The rain has not arrived yet and the whole of South Africa has been flung into a drought. The temperatures saw during the day but still no rain, the wind has and still is blowing a gail but still no rain. This has put an extraordinary amount of pressure on the game and live stock farmers. If there is no rain soon you can only imagine the losses. In the parks the situation is no better. The fact that not all the parks can afford to feed the great quantities of game they have means that the shortage of food will impact them as hard as no water. The weather reports don’t look promising either. We all hope to get some rain soon to relieve the animal’s current situation.

In the heat there is not a lot to do especially with regards to hunting but you must always keep practicing and make sure you can shoot straight in any situation. What you can do is take a few rounds at the clay pigeon range shoot early in the day while it is still cool to get your average score. When you’re in the heat of the day try a round or 2 again see if you shoot the same, especially if the wind starts to pick up. In the field walking and stalking all day you will find those days when you end up finding Mr. cape buffalo lying down in the heat of the day hidden in some dense patch of bush, you get the stalk in and when he stands you must shoot, this is when shooting straight make the difference in all conditions. Some people struggle to do it, which can potentially spoil a safari and put lives at risk. You can also practice on the rifle range, which I have mentioned in the past. Mix up the practice but practice non-the less, this makes the experience just that much better.

I am Off to do the rain dance

Ph Jono