Sometimes you just have to break away for a few days to get out of the city and the office to go and enjoy the peace that only the African bush can bring you. Having a few good friends to share this with is something that only hunters can experience on a higher level than anyone else. Being able to take your rifle or your bow and walk off into the bush is something that we often take for granted, but then it happens, you see the animal that you want to hunt. You look at it through the binoculars for a while, you check the wind and the vegetation, and you start to plan your approach. You start stalking. Step by step you get closer. The tension builds up and as you get closer the adrenaline starts to take over slowly.

Then it happens, the animal turns and presents you with the perfect shot. All you must do now is everything that you practiced and learned over the years. Instinct takes over, you draw your bow, get your aim right and you release the arrow. You see it hit, but the animal takes off. You watch it until it disappears in the brush. You can feel your heart pounding with excitement as you sit down to wait for everything to settle down. While you wait, the shot plays over in your mind. Over and over again. You try to analyze everything that just happened. You are confident in your shot, but you are still not sure what to expect when you start to follow the blood trail….

After a few minutes you slowly start to walk towards the spot where the animal was standing, wondering what to expect. You see some blood and you slowly start to follow the track. The adrenaline has taken over now and you expect to see the animal any time. Your attention is divided between the track on the ground and bushes in front of you. Every step feels like an eternity.

Then it happens again, you see the animal on the ground. Stone dead. Your emotions are all over the place. You are filled with excitement, relief and pride all at the same time. A feeling that you can not describe to anyone. You kneel down next to the animal and admire the beauty of it while your emotions are slowly settling down again.

When you sit next to the animal that you hunted and you stare across the valley in front of you, you realize how lucky you are as a hunter to have that experience. You realize that this is the closest that you will ever come to nature. At that very moment, you do not see nature from the outside, you actually get to be a part of it. You do not see it, you do not hear it or just smell it, you become one with nature……and that is why we hunt.