Dad's Red Hartebeest and Springbok

[Rob]

After 20 months of waiting, the taxidermy for my dad and I is finally getting wrapped up from our trip to Namibia in 9/07.  (the delays were around shipping them into the country, not our taxidermist, he will have done over a dozen mounts including 2 full body mounts in about 6 weeks.

Taxidermist is in Abilene Texas, same town my Parents live in so Dad is getting his first.

If anyone is interested, the taxidermist's name is Jerry Huffaker (http://www.huffakertaxidermy.com)

He had the Hartebeest skinned for a rug, then once back in the states regretted that choice and decided he wanted a shoulder mount.  He talked to Jerry who found him an extra cape and had both done.  There is pretty good story about this hartebeest.  I'll post it if anyone is interested.  I find Hartebeest kinda cool in a long faced horse sorta way.  Not the most beautiful animals, but very unusual mounts.

[Rob]

Forgot the springbok...

[Rob]

Sorry, one more pict.  In the zoomed out photo of the hartebeest, you can see a photo below it.  here it is.

[bowhunterforever]

Awsome mounts I bet it was a good hunt and lets hear the story?

[Slider]

Very Nice!!! Harley Davidson!!!

[hunterofelk]

Who did you hunt with?  I got a Springbok with 16 inch horns, but got someone else's mount.  A fourteen and a half inch.  I could not get anything resolved.

[hunterofelk]

Here is a field photo.



My red hartebeast, a young one, but I liked the horns.

[Rob]

Here is the story of both of our Hartebeests.  I pulled this from the journal I typed up after our trip.  I took a pass through it to see that it made sense without the rest of the journal for context and added a few parenthetical notes.

This was it.  The final day of the trip.  Dad and I got up at 5 and prepared for the final push.  On the way up to the dinning area, recalling Steve’s (my college buddy) smugness about sleeping in, I was sure to toss a bunch of rocks onto the tin roof of his cabin.  It made a satisfying racket.  There was a pregnant pause and then Steve yelled something unintelligible at us.  Dad yelled something back about hairy baboons on the roof and we chuckled to ourselves at our great idea and quick wit.

We were underway before sunrise and headed back out to hartebeest territory.  As we drove towards the salt lick again we saw a nice bull just standing near the road there looking at us.  We stopped the truck and Dad put up the 7mm SAUM.  He took a 100 yard shot that dropped it like a rock!

You now how when you make a clean heart shot and the animal just drops?  The back end goes down, then the front end goes down, and it falls hard?  Well that was exactly what happened.  Textbook heart shot!  The sun was not even up yet and we had one in the bag!

Or so we thought…

As we were congratulating Dad on his great shot, to our dismay, the hartebeest jumped back up and started running!

“Shoot it!!” yelled Jaco (our PH/Guide).

I brought my rifle up and let a round go.  No effect.

I shot again.  Still no effect.

I only had one shell left in the rifle.  I have never hit a running animal so I was pretty sure that I was one shot away from leaving it all up to Dad to claim his hartebeest.

As I let the last round fly, my mind was whirling.  I started thinking about how fast I could re-load the gun and how much ground the hartebeest could cover while I did so and how I hated shooting at running animals with a rifle and a million other thoughts…

All the worries were for naught though as the third round hit home in the neck and it fell hard.  With adrenaline still coursing through me I reloaded the gun and Dad and I both kept it covered as we walked up on it.  When we got there it was still alive, but not doing well.  It turned out that all three of my shots had hit him!  The first one grazed the front leg.  The second one went through the fleshy part of the butt, and the third shot broke the neck.  The trackers started trying to set it up for pictures but its reflexes were still active and it kept twitching its legs and falling over.  They decided to finish it off with a knife to the back of the neck.  I handed them my knife as the blade was longer than the folding blade they were going to use.  They buried the blade in up to the hilt in the back of the neck between the skull and the first neck vertebrae.  It was dead in less than 20 seconds.  He measured 21 inches, with 11 inch bases.

We took pictures and then started to look for my hartebeest.  We drove around for a bit and tried to get close to a few without luck.  We came across a group out in the distance and decided to try another stalk on foot.  Again they held about 300 yards in front.  We trailed them for a mile or two and finally lost them.

Next we drove to an area with a lot of trees and high brush.  Jaco said this was a popular area for hartebeest to hang out so we decided to take a walk.  The area had lots of 10 to 12 foot trees in it with large grassy areas in between.  100 yards in we could no longer see the road or truck.  After about 15 minutes of walking we saw some running away from us.  Nothing huge so we kept walking.  We soon entered into some thick brush with red dirt.  We slowed our pace as there could have been animals just about anywhere.  As we came into a clearing, I could see the distinctive heart shaped silhouette of horns about 80 yards ahead.  I signaled Jaco and we scanned them from behind a bush for a while.  There were about 10 of them scattered in and around the trees.  It was getting to be later morning so many of them were beginning to lay down for the day.  After watching them for a while Jaco decided there were no shooters so we skirted to the left to avoid spooking them and kept walking.  We came out of the brush into some open territory.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a tumbleweed blow by.  Then I realized there are no tumbleweeds in Africa!  I did a double take just in time to see a huge African porcupine dart down an aardvark hole!  Very cool! 

After walking for what seemed to be 2-3 miles with no more hartebeest sightings we called in the truck and headed back to camp for lunch.

Back at the camp we met up with Steve and his Dad and found out that while we were out hunting another cobra was found.  This time in the laundry room!  It was a much smaller one than the other one.  It took the trackers some time, armed only with a broom, to find and kill it.  I guess it went up the wall and into the ceiling rafters!

Dad and I headed down to the tent.  I was pretty beat as I had done a bit more walking that I am use to.  After all, a typical day for me is spent at a computer responding to e-mail!  We drug ourselves down to the tent and Dad knelt down in an attempt to unzip the tent door.  It was stuck.  He fiddled with it for a few seconds and then I put my stuff down to see if I could help.  It was definitely stuck.  Closer examination revealed that there were zip ties pinning all the zippers together in such a way as they wouldn’t budge…  Steve had been busy!  I cut them loose and tossed our stuff inside.  We freshened up for lunch-but not without first doing a very thorough search for a dead baby cobra in our beds, in the toilet, under the chairs, etc.  Fortunately for Steve, we did not find one!

Back up at the dinning hall Dad mentioned to the Spitzers that an African death spider had sealed our tent shut.  Steve stifled a snicker and commented that the baboons on his roof that morning must have disturbed the death spiders.  We got a good laugh out of it-Steve was especially pleased that we searched the room for the cobra.  He confessed that that he was sound asleep when we tossed the rocks on his roof at 5:30 and that once he was awake, he could not get back to sleep!  Made us feel pretty good about our little ruse.  Before we headed out for the evening hunt I offered Steve’s trackers 100 Namibian dollars (about 15 bucks) if they could find a large hairy spider and bring it to me dead so I could leave Steve a follow up surprise.  They were not able to find one, but I understand they did do some looking.

I took a brief nap before the evening hunt and then came back up to the waterhole overlook.  I lit up my pipe, cracked open a beer, and did a little reading while waiting for the heat of the day to dissipate.  2:00 arrived and it was time to go out again (we were to start earlier this time).

Dad had shot everything but his warthog.  I was down to a hartebeest and a duiker.  The duiker I was told is more or less an animal of opportunity during the day since they are mostly nocturnal.  I figured that I would most likely not get one of those but this whole hartebeest thing was starting to get to me.  After doing several stalks and putting in more than 10 miles of walking over the last couple of days it was becoming a bit of a personal grudge to get one.  Jaco said the plan for the evening hunt would be to send Schalk (the other PH/Guide) and Dad to a new waterhole to wait for his warthog while we went out to look for more hartebeest.  We would start at a waterhole and sit there for a while then go find a place to stalk.

After dropping us off, Thomas (one of our Trackers) went back for Dad and Schalk to take them to their waterhole.

Jaco and I set up on a waterhole from about 3 to 4:30.  In that hour and a half we saw no fewer than 34 warthogs come in to water.  At one time we had 6 there at once.  No real shooters came in but lots of small males, sows, and piglets. 

Once we had a group of 4 young males watering and rubbing their butts on a nearby salt lick when all of the sudden the pigs started getting really frantic.  They began to run back and forth and were acting generally nervous.  I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and in walked of all things a donkey!  It went over to the waterhole, laid its ears back and chased off all the pigs!  He watered and then saw us in the blind.  As he started to walk towards us two of the braver warthogs worked their way cautiously to the water hole to finish rolling in the mud and wiping their butts on the salt lick.  It was kinda funny to watch.  Who knew that warthogs and donkeys didn’t get along?

While we were sitting on the waterhole  we also saw a number of jackals come in.  I would have shot one as they have the prettiest blue merle and red coats I have seen, but every one of them that came in looked like hell.  They looked like they had been out on all night benders.  One of them had no hair left on his tail!  He looked like a giant rat. 

Around 4:30 Jaco announced that it was time to start stalking stuff.  Thinking we would be driving somewhere new I had brought my backpack, filled with water and books, with me to the blind.  I came to find out that we were going to head out directly from the blind!  I could have had the tracker carry my pack I suppose, but I like to be independent so I sucked it up and put the 250 pound pack on (at least it felt that heavy).
We started walking and probably put 4 or 5 miles down without seeing anything other than a few cow hartebeest.  The sun was getting low in the horizon and I had pretty much given up hope on hartebeest.  It had been a great hunt even without one though!  We got back in the truck and started heading back towards where Dad and Schalk were waiting for warthog.  Jaco told me that since we did not need to leave Omitara for the airport until 10:30ish, we could try one more time in the early am if we wanted too.  This sounded like a great plan to me, and was very nice of Jaco since technically that was not a hunting day!

As we circled around to go pick up Schalk and Dad we took a little detour since the sun was not fully down yet and there was still hunting light.

David spotted some hartebeest about (take a guess…) 300 yards out in the trees.  They had not yet seen us so it looked like a good opportunity.  Jaco and I got out and with David following up behind began moving up on them.  As expected they stayed about 300 yards ahead of us.  I finally decided enough was enough and I told Jaco I would take a longer shot if one presented itself.  Jaco saw one that was 280 yards out and facing us.  It had seen, and was keeping tabs on us.  The Perfect Shot book says this of hartebeest:

The hartebeest’s natural curiosity and mediocre eyesight often cause them to stand and stare at the hunter, which results in a large proportion of shots being taken from the frontal position.  The long narrow heads of these antelope, plus their less-than-wide chests can make such shots difficult, especially at 200 paces or more. 

Kevin Robertson – the Perfect Shot, Shot Placement for African Game.

Using the sticks in a standing position I lined up on him with the scope set at 18x.  All I could see was the hartebeest standing there with the cross hairs dancing all around him!  I could not seem to get settled down enough to get a solid shot.  The target was really, really narrow.  I finally pulled the trigger, but it was a poor shot.  I missed clean and he trotted off.  I was pretty disappointed since light was failing fast and I had probably missed the only chance I would have to get a hartebeest.  In retrospect I should have set up the shot from the sitting position so I would have had better stability.

Jaco then told me to look to my right.  At 250 yards, just under a tree was another bull.  Not quite as nice as the one I missed, but still a shooter and this one was standing broadside.  Using the sticks I lined up just about perfect for a long range heart lung shot.  Right as I started squeezing the trigger, I watched the crosshairs slide to the right in one clean motion and center on the rear hips.  Too late!  I was already committed to the squeeze by the time I noticed the drift.  BANG! 

To my surprise the hartebeest went down and Jaco started to congratulate me.  I was not ready to accept congratulations yet and told him that it was a bad shot that was too far back.  Remembering how Dad’s hartebeest had gotten back up I told him I wanted to put another round in him.  As we jogged up to close the gap to 150 yards I loaded another shell in the gun just so I had three ready to go if he started running.  He was still down, so I set up on the sticks and took a neck shot at 150 that laid him down for good.  Ten minutes before sun was to set on the last day, I finally had my hartebeest! 

We took some good pictures including one that looked like the hartebeest and I were good buddies who had been up drinking all night, and then loaded him up in the truck.

[Rob]

Who did you hunt with?  I got a Springbok with 16 inch horns, but got someone else's mount.  A fourteen and a half inch.  I could not get anything resolved.

I can't see your photos at work (internet filter).  I'll take a peek tonight from home.

We hunted with African Twilight Safaris.  GREAT folks.  They have a 109K acre place of their own, and access to several other consessions. 

http://www.africantwilightsafaris.com/


A 16 inch SB is a true MONSTER!  Got any photos?  Did you have your work done in Namibia?  I have heard good and bad things about African Taxidermy.  Nyati was who we used to get our hides and horns out to Abilene where they are being worked done.  They screwed up and ended up holding our stuff for 6 months by accident.  Nice people, just not really on top of things.

Our party shot 6 total.  Two were Game Mgt kills, and we took home four trophies.  They ranged between 12.75 inches and 14 making them silver and gold class animals.

[robb92]

Great story and pics thanks for posting them!!!

[Rob]

OK, that 16 inch SB is freakishly huge.  That really sucks about the shop mix up...

Nice fat HB rack too.

Glad you liked the photos and story Robb.

[hunterofelk]

I hunted in Namibia, with W. F. Mans Safaris, and had a great time.  It took two years for the crate of trophys to get back.  Cape Taxidermy in South Africa did the work.  I think the stuff got mixed up with some hunters from Alaska, but they weren't any help.  Anyway, it's over with and I do have pictures.  W. F. Mans offered another hunt to me, but I doubt if I will be able to afford the trip again.

Here is another pic of the SB:



This is the shoulder mount I received:



Horns are curved different and shorter.  My Kudu, Gemsbok and Springbok were someone else's, but the Zebra, Klipspringer, and Hartebeest were the ones I shot. 
Anyway, good memories and I hope maybe to go back.  I am glad you had a good time and the mounts look great.  The Hartebeest have only two speeds, stop and flat-out go.  I managed to get mine when he was on the stop switch.

[Rob]

Wow, I would not be taking it as well as you if they swapped out my trophies...  You are the better man. 

Klipspringers are cool.  Did you have it mounted?  Full body?

Lets see a photo.

[hunterofelk]

The Klipspringer was a great hunt.  A lot of spot and stalks and finally we snuck to a pair who decided to lay down behind a big bush.  Bad mistake on their part.  Got within thirty yards.  Fun hunting.




Zebra was a gas, too.  Funny thing, the animals I orginally had low on the list turned out to be the best hunt

[huntnphool]

Very cool, thanks for sharing