THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Africa has four spiral horned antelope species...eland, kudu, nyala, and bushbuck.  I had taken a kudu on our first safari and so a bushbuck would give me two of the four needed for "The African Spiral Slam." Maybe a eland on my next trip? The giant eland has been a favorite animal of mine since the first time I saw one while sitting in a leopard blind at night in Zimbabwe back in 1998. The magnificant  Nyala is an incredible animal that most hunters dream of taking. If I see that a hunting show says they are after nyala, I record it every time. The only problem is that a nyala comes with a pretty steep trophy fee by my standards. Our hunt in the southern Kalahari had been a great success. I had taken three exceptional trophies but to get my bushbuck would require going to the part of the country that they call home. The next time I loaded my rifle would be after an eleven hour drive, over two days, to Africa's famous Limpopo region. The plan was to meet Frikkie's friend Marco to hunt his concession's heavy covered lush river bottoms for a bushbuck. The bushbuck is the smallest of the four spirals. It has a dark chocolate coat with white spots on the back third of the body. A good male will have black horns 14 inches or better. Very thick cover near water is their home. They are shy secerative creatures and their love of heavy cover makes them a very challengeing trophy.  They may be small and shy but when wounded they have been known to charge and use their razor sharp horns like daggers on hunters. They feed and move much like our whitetail deer and are most active from just before dusk until shortly after sunrise.  Our hunt started by getting the safari truck stuck in the deep black mud of  the river bottom. Frikkie just laughed and said, "It wouldn't be a safari if you didn't get stuck at least once". Thank god Frikki and Uri had to slog through the knee deep black ooze to run the cable from the power wench on the front bumper to pull us free.  As we made our way along the river bottom we came upon a nyala bull rolling in the mud. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him. I was in awe at the impressive sight  which instantly lit a  fire inside me..someday I have to hunt a nyala. At least I could dream about it.  He was massive. About the size of a bull elk. He has golden boots that come up to the knee. A dark brown coat with white stripes down the sides. Plus, a thick shaggy main around the neck and under the belly. Topped off with a set of huge spiral horns covered in mud. Frikkie and the other guys also had noticed that the nyala really lit my fire. The hunt for bushbuck was proving very tough. We had seen plenty of animals but the high grass was making identifying a good male and finding a shot on such a short animal difficult. When we saw a one horned nyala, I again got very excited. Frikkie gave me a goofy look and said "He only has one horn." I replied, "I know but he is still a nyala."  After dinner Frikkie told me that he had a special surprise for me on the evening hunt, if we got the the chance and then flashed me a huge grin. I had assumed he was going to let me shoot a small cat or spotted genet if the chance came up. We spent the next several hours bouncing along the river bottoms but just could not get a shot at a bushbuck. Then it happened a dream I thought would never come true did exactly that. As we turned the corner there stood the same nyala bull we had seen earlier in the day rolling in the mud. I told Frikkie, "He's a monster." To my surprise Frikkie told me, "Take him." The look of total amazement and shock must have said it all because I surely could not speak. Again Frikkie told to me to take him. I settled the crosshairs on his front shoulder and fired. As I approached my nyala my hands started shaking. It was like a dream or out of body experience. I just sat beside my magnificant trophy in shock as a million thoughts raced through my mind. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever really expect to take a nyala, let alone on this trip. After many hand shakes and photos, Marco pulled a bottle of J&B from behind his seat. As we sat there in the dark watching the full moon dance on the water, I could hear the hippos protesting our presence. To my wife, Frikkie, & Natasha I say a heartfelt THANK YOU for helping me experience the impossible dream...my very own nyala. On the cold ride back to camp it hit me, we'll have to come back again to get that bushbuck...YAHOO!

Frikkie and me with a monster Nyala bull.



Marco, Uri, and a happy me

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