Another great article from our client Mark B about his experience Giraffe Hunting in South Africa!
Having taken a Hippo and two Cape Buffalo on this hunting safari, the next animal on my list was a Giraffe. A Giraffe wasn’t one of my must have trophies but it was part of the package deal. After having thought about it for a while I was very excited for the chance to take a Giraffe.
There has been a very dry period at the location where my safari in South Africa is taking place for two years or so and some of the animals were looking thin. My Giraffe was part of a herd reduction.
The truck was loaded up and we headed out to the hunting area. The PH would stop the truck and ask the tracker how old the Giraffe tracks were that we saw. He could simply lean over the side of the truck and tell us how long ago the tracks were made.
I was to take a particular older female Giraffe that was no longer breeding. This is part of the conservation effort for the health of the herd.
Some Giraffes were spotted as we drove down the road and the tracker told us the one I wanted was in that group. The truck was parked and we proceeded to walk down the road for a closer look.
There were three Giraffes in this group. I remember the PH telling me earlier to shoot it close to the road. A stalk was started up the road and I set up on the sticks but the younger Giraffes were blocking my shot. They disappeared off the road.
We walked down the road a little further and my PH set up the sticks again. The Giraffe I was to harvest came back out to the middle of the road staring me down with her body facing me. All the shot pictures of Giraffes I had studied before my safari were all from the side but I remembered what Etienne Van Zyl had told me earlier about shooting at the top of the hump in its chest. BOOM! My rifle bucked from the blast and the Giraffe went into the woods.
As the Giraffe headed into the woods it sounded like a bulldozer pushing over trees. We hustled down the road into the woods and not too far was my Giraffe. This was another beautiful animal.
Pictures were taken and now comes the hard part. I see why the PH wanted it close to the road as chainsaws were brought in to clear enough room to extract the Giraffe.
Thank you JD Safaris, Clint Mattheus of Clint Hunting Safaris, Etienne Van Zyl, Hannes & Brendan Nel of Boschnel Safaris and the tracker for another great hunt.
Mark B.
If you are interested in your own giraffe hunting adventure in South Africa, Namibia, or Zimbabwe, send us an email, or call JD African Safaris at 706-502-2898 today!
