Interesting letter from our customer:
I am faithful to the Maluma Lodge organisation based in South Africa, so I approached Marc Judas a year ago to arrange a genuine hunt for Cape buffalo.
So, the 17th July this year saw me landing at the OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg.
To enhance my dream with more specific contours, I am accompanied with charm – the CZ 550 .458 Lott rifle.
Our safari begins with tracking some antelopes.
Our first objective is to get nice trophies (one being a 140 cm Greater Kudu), yet with primary focus on finding the „signs“ of an African safari and encounter one of the oldest patches of the African bush. Once we’re finished with the successful five days of antelope hunting, I and Marc decide to take on large game!
Marc chooses a partnering land situated 3 hours drive from the Maluma Lodge.
The local feeding habitat is very dense with immediate buffalo hunting conditions (by tracking) and the quality of trophies to be acquired is just perfect.
When you’ve read up to here, the story might not be very different from any similar leisure trip. Let it continue and offer further details then!
That day, on 22nd July, we arrived to the hunting estate at dawn.
We are awaited by the estate owner together with trackers!
Our vehicle passes on various routes until we discover tracks left by a large bull.
The entire group makes notice of it and starts tracking the promising prints.
We spend the whole afternoon stalking, with contacts with the animal, yet we never succeed to engage a shooting position.
After a short rest during the hottest moments of the day, our stalk continues.
The leading tracker stands stiff, pointing at the buffalo track at 4 p.m.
The bull is in a dense bush about 15 meters away from us.
Marc is designating its position and forcing me on my knees to get into shooting position.
I barely manage to recognize the contours of the bull, yet Marc orders me to shoot.
This moment triggers all the action, with every step taken very quickly, or even swiftly!!
I can hear dull rumble sound with Marc’s effort to shout out “charging“!
The buffalo is literally lumbering through the bushy vegetation towards us, making its way through like a bulldozer.
When the large beast is at reach from us, I pull the trigger, the bullet diverts the buffalo from its rampage.
Marc is unable to shoot, as I got in between him and the bull, the buffalo almost touched us and keeps running. I try another shot in haste and hear another shot at the same time, Marc has just pulled the trigger. My guide could not have shot sooner, as the buffalo was still screened by one of our trackers.
Luce, Marc’s wife, who accompanies her husband at every hunt, falls on the ground to avoid a crash with the bull. She says that the robust hooves passed her very closely.
Once we managed to calm our emotions down, we set off to look for blood.
A few bloody tracks on the higher branches imply the animal is wounded, yet we are convinced our bullets did not hit any vital organs.
With dusk upon us, we need to withdraw from stalking.
The forthcoming night is very short, my brain keeps reviewing the scene from the previous day, my mind is puzzled with various questions: why the meaningless attack, my shot diverted the worst, where did we hit the animal and are we going to find it???
Our trek continues the next day at dawn, we actually needed 5 hours to track the wounded buffalo down.
It is finally at sight and I follow the order from my guide to shoot!
The shot is a sure kill, the first bullet hits the bull directly in the shoulder.
It took me 7 more bullets from the CZ 550 .458 Lott to put the huge bull into its eternal sleep.
I longed for getting a buffalo, the beautiful trophy of this mythical animal and I am truly satisfied!
I wanted to make this article not to get a moment of fame, yet rather for letting the other hunters – globetrotters – like me know that a buffalo would not charge due to an injury only. I also wanted to express my respect for the great master of Africa, who deserves to be called a wild beast!!!
I also want to thank Marc and the whole team for making my dream come true, their presence was truly essential to complete the hunt with success and in certainly safe manner and not otherwise.
Photogallery
Laurent VERPLANCK
French customer of Maluma Lodge
