Hartebeest Hill and a Zebra Too!

I woke with the alarm this morning and quickly dressed then woke Jack before heading to the dining room for a cup of coffee and rusk’s, I then sat out on the veranda and waited for the others to arrive. One by one they slowly appeared rubbing weary eyes and holding steaming cups of coffee, Braun said we would hunt Hartebeest this morning and there were often some big Bulls in the hills above where we had shot the Wildebeest the day before. So with our sights set on Hartebeest we loaded our gear into the Bakkie and headed off to the same ridge we had glassed from the previous afternoon. As we neared the top of the ridge we could see 3 big Hartebeest way up on a high plateau, Braun glassed them and told us they were all good bulls and we should plan a stalk.

The base of Hartebeest Hill, what you cant see is the rest of the hill behind that initial shoulder.

The wind was blowing stiffly from the South so if we used the same approach as we had on the Wildebeest we would remain downwind of them, and there was no risk of this wind unexpectedly changing direction. We set off through the river bed and circled around behind the hill, now began the hard part a long climb to a clump of trees that marked the edge of the plateau the Hartbeest were on. 

Beginning to climb what we later dubbed Hartebeest Hill.

Loading up just before the crest of the hill.

We climbed the first part of the hill past the shoulder where I had taken the Wildebeest from and upwards to the edge of the plateau, stopping every few minutes to ensure we weren’t a worn out panting mess when we finally reached the top. Finally after a massive climb we stopped some 20 meters below the summit to get our breath back and have a quick drink before hopefully catching the Hartebeest out on the Plateau.  Braun and Jack slowly made their way up the last part of the hill with Richard and Greg following closely behind, Jacu and I brought up the rear. As they crested the hill Braun suddenly stopped and put the sticks up, Jack steadied the rifle and took aim, Richard and Greg had the cameras set up in an instant.

We are so close and they don't know we are there, if only they would stop moving.

Taking aim at the Hartebeest, they just have to stop walking for a second.

For 5 minutes they just stood there bolt still, then Jack slowly applied the safety and shouldered the rifle, Braun collected up the sticks and slowly set off across the Plateau. The Hartebeest were on the move and had dropped over the back of the plateau and down a rough gully out of sight heading towards the next ridge. I asked Jack what had happened and he told me they were nervously moving around and would not stand still, Braun said he thought the wind was unsettling them. Still we had climbed this far we weren’t going to give up and we followed them from a distance watching them as they climbed and crested the next ridge. 

The Hartebeest were always one ridge ahead of us.

Once they were out of sight we quickly followed trying to make up ground, as we got to the top of the next ridge we could see them in the bush below us making for the next ridge. Once again we followed trying to make ground and at the same time stay hidden. The wind was starting to get very strong by this stage and we knew there was no chance of them ever hearing us so we were less cautious about making noise and that gave us some extra pace. Unfortunately the wind was also against us and the Hartebeest just would not stop they just kept on walking over ridge after ridge and we followed for nearly 4 hours.

Richard pointing in disbelief at the Hartebeest as they keep moving.

Eventually the ridges ended and the ground dropped away to more rolling hills and gully’s to the Southeast and climbed to form higher peaks to the Southwest, the Hartebeest headed downhill and made for the horizon, by the time we reached the edge of the slope and had spotted them they were well over a kilometer away and showed no signs of slowing down.  We gave up at this point, the wind was blowing even harder and we had covered a huge distance, Greg’s GPS said 6 kilometers horizontally so it would have been nearer 9 kilometers in total. We watched as the Hartebeest kept trekking toward the horizon and disappeared into some scrub.  

The Hartebeest just never stopped walking and eventually dropped off the ridges and away onto the ground below forcing us to give up the chase.

We sat for a while and had a well deserved drink, somewhat disappointed that the effort we had put in had amounted to nothing but still pleased with our persistence. I was particularly pleased that Braun had resisted the temptation to ask Jack to make a shot on a moving animal. Even though they were only walking and I would have had no hesitation at that range, I was glad to see that Braun recognized that it was too risky to ask Jack, a novice hunter to take the shot. Jack later told me Braun had specifically told him not to shoot unless they actually stopped.

Once we had rested for a bit we began the long trek back to the vehicle, some 5 kilometers

away in a straight line by the GPS.  We managed to stumble across a pair of Bat Eared Foxes, a Scrub Hare and a couple of small Duiker along the way which broke up the journey a bit.  Once back at the vehicle we all shrugged off our backpacks and safely stowed the rifles, then made for the cooler with its contents of cool drinks. Having drained the cooler and satisfied our thirst we headed back to the lodge for some lunch.

We ate another great lunch and then had our usual midday rest, I walked around for a while and took some pictures of the weaver birds and their nests then had a bit of a nap, while Jack relaxed  in the Boma listening to a rooster teeth podcast or something on his Ipod.  As the afternoon drew on the wind started to drop and it looked like we would have nice conditions for our afternoon hunt.

Jack relaxing in the Boma listening to a Rooster Teeth podcast on his Ipod.

After our lunchtime siesta we all felt recharged and ready to go for what was to be our last afternoon hunt at Royal Karoo, we all got our gear together and left the lodge around 3pm, heading for the hills where we had seen the Zebra the day before. Rob had told us that there was a good chance we would find the Zebra again today particularly after the wind we had had in the morning, he said they liked to shelter in the lee of the hills with the Dassies.  With this in mind we got high up in the hills above where they were likely to be and started glassing, at first we drew a blank and mover a little further along the scarp. Then we saw them they were just out on the flats to the West beyond a rocky ridge under some shady trees, Braun looked them over and confirmed it was the ones we were after and there was now a 4th animal with them, he said if we were very careful we may be able to stalk close enough for a shot. The wind was still from the South which was in our favour and had dropped even more, it was no longer gusting but had become a nice gentle breeze.

The Zebra are just over the hill on the flats behind the rocks.

With this in mind we back tracked a little to put the rocks between us and them, once we were out of view we made our way to the rocks as quickly as we could. Braun and I slowly stalked ahead behind a natural rock wall about 1 meter high that ran in a North South orientation, we were making our way towards the end of the rocks where they broke up and the ground fell away under a shady tree. This would provide us with a perfect vantage point to watch the Zebra from and hopefully take a shot.  

Watching and waiting for a chance, we had a good vantage point to observe the Zebra from.

Anyone that has hunted Zebra will tell you they are no easy animal to hunt they have the sharpest eyes on the plains, that’s why a lot of other animals hang out with them, they are a very efficient alarm system and being that bit taller can see further providing an early warning of danger. They are also extremely tough and if the shot is not placed properly they will take some tracking down. Fortunately we made it to the shade without being spotted and slowly the other guys also made their way into position and got set up. It took a little while to get the camera tripods steady and level on the rocky ground but the guys managed it very slowly, quietly and carefully.  All the while I was watching the Zebra under the trees, Braun had told me which one to take and I waited until he was clear of the trees and the other 3 animals.

Braun Glassing the Zebra and giving me a commentary on which animal to take and his movements.

Once the Zebra was clear I confirmed with Braun he was the correct animal and that the guys were all set and ready. I had a nice steady rest across the rocks and slowly took up on the trigger, my sight picture did not move as the trigger broke, in fact I never felt any recoil at all but I saw the bullet hit and it was exactly where I wanted it to. The Zebra tried to run at the hit and stumbled a bit then stopped by a tree and fell over. It was all over so quick the other Zebra stopped to see what had happened before running off. 

HIT!

Trying to run.

Going Down.

Braun congratulated me on a good shot and a fine trophy animal and shook my hand, I think he was more than a little relieved after the long stalk in the morning drawing a blank. We stayed where we were for a little while just sitting in the shade taking in what had just transpired. It was more than just an afternoon hunt to us, we had hunted hard for Zebra the day before and had a massive morning stalking Hartebeest. this was the culmination of all that effort in one moment.

Walking up to my Zebra was a complete mix of emotions.

 It is hard to describe the way I felt as I slowly walked down to the Zebra, it was a combination of relief, elation and a touch of sadness all at the same time, and I knew that in the years to come every time I looked at that Zebra skin it would take me back to this moment.

Jack and I with my Zebra. 

We took our time with taking the trophy photos and Jacu made sure they were perfect, there was no need to rush and we wanted to savor our last afternoon in the Karoo. Braun had sent the tracker to retrieve the vehicle while we were busy with the photos and we all helped load the Zebra into the Bakkie when he arrived. Then we packed up our gear and headed back to the lodge, arriving just before the sunset. We had enough time to unpack, shower and get into some fresh clothes before meeting in the Boma to watch the sun slowly fall below the horizon with a cold beer in hand. Our last day in the Karoo had drawn to a close, in the morning we would be leaving heading North to the Kalahari.