6 POINTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN BOWHUNT

After dreaming of an African bowhunt for 4 years I planned and book my hunt with Vieranas Safaris in Namibia, arriving on the 1st of July 2005.

During my eight day bowhunt with PH Roger Coomber, the owner of Vieranas Bowhunting Safaris I got 3 gold, 3 silver and 4 conservation medals.

Eight Out of the ten bow shots were perfect heart shots. (In the middle of the heart) This great success made me think a lot and analyze the reasons for this.

The following six points I think are the key to a successful bowhunt:

1. Choose the correct place to bowhunt. There are many hunting places on the market that offer good prices and good trophies, but many of them only want to do business and sometimes they don't tell the truth. The secret is to choose a place that only allows hunting with bow, it is important that the professional guide loves to bowhunt and there is a good trophy population. If you have these three things you are going to have a great hunt. In my case, Vieranas in Namibia has been the paradise. Roger Coomber, the "professional", is a passionate bowhunter, who owns a nice land with very quality trophies.

2. Put some candles to the gods! To bowhunt is not like going to the supermarket. You never know if you are going to have luck, because animals are wild and each situation is different. So, to be successful you need luck, more luck and more luck. It is important to have this in your mind.

3. Don't stop practicing. It is very important to practice a lot before going to bowhunt. Practicing about four hours per week, three months before your trip, with all the equipment you are going to use, at the different distances you will shoot, this will give you enough exercise and tuning of your muscles and you will feel very confident in yourself at the moment of truth. During the hunt it is very important to shoot every morning about ten arrows before departing to the hunting area.

4. Have the correct equipment for what you want to bowhunt. It is very important to have a good bow, the correct draw-strength and the correct weight/spine of you arrows. Also is very important to have the best broadheads on the market and keep them very sharp. With the correct customized equipment everything will go Ok. In my case I used a Mathews Legacy compound bow at 72lb, Redline 360 arrows and Silver Flame 150 grains broadheads.

5. Study before the trip, the animals you want to bowhunt. It is very important to know the behaviour and the anatomy of the animals you want to bowhunt. African plains game has the heart more forward comparing to European plains game. Ask every thing and listen carefully to your professional. Never forget that he knows better than you, the animals that you want to harvest.

6. Prepare your mind as you will only see a spot at the moment of truth. Read a lot and watch a lot of bowhunting videos/DVDs of African animals. Watch hundreds of shots of the animals you will try to bowhunt so when you see an Oryx for the first time, at 20 meters you are not going to feel nervous, plenty of impressions...the perfect sensations to miss! If you have prepared correctly your mind, even then you will see it for the first time in the wild nature; you are not going to feel nervous, because before you have seen it hundred of times on TV, and hundred of times has been shot. At this moment you are not going to see the animal, you are only going to see a spot where you must put your arrow, exactly were the heart is. Doing like that you are going to know when and where exactly to shoot and not going to have buck fever!

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   Joan’s Hunt Report – SCI Spain