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 Our trip to South Africa in 2005 was through London only three weeks after the subway bombings. My hunting companions were the usual friends I have hunted with on many other trips throughout the USA and Canada. We flew out of Chicago to Heathrow and we had a nine-hour layover in London. As a group, we all decided to do a quick tour of some of the scenic monuments of London. Once off the subway, we walked all over. We saw several of London’s landmarks before we headed back to Heathrow to catch our flight to Johannesburg.
Reminiscing about our first trip to SA in 2002, when I shot my first bow kill of an Impala fifteen minutes into the hunt. I had a bet with my hunting friend, Larry Pollack, whoever shot the first animal; the other had to cook dinner for the successor. I completely forgot about the bet as the impact of what I had just accomplished sank in. It was the first animal I had ever harvested with my bow. I had hunted whitetail deer for five years by bow without success so after traveling nine thousand miles to SA I finally felt the adrenaline rush, tears of joy and the thrill of a successful hunt. I was going back and could hardly wait for the plane to land.
 South Africa was everything I remembered from my first trip three years prior and I can honestly say I was thrilled to be back! I felt like I was coming home again. Our PH, Benito Van Leewean, and his father Hank, greeted us at the airport, loaded all our gear into the trucks, and off to Illanga Nature Reserve located outside of Groblersdal for two wonderful weeks of hunting. Upon arrival, we unpacked our gear, settled into our lodging, and enjoyed cool refreshment before we loaded up in the land rover to explore our home for the next two weeks! Benito made sure all the hunters became familiar with the lay of the land before allowing us to hunt by ourselves. Since a few of the men with our group had never been to SA and were not familiar with the many different species available to hunt, he wanted everyone to see and be able to identify the different species on the property. It was amazing how nothing had changed since my last visit. Everyone was primed and ready for our adventures to begin but we had to wait until the morning. I have to confess, I barely slept a wink, as I was so excited for my hunt to begin.
 You know it is a great vacation when you lose track of the time and the days of the week and just enjoy every moment that comes your way. We all woke early without the aid of an alarm clock and enjoyed a beautiful SA sunrise. We had a cup of coffee and a piece of toast, packed a snack lunch and off we went to our different hunting blinds. We all carried two-way radios so if we shot something we could radio camp for help with tracking and recovery of the animal. Each hunter was dropped off to a predesignated blind and our hunting adventure was about to begin! I have a deep respect of wildlife and nature so while in Africa I keep one thing in the back of my mind at all times, I am not on the top of the food chain here. We fall somewhere in the middle and danger can be all around you. As I sat in awe of just being here again, I watched as the animals would come and go into the watering hole. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I would pick up my bow, set it back down and pick up the camera, taking pictures of the animals with some of them within a few feet of where I sat. It never ceases to amaze me how magnificent these animals are! I always seemed to attract the giraffes while the men would have the rhinos come in on them. When either one came in for water, everything else leaves until they are done drinking. I had a family of giraffe come in on me once and it was awesome. There were more than seven in the family unit and they all drank in order of stature in the group from the youngest to the oldest.
 I decided I would be more selective this time around and I would take each day as it came. I had a “shopping list” of animals I had hoped to get on this trip. I needed to redeem myself from the first trip when I shot a Kudu but was unable to retrieve it. The rule is if you hit it, you bought it! Well, let us just say that history has a way of repeating itself. I shot an Impala within a shortly after I arrived to my blind and we were not able to recover it. There is nothing worse than shooting an animal and not recovering it. The truth is it happens to every bow hunter/hunter at some point in their hunting experiences and how we overcome all the emotions and frustration that go with this helps us to become a better hunter. That does not mean we have to like it though! It can eat away at you if you let it. You will carry each unrecovered animal with you the rest of your life.
Each day we rotated what blinds we would hunt since there were eight hunters on the property. Some were “hotter” blinds than others blinds but animals came into all of them. Now was a time for patients. I had several shots available but unable to decide on which animal to take a shot. I had too many animals to choose from at times so I decided it was best to take their picture instead. I had Zebra, Red Hartebeest, Blesbok, Impala, Blue Wildebeest, and many others species and many presented shots but there would be too many clustered together making it hard to “pick one out” of the herd.
 This was the case when I shot my Kudu. He came into “Big Red Blind” with two other nice bulls. The guys who had hunted this blind before said they came every day but would not come any closer than about seventy-five to one-hundred-yards of the blind. This was not the case for me. I had three bulls come up within ten-yards of my blind. They locked horns for over twenty minutes kicking up dust everywhere making it hard to breathe. My heart jumped up to my throat upon their arrival and I knew they had to hear the beating of my heart. I was losing control fast of all my body functions and knew I had to get myself under control quickly if I was going to make the shot! I keep trying to suck in air, gain control over my breathing, and stop my body from shaking like a leaf blowing in the wind. I think I even spoke aloud to myself trying to get control of the situation. I drew my bow back at least a ten different times coming to anchor ready for the shot. Finally, the largest of the three Kudu, tired of the head locking, walked to the left about twenty-yards out from the blind away from the other two. This was it. Here was my chance to redeem myself from the Kudu I shot in 2002 and never recovered. Could I do it this time or would I choke? He offered a hard quartering away shot. I put my pin on the opposite right front leg and drove my arrow in through the back of the rib cage heading in towards the heart and lungs heading outward towards the front right leg. He jolted off as if a bolt of lightening just hit him. He ran thirty-yards and fell to his death. It was the first time I had ever witnessed my animal die and knowing I was the cause and effect of its demise. Tears of joy and sadness overcame me. Then I started the leaf shake again. There would be no blood trailing, no tracking this time. He was down and I did it! I had just harvested a Kudu bull that carried fifty-three inch horns and weighed in around eight- hundred-fifty-pound. I remember getting down on my knees and saying a prayer to God and thanking him for my bounty as the tears rolled down my face I was so happy and the adrenaline continued to run heavy through my entire body. I thought I was going to get sick for a short period. I was so elated that I failed to realize that the other two Kudu bulls were standing outside the blind, barking at their fallen comrade without response. They stuck around for more than twenty minutes before they wondered off but by this time, other animals started back into the water hole so all I could do was watch and wait. I wanted to get out of the blind and go see my Kudu I had just harvested but could not get out of the blind due to all the animals that had come into the area. I sat impatiently waiting for the animals to leave. I did not have to wait long before my bow was back in my hand and I shot an Impala Ram. It was now a double take. Clean pass though shot and a blood-covered arrow but there were so many in at one time, the trail, and tracks disappeared and we were unable to locate it. Talk about frustrating! They came with the truck and we picked up the Kudu and spent a few hours searching for the Impala. No luck in locating it so we headed back to camp. We would look again later. There would be no long walk back to camp for me. I was still in a state of euphoria over the Kudu. We took pictures and talked about the shot and the distance before he went down. It will be a memory I will carry with me for a lifetime and beyond. I had indeed redeemed myself. Kudu back-straps on the grill for dinner everyone!
 Three days later, I had a repeat. I shot another Impala and we found this one! I knew he was not going far. The next day was better yet. They put me in the blind called the “Leak.” Benito said the warthogs come and go through this area and if I was patient, I could possibly have a shot. I am always up for an adventure! As I sat in the Double Bull blind, I noticed Adrian flying over the property looking for some of the downed animals that we had not recovered yet. As I had walked to my blind, I noticed several Hyenas’ tracks around the area so I was alert to what was going on around me. They are nocturnal for the most part but you never know and I did not want to meet up with them just to find out what or whom they would enjoy for their next meal. As I listened to the aircraft flying over, I caught a movement fifteen feet in the bush to my left but was not able to get a clear view. I sat and listened to whatever it was circling around me just out of sight for several long minutes before he showed himself. He circled around me three different times before he came into the water hole. He must have decided either I was harmless or he was in dire need of water because as he came in, the plane flew over the top of my blind and he looked up to see where the noise was coming from and by this time, I was once again at full drawl. He dropped to his knees to get a drink about the same split second I released my arrow. My arrow hit the mark. The warthog let out a squeal and took off as if a pack of hyenas’ was hot on his tail. I was once again doing the leaf shake with my breathing totally out of control. As I sat and tried to regain my composure, I called camp to let I had just shot and old hog. The longer I sat and waited for the Benito and the trackers to come, I started to get a sick feeling in my gut. My husband had shot two warthogs and neither one was ever recovered, so I was beginning to get nervous. Warthogs tend to get into burrows and holes and never found. I did not want this to be my story! Benito and his wife Babs came and we started the process of blood trailing and tracking. In my opinion, this is the best part of the hunt as it is or can be very challenging sometimes. I love to track and blood trail so I was up to the task. I kept saying a prayer we would find him. Since the ground is reddish clay, blood is easily overlooked and you have to track by the animals footprints left behind. This was the case. He ran north so we followed his tracks for about fifty-yards and there he was, out in the open. We found a burrow about twenty-feet from where he expired. He had his left front tusk broke off from years of wear and tear on them but it did not matter to me. He was an old hog that had been around for a long time.
 Nothing could top off this trip. I had gotten the two animals on my shopping list and I still had four more days of hunting. I spent the next few days hunting with my husband and good friend Larry. They both decided I could be a good luck charm since I attracted many of the animals in that they were after. I had the pictures to prove it. This became apparent when out hunting with my husband he shot his Red Hartebeest the next day at “Little Red Blind.” The rest of the time Larry and I hunted “Big Red” together. He wanted a Kudu and a Baboon, which he had Benito’s permission to hunt. We had Kudu come in and the shot was there but we also had Baboons in at the same time and he wanted one of these more. He took a shot at the Baboon but missed. The Kudu never came back in but the Baboons did and what an exciting time it was. We had a troupe of over thirty Baboons all around us. They ranged from very young to the dominate male of the troupe. They were just outside the blind, all around us with some only a few feet from us where we were standing inside the blind watching. It was like watching a clip of “Wild Kingdom” on TV. We watched them fight and chase each other around. There was a definite hierarchy within the troupe. We watched the youngest play and romp while the “teenagers” seemed like they were in trouble with the elders of the group. Finally, after what seemed like over an hour, one of the mature adult males came within shooting distance but because there were so many, they made it hard to move within the blind without being seen. Larry took the shot and it was good! He got his Baboon. We trailed it and finally found it but we were unsure of calling back to camp, as they do not like it when the Baboons are harvested. They resemble the human too closely and it bothers the trackers. Benito explained one reason he does not want hunters to go after the Baboons; when you shoot a Baboon, as they run off they pull the arrow out and will plug the injury with their finger to stop the bleeding. This makes it difficult to track and recover them. One other reason is the troupe can turn on the hunters and have attacked the hunters causing severe injuries. I enjoyed the adventure, but I do not think I will ever go after a Baboon personally.
I was sad to see our trip end. You know the old saying “Time flies when you are having fun.” This is one of those times. The trip was a success for all the hunters. We enjoyed good food, excellent friendships were rekindled, time in the great outdoors with nature, but most of all, we all came away with memories we will carry with us a lifetime and beyond. Some women enjoy shopping, getting their hair or nails done. Not me. I prefer the outdoors, Mother Nature, and hunting! I guess all I can do at this point, is wait for August 2007 when I can return to do it all over again. Until then, I will long for my return to South Africa, where I feel like I it is home and where I belong.
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