South Africa Jackal hunt

rotorwag

New member
I haven't gotten around to posting this story in a very punctual manner but perhaps y'all will still enjoy.

Last summer I and my family were able to cross a major item off our bucket lists when we visited my brother and his family who are missionaries in Lesotho. During that visit we visited several churches and worshiped with the believers there, assisted with several projects, tried local cuisine, and visited a large game park. My brother and I were able to hunt predators one night on a sheep farm in South Africa. I engaged Roelof Fourie Safaris to set it up and the price was very reasonable considering I needed no food or lodging etc. He provided transportation and gun and contracted with a sheep rancher who does predator control on the side to help with calling and a place to hunt etc.

[excerpt from journal]

We went to the Toyota dealership where we were to meet Roelof, the professional hunter, and Poena, the predator damage control hunter. His son, Tjart who is learning the hunting and guiding business, came also. All 3 cars drove out south of Ladybrand to a farm. Peona’s truck was rigged up with a swivel chair and gun rest/light mount. He had brought a suppressed Savage .22-250 and I took a couple practice shots. Then we all rode in Poena’s truck starting towards the top of a hill near a communications tower.

For our first actual stand we parked on some bare rock not far below the top of the hill. Tjart’s calls produced some howls but the stand was ruined by a braying donkey coming to check us out. Then we went down off the mountain to the driveway of the same farm. Tjart, scanning as we drove, spotted eyes along the drive. I hopped up into the seat and he played some howls on his bluetooth speaker which Poena had placed up the drive a bit. Might have played some prey-in-distress too. Anyway the black-backed jackal came in to about 130m. I missed. It ran off but Tjart let out a few squeals on a mouth call which convinced it to stop just long enough for another look and I was able to hit it with a second shot. I kept the light on the area where it fell while G and the others went to look for it. They found it gut shot and finished it off. I had hit it about 230m. It was hard to shoot in the dark. It seemed as though the light didn’t always light up where the crosshairs were pointing. Would take some getting used to, to be proficient! Congrats and pix of jackal #1, a smallish female estimated to be 3 years old. Moving on to the next spot took us through the farm and several gates enclosing cows and sheep. This revealed how close the jackals were to the livestock. Poena told of a friend who is a sheep rancher and has 15,000 head. He loses 1,000 lambs to predators every year at a cost of some R1,000,000. Forgot the speaker beside the drive so we had to retrace our steps through several gates to fetch it. 3rd stand used howls, rabbit distress, jackals feeding and female lonesome howls; the later produced an aggressive jackal. I was able to hit it about 80m. We kept scanning and calling and another came but I missed and it got away up the drainage towards the mountain. Another set of eyes began coming closer and closer. I could tell through the scope it had rounded instead of pointy ears. I began to notice spots on its forelegs. Tjart said, “Let me have a look.” So I leaned way over and he looked through the scope and saw that it was cerval. I looked back at it just in time to see it hop over a fence with utmost grace and ease, its beautifully spotted body and lanky legs plainly visible at 10x. After it ran off, we retrieved jackal #2, a good sized male approximately 6 years old and cleanly shot through the chest with minimal pelt damage. Again it had been taken in close proximity to sheep and cows. The last stand was in a small meadow with tall grass. Nothing showed except a steinbok and it was getting late so we called it a night.

I wanted a few pix with the animals and the rifle. I noticed as I was holding it that the barrel wasn’t a factory Savage barrel. I asked about it and they told me they had worn out the first barrel shooting jackals and that that rifle had accounted for more than 3000 jackals! Also Poena was telling about his 13 year old son, Tjart’s brother, and Tjart being out shooting jackals all night long. The 13 year old drives the truck and Tjart shoots. Dunno how they manage in school after shooting predators all night.

It was such a thrill to hunt predators again. It was fun to see how someone else does it and to learn from them. Spotting the gleaming eyes and then seeing them moving closer and finally being close enough to distinguish 2 eyes and then being able to see the body and then Tjart, who spoke excellent English, would brighten the light and even though my mouth was dry and my pulse pounding I would try to settle the crosshairs on the jackal and make a good shot. Wow, what a rush! It was also VERY special to have G there with me to enjoy the hunt together.






We experienced so many "firsts" on this trip--first time in the southern hemisphere, first time to see African wildlife in the wild instead of a zoo, first time hunting in Africa etc. It was truly the experience of a lifetime.
 
Great story and read ---
They are on my list for my August trip -- hopefully successful --
What taped sounds were used ???
Thx
 
Thanks for sharing your hunt, rotorwag, enjoyed the read. You know what they say, "Better late than never."
lol.gif


Regards,
hm
 
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