Day 11 / The Giant Bird

  May 12, 2018
Fact: On one day during the stay at this lodge, we got to sleep in until 7AM.  The rest of the days have started at 5-5:30am. Some nights have been late.  Yes, we're tired and some are more than others.

We all went an hour or so from here to hunt for a steenbuck [for Little J.] and an ostrich [for me].

The owners of the land had 7 dogs (that I know of) and I got to take photos of them to put on my Facebook page.  [If you would like to see pictures of all of the dogs during our vacation, use this link--> https://www.facebook.com/pg/savannahspetboarding/photos/?tab=album&album_id=639071353106479 ]
They also had a couple of pet birds.  : )

The morning was uneventful in the shooting sense.  We didn't see much and didn't get anything.

Termite mounds

Earlier that morning, we got better, daytime, pictures of Mom and her bushbuck.  We got to see all of the heads and hides at the skinning shed as well and there is quite an array of them.  There were nine and that's not all of them.

In the afternoon, we went driving and hunting for the same animal and bird.

It was a lovely day and animals were really active.  We saw giraffes, impalas, and wildebeest close together.  

One side of the road was very brushy and the other was open and only had short bushes here and there.

Dad saw an ostrich and there the hunt began.

Ostriches are known for running and running fast, so I was told how to shoot them if they ran away in front of us.  (Shoot in the bottom.)

This male ostrich stood still at 200 some yards from us as J.L. double checked to see how far.  Dad said I could shoot that distance, and, oh, how I wish I would have been ready to fire right as he said I could shoot.  But just when I found it in the scope, the bird ran.  And ran.  And never stopped running.


It turned and started running back towards us and we setup behind a termite mound.

The ostrich disappeared, before shortly returning into view.  I still didn't get a safe shot, though.

After going around and around, the bird vanished again and I was crushed.  I felt bad for taking too long to focus and for not shooting when I had the opportunities.  Because of those feelings and disappointment from not already having an ostrich checked off my list, everything was making me upset and closer to a breakdown.  I was frustrated and even thinking about happy things (BingBong--my cat--, baseball...) was not helping since I missed them like crazy.  So, I began thanking God for my blessings and praised Him.  I told myself, "It's a beautiful sunset."  (It was!)  And gave myself a big talking to.

"There he is!" Dad spotted the ostrich again and we quickly loaded into the truck and went after it.  I got at least another good chance to shoot, but didn't.

It was same as dark by then, and still angry, I was ready to give up.  I was feeling pressured to take shots that I wasn't comfortable with, so I chose not to shoot.  That was wise, but then I felt bad or like I had let everyone down.  As though I was a disappointment.  I said NOTHING during most of this time.  I was that mad.  I didn't even look at humans.



But finally, after couple of hours pursuing this bird, he stopped running and I shot.

Missed.

I shot again.  I don't know if I hit him that time or not.

I moved the gun/scope angle and finally saw the cross hairs clearly.  I shot and thump.  The big bird went down.

When we walked up to it, feeling more relaxed since I had him, it suddenly held its head high.   I shot it again and J.L. said I missed.  I dropped my shoulders and sighed, wondering how in the world I could have missed.  Dad said I hit him and I so wanted to believe that.

Then the long neck lowered.

And at long last, I had an ostrich!

The ostrich was covered in huge lice (and I mean HUGE), and since it was dark, pictures were quick, and we loaded it.  It took J.L., S., Dad, Big J., (and me lifting the head/neck) to load it since it was so big.

After dropping it off so we could hunt without lice, we spotlighted some.

Jessie had a good chance at a steenbuck, but for one reason or another, she didn't take it.  The steenbuck walked away.

That evening, back at the lodge, Dad, Mom, Big J., and Little J. tried Amarula.  I didn't, but they said it was really good, especially when poured over ice cream.

For supper, we ate sable.  

And lastly, we can't forget to add our family selfie!  (The sun was really bright that morning....)