Hunting Nyala

I woke in the morning before first light and made my way to the lodge to sit on the deck with some coffee and rusks and watch the sun rise over the river. Hendrick and the others joined me and we discussed our plans for the day as the sun poked over the horizon and cast the most amazing colors down the valley.

Sunrise over the Fish River.

The first thing on the agenda was to check my rifle was sighted in and nothing had moved in transit so we quickly loaded up and headed off to the range. A target was set up at 100mts and I fired a few shots then we checked the target to see if all was in order. I was happy to see all my shots landing  in a nice small group about 75mm high at 100mts, which was pretty much spot on for a 250mt zero with the load I was using. With the mandatory formalities taken care of we set off for a ridge line to glasss for Nyala.

Arriving on the ridge we walked out to a point that overlooked two separate valleys and began glassing the sunny patches for Nyala. We spotted a few females almost immediately and began searching for a Bull amongst the Speckboom. We were soon rewarded for our efforts and located a nice Bull with well worn ivory tipped horns and Hendrick suggested we stalk him.

A group of Nyala Ewes grazing in the early morning sun.

Quietly we packed our gear and after checking the wind we began our stalk. We closed the gap on the bull and were setting up on the ridge no more than 100 meters from him, waiting for him to emerge from the bush when we felt the wind swirl around for the briefest of moments. All of a sudden there was a clatter of hooves and stones from across the gully and the Bull took off down the hill away from us taking half a dozen Ewes with him, the fickle morning wind had betrayed us.

The first Nyala Bull grazing on the hillside.

Somewhat disappointed but far from discouraged we set off for another ridge line to begin glassing once again. We glassed again for a short time and once we located some Ewes we searched for a bull and again located a very nice one. We quietly set off and began a stalk, us working our way up the ridge on one side the Nyala doing the same on the other. If everything went to plan we would be waiting at the head of the gully for the Bull to feed out of the bush. Everything looked as if it was going to plan until we had the same thing happen to us again, the wind swirled again at the head of the gully and the Nyala took off running back down the hill into the safety of the thick brush.

Busted again two nice Nyala Bulls making a quick getaway.

After having the same thing happen a couple of times we decided to hunt our way across the gully's and make our way back to the vehicle as it was starting to get quite warm and the animals were starting to bed down in the shade. We were about a kilometer from the vehicle when Hendrick spotted two Nyala Bulls making their way towards a deeper gorge, no doubt to bed up in the shade for the day. The way they were heading would lead them on a paralell course to us so we quickly and quietly made a bit of ground and crossed the gorge to be on the same side as them, only to have them disappear.

A quick glass around located one of the Bulls and revealed he had crossed the gorge and got ahead of us, we quickly ran up the gorge and then crossed back to get ahead of the Bull. Luckily he didn't see or hear us and we managed to get set up overlooking a spot with some flatter ground and a few clearings. We waited for the Bull to cross the flatter country and were very lucky when he stopped right in one of the clearings offering a near perfect shot. I quickly confirmed with Hendrick this was the one he wanted me to take and when he replied "yes" I took the shot.

My Nyala Bull.

The Bull dropped at the shot and gave a couple of kicks before laying still, I reloaded and held on him just in case a second shot was needed but it was not necessary, he was down. Hendrick congratulated me on taking a fine Bull as we made our way to where he lay. He was a beautiful animal well past his prime with nicely worn ivory tipped horns, his neck was almost devoid of hair and hardly a tooth was left in his mouth.

The Video of my Nyala Hunt.

We quickly took some photographs and then carried the Nyala to a point where we could get a vehicle, it was now quite hot and we had to get him back to the cool of the skinning shed or risk losing the meat and cape. Hendrick had called for a vehicle on the radio and the skinner's soon arrived and took the Bull back to the shed.
We made our way back to our vehicle and all enjoyed a cool drink when we arrived, we quickly packed up and drove back to the lodge for some lunch and a well deserved rest.