The Highs and Lows of Hunting

Warning: This blog entry has the details of a big game hunt.

Today was set up for us to have a great family day without any actual ministry time.  We were given the opportunity to assist with moving game animals from one area of the farm to the large free roaming area.  Along with moving these animals was having the vet administer medications to help control ticks and other diseases.  The process for this job was to ride out in the back of the truck and have the vet shoot the chosen animal with a tranquillizer gun.  Then once the animal was sedated we moved in to assist to hold it for medication administration and then carry it to the truck to move it to the new area.  Once in that area the vet would administer medications to reverse the sedation and we would watch them get up on their wobbly legs and head off into their new home.  We were able to assist with moving two sables and one impala  all before breakfast.  

After we had breakfast Banie was waiting to take us out to the hunting blind for us to watch Terrace attempt to hunt impala again.  The plan was to hunt until about 2 pm and then come in for lunch and then head back out for an afternoon hunt.  We all wanted to be together to experience this as a family, so this time around Banie had to put up with us all in the blind for the morning.  As we drove into the area the blind was at we saw several nice impala that spooked and ran away.  We could only hope that something would come back into our area, but at least it was encouraging to see animals right away.

After about two hours of sitting with the girls entertaining themselves with cell phone games and making bead bracelets they were starting to get a little bit goofy and stir crazy again.  Then Terrace says, “look there is three impala right there”.  She is such a kidder that I didn’t even believe her but looked out of the window to be sure there was nothing there.  Too my surprise she was not joking!  Now we could see several more coming in to feed and there was several really nice ones in the group of 9 impala.  It became quite comedic watching the action inside the blind I’m sure as I tried to video record the action as well as coach Terrace.  At the same time Banie was also trying to help pick the right animal and coach Terrace while Crystelle and Jaelyn were trying to get a view of the action.  The impala kept moving around and Terrace had to switch back and forth between the two shooting windows.  Twice she almost took shots but then something would happen and it was’t a perfect opportunity so she would have to reset herself.  She showed great patience and stayed very calm through the whole process.  Finally one of the nicest impala settled down and stayed in one place.  Terrace really took her time on the shot and made what appeared to be a good shot but maybe just slightly higher than ideal.  I managed to get the action on video although the quality of footage before hand shows that my focus was not really on cinematography, but rather helping Terrace.  Before you knew it all the animals were gone and Terrace was left asking, “Did I get it?”  The answer was “yes” but now the waiting begins before you pick up the trail to find the animal.  What an absolute high to be able to share that whole experience together as a family!  After reviewing the video footage several times we felt pretty good about the shot.  

Once we got on the trail to find the impala it was really tough going with very little blood or signs of his tracks.  As time went on the hopes started to turn to anxiety.  No one wants to wound or lose an animal when hunting.  Now we were hours into the search and still minimal sign of the animal.  Finally some hope after the girls had gone back to the blind to rest I found the arrow.  It was encouraging but after we still made minimal progress in finding the impala.  To sum things up we spent the rest of the day searching for the impala with no reward.  This even included having the two P.H.’s looking and Jobulani the top tracker at the game farm.  It was tough and discouraging for us all but especially Terrace.  What an ultimate low in hunting!  As we returned to the lodge it was tough I’m sure for Terrace to keep a good attitude but I’m so proud to say she did.  She really tried to focus on the hunt as a bonus and knows that the purpose of our trip is to serve God through missions.  Eugene assured us that they would still keep looking on Sunday and that it would likely show up somewhere.  Jacques looked at the video and didn’t seem confident that the impala was dead.  That was even more discouraging for Terrace but she appreciated the honesty I believe.  We all had slightly different opinions about the shot from the video but I still felt like it was a pretty good shot.  We felt good knowing that Jobulani would keep looking.  All we could do was pray about it and commit the situation to the Lord and know that whatever the result God has a lesson in it for Terrace.  I was proud about how well she did on the hunt, waiting for a good shot.  In the midst of all these circumstances she was keeping a good attitude.

It was hard to head to bed that night and not think about the events of the day and be a little discouraged.  But God is so good and has blessed us with such a great opportunity to serve Him here and that has not changed.  We felt very blessed for the family memories we had created together no matter the results