As a few of you know I smashed my ankle up last Sunday, looks like a butternut is shaped, just lots of blues and purple colour difference. Thursday I was about on crutches, Friday only hurt when breathing and awake - Sat 05:00 I was in the coastal sand dune scrub trying to get a Kudu for a 15 year old. Had to do the wait and watch method mostly, because I lied when I said superman was my little brother - &&%$& I did hurt some, but turned out OK!

We were camped out nicely on a ground sheet with sand dunes behind us and the Ciskei grass land hills in front of us. These hills have pockets of indigenous bush scattered all over them.
I chose a nice Milkwood, Cheesewood cluster in the shape of a horse shoe and we camped in the enclosure, looking inland at the hills.
The sun came up and the wind with it, I shit you not, the wind was so strong you could not use your binno's, you were just being buffeted too much. It was not even possible to use the trees or the bakkie to scan the area, nothing was still, and it was a coastal howl. Sand and pollen and grass seed everywhere, it’s hard to word shaking your head to get stuff out your ears, but it was that bad.

We suddenly heard guinea fowl protesting and a flock got blown across us high in the sky, but really not flying, just being taken with the wind.
The farmer’s son whispered jackal and I saw a jackal keeping pace under the fowl watching the as they lost altitude he trotted right in among us at like 15 foot. The farmer’s son being brought up the way a farmer’s son is, first had to ask “Uncle Dave can I shoot it? My Dad will be cross if we do not"
I gave consent and still noted what a lovely child this is (the reason I give up a few days a year to take him hunting). Then a lot of things happened, the wind just stopped, like zero, nothing, nil, the Jackal stopped and the Guinea fowl regained flight control. The Jackal stopped accessed situation and bolted up sand dunes behind us, the farmer’s son said "I can't" - Cody said "can I?" I said " not a chance my boy, go for it"
Cody took rifle, jackal was now going straight up hill, behind bush - open behind bush - open, further further. I told Cody to change position and shoot when it turns at big log, but as I spoke he shot. I felt my temper rise, checked my tongue, reminded myself that I am F******ng sore and irritated, "give the kid a break you grumpy ol prick". I heard Cody say "got him!"

I said "you shitting me boy?" Honest! I tell you no lies, there not many reading this that would have pulled that shot off. You all know how the jackal flat trots and does that left right zig zag thing - he figured to shoot it on that little zag it does, going uphill away from us showing just arse and a bit more of the side on the zag.
In behind left ear and out left eye...............................
The more I practice the luckier I get.
https://flic.kr/p/2jfRgEW
Cody was not impressed with fetching the Jackal, he said the hill nearly killed him.
https://flic.kr/p/2jfUdzj
Took photo's got ready to hunt and the wind just reappeared, it was the second worst wind I ever hunted in, really bad. In the end we drove to a old water pump structure from the 50 ties and set up behind a wall, it was so terrible that it was actually a adventure. I took my pain killers told boys to watch for kudu and lay back against my pillow I brought for the occasion, told boys, " every ten minutes one of you crawl to dam wall and glass for Kudu, I am going to sleep for 45 minutes"
Ten minutes later my instincts said" not cool davie boy, wakey wakey!"
This is the image of my kudu look out team, - it was 17:15 and they had been away since 05:00
https://flic.kr/p/2jfUcqa