Buck Fever – A Test of Self-Faith

My husband and I went on our first hunting safari in April this year. Neither of us come from hunting families. After having spoken to several outfitters at different hunting fairs, we decided on going with Pete Safaris to Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Ever since I received my hunting permit two years ago, I had said that if I went hunting in Africa, I would want to shoot an impala. On our very first day of hunting, our PH Peter Olesen took us to farm to look for an impala for me. It did not take long for him and our tracker, Dixie, to spot a fine one, which we stalked for a while. Peter set up the shooting sticks and placed the rifle for me. I was nervous alright, but I did not realize how nervous until I held the rifle. I could not get a good fix on the animal in the scope, and my legs and arms were shaking. I had a very bad case of buck fever. I managed to fire one shot, which was a clean miss. I honestly started to lose a bit of faith in my own abilities right there.

The rest of that day and the following day, we looked for a kudu for my husband. On our third day of hunting, it was my turn again. I had not slept much the night before and was not in the best mood. After we had driven around the farm for a while, Peter asked me whether I was interested in a white blesbok. I thought, “Why not?” It was not on my list of animals that I was planning on shooting but at this point I would be satisfied just to take home one trophy – that miss on day one really got to me.

We drove around watching a white blesbok walk across the mountain slopes. After a while Peter stopped the car, and we continued the pursuit on foot, hoping to catch up to it before it passed the rim to the next valley. We stalked slowly up the mountain in one line and stopped several times to see where it was. There were only a few trees and small bushes, so we had nothing to hide behind. We had to be absolutely sure that it did not see us coming. We were next to a tree when Peter hastily set up the shooting sticks, and I placed the rifle. The white blesbok stood with its broadside towards us – perfect shooting position for a newbie like me. I found it in the scope, placed the crosshairs as Peter had instructed me to, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. It went down immediately. This time, there was no buck fever. Behind me I heard my husband say: “Yes!”

We waited for a little while before we walked up to it. I kept watching it through the scope. Suddenly a common blesbok showed up, stopped next to the white blesbok, and starred at it for a while. I could hear Peter and Dixie discuss whether it was the right size to shoot. I had already decided that I was not going to take a shot at it because I have learnt not to shoot a second animal until I am 100% sure that the first animal is dead – and the white blesbok was still moving its head a bit.

It was not until we walked up to it that I realized how far away it had been standing. Peter had measured the distance to 200 meters, which he only told me afterwards. I was surprised to see how beautiful an animal I had shot. I spent a long time just looking at it and touching its fur and horns. It was such a relief to know that I still had it in me to shoot an animal. Peter told me that it was very old and that it was the biggest blesbok trophy that he had seen in all his years as a PH in South Africa. I was – and still am – so glad that I agreed to hunt this animal. I am looking forward to receiving it from the taxidermist next year and placing it in my house next to the common blesbok that my husband shot two days later.

And the impala? On our fifth and final day of hunting, we went yet again to another farm – and this one had impalas by the dozens. After a lot of driving and stalking and seeing the impalas run away or hide behind trees, we finally got a single male within shooting range – again 200 meters. This time, I managed to stay calm and place a good shot. My tracker, Archie, found the impala behind a bush a few meters left of where I had shot it. It had definitely paid off to start out by shooting an animal that was not the ultimate dream trophy.  – Dorte Bakbo Søerensen