Story by Shane Jahn

There was nothing but tall, yellow grass between the three of us and the old gemsbok cow. We needed to cut the distance for a shot. After carefully surveying the landscape, our professional hunter (PH) hatched a plan. A dry wash cut its way through the open savannah. Following it to a certain point would get us within rifle range of the grazing oryx. He dropped in, followed by my oldest daughter Grace and me.

At the onset of our stalk the gully was deep enough for us to walk upright. After a little time, the banks shallowed and we took on crouched forms. Just a little further and it would be time to scan carefully to ascertain if we were close enough and if the masked antelope was still in place.

Yep, the rapier black horns of the gemsbok protruding on the horizon told us our scheme had worked. At least up to this point. Now I just needed to get above the grass to be able to make the shot.

My PH and I stepped up the bank where he quickly set up his shooting sticks for a standing shot. The ancient cow was around 150 yards away and the sticks steadied my rifle enough to allow me to hold the crosshairs on the proximity of the shoulder and neck juncture. A gentle press on the trigger dropped the gemsbok in her tracks. Utilizing the South African terrain had made this stalk possible.

I’m sure most of us have stories like this one. I can recall several successful hunts that were possible due to using topography and cover to get close enough for a shot.  Slipping up on an unsuspecting pronghorn just over the gentle slope of a hill by crawling on hands and knees. Getting ahead of a feeding elk herd by using timber for cover and scooting on my rear end around mesquites and prickly pear to handgun an ancient blackbuck.

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