NJ Hunter
NJ Hunter in Africa was always an intriguing event for me since I was a teen. I loved to watch the old hunting safari movies such as Mogambo, starring Clark Gable and King Solomon’s Mines starring Stewart Granger. Clark Gable was an avid hunter and had an extensive gun collection worth over half a million dollars.
The African hunting mystique revolved around the natural beauty of Africa and its animals and also the native people congregating around their small villages meandering around their straw thatched huts. I often wondered what the natives were thinking when white African hunters would pass by their little towns. Scenes from movies of a train of natives, who worked for the great white hunter b’wana, walking in single file through the jungle carrying the hunting party’s belongings and other camp equipment on their shoulders, were all going through my head.
Well, the NJ Hunter was realized when I went there for my hunting safari. I went to Zimbabwe and felt like I was in an Ernest Hemingway novel. African hunting is quite different than North American game hunting. You don’t sit in a tree stand waiting for the game to pass under you to take your shot. You are either chasing herds of a species in a land rover or on foot stalking game. Stalking games in the United States is done also but tree stand sitting and stand hunting, which is standing in one spot, is preferred in North America. The purpose of chasing the herds in a land rover is to tire the game. When they come to a halt to catch their breath, then you take your shot.
When you first arrive in camp, your professional hunter which is also your guide will ask you what is your preference in taking game. Are you looking to harvest a trophy size animal, near trophy or no preference? By size, I don’t mean how big the animal is. The trophies are the horns the animal proudly displays. The size of the horns is what matters. In Africa they are called horns and in North America they are called antlers. The difference is that in North America the antlered species shed their antlers once a year. The horns on African game keep theirs for life. If an African animal cuts off a horn or part of it while fighting, it does not grow back, as with North American game.
To help assist when an animal is taken, there are two native spotters who work for the professional guide, b’wana. They sit on an elevated platform in the land rover and when the chase is finished, they glass for the size of game you preferred to get when you first arrived in camp. Glassing means they are looking through binoculars to estimate the size of the horns. I will tell you that an estimate they give you is pretty darn close to the actual size, if they are not right on. You might call them professionals also.
Now, you have taken your shot but missed. What now? Everyone gets back into the land rover and start chasing the herd again, because the herd is not going to stand there waiting for you to take another shot at them. If you get nervous in front of game, this is what happens. Now the herd settled down again to catch their breath and you are taking aim. You better be quick to shoot because they will be on the move again. You’ve taken your shot and downed the animal. Good shot, right through the heart and lungs which is the proper way of harvesting the animal. There is no suffering.
There are numerous things you can do to improve your shooting skills for hunting. First of all, practice shooting your bow from a variety of positions and angles. Shoot while your standing, kneeling, and while leaning around obstacles The first time you shoot your bow while kneeling down and leaning around a tree should not be at the deer of a lifetime. If your options are limited and you have to go to a range be creative. An empty 55 gallon drum or piece of plywood propped up make great obstacles to shoot around. Hunters who utilize tree stands need to practice shooting from elevated positions.
3D archery targets replicating animals are readily available and can be reasonably priced. If you don’t want to purchase your own many clubs and archery stores have 3D ranges available to use for a nominal fee. Becoming proficient in hitting a 3D target in the appropriate vital area will increase a hunter’s likelihood of successfully killing an animal while hunting. Another thing to experiment with 3D targets is placing the target behind obstacles replicating hunting situations where a portion of your animal is behind a tree or other obstacle. Anytime you are going to be hunting an animal you are not familiar with you practice on a 3D target of that animal ahead of time if possible.
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