaris and we're hunting Eland.
There are two main subspecies of Eland,
the southern or common eland and the giant eland which can be found up in central and western Africa.
We're hunting the common Eland which don't quite grow
to be the big 950 kilo monsters they can find up in the Kalahari that's because
Eland aren't actually indigenous to this particular part of Africa.
They've been brought in same as a number of other species and put on hunting farms such as this.
However, they're not easy to hunt in fact we've been after this boy
for three days solid.
Our best option for hunting them has been to stay across the hillside and
then spot the valleys on the far side as the eland move between the brush you sometimes get a glimpse.
But, whatever happens as soon as you see them you've
got to make a plan and make it quickly. As soon as they disappear into the thick
stuff it's almost impossible to get in. You need to get them at times when
they're out in the open. So, the days here start very early and that's often the
best time to get Eland moving around. They will graze out on the plains of an
evening and then they'll move back into the brush during the day. The topography
here at Nduna is extremely exciting to hunt in. You move around one corner and
there could be a herd of blessbuck in front of you or herd of Impala or worse
still giraffe. There's certainly no escaping from those giant eyes.
Our first sighting was an eland bull feeding out in the clearing.
Our plan for the afternoon was to wait for the animals to emerge from the brush, feed up onto the
plains and around 4 o'clock head into them. That will give us a sparse cover at
the bottom of the hills with the animals out in the open and the plan worked perfectly.
The only problem was Eland didn't want to play ball we got within a
100 maybe 110 yards of the bull which was stood perfectly. I was up on
the sticks ready to take the shot and then I saw two horns emerging behind and
although the animal is huge you just can't risk taking that shot the bullet
passing clean through the animal and striking down or behind with the 3006
which is what I was hunting with today it wouldn't be enough to kill the animal
at the back. By then the sun was falling in the sky and had disappeared behind
the hills which meant that our opportunity had passed. So, I had to tip
my cap and then just gently let them wander off.
And so moving on to another
afternoon and this is where it starts to get really tough after four o'clock in
the afternoon you have literally an hour to an hour and a half to get into the
animals before the Sun disappears over the mountains and you're finished.
Gavin knows his farm extremely well and he just seems to know where the animals
like to be. So, we just have to trust his judgment and off we go.
Through the thorn bushes across the valleys and lo and behold
there they are again crossing in front of us. The only thing was we just left it
a little bit too late and the sun had already fallen in the sky it was just
not worth taking a shot. I've got to be absolutely sure I can connect properly
that the point of impact is going to be exactly where I want it to be and that
we can retrieve the animal and at four to five hundred kilos that's no mean
feat. There's a really good chance that because the eland were disturbed that
continue feeding upon to the higher plains and then remain there for the
evening so we decided to back off and leave it for the following morning.
So, the plan was early morning get up see if we could spot them on the plains and
cut them off before they got back into the thick bush at the far end of the
estate. As the eland were feeding down they were moving at some pace
they've got very long strides and even though we tried our best to keep up they
were just one step ahead of us.
But, then they disappeared into the brush
at the bottom and we knew that they were going to appear on the far side of the valley.
Gavin got us into position set up on the sticks and from there we just had to wait.
We had a full view of the meadow at the far side of the brush and we knew
that we'd be able to see them when they emerged and lo and behold there comes
the bull followed by the two cows. The target area is big but the point of
impact is absolutely critical. The best option for me from the distance we were
looking at was a double lung shot. Now, of course a high heart shot is the
preferred route but it just didn't want to take a risk a hundred ninety yards
that he could just shift his position slightly before I had a chance to take
my shot. So, I was on the sticks lovely and steady and he stood perfectly
broadside aimed about 30 percent 40 percent at the body and then gently
squeezed the trigger.
The shot connected perfectly the blood loss was instantaneous and within a few
feet the animal lay down and passed and I couldn't have hoped for better results.
There is so much game and the populations are so healthy it really is
a pleasure to see all of the animals around here even if we don't see the one that we want.
So, another incredible hunt here in South Africa and another
phenomenal experience Nduna Hunting Safaris and of course a
magnificent eland bull that is about to deliver three hundred and fifty kilos
of bilton to a local Game Fair this weekend.