Report by: Barron Brittingham
Location: Lake Natron
Date: 19 July 2006
Day One
It took a 25-hour trip from Denver, Colorado, a 12-hour layover in Arusha, and a short night’s sleep for us to finally realize our first wakeup in Camp Natron in Tanzania Wildlife Company’s three million acres of premium-quality wildlife habitat. After an American-style breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast, we took a minute to admire the mountains in the distance, including the famed Mount Kilimanjaro. Towering 19,300 feet over the surrounding landscape, the snow-capped peak shone above the clouds in the morning sun.
It was about 7:00am by the time my girlfriend, Jill, and I loaded our guns and equipment into the Land Cruiser and set out, along with our PH, Peter Barnard, trackers, Philip and Macharasa, and our game scout, Richard. After only about 10 minutes of driving through the dusty hills of northeastern Tanzania, we spotted a herd of zebra feeding in a plain about a kilometer away. As zebra was one of the animals I had designated for Jill to hunt before I did, we began our stalk. Half an hour of carefully moving our way toward the herd brought us to realize that the zebra had moved off during our time in the brush. However, a herd of Grant’s gazelle had moved into the plain not far from where the zebra had been. We both had a Grant’s gazelle on our license, so we switched our focus to a large ram that was feeding at the back of the herd.
Grant’s gazelle, or swala Grant, as they’re known in Swahili, with their sleek coats, striped faces, and tall, outturned horns are one of the classic beautiful species of African plains game. After a short setup, Jill was on the shooting sticks and ready for the shot at about 120 yards. Being a novice hunter, it was not easy for Jill to handle the heavy .375 H&H Magnum rifle on the shooting sticks, and, as often happens when the adrenaline is pumping, she shot just over the top of the ram’s back. That was all the herd needed to send them off at a gallop. Since we were only on day one of the trip, however, this was no reason to get worried about her chances for success.
After returning to the Land Cruiser, we continued our drive and soon came up on another herd of Grant’s gazelle. I decided that it was my turn this time, and Peter and I dismounted from the vehicle. We moved forward slowly through the brush and then steadily to the right as we followed the progress of the huge ram that was feeding with the other rams and ewes. After only a few minutes of stalking, he presented me with a broadside shot at about 80 yards, and I squeezed the trigger on the .375.
I realized just after I pulled the trigger that, during the shot, my mind had been in North American-game mode, instead of in African-game mode, and I had held the crosshairs just behind the shoulder, instead of on the shoulder as I should have. The reason for this is that, in the vast majority of African game, the heart is farther forward than in North American big game and is centered just between the shoulders. This works out quite nicely, because, in the process of hitting the heart, the bullet will also break both shoulders, making it nearly impossible for the animal to run very far. This gazelle, however, must have been quartering slightly away, because he ran for about 100 yards and fell over dead. When quartering him, we found that the shot placement was good, and the heart was obliterated.
At that point, we sat down in the shade to have lunch and, shortly thereafter, continued the rest of the day’s hunt. Though we saw a plethora of game and made a few stalks, nothing panned out into any serious action. We returned to camp at dark for dinner and another good night’s sleep.