African Hunter Published Books Campfire Tales Volume 3 of 20 | Page 8

minutes to work ourselves onto a small rise ahead of the feeding
herd, and then it was down to waiting for the bull to move out into
the open or the light to fade away. Fortunately, move out he did,
but quartering away and on the verge of breaking into a trot. Once
again, it required a split second decision on whether to take the
shot. Luckily, I was carrying adequate artillery for such a situation,
a short barrel Sako in .458 Lott (courtesy Richard Pascall of Kudu
Safaris) with 500 grain Swift A frame bullets. I had not got into the
technical terms regarding the velocities, powders etc, but suffice
it to say that I had been assured it could get into the vital areas
from almost any angle. I had also taken the precaution of zeroing
it myself to hit the bull at 100m, which was to prove crucial a
couple of days later. The only point of concern was the poor light
gathering quality and field of view of the 2.5 X compact scope, but
this was not a major factor. Thus, when I did squeeze off that first
shot, the only scope for error was from my side, which can also
be a handicap as it takes away all your excuses! The smack of the
bullet and the reaction of the buffalo indicated a good hit, but a
repeat shot was out of the question because of the light and other
buffalo around. With darkness closing in within a few minutes,
there was no option but to head back to camp.
Anybody who has not been able to recover an animal
immediately will know the feeling of initial self-confidence giving
way to self-doubt as the hours pass by. It was no different with
us. While both Dean and the trackers were confident of the shot
reaction, I was concerned about whether the low light conditions
could have caused the shot to be too low, too far back, and all the
other permutations and combinations that add up to a sleepless
night. For his part, Dean began to have doubts about the judgement
of the trophy quality, and the better part of the evening was spent
in reinforcing each other’s point of view!
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African Hunter Magazine - Campfire Tales, Volume Three