Article-DayoftheBuffalo

by Glenn Summers

Having had a little taste of African hunting a couple of years ago, I booked a
ten-day safari with David Tennent Safaris of Pretoria for July 2006. This would
be a hunt for my first Cape, or southern buffalo. The rest of my wish list
included a huge greater kudu and a better nyala.

As we eased through the tangle of thorn bush that covered this ridge top my PH,
David Tennent whispered that we might find the fresh tracks of a herd of buffalo
as they had come up from the river valley below. I wondered at his statement;
everywhere I looked or put my boot down was covered with fresh buffalo tracks.

As if on cue we caught a glimpse of a good bull as he wheeled and vanished
into the thorn bush like a wisp of smoke in a whirlwind. Dern! That big bull had
turned on a dime and left eight cents change in the lingering veil of dust. Seeing
that near-ton buffalo wheel so quickly was too spooky to dwell on. We all looked
at each other, but knew we had bumped that bull and would now pay the price.
Directly we heard the rumble of the herd of buffalo he took with him as he
vanished. That dry, rocky hillside was beat ragged with a multitude of tracks;
tracks of waterbuck, gemsbok, wildebeest, impala and buffalo running every
which way but up. Twenty minutes was spent sorting out sign as Jacob, our
Pedi tracker did what he does best.......

LOOK FOR THE COMPLETE ARTICLE COMING OUT SOON
in the winter edition of DANGEROUS GAME HUNTING Magazine.