Jackal at midday
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:42 am
I don't normally hunt/shoot predators.
On occasions when farmers specifically request that I shoot a predator on their farm, I'll do so. I apply the same rules as when I shoot/hunt any other game i.e. that the animal must be within the distance at which I am comfortable with taking the shot. This means that most predators beyond 150m or so go free.
This past weekend I was walking in the mountains in the Verkykerskop/Harrismith area with my 2 young sons. You could say we were hunting but the boys are still too young to cover lots of ground required to find the mountain reedbuck we were hoping for, so we were more just walking in the mountains.
When my 5-year old son announced he was tired we sat in the shade of some oudhout trees and had a snack.
Although it was almost midday, I thought I'd give my little Critr Call a try. I wasn't expecting anything other than to entertain the boys with the "funny sound" from the caller.
Well, I had only been calling for two minutes when a grey duiker ram came running in toward us. It was actually a very nice trophy ram. The ram stopped briefly at about 50m then ran behind us where we could not see him but where he must have got our scent. The boys were very impressed that we were able to call the ram in.
I continued calling and barely a minute later a black backed jackal came sprinting in toward us and stopped at 40m to have a look at us. He still gave me time to whip off my scope cover, disengage the safety catch and lift the rifle to take aim.
The farmer was happy with the outcome and the boys were intrigued by what they had witnessed. It's just a personal thing but somehow I didn't feel all that great about shooting that jackal. 'Not saying it shouldn't be done. Just how I honestly felt.
On occasions when farmers specifically request that I shoot a predator on their farm, I'll do so. I apply the same rules as when I shoot/hunt any other game i.e. that the animal must be within the distance at which I am comfortable with taking the shot. This means that most predators beyond 150m or so go free.
This past weekend I was walking in the mountains in the Verkykerskop/Harrismith area with my 2 young sons. You could say we were hunting but the boys are still too young to cover lots of ground required to find the mountain reedbuck we were hoping for, so we were more just walking in the mountains.
When my 5-year old son announced he was tired we sat in the shade of some oudhout trees and had a snack.
Although it was almost midday, I thought I'd give my little Critr Call a try. I wasn't expecting anything other than to entertain the boys with the "funny sound" from the caller.
Well, I had only been calling for two minutes when a grey duiker ram came running in toward us. It was actually a very nice trophy ram. The ram stopped briefly at about 50m then ran behind us where we could not see him but where he must have got our scent. The boys were very impressed that we were able to call the ram in.
I continued calling and barely a minute later a black backed jackal came sprinting in toward us and stopped at 40m to have a look at us. He still gave me time to whip off my scope cover, disengage the safety catch and lift the rifle to take aim.
The farmer was happy with the outcome and the boys were intrigued by what they had witnessed. It's just a personal thing but somehow I didn't feel all that great about shooting that jackal. 'Not saying it shouldn't be done. Just how I honestly felt.
