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  1. #11
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Agree with the above. Cant remember who quoted it recently but I think it was on one of the threads, but "know thyself". You'll know what your comfortable limits are in different field positions and at what distances. Stay within that and your confidence will be higher and probability of success greater.Pre64 nailed it regarding pressure from 3rd party to take shot...you deal with the consequences, good and bad of the shots you take, I have been on both ends. You might not always get an hour to watch an animal from an elevated position, but if you can, take your time. For each kudu I have successfully hunted there must be a 100 that I have successfully spooked before I knew they were there....be vewwy vewwy quiet to quote Elmer Fudd. Enjoy and good luck, it's going to be awesome.

    Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

  2. #12

    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Sorry I am coming in from another angle. Yes, make sure of your shot, however usually a kudu gives you only a few seconds. Do not be over hasty but if the shot presents itself take it. Usually in the bushveld there won't be time to open shooting sticks. Practice shooting from the shoulder (uit die vuis). Good luck. Early morning late afternoon and slow does it.

  3. #13
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    I'm VERY lucky to be able to still hunt on a farm where the farmer is on a "friendly" basis with us. He knows us, we've hunted there a bunch of times before and as such he trusts me in the veld. This is one of those rare hunts where it's literally me and my rifle in the veld. That's it. I take my rifle, load up and take a stroll. I don't even think there's a bakkie on the farm, so if I shoot it's going to be a field dressing of the kudu under the nearest tree to lighten the load. That also means there's no pressure on me at all. I will have more opportunities this year to take a kudu cow, so if this one fails, so be it. It's fine.

    To further clarify, I am fully confident in the rifle, the ammo and my shooting ability. I have spent more and more time on the range over the past year or so and it's paying off. I'm starting to really enjoy shooting again, and I'm not worried about my ability to put crosshairs to target and squeeze off the shot. .303 will also perform - of that I'm also sure. It's not the most accurate rifle out there, since it's an old military styled one, and as such I also won't take shots out further than 100m with it. I've hunted that bush before though - shots are never further than that.

    My feelings of "I don't know what this is" comes in because it's a kudu. I've been wanting to hunt one for years, and while it's not a bull, a cow will have to suffice. I think maybe I'm overthinking this a bit. I honestly can't wait to go look for her, as I've stalked kudu to very close (around 40m) quite a few times before (just for fun). They are simply amazing creatures, and I consider them almost holy in the bushveld, specially in the mountainous terrain where I'll be hunter for "the one".

    Regarding shooting for orders - I'm not worried about not filling a quota. It's happened before and it will happen again. I don't mind. I can always go on a culling and make up numbers if that's needed.

  4. #14
    Member Andrew Leigh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Ok so they don't call Kudu the Grey Ghost for nothing.

    Kudu are incredibly shy and have a wonderful sense of hearing. No noise and chatting, walk quietly. Sometime it is good to sit for a while and wait, glass the terrain and find out where they are and what direction they are moving in.

    A guide once told me as we were heading back to camp for the midday break that we are going back at the wrong time, the Kudu like to come drink in the midday heat. Recently this was confirmed by a PH who commented that the biggest bulls shot by his clients were at midday. So perhaps try this as tactic as well, wait along a path to the watering hole.

    I see all animals in the same manner. Warthog or Kudu they deserve the same attention from me and I treat them with equal caution and respect.
    One too many wasted sunsets and one too many for the road .........

  5. #15
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Quote Originally Posted by Pirate View Post
    "Pa, waar skiet mens 'n koedoe?"

    "Naby aan die pad, seun..."
    "En vroegdag."

    Don't be that guy that wounds a Kudu just before sunset. And believe me that is the time they "come out of hiding" and you will find most kudu just before sunset. It's already probably the most difficult animal to find lying in the bush during good day light not to mention in the late afternoon/evening.

  6. #16
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Yeah the area I have spotted kudu in on that farm has been near the man-made watering hole close to the foot of the mountain. I don't want to hide out at the watering hole there, but if all else fails... The hole presents great shots at around 60m, so it is an option. Just up the mountain from there I have been so close to bulls, I can see hooves when I crouch down and the tips of horns over the bushes, not 20m from me, but the actual bodies remain to be seen.

    Thanks guys, this thread is helping. A lot!

  7. #17
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Just remember that just because kudu’s have ears that does not mean they associate humans and human noise as a threat. I have seen many farms where the farms workers walk every day, and they make noise of biblical proportions, the harder they can shout at each other walking right next to each other the better they feel.

    Kudu quickly learn what is a threat and what not. In the wild you will often see antelope grazing past a group of lion, because animals read stalking vs non stalking behaviour. I have seen many times how people go out hunting, they stalk from the word go, not see anything, and when they give up and walk back they run into kudu. The hearing of a kudu is probably in the hundreds of times better than a human’s, and they focus on stalking movements, where when people just walk normally and talk normally kudu stands still and does nothing.

    First get a vantage point, because unskilled people will most often lose the hearing battle of stalking in the thickets if they don’t know where the animal is exactly. Once spotted hunting is much easier, since you have a specific point to work towards. If you don’t do this and you get that face to face moment with a kudu unplanned, you must either be damn good at snap shooting or risk wounding if nervous.

    Better to sit still and glass than bugger off in a direction unplanned.

  8. #18
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Explains why you always run into that which is out of your budget in the veld :P

  9. #19
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Leigh View Post
    A guide once told me as we were heading back to camp for the midday break that we are going back at the wrong time, the Kudu like to come drink in the midday heat. Recently this was confirmed by a PH who commented that the biggest bulls shot by his clients were at midday. So perhaps try this as tactic as well, wait along a path to the watering hole.
    Agree with this. Have also found kudu during midday on their way to watering holes. Kudu came to within 10m of us once, before spotting us (wind was in our favour and we just stood dead still behind a bush).

  10. #20
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    Default Re: Hunting kudu: I need help/hints/tips

    Quote Originally Posted by Toxxyc View Post
    Explains why you always run into that which is out of your budget in the veld :P
    Exactly!! The two times that Kudu were in my budget, they had vanished into thin air! You could find their spoor everywhere, yet not a single glimpse of one. When they are not in budget, you will stumble into them and need to shoo them out of your way ;)

    Quote Originally Posted by Messor View Post
    I have seen many farms where the farms workers walk every day, and they make noise of biblical proportions, the harder they can shout at each other walking right next to each other the better they feel.
    .
    hahaha, tis the truth I have seen this many times. Don't understand it though.

    I've had success with using the farm workers donkey cart to transport you through the bush. The animals are used to the cart collecting firewood, so once you spot your quarry, just slip off and stalk.

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