ON A cold July afternoon, a young man crouched beside me where we waited concealed in a shallow, bush-covered gully. We call it the sloot. Ahead of us stretched a large open plain. At the far edge of the plain, where a minute ago there had been no sign of life, a lone blesbuck now stood staring in our direction. He seemed conflicted and every now and again looked back over his shoulder. Something back there had brought him here and he was considering his options.
Slowly and hesitantly he approached. I kept thinking he would veer off and disappear, but incredibly his route brought him directly towards us. This was pure luck. Again he stopped and looked around intently. Then, after another backward glance, he made his final decision.
Earlier in the year (pre the COVID national lockdown), I had booked several hunts at Dikkop Safaris and Game Farm in the Grahamstown district. This is harsh, uncompromising frontier country where, over the years, I have found it an ideal destination to
