| The Hunt
Raymond was snoring gently next to me and I was contemplating whether or not I should wake him up as the "Warties" will not approach if they should hear this but he was sleeping like a baby and I decided to leave him a little longer.
A Hornbill sat on a branch next to me, so close I could have touched him. I decided to wake Raymond, as his snoring was now quite loud.
Then it happened…Two young Warthogs approached the mud puddle. I must admit "Bokkie fever" (where one just want to pull the trigger) hit me but fortunately I still had the safety on. For about two seconds chaos clouded my mind but thanks to Raymond order was restored and I prepared the 243. By now a larger Warthog approached and then a fourth one, the big one came over the hill - very wary, looking around. I think I was so excited that my immediate thought was that the largest one had to be the boar.
The small ones were inspecting the mud, and the largest looked straight at me. "Take a head shot" Raymond whispered. But I was thinking: "I haven't breathed yet and my finger is not right, I am not ready" so ignored him. Then one of the smaller ones moved in front of my target. I relaxed. Focused. Got the finger on the trigger the way it should be. Breathed. Took a deep breath…and she moved away - perfect - facing away from us. I aimed just behind the shoulder and lightly "squeezed" the trigger.
BANG!!! Dust, Chaos, "Did I miss it?" Raymond shouted, "Perfect shot!" Uncle Clive, who was still dozing, nearly had a heart attack. Warthogs scattered all over the place - again I asked, "Did I miss?" Running out from our cover, seeing the dark arterial blood - lots of it.
I was shaking, excitement or nerves? "Please let it be a perfect shot", I thought. "Where is it?" "Why is it not here?" "Is this normal, do they run off when hit?" Chaos. "Yes, said Raymond " You wacked it, it is dead!" Reload rifle, safety on, and off we went.
"Blood here, it went this way." Blood spots, thick, dark, "Please-let-it-be-dead-and-not-wounded" was all I could think. Then, there, thirty metres away its side, she lay dead "Thank YOU!" Perfect placement, no pain, through the heart and lungs. Kisses and hugs all round.
Rushing back to camp.
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Self catering