|
[About Us] [Bow Hunting] [Trophy Page] [Accommodation]
[Namibia Map and Info] [Photo Safaris] [Links] [Email]
|
|
To those of you that I have not spoken to this year, a belated happy New Year.
To all my colleagues in the hunting industry I wish you all a successful season, hope you all have some great hunts this year and for the ones who went to the hunting shows in the USA and Europe, that you had successful trips.
We have had the best rainy season in 8 years, well above average and there is still time for more to come. It is funny though, in a low rainfall year, which seems to happen regularly up here, time goes very slowly and you land up waiting to see if the rain is coming and if so how much. Yet this year with the good rains, time flies and before you know a quarter of the year has gone, if you catch my drift..! This is one of the reasons the Newsletter is only coming out now due to the fact that with the rain we had a lot of lightning which hit the new telephone system and other things as well.
So to sum it up, we have been very lucky this year with the rainfall. However, there are still places in Namibia and Southern Africa that are very much in need of rain, so please - a little prayer and keep your fingers crossed for them.
Next I would like to wish Thomas Ljungberg from Sweden a speedy recovery
after his knee operation (hunted with me in February 2005) and my
brother Tim who is also recovering after tearing his tendon below his
knee (he had a operation on his hip 18 month ago and has been battling
with the recovery ever since.)
In this isue of the Archer:
Tips, something to think about for when you walk and stalk.When Thomas was here, we talked a lot about equipment and set-ups for bowhunting in general and also with Africa in mind.
Do you stick to the minimums that a country requires or do you go for a heavier set-up?
Do you go for a very forgiving Bow which shoots a bit slower or a less forgiving bow which shoots a lot faster..?
Is there a perfect bow which is fast, but also very forgiving?
What is important to remember is to have a set-up and bow that you feel comfortable shooting and that does not cause discomfort or injury to yourself and that you enjoy shooting.
For example, Thomas was shooting a Parker bow, very forgiving and I shot with a Hoyt Cybertec, not as forgiving but faster. We were using the same arrow weight.
You are probably wondering where I am going with this, but it is more food for thought.
You will find that you will land up compromising; unfortunately, you have to look beyond just kinetic energy.
Thomas e-mailed me with a website which is very interesting, worth having a look.
www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection
However, there are two facts that stay constant, you have to practice and very important, shot place is critical.
- Bow hunting ethics and respect.
In this day and age, hunting is more and more in the spotlight. In the new issue of Africa's Bowhunter, in the introduction Tom Cairncross (editor) talks about a threat to bowhunting by a newly formed mega-animal right group, which has declared bowhunting a primary target.
Ethicical hunting, well in the Oxford Dictionary it says ethic
set of moral principles (the Quaker ethic). -adj. = Ethical
[Greek: related to ethos]
ethical 1. Relating to morals, as concerning human conduct.
Don't worry this is not an English lesson.
Ethical bowhunting is a set of principles that you must stick too, whether in the States, Europe, Africa or anywhere else. When you start talking about ethics, the principle of fair chance, behavior and responsibility also comes up.
This can all be summed up into Code of conduct. I will be looking at this closer in the next issue.
Then there is respecting the animal that has been harvested (killed). If you respected the animal while it is alive, so respect it when it has been harvested.
Ethics and ethical hunting is very important for the survival of the hunting world.
For hunting to survive we must all preserve and protect the image of hunting and the vital role that land owners play in wildlife conservation.
To view more on Fair Chase principle I recommend you visit the following website: www.huntfairchase.com
Or visit the Boone and Crockett club website. They were the first to write down the Fair chase statement. The Boone and Crocket club, which is a non profit organization, was founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt. This website is well worth a visit.
\
Hunting story (Thomas Ljungberg's Red Hartebeest)
this story was written by Thomas.
Yesterday night was a night of tremendous noise! A thunderstorm started to develop as we were driving back from the Zebra hunt. The clouds we gathering at a distance and it looked like they where stacking up together and were competing on how to get the darkest and most threatening colour. At six o’ clock in the evening the storm hit us with all it had. Rain was pouring down, lightning crisscrossed the sky on all sides, but the most impressive thing was the thunder.
The thunder could start on my left side, slowly rolling over in the distance of several kilometers, thundering without an end and finish on my right side with a last monster KARRAAAAMF, that made the windows of my bungalow rattle out of pure fright.
It was an amazing moment to witness the true power of Namibian nature.
This night we had 40 mm of rain so Roger (Roger Coomber is my pro hunter) and I decided to dedicate this day to a pure walk and stalk day, since the animals wont likely need the waterholes today.
We headed towards the same kopje where we saw the hartebeests on yesterdays stalk. On the way we meet Mathias, one of Rogers employees, on the dried out riverbed checking up if yesterdays heavy rain have done any damage on the property. We climbed up the kopje and Roger scouts two young light colored hartebeests immediately, approximately 250 meters away. If they are the same as yesterday there should be an older darker colored bull with a good trophy in their company, but he is not to be seen. So we scout the surrounding area for a group of four Oryx we believe is in the area since we saw their fresh tracks in the riverbed, leading towards "our" kopje.
Suddenly I hear a sound like if there was a giant throwing big rocks at the mountain wall. And it sounds like it is just below our elevated position. BANG, BANG and again, BANG. My eyes go BIG, heart start pounding and I look at Roger and Peter expecting them to be as exited as I am. But they look like they were shopping vegetables at the local supermarket. There is something BIG down here, I whisper. Where? Roger asks me. Don’t you here the noise from the rocks I ask him? No, no, he says with a big smile, that is the young bulls fighting. I find it hard to believe, but the thunder of them smashing their horns together is so loud that it sounds like they are right under us. Now we also see the older bull circling around them as if he were the referee in their fighting match. And a fourth bull is moving in, curious at the sound of the young ones battle in the morning sun.
We decide that it is a good time to move while the battle is going on because their battling sounds will camouflage our approach quite well.
As we climb down the last meters from our kopje we see that the fight brought them closer too us, they are now approximately 150 meters from us. When we are down from the kopje we almost walk into a wall of low growing mopane bush and small trees, none higher than four meters. We are almost blind as a bat down here, but we have two advantages! Peter remains on top of the 30-meter high kopje as our lookout and we still hear the battle sounds. Our vision is between 10 to 30 meters, after that it is a green/brown wall of plants. We slowly, slowly, start as silent as possible walk towards the sound of the battle when the hartebeest’s battle suddenly is over. So from now on Peter is our eyes, and our communication is by hand signals seen trough our binoculars.
Peter signals that we should go left and that the animals are coming towards us. I nock an arrow to be ready and sneak a little closer to a place where I have three good shooting lanes. We hold and stay for a couple of minutes. Nothing happens and we look back at Peter who now frantically signal that we should go to the right instead. And so we do! Meter by meter in an endlessly slow pace we silently move to the right.
After ten minutes of total stealth we still haven’t seen or heard anything. We look back at Peter and now he signals that the hartebeests are in front of us. And he is going ape shit-crazy in a kind of controlled way from the top of the kopje to make us understand that we need to stay down, because we are close! And it is a very peculiar feeling! We see or hear absolutely nothing, but still we are in close contact with the game through Peter and adrenaline is rushing through my veins. Inch by inch we move silently forward on hand and knees and check back with Peter now and then, only to get thumbs up. We are on the right track! Roger gets stiff in his body and I understand he have seen something I can’t see. I slowly move over to his side and see one of the old hartebeest bulls bedded down broadside only 30 meters away. Roger whispers that it is a good trophy, and tells me to go get the bull. I decide to go right as the bulls head is facing left and there is a bush that should be in the way of his head, so if I go seven meters right I have a free shooting lane and as a bonus I could draw my bow without any problem as his head would be hidden from me. When I got five meters, the bull rises up and just stands there. Roger is on all fours, five meters to my left and I see the bull trough a thick bush, not able to shoot. For five minutes the bull quietly moves around in a very small area.
Suddenly Roger start to move around and make noises, I try to whisper that he should stay still but he is not looking at me and I can tell by the look on his face that he thinks the bull is gone, any second he will stand up. He looks casually at me and instantly become one of those frozen statues you see on weddings. I don’t know if that is due to the fact that he realizes that the bull is still here, or if it is because he sees the teleprompter text in my eyes saying, Roger, if you don’t stop moving I will #%&/¤?&¤\ shoot you instead of the bull and make a shoulder mount out of you.
After another veeeery long three minutes the bull walks to my right in a slow pace. I realised that this shot has to be made when he is moving and between two bushes. My shooting alley is 50 cm (15 inch) I come to full draw and aim for the right side of the left bush. As the hartebeest bull walks by I aim over his front leg and follow him trough the bush, as soon as he is clear of the bush I release my arrow and it is a perfect hit! He makes a sneezing sound and bolts away with the speed of lightning. My happy face comes up that very instant and I see Roger’s big smile that confirms it was a good hit. My hands and Roger’s are shaking from this successful stalk as I give him a big hug! I know it is not macho to hug other men, but I don’t care! After a good hour, 100-meter stalk over loose noisy gravel, this perfect shot I am too happy to care about image! I am just soooo happy!
The bull was shot at 19 meters distance, the arrow broke one rib completely off on the way in and went out the other side trough both lungs and cut the top edge of the heart and the bull expired approximately 80 meters away from where he was shot. The funny thing is that the edge of my German Kinetic silver-flame 125 grains is still so sharp I could put it on another arrow and shoot it again, this is after breaking off a rib and passing through the animal. And I am very fuzzy about the sharpness of my broadheads.
Patience and good equipment pays off!
Thomas's Red Hartebeest made the Napha top ten lists - No.3- a total score of 175.
- Napha
The 2005 AGM went very well. Johann Louw and I will be continuing with the Bowhunting committee for 2005 and I look forward to working with him again this year and also with the ladies in the NAPHA office. Please watch this space for news on new bowhunting policy for Namibia.
The Bowhunting top ten lists at NAPHA are coming along slowly, but surely. To view the bowhunting top ten lists at NAPHA go to the NAPHA website at www.natron.net/napha.
The bowhunting records are just below the rifle list, so you have to scroll down.
For more information on bowhunting in Namibia, about NAPHA and the medal system please contact the office or view their website.
Tel: 061 234455.
E-mail: napha@mweb.com.na
www.natron.net/napha.
- The Grootberg Children’s Fund
The Esstof Pre-school has 20 new learners this year. The Red Hartebeest that Thomas shot went to the school. We are putting up a water tank and piping for them in the next week. I will be approaching NAPHA for help with the Esstof Pre-school and the Primary School at Anker in the form of stationary and equipment.
The whole roof (corrugated iron sheets) and some glass for windows needs
replacing. Because of the heavy rain the children are battling to keep
their beds and school books dry and we would like to fix this for them.
As this Kindergarten can only survive with the help of donations, please
contact me if you or your company is interested in helping these
previously disadvantaged children of rural Damaraland.
Online store
News from the Bowhunting World
Namibian Bowhunting school to open. Johann Louw will be heading the
school with myself and Wolfgang from the Gun shop. Most of the courses
will be held at Kambaku Safari Lodge. The length of the courses will
vary from 2 - 3 days and we plan for guest speakers who have been in
Bowhunting for a long time to speak about their experiences as well.
For more details, please contact Johann Louw: 067 306292 or
myself: 067 330214/687028
-German Kinetic.
They have redesigned the 125 grain broadhead (2 blades); they have
shortened it a little bit. For more information on the German Kinetic
broadheads, visit their website. www.germankinetic.com.
For local enquires please contact Gerrie Hough
by e-mail: gerrieh@novanam.com.na
-Africa's Bowhunter and archer.
Namibian page to be formed. Rean Steenkamp, the Publisher of Africa's Bowhunter and archer, feels that as it is Africa's Bowhunter, that each country that borders South Africa and the rest of Africa should be represented in the Magazine. He has ask me to head the Namibian page the Namibia Editor" if you like. I said yes in a big way. I hope I can make more people aware of Namibia as a prime bowhunting destination.
Those of you that have hunted in Namibia know the rewards that wait. The website has been up-dated; you can now view previous issues on the site. www.africsbowhunter.co.za
There is also a new site on traditional archery by Rean Steenkamp (the editor of Africa's Bowhunter & archer). www.africanarcher.com
Next year I will be continuing with the Gift subscription to Africa's
Bowhunter & archer for every hunter that hunts with me.
- North Country Bowhunters Chapter of SCI.
www.scincb.org
-Benito van Leeuwen conducts Bow hunting courses for beginners, seasoned
hunters, and coaching to improve technique. Courses can be 1 day or more.
For more details contact Benito. Tel: +27 (0)83 4597744.
For more information please contact Roger: vieranas@mweb.com.na
-Cabela’s online store is a great place for finding items that are not
always available here in Southern Africa. The shipping is reasonable and
is quick which is important.
There is a link to Cabela’s from my Website, so please feel free and have a look at their site, you will not be sorry. www.cabelas.com
-Also have a look at the other link partners on my site for more useful
information on bowhunting products or relevant information on Namibia.
-In the next issue of The Archer
Sunny regards
Roger E. Coomber
Po Box 46
Kamanjab
Namibia, Africa
vieranas@iway.na
www.vieranasbowhunt.com