Patience and Preparation Define the Moment
My Cape buffalo hunt with Limcroma Safaris demonstrates that hunting the Black Death is a mental game. We knew getting a buff with a bow and no follow-up shot would be a challenge. We spent six days waiting in a blind, hoping. Of course, there was that one great opportunity right after shooting light. We weren’t rolling up to the campfire every night with fantastic animals from the day, but we knew what was coming.
I knew this would be the most patience-demanding hunt I had ever done. We stayed positive and ready every day. While we waited, the work continued. In the mornings before we would go sit in the blind, my PH Pieter and I worked hard to adjust my bow and experiment with different arrows and weights that we both felt confident about. We knew there were bachelor groups of buff in the area, and we changed blinds a few times.
There was peace in the patience. While sitting in the blind, we saw plenty of animals drinking and meandering. A few days into the hunt, I got a beautiful eland with fantastic spirals.
The camaraderie at camp is one of the best things about all hunts, and this one was no different. All of my campmates cheered me on when we had breakfast, encouraged me at the campfire before dinner, and wondered if I had a buff down while they were out hunting.
Finally, the “movie-moment” came one afternoon, and I finally got my buff. He was standing broadside at about 20 yards. You didn’t have to tell me twice to draw. The bow was set at no more than 58 pounds, and the broadhead was very small, especially for a Cape buffalo. He went down in one clean bow shot with no follow-up rifle shot. He measured 40 2/8 inches.
It’s a defining moment for a hunter when you see all your preparation come together to accomplish taking a specific animal. You’re especially proud. That’s how my Cape buffalo is for me. That night, we had buffalo for dinner in camp and toasted the day.
It’s not just the buffalo I’ll remember. It’s the patience I practiced in the blind, the people I shared camp with, and the days of waiting for the perfect moment I had worked for. – Vanessa Bembry
