A crocodile, one of the water hazards at safari golf course, on the Nwanetsi — a tributary of the Limpopo in South Africa.
Plains zebra in the bush.
days on the ground to get comfort- able; to learn the difference between a nyala track and a waterbuck’s, to spot the biggest ram in a herd of impala or catch the shine of kudu horn in the mopane. There’s a lot of edge on the banks of the Limpopo. Shaded by fe- ver trees, baobab, acacia and mopane, the river marks the border between South Africa and Botswana, Zimba- bwe and Mozambique. We would hunt two different regions along the banks of the Limpopo. Extreme, I thought. But if you’re going to live life on the edge, you’d better have an edge. Our first hunt was with Shingani
Safaris. Riann Vosloo had selected 27-year-old Stehan de Kock to guide us. In the vehicle, I wore the knife at my side, skipping one belt loop. When we dismounted for a hunt, I slid it around to the small of my back, out of the way of the brush. In the heat of the day, as we stalked antelope from the shade, snakes, particularly black mambas, were never far from our
A nyala in Limpopo province, South Africa.
minds. We hoped the cool July nights would keep them in their dens. Able to reach 20 mph, it’s one of
the fastest snakes in the world. It’s also one of the most dangerous. “If you are bitten, best thing to do,” one professional hunter said, “is to find a tree close to the road and lay down. That way your body won’t bloat be- fore your friends find you. And they won’t have to drag you that far to the truck.” Black mambas are not black at all, but gray, yellowish or olive green. They are called black mambas in reference to the ink-black mouth and eyes as dark as the grave. One black mamba has enough venom to kill between 15 and 25 people. Headed down a bumpy two track
in the early afternoon, we were look- ing forward to lunch and cool drinks. “Boss! Boss!” The trackers on the back of the truck scrambled. De Kock stood on the brakes and skidded to a halt. There followed a flurry of words, which included “mamba.” De Kock
Lyn Hocker used the knife to finish this baboon.
leaped out and grabbed Brian’s .375 H&H from the rack. Around to the front, he pulled up, rifle at his cheek. The 300-grain Nosler Partition hit
the coiled snake in two places. The black mamba was down but not out. Its coffin-shaped head lifted off the ground; its tiny, black eyes sought a target as I spooled it up on the knife. Writhing, it struck again and again, but its nervous system was damaged, if not destroyed. I finished it with the knife. The blade, which had looked so big back home, could have been 10' longer. That was the same day Brian shot
his blesbok and Lyn put a zebra in the salt. To take the trophy photos, we had to cut the tall grass. With the big knife, I trimmed the foliage. The next day, we built a blind at a water hole and again, the knife came out of its sheath to cut the limbs and branches that trimmed our hide. Our second camp, with Wighardt van der Gryp of Mowana Big Game,
The Field Utility Knife was first put to use trim- ming grass in preparation for a trophy photo.
48
Struck twice in the body, the snake was wounded, but still wanted to fight.
At the end of the nyala hunt along the Nwanetsi.
PERSONAL DEFENSE • FALL 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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