We spent the weekend hunting the mountains…
Over the course of the last six months many of you have come to meet and hunt with Jose. Jose first arrived at John X Safaris as a Spanish translator, but in due course has turned into an entertainer, mechanic, tracker, skinner, barman and for all of us here – a great friend and a laugh a minute!
Having hunted many of our areas in the East Cape, Jose decided that a Klipspringer was a species that he would most like to pursue. The fact that Klipspringer forms part of the “Tiny 10” may have helped his decision, but making a break to the mountains for the weekend sealed the deal.
Friday afternoon finally came around and we were more than raring to go. We set our goal on the Loodsberg Mountains, an area we had previously hunted with a fair amount of success and certainly one that we felt held many more opportunities if explored.
Saturday morning – We were up at dawn, had some coffee and headed out of camp. We started our climb directly behind camp and hiked in a south-westerly direction.
As one starts climbing from one plateau to the next, one finds yourself in awe of these masters of the mountains. How do they survive in this harsh enviroment? Let alone thrive.
By mid morning we had spotted two pairs across the valley on the opposite ridge. Klipspringer are extremely vigilant. Once spotted one must proceed with extreme caution as the mountains are teaming with Mountain Reedbuck and Vaal Rhebuck who share the terrain with Klipspringer.
Unfortunately the early morning breeze had turned into gale force by noon. This in turn forced the Klipspringer to shelter, making the hunters already difficult quarry a near impossible one.
Sunday morning followed the same routine except this time the hunters headed into a westerly direction. The previous evenings strong winds had forced most of the game into sheltered valleys making the hunters job a bit more manageable. Once we started spotting Klipspringer it seemed like they were everywhere.
We studied each pair with the spotting scope and finally settled on one particular ram sunning himself high up on a ridge above us.
We decided on our game plan and set off immediately preferring to cut the distance between ourselves and the Klipspringer while he was relaxed and sunning himself.
While on our stalk we came across this massive nest balanced on the edge of a cliff.
On closer observation we found it was a rare Black Eagles nest with one chick inside. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to capture the adult birds on camera, but enjoyed capturing great images of a rare Black Eagle chick.
We crested the ridge and found ourselves in a bit of luck. The ram hadn’t moved an inch and Jose made no mistake in bagging himself a great ram.
An over the moon Jose with his prized Klipspringer.
Those hunters who enjoy the mountains and mountain hunting, Klipspringer is a must. Take a minute and visit our John X Safaris web site on www.johnxsafaris.co.za and have a look through our species list to learn more about Klipspringer and various other species available on our mountain hunts. CHALLENGING – EXCITING – REWARDING.
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