A childhood dream - hunting in Africa, one I never thought possible. A strange set of circumstances arose, everything coming together in the most fortuitous way. Really like it was meant to be. I was able to take Leann and my son hunting plains game in Africa. I was back less than 24 hours and so many thoughts were assailing me, I couldn’t possibly write about the whole experience. I wanted to jot an article while the impressions and emotions were fresh on my mind.
It was my great pleasure and joy to take my 45-90 C. Sharps hunting in Africa. A true Quigley experience except, in Africa. I did it true cowboy style with my iron peep sights, sans scope - real hunting. It is hard to explain exactly how unfriendly Africa is. Everything will kill you - the hunting on a very basic level is almost primal. Unlike here, the tables are leveled. Every wounded animal is deadly, which is a problem because virtually no animal can be killed instantly unless you have an incredible stroke of luck. A heart shot means you have to track an animal for 100 - 200 yards versus a mile. I saw traits in the abilities of these animals to survive that still has me shaking my head in wonder. Their refusal to give up - to keep struggling was awe inspiring. Shots that on our Texas whitetails would drop them down dead every time, didn’t even cause these animals to flinch. You just hoped you found your wounded animal before the cheetah and leopard roaming the property did.
We hunted in the Limpopo province of South Africa - deep in the legendary bushveld. The animal concentration was amazing. This wasn’t canned hunting, in contrast this was natural game on ranches that ranged from 15,000 acres up to 30,000 acres. These animals had roamed this land for a 1000 generations. The land and habitat was raw - very raw. Every bush has spikes, it is thick beyond words and you spent most of the day tracking your prey. Surprisingly I found that in Africa 5 shots is the average that is considered necessary to bring down antelopes. Which isn’t surprising, some of these antelopes are twice the size of our Texas cattle.
I used my 45-90 almost exclusively hunting in Africa, it impressed all the Professional Hunters (PH’s as they are known). The lodge we stayed at during this Safari was five star. It was on one of the few rivers in this arid province, and had all the amenities, including a gourmet chef. The food was spectacular. It was fortunate, regarding the food and accommodations as our average hunting day was 12 hours long, and many miles of tracking through dense spiky brush. As I said, this was real hunting - all the glitz stripped away, just myself, the guide and the quarry. Surprisingly, trekking through this spiky hell, I never found my 13 pound C. Sharp overly heavy. It is so well balanced, I suppose it made carrying it easier. I found a special sling, that instead of being screwed into the wood, looped over the ends of the gun and worked perfectly.
The first animal we took in Africa was a very nice impala. He was at 110 yards, slightly cornering away. My shot was through the brush on crossed shooting sticks. In Africa no one tries to shoot free hand unless it is absolutely necessary. An inch matters hugely shooting at African antelope. It is a test of everything learned in cowboy action shooting, quick responses, precise movements, swift target acquisition, and smooth firing. Although against most peoples recommendation, I did use my set trigger, I found it gave me that extra accuracy, although unquestionably a tremendous risk of accidentally firing prematurely.
As I leveled my gun on the Impala, it started to move - I shot; a hit - hard hit, at the lower point of the vital triangle. It didn’t even flinch and jumped and ran - understand this was a lower heart shot piercing both lungs. Only 40 yards off, we found it in a stand of trees, down. Thinking smugly, “easy kill, once again my Sharps does what it does so well”. Lungs pierced, heavy blood trail, both front legs broken. Leann had the video camera out walking up on the impala, at first impression, a kind of a frail looking creature. Then, the difference between our hunting and Africa dramatically unveiled in a split second. Literally the difference was between life and death. The Impala surged forward, propelling itself on its back legs, directly for Leann trying to gore her, she leaped backwards as fast as she could, and a second shot finished the impala. A few more paces forward and Leann might not have avoided the kamikaze leap. This wasn’t a joke - it isn’t over dramatization - it was a close thing, a few footsteps mattered. I was floored that an animal could take such a perfectly placed shot, be wounded to such a mortal extent, and still almost kill the hunters. We were wary from then on. I found out later that many of the antelope of the bushveld can and have killed full grown lions. It is a tough environment, and animals living in this tough environment have to be exceptional. Africa, might be one of the few places left where the hunting is real, and the opponents worthy. For those of us that use what I call “real rifles”, our legendary Sharps, it puts us directly into the steps of our forefathers. A cowboy out of place in Africa? Not hardly. The cowboy gun was in its natural home, taking game it deserves in a manner that honored the exceptional courage of the prey.
It has certainly come full circle after writing this article. We are now experienced veterans of Africa with over 20 safaris under our belt. Our first one is still the one most emblazoned in our memory. Recently we met up with Danie Van Jaarsveld, the owner of our magnificent lodge and he has now opened a wonderful property in the Cape. Check out his website www.westerncapegame.com .