This guy’s mane was torn up, and he had a fresh wound healing on his neck from fighting. 3,000 pounds of trophy. Who needs a puny 1,500 pound buffalo?! For scale, I am 5’10”, 225 lbs.
The cartridge and rifle vs. the fighter.
The reason no bullet passed through.
After getting the giraffe to the skinning shed and breaking for lunch, we began looking for Robert’s warthog. Warthogs we found – lots of sows with piglets. After lunch, TJ sat with me Robert and his wife in a hasty blind placed overlooking a water hole. This pond had a tusker using it. We watched 5 inferior wart hogs come in for water and a roll in the mud. After about 2 hours, the tusker did show up. Robert placed a perfect 168gr Barnes TTSX through his chest. The shot startled him, but it was if he had no nervous system. He trotted forward about 10 yards and stood there trying to figure out what that “bang” was. Robert put another one through his chest. This time he ran about 20 yards. After a few seconds, he seemed to decide he needed to depart for quieter parts and began trotting off. Robert put one in his left hip and it came out his right shoulder. The third round dropped him. Both the first and second shot had rendered him a dead pig walking. We have no idea why he didn’t know it. Due to the incident later in the trip, we did not get TJ’s pictures yet. Therefore, I don’t have a pic of Robert’s tusker pig to put in here. Because Robert’s wife is favoring a knee, TJ left the three of us with the pig while he went the 300 yards to retrieve the bakkie. He cautioned me to watch for buffalo, as it was afternoon and they could come in for water at the pond. However, he warned me that I couldn’t throw myself in front of them to instigate a charge or claim self-defense!
20SEP21
We went to a neighboring game ranch to try and get Robert a baboon. They ranch springbok, blesbok, and several other critters. Eduard, the ranch manager, placed us in a corral that was completely walled in to reduce the stress on the animals when they are herded in there. We propped up a log to create a firing port for Robert at standing height. Eduard drove down the fenceline a ways, and put out pellets for the blesbok. It was not five minutes before Robert’s wife spotted baboons clambering over the 12’ fence and running to the pellets. Robert took aim at the first thief there and sent a .308WIN round through him. When we got down the road to him, he was quite dead. TJ turned around and lased the distance back to the corral. 244 yards! The round had dropped from the baboon’s chest to – well - we now call Robert, the Castrator! When we picked up his monkey, he had stuffed so many pellets into his mouth he looked like a chipmunk.
Now, we went in search of a springbok for Robert. It was very unusual to be able to pursue them in Gauteng province, as apparently, they are normally found in the Free State. I did not learn the size of this ranch, but the herd of blesbok we saw numbered in the hundreds and it was like watching Out of Africa. The flowed away in front of us, not just ran. TJ and Robert worked for an hour to get close enough for Robert to take a nice ram. Note the effect of the .308WIN 168gr Barnes TTSX in the second photo.
21SEP21
We moved to Tilodi from Nico’s on this day. TJ & I drove down to the skinning shed and quickly put a tape measure to my kudu horns. Strong 52”. Then it was time to head to Tilodi.
That evening it was time for some romance points. 21SEP21 was my 25th wedding anniversary. I had colluded with TJ the prior week to cook up something special for my Lovely Spousal Unit. TJ, Natalie, and the Tilodi staff set up a sunset table of fruit, meats, cheeses, and some wine, on an observation deck for us. My wife had no clue whatsoever until she walked down the rocky path to the deck. Can you say Game Winning Touchdown?!?!?!!!! I included a few pics. Many thanks to TJ, Natalie, Rebecca, and Trifena for helping me make a memory for us!
