6th Prize
Hunting Journal with Weatherby Logo (100 awarded)
Rodney Carpenter, Washington
“I spend way to much time dreaming about hunting new and different places for uncommon trophies. Kodiak brown bear, Yukon stone sheep, Marco Polo sheep and New Mexico elk are right at the top of the list. However, like many hunters, I spend the majority of my time dreaming about Africa. I know that all of Africa is not the same and there are many places I would like to see but I think a buffalo, leapord and plains game safari on the Okavango Delta is the ultimate dream.
I am attracted by the wild vastness of the area described in the hunting literature as well as the diversity of game. Harvesting a monster cape buffalo, a stately greater kudu and a stealthy leopard are a big part of the dream, but only a part. I want to drink in the whole experience. I want know what the dust of Africa tastes like and see for myself how bad a waterbuck smells. I want to shiver in the chill of the early morning and the bake in the burning heat of mid-day. I want to find out how you really pronounce words like mopane, situatunga, and boabo. How you say tsetse fly and do they really hurt like a hot needle when they bite? I want to be awed by the shear size of an elephant or maybe even a rhino. I don't want to be protected from the experience by stone walls of a fancy lodge with a pool and all the modern conveniences. I want to live in a scenic little tent camp by a river, hang my portable shower from a tree, fall asleep to the roar of lions, sawing of leopards and splashing of hippos in the river. I want to taste the first-class cooking of a native chef that he whips out on an open fire with just a couple of pots and pans and experience the tingle of fear as I make a midnight run for the outhouse.
I would love to see the vast herds of zebra, hartebeest, gazelles, and wildebeest, but I am more interested in hunting the ones you have to work for like bushbuck, situatunga, waterbuck, kudu, cape buffalo and leopard. I want to experience the almost mystical tracking skills of the native trackers as we seek our quarry. I would love to hunt with an old and experienced PH who loves his job and the land that he hunts. To sit mesmerized by the nightly fire as he talks about the good old days, the experiences he has had, and about the land we are hunting.
I look forward to every hunting experience that I have. Not just for the harvest of the animal but every aspect of the adventure. To soak in the African safari would be my wildest dream come true.”