In July 2013 I traveled to the Limpopo province of South Africa to hunt a few plains game species with my bow now this was sort of a unique hunt as I wasn’t hunting with a outfitter per say because the property I was on wasn’t a hunting property they didn’t have a lot of different game species but the game they had was primary for feeding their predators that they had in for rehab and for breeding. This place had multiple lions, even white lions, they had cheetahs, Hyena, and even a Monster of a leopard that they had raised since he was a cub that was left on his own. So, everything I was to hunt would be food for these animals. July is meant to be good time for bow hunting as its mid-winter everything has dried up the water sources are getting lower, and the food has lost a lot of its nutrition value, so the wildlife comes to water and food sources frequently.

I have spent a lot of time in Africa throughout the winter months over the years, but this time was different. See our winters in Southwest Wyoming can be brutal we measure snow not in inches but in feet and during the winter it is very common to see days and even weeks where we are below zero Fahrenheit and it’s not uncommon to have several days that hit negative thirty five Fahrenheit with the windchill The wind is brutal here even during our summer days we get extremely windy times where its thirty, forty, and even fifty mile and hour winds so I’m use to the wind. But I have never experienced wind in Africa like I did during this week of July the wind was howling making it much colder for Africa standards. Now the wind didn’t help in many ways. 1, it was colder, so the game didn’t move as much, 2, the game didn’t want to move with the howling winds as it affects all their senses that keep them alive, 3 shooting a bow and arrow in the wind is

much more difficult to hold steady and your arrow drifts much more. So, from the beginning we knew we had our work cut out for us and over the seven days I was only able to get three shot opportunities. One was on the first day from a pop up blind over a water source where I got a baboon, the next was Day three when I took a Impala out of a elevated tree blind machan and then on day five out of the same blind I arrowed a blue wildebeest that we spent the next two days tracking without finding it, my shot was just a bit high and clipped one lung and if you know blue wildebeest you know they are a very tough animal. They did find it a few days after I left, they figured the wildebeest had died that same day but with little blood to follow and so may tracks around he was lost in the mix, the good thing is the meat was still salvageable from a feeding predators’ standpoint so not to be considered a waste. My key take away from this Safari was no matter how much planning you do and how perfect the timing is mother nature can always throw a wrench in your plans, so be prepared for that and take it as it comes, remember a bad day on safari is better than a good day at work unless that good day at work adds to your Safari fund.

This trip was fast and actioned packed with zero luck out of the blinds not for a lack of trying so we had to do everything spot and stalk we managed to end the safari with a few very fine antelope species in the salt but not all we were after. That is common of any given safari you will go on, you will have a key species list and you most likely won’t get them all but you probably will add a few animals of opportunity along the way that you didn’t have on your initial list.

Takeaway, sometimes timing of trips isn’t during the most opportune timing, but you just have to make the most of it and use what conditions you are given. You’re in Africa on Safari smile life is good.

Pick your top key species and make a plan with your desired outfitter. Focus on the main species you want and if others offer opportunities and you can afford to take them do so.  Hunting is hunting and nothing always works out 100% perfect that’s part of the fun in it, the challenges had, and the experiences earned.