Volume 2 2000

As I was surfing the Bowsite one day, I received an inquiry concerning a Cape Buffalo hunt from George Krasinski of Pennsylvania. George had been disappointed on a pervious hunt and wanted to know if KMS could take him on short notice and put him on a good buff with a bow. Well, plans were made, dates booked, and on the 2nd day of June 2000, I greeted George and welcomed him to the KMS operation. It is here that our story begins.

A chilly morning greeted us as Nico, KMS PH, George, myself, and Sinuse our tracker, loaded into the truck and headed out for our adventure. Upon arriving at our destination we were met by the concession manager, Vic, and one of his trackers. After a discussion of tactics, we proceeded on foot into some of the thickest terrain South Africa has to offer. Not long into the hunt we located a herd of Buff which we proceeded to stalk and spook. I was along to video the event and took much footage of buff running away. Finally, we located a small herd bedded down and with the wind right, proceeded to close in on them. A painstaking stalk brought us to within 20 yards at which point we crouched in the high grass and waited for a shot opportunity. 45 minutes elapsed and still waited. One particular bull was singled out and if the shot presented itself, George was ready to 

unleashed his 917 grain shaft. Suddenly (these things always seem to happen suddenly), the wind shifted and our herd was on its feet bolting to safety. George, Nico, and I discussed the possibility of being trampled if the herd had come our way, but George remained undeterred. An experienced hunter, George was a pleasure to hunt with. Calm, cool and collected is the best way to describe the man whose list of bowhunting accomplishments includes Grizzly Bear and numerous Elk and Whitetail. After another blown stalk we were about to call it a day when there they were; a small herd of buff feeding in our direction. George and Nico quickly took up their positions with me in the back catching the event on tape. As one of the bulls moved into a small clearing, Nico ranged him and gave George a report of 29 yards. George readied his bow and at just the right moment, sent this heavy Magnus tipped arrow deep behind the shoulder of the massive bull. As the herd crashed into darkness, we decided to return in the morning and collect our buffalo. That night everyone viewing the video assured George that the shot  was perfect and that the buff had to be down. Our bull obviously hadn't seen the tape for the next morning all we could find of him was two pieces of arrow and a large bloody area where he had apparently bedded down. Funny thing about a buffalo. Even with a perfect double lung shot, they sometimes refuse to die. Such was the case with our diehard bull who stayed with the

herd, as confirmed by our trackers, and moved off into the thickness of the bush. After spending the entire day tracking and looking for the buff, George was in a state of disbelief. How could this animal continue with such a shot? It's hard to console a man who's just dropped thousands of dollars on an animal which is seemingly lost but I tried anyway. I too, could not believe this buff was still going, or was he? The following morning we were back at it again. At approximately 9:30 a single bull was located in the reeds. Cautiously, George, Nico, and Sinuse approached the animal while I waited with Vic some two hundred meters away. Shortly, Sinuse came to me and ask me come forward as this was indeed our buff. As I crept forward I could see the huge beast lying in the reeds, his huge head down but still living. Nico had moved forward to cover George's shot with his .458 Express and George readied an arrow. As with our first stalk, the wind shifted bringing the behemoth to his shaky but determined feet. As the buff stood, George also stood with bow drawn sending another shaft into the buff's chest and driving the arrow completely into the opposite hip. The buff spun but only ran a very short distance, determined and capable of one last stand. Moving forward we now had two .458s backing us as this situation had now become extremely dangerous. At 10 yards George ended the chaos with a well placed shot to the big buff's heart. Story Over.