Kudu
11-11-2009, 12:43 PM
Have you ever heard the saying “Grab a baboon by the tail?” Well, neither had I until something happened recently - I had been away from Africa and home for ten long years, I had returned from my ventures abroad and was hell bent on meeting up with my hunting mates and re kindling the fires of friendship. A lot had changed in our friendship over the previous years and a friendly”pow-wow” around a campfire was overdue.
Usually, this meant a weekend away at a very remote location, where we could reminisce about the victories and spoils of the previous hunting seasons. It is amazing how much information accumulated (French for creatively remembering what happened) over time on what actually transpired during every incident that took place on these hunts. After some of the “Remember what happened on that day when U ....., I sometimes found myself wondering if I actually attended some of these hunts that they where remembering so clearly, because for some unexplained reason, I remembered the sequence of events rather differently. Anyway, let me not get distracted.
There was a lot of laughter that night, and I am happy to say that the friendship actually seemed stronger than before. It did not take long to decide that we would use every opportunity that presented itself for a hunt - and would not be led away by our wives. The focus was simple – while was in South Africa we would hunt.
Thus Saturday morning arrived with a fresh breeze and a beautiful sunrise, and whole day ahead of us. The only bow –related activity we had was to do target practise – no real challenge to seasoned bow hunters like ourselves.
This was an opportunity and we could not let it pass us by. We had bows in hand, we had time, and we were in the bush. Unfortunately we were on a farm with no animals to hunt, but I did remember the farmer complaining about the baboons that were destroying his maize crops. So after a quick call to the farmer it was settled – we had a hunt on our hands.
After some detailed instructions from the farmer and a quick discussion between Theo, Neil and myself, it was decided that this was to be part of our longstanding competition. The rules were simple: best shot, most daring kill, best stalk, wins.
I could not have asked for more – My friends and I had a bow in our hands and we were back in the bush.
Neil volunteered to go first since he was the best at walk-and-stalk and this was clearly an opportunity for him to expand his experience. The plan was to stalk the baboons when they were still on the hillock they use as their local dormitory.
The hillock was situated on the southern corner of the farm, close to the river. It did not take us long to get there and as luck would have it, the baboons were still warming themselves in the early morning sun. We were faced with a huge heap of very large boulders set in dense vegetation – a perfect baboon dormitory. This was just the sort of challenge Neil was hoping for, so, as we decided beforehand, Theo and I found a good vantage point from which we would record his attempt. Theo had the HD-cam (tech talk for a video camera with the latest features that cost too much) with the x30zoom feature and I had binoculars. We were determined to capture and record his every move.
Neil soon disappeared among the bushes and I did not see him again for the next half hour. I was just getting worried that something had happened to my friend – you know, like falling asleep in the shade of a marula tree or something – When I spotted him below a big boulder halfway up the hillock. A huge baboon was sitting on the edge of the boulder, basking peacefully in the early morning sun and probably dreaming about the huge maize cobs he would enjoying later that day. His scruffy tail was hanging down the side of the rock.
I watched Neil as he made his way around the boulder towards the side where the baboon’s tail was hanging. Whether he was aware of the baboon was not clear. The Baboon was sitting quite still and was holding his head as though he had a huge hangover. After a few more seconds Neil was right below the baboon’s tail. He must have wondered what it was, because as I watched, he reached up and grabbed hold of it.
What happened next is rather difficult to explain, but let me try.
Upon discovering that his “chain” was being “yanked”, the baboon started complaining bitterly. He tried to back away from the edge of the boulder, but when not successful, he tried to identify his assailant. This also proved to be difficult because Neil, realising he had a baboon’s tail in his hand did not let go, he was trying to put down his bow and to find his hunting knife all at the same time.
This tug-of-war did not last more than 10 seconds, because the baboon managed to double over and look past his own backside, staring straight into the face of his attacker. This was probably a first for the baboon; having a bush with a human face (Neil had his ghillie suit on) pulling his tail. He promptly relived himself of his previous meal – or what was left of it.
Unfortunately Neil had the baboon’s hindquarters pointing straight at him (he was still pulling the tail), but he did have enough time to cover his face with his hand. When the fusillade came Neil let go of the tail, but the sudden release made the baboon loose his balance and he came tumbling down on top of Neil.
While all this was happening, both Neil and the baboon were giving very expressive blow-by-blow accounts of their separate innermost feelings. Neil was explaining to the baboon, in unrepeatable dialogue, what he would do to him (the baboon) if he did get off him, and that immediately so. That is probably exactly what the baboon was trying to explain to Neil. He bounced off Neil, hit the boulder below, bounced into the air and was running furiously long before his feet touched terra firma.
Neil left his ghillie suit hanging from a tree branch close to the hillock in the veldt and had a cold and quick swim in the river, trying to rid himself of the rather unpleasant smell. Apparently the farmer was very pleased with his “scarecrow” (the suit) near the hillock, because according to him the troop of baboons has not been seen since our visit.
Usually, this meant a weekend away at a very remote location, where we could reminisce about the victories and spoils of the previous hunting seasons. It is amazing how much information accumulated (French for creatively remembering what happened) over time on what actually transpired during every incident that took place on these hunts. After some of the “Remember what happened on that day when U ....., I sometimes found myself wondering if I actually attended some of these hunts that they where remembering so clearly, because for some unexplained reason, I remembered the sequence of events rather differently. Anyway, let me not get distracted.
There was a lot of laughter that night, and I am happy to say that the friendship actually seemed stronger than before. It did not take long to decide that we would use every opportunity that presented itself for a hunt - and would not be led away by our wives. The focus was simple – while was in South Africa we would hunt.
Thus Saturday morning arrived with a fresh breeze and a beautiful sunrise, and whole day ahead of us. The only bow –related activity we had was to do target practise – no real challenge to seasoned bow hunters like ourselves.
This was an opportunity and we could not let it pass us by. We had bows in hand, we had time, and we were in the bush. Unfortunately we were on a farm with no animals to hunt, but I did remember the farmer complaining about the baboons that were destroying his maize crops. So after a quick call to the farmer it was settled – we had a hunt on our hands.
After some detailed instructions from the farmer and a quick discussion between Theo, Neil and myself, it was decided that this was to be part of our longstanding competition. The rules were simple: best shot, most daring kill, best stalk, wins.
I could not have asked for more – My friends and I had a bow in our hands and we were back in the bush.
Neil volunteered to go first since he was the best at walk-and-stalk and this was clearly an opportunity for him to expand his experience. The plan was to stalk the baboons when they were still on the hillock they use as their local dormitory.
The hillock was situated on the southern corner of the farm, close to the river. It did not take us long to get there and as luck would have it, the baboons were still warming themselves in the early morning sun. We were faced with a huge heap of very large boulders set in dense vegetation – a perfect baboon dormitory. This was just the sort of challenge Neil was hoping for, so, as we decided beforehand, Theo and I found a good vantage point from which we would record his attempt. Theo had the HD-cam (tech talk for a video camera with the latest features that cost too much) with the x30zoom feature and I had binoculars. We were determined to capture and record his every move.
Neil soon disappeared among the bushes and I did not see him again for the next half hour. I was just getting worried that something had happened to my friend – you know, like falling asleep in the shade of a marula tree or something – When I spotted him below a big boulder halfway up the hillock. A huge baboon was sitting on the edge of the boulder, basking peacefully in the early morning sun and probably dreaming about the huge maize cobs he would enjoying later that day. His scruffy tail was hanging down the side of the rock.
I watched Neil as he made his way around the boulder towards the side where the baboon’s tail was hanging. Whether he was aware of the baboon was not clear. The Baboon was sitting quite still and was holding his head as though he had a huge hangover. After a few more seconds Neil was right below the baboon’s tail. He must have wondered what it was, because as I watched, he reached up and grabbed hold of it.
What happened next is rather difficult to explain, but let me try.
Upon discovering that his “chain” was being “yanked”, the baboon started complaining bitterly. He tried to back away from the edge of the boulder, but when not successful, he tried to identify his assailant. This also proved to be difficult because Neil, realising he had a baboon’s tail in his hand did not let go, he was trying to put down his bow and to find his hunting knife all at the same time.
This tug-of-war did not last more than 10 seconds, because the baboon managed to double over and look past his own backside, staring straight into the face of his attacker. This was probably a first for the baboon; having a bush with a human face (Neil had his ghillie suit on) pulling his tail. He promptly relived himself of his previous meal – or what was left of it.
Unfortunately Neil had the baboon’s hindquarters pointing straight at him (he was still pulling the tail), but he did have enough time to cover his face with his hand. When the fusillade came Neil let go of the tail, but the sudden release made the baboon loose his balance and he came tumbling down on top of Neil.
While all this was happening, both Neil and the baboon were giving very expressive blow-by-blow accounts of their separate innermost feelings. Neil was explaining to the baboon, in unrepeatable dialogue, what he would do to him (the baboon) if he did get off him, and that immediately so. That is probably exactly what the baboon was trying to explain to Neil. He bounced off Neil, hit the boulder below, bounced into the air and was running furiously long before his feet touched terra firma.
Neil left his ghillie suit hanging from a tree branch close to the hillock in the veldt and had a cold and quick swim in the river, trying to rid himself of the rather unpleasant smell. Apparently the farmer was very pleased with his “scarecrow” (the suit) near the hillock, because according to him the troop of baboons has not been seen since our visit.