Heading out this side of the property it was immediately apparent that (if possible) it was dryer than where we had been previously. The further we drove out, (about an hour from the base camp on well formed roads) the more the geography changed, hills were higher and lots more rock formations etc. I had been sitting on the verandah of my hut earlier looking in this direction and seeing the way the ground rose up.





I think our driver got spoken to about NOT taking a nap this time and keeping an ear open for a shot or two. We also made arrangements that should it get to 5.30pm there was a track that ran parallel (about 500m above it) to the watercourse we were walking toward that he should go park up on and we would meet there.

The going was pretty hot out here, I don't know if it was perception or because it was that much more rocky etc to reflect the heat but it seemed to sap the strength. After about 40mins of walking we came to a well grassed/treed area just on the other side of the hill. We all came to a screaming halt at about the same step as there, about 30metres in front of us, laying down, were a small group of Cape Buffalo, they were hard to spot and the thing that gave it away to each of us was the occasional flicking of tails to hunt about bugs. None of us thought too much of it, me not enough to grab out my camera (I should have !!!), but we did have to back track and skirt around them and down onto the watercourse properly.

So, prior to all this we had been discussing how to spot a good Warthog, I mean MOST have tusks that look impressive (when you compare them to hogs that I usually hunt) ...

By way of example...I snapped this one from the track earlier...



....looks bloody impressive to me !!!!!

Anyway, it seems that a big old boar (tusk wise, as it seems that unlike our hogs they hit a size and stop growing, body wise), most likely will be thin and with a well defined ridge down the back. Walking they will look to snake along to a degree. You can spot those things from a distance, then you need to take the time to get close and check the tusks.

Soooo...after skirting the buff we dropped down onto the watercourse and started walking "up stream" well, if there was a stream it would be following down...we took a rock for five and drink, these two came stumbling down onto the sand....



....and milled around on what turned out to be a damp patch. I think if you dug down a bit there would be water.

So we followed this along for about another 30mins and then decided to get up a bit higher on the far side so we could look down on the watercourse AND see around a bit in all directions... GOOD MOVE, (I just wish it were my idea

A little further along we spotted a hog snaking his way up and away from the watercourse... I could not see more but yes he was long and thin, swaying as he walked and with a pronounced ridge back (and a horrible looking matted fringe that also seems to come with old age).

We lost sight of him into some rocks so climbed up a bit higher, and a bit higher till we caught another glimpse and figure a way to get a bit closer.... and down we headed, it was pretty much a case now of getting a look at the tusks and then into a spot I could shoot from. In reality both things happened together and very quickly. Got to about 50yds away but slightly above him, I was getting myself braced against a tree, he then took off with a bit of a start and ran down between some rocks, I saw one large tusk but not the other...he ran no more than 10 yards and turned back to look up toward me, it placed him with his right shoulder facing me and his body quartering to his right, through the scope I had a clear view of the tusks and I can vaguely remember Boet saying (I had already decided at this point).... "Nail..." BOOOM "...Him" ...then "OK I guessed you figured he was a good one alone"... For the first time he also didn't suggest a second shot, though I was back on him in case. I had seen him spun and flipped by the shot so didn't figure it was needed