I Don’t Climb Mountains, But I Did for This
I just got back from the absolute best trip of my life in Namibia – two weeks of extreme personal growth, new friendships, and a few bruises and scratches! I was fortunate enough to take five animals: a kudu, mountain zebra, gemsbok, impala and springbok. Each was a vastly different hunting experience. Here’s my kudu story.
On our third full day in Africa, we started exclusively hunting for a mature kudu bull. We hunted in the Kalahari Desert area, where I was unprepared for the thorns – on the bushes, in the trees, thorns on everything! We were spotting and stalking, and these “grey ghosts” didn’t disappoint. They truly deserve their nickname. As soon as we found them, the entire herd would vanish. No luck on day one.
Day two we headed to another property with our guide, Eddie, whom we called Mr. Amazon because he always delivered. Eddie got me on a small herd with a young bull and some females, knowing that a mature bull would be close by. We crawled on hands and knees for 200 yards. As soon as we got to a large bush, they disappeared. ARGH!
The next day we headed to the mountain region of Namibia. Eddie said, “Are you ready?” We had literally just arrived. I was wearing jeans and my CSF sweatshirt. I changed into my boots and off we went. I never thought we would find that bull our first afternoon.
I am not a hiker or a rock climber. I am horrible at it. We climbed up, up, up until we found a herd of several females and young bulls. Then the mature bull appeared. We watched for 45 minutes, observing and trying to get the right angle. We were halfway up the mountain, and the shot was uphill about 200-250 yards.
Finally, the bull moved into the perfect location. I took the shot and connected. I couldn’t believe it – I was so anxious – this was the KUDU! We navigated rocks to get to him. I got there about 10 minutes after Eddie to find this beautiful, majestic, and gigantic bull lying there with only a tree and a rock keeping him from rolling down the mountainside.
He was so large we had to wait 45 minutes for extra guys to arrive to help us move him. It took six guys, plus Eddie. We got the photos. Now we had to get him down the mountain, and it was dusk, which meant carrying an 800-pound animal downhill to the Land Cruiser in the gathering dark.
What a sight – nine humans stumbling down a mountain with one enormous kudu. I was so excited to tell the rest of the group about my adventure. Plus, I still couldn’t believe I made that shot – on the side of a mountain, uphill. – By PJ Carleton
