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Bowhunt for Black Springbuck
By Riaan de Wet
We
were at Rietfontein, Oom FP van der Merwe’s 50 000-acre farm, 25km south
of Colesberg in the Karoo. Our party included some very distinguished gentlemen
of the hunting fraternity, men big in stature and posture – like Org Hamman,
Oom Piet van der Merwe and Roelie Jordaan. Our PH was Karl Stumpfe of Ndumo
Safaris.
On the second hunting day I set up my pop-up hide in a likely ambush
area, close to the fence and not far from a koppie. The 750 ha camp in
which I was hunting had a range of small koppies at one end of an otherwise
very flat Karoo scrub veld. Not an extremely good bowhunting area, but
we bowhunters never cry.
While sitting in the hide and thinking good thoughts about my wife,
I looked up and saw six black springbuck walking towards me. Around the
campfire last night I had been assured that springbuck in the Karoo are
not very particular about scent or strange objects such as pop-up hides,
unlike the bushveld animals that I was used to hunting.
Believe me, there is nothing wrong with the instincts and senses of
Karoo springbuck. They spotted the hide from about 60 metres and turned
and ran as if the devil himself was after them. At a height of 1,5 metres
the hide was undoubtedly the highest object for miles around.
People in the Karoo are used to hunting springbuck with rifles at distances
further than 300 metres, hence the deduction that springbuck are not wily
animals. The problem this presents for bowhunters is that we can only shoot
from distances of about 100 metres.
What to do?
After considering all that I had learned about bowhunting over the past 15 years, I decided to ambush the springbuck without the hide, somewhere in the koppies. This was the only way I would be able to get close enough to the animals for a bow shot.
I spent a good part of the day walking up and down the koppies and finally found what I was looking for – a well-travelled game path snaking between two koppies and onto the flat area beyond. Where the Karoo bush started at the foot of the koppie, I settled myself flat on my backside between two Broom-brush bushes, each not higher than a metre. The game path was about 25 metres from where I expected to make the shot. I was properly camouflaged with scent-block clothing, hood and gloves.
With the smell of kapok bushes in my nostrils, I relaxed and thought how privileged I was to be out of the office and bowhunting in country as beautiful as the Northern Cape.
As the shadows began to lengthen, I suddenly heard them coming around
the koppie from behind. I craned my neck and saw the first of the black
springbuck coming down the path – ewes and lambs, with rams ambling along
behind.
My problem was that the ewes and lambs would be directly opposite me
by the time the rams come into shooting range. If I drew then, the ewes
would spot me.
I had no choice. I set the sights of my 70-pound Mathews Legacy at
40 metres and drew. Fortunately I had ranged several objects beforehand
and knew exactly at what distances the animals were walking. With the bow
at full draw and on my backside for what seemed like an eternity (probably
two to three minutes) – a very good ram walked past the spot I had picked
40 metres away.
A soft whistle stopped half the herd of about 35 animals, including the ram I had chosen at full broadside with only his head turned in my direction. I drew a bead on his front leg, one third up and released the arrow. With the familiar ripping sound of a broadhead breaking and cutting through ribs and muscle, my Vapour 500 arrow, tipped with a 100-grain three-blade Thunderhead, went clean through the springbuck. As the ram jumped straight into the air, I knew it would be dead within a few seconds. I watched it run not more than 10 metres before collapsing. A perfect heart shot.
The rest of the herd had taken off at the shot, but turned and came
back as the ram collapsed. I suppose it was possible to shoot another black
springbuck, but I could not bring myself to do it. I watched them milling
around for a couple of minutes, but could not contain myself any longer.
A black springbuck shot with bow and arrow! As I stood up the herd thundered
off and I could inspect my trophy.
Riaan de Wet with the
two black sprinbuck he hunted.
I sat next to the ram and thought about all my preparations and how patience had finally paid off. With mixed feelings I radioed for a vehicle to come and collect me. Sadness on the one hand was mixed with utter elation on the other, emotions that I am sure all true hunters share.
As for the other black springbuck, it was shot on the same day with the same bow setup as the first, but that is a private story between Oom FP and me, which I might tell another time.
Thank you to Oom FP, my hunting companions and Karl for the best hunting experience in a long time.
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