Junior Shooters

Posted by Junior Shooters

By: Ty Weaver (13 years old)
(Junior Writer  For Kids By Kids)

I was twelve years old when I went on this Safari, my second. The day before Dad and I left for my 2006 safari, I came down with a 101 degree fever. Mom took me to the doctor and he gave me a shot and some medicine. I was feeling very bad, but I was looking forward to my trip to South Africa.

We landed in Johannesburg and headed to camp. We met my best buddy, Hannes Els, with Limcroma Safaris. Dad wanted me to sleep in the first morning to try and get rid of the fever, but I wanted to sit in a bow blind and start hunting. I love hunting. I could do it every day, feeling good or not, I can hunt!

I drank some hot tea for breakfast and headed to the bow blind with Dad and our professional hunter (PH) Johan. In a matter of minutes, several wart hogs came in. One was a shooter. I grabbed my bow and got ready to try a shot. My heart was beating very fast and I started to shake because I was nervous. I was a little weak from being sick and it took all my strength to draw my Mathews bow. I remember putting my pin on the crease of the wart hogs shoulder and I sent a Beman Carbon arrow into the big wart hog and he bolted.

After the shot, I started coughing hard, but it felt good because I was holding my cough back a long time. Hamilton, our tracker, followed the blood trail to my wart hog. I was so excited when I placed my hand on the wart hog’s gristly hair. I thought he looked beautiful.

We took some pictures and jumped back into the blind. I ate an orange and drank a Fanta to try to get my energy up. I was very excited, but still had a fever. I thought my excitement would help me feel better, but I was starting to feel very sick. Out of nowhere, a huge blesbok stepped out into the water. I had a tough time drawing my bow again but I managed to send an arrow into the blesbok. My heart was beating fast again, but I was sweating a lot and my head was pounding. Dad and Johan took me back to camp to lie down and rest. I was very sick and needed rest. Eric, the head PH, went with the trackers and found my blesbok! It was huge! The biggest one taken with the bow! I was so relieved when they brought him to camp. I slept like a rock that night.

The next morning my fever was down and I was feeling a lot better. I took a few practice shots with my bow. I was right on the money! I was feeling like my old self again. We sat in the river blind later that morning and had a ton of critters come to water. When a huge waterbuck came in, Johan said to me, “Ty, I want you to shoot him when he is quartering away.” Dad gets hunting credits for booking safaris and I am very fortunate to be able to hunt trophy animals like this. I was pumped! Dad was excited too because I saw him trying to turn on the video camera and he was shaking. I drew my bow with ease and put my red pin on the crease of the shoulder for a quartering away shot and touched my release. I watched my Beman arrow zip into the crease. The huge bull kicked and ran 40 yards, stopped, and fell down. Dad slapped me on the shoulder and almost knocked me over! Johan was excited too and told me that I just shot one of the largest waterbuck he had ever hunted! We took some awesome photos and went back to the camp.

The next morning Johan said, “Ty, let’s go hunt a monster eland.” We went to the river blind and in minutes some waterbucks, wart hogs, and kudus came in. I was watching a big kudu when Johan bumped me and pointed to my bow and then pointed to the side window of the blind. I grabbed my bow and looked out the side window to see this huge eland bull coming in. Dad got the video camera ready and when the bull stretched out his leg I drew my bow. The eland picked up his head and looked my way. He stared for a minute and put his head back down. It felt like he was staring right through me. That stare made me super nervous. I concentrated on the heart and touched the release. A bow shot on an animal this size had to be perfect. I heard the Magnus Stinger broadhead hit and the bull kicked and ran. He stopped at 50 yards, started swaying and fell over. I was so excited that I can?t remember what happened next. I really can’t. We waited a few minutes and walked up to the bull. I could not believe how big he was. Johan said he was close to 2,000 pounds! We took some cool pictures. When we got to camp, the skinners and trackers could not believe I shot that big eland with the bow. Hannes was excited and said, “Little Weaver, you are amazing!”

The next morning Dad and I hunted the river blind by ourselves because Johan had to go back to his full-time job. He is a poaching policeman. It was cool being in the wilds of Africa. Just my dad and me! In a matter of minutes, a big impala came to water. He was huge! He was walking right towards us, at ten yards he turned and presented me with a great shot. The closer he came the faster my heart beat. I drew my bow, found the spot, and released the arrow. My arrow zipped through the impala and he jumped straight up in the air. Dad kept saying to me, “What an animal Ty, what an animal.” I didn’t realize how big he was until we walked up to him. Hannes said, “This impala is one of the biggest ever taken with the bow!” Hannes turned to me and said “Ty my boy, you need to finish your Africa spiral horn slam and that includes a nyala and a bushbuck.”

It was hard to sleep that night. I kept thinking about that nyala. A nyala is one of the most beautiful and shyest animals in Africa. We sat in the blind until after lunch waiting for the nyala to return. My stomach was filled with butterflies the entire time that we sat in the blind. We saw everything but a nyala. We went back to camp for a bite to eat. We were sitting at the table and Hannes asked my Dad, “What should we do this afternoon?” Dad said, “I think we should try for that nyala again.” Dad didn’t know it, but Hannes and I worked out a plan. Hannes turned to me and said, “Ty, what do you think we should do this afternoon?” I said, “I think we should set up at the north water hole and video my Dad shooting a blue wildebeest with his bow.” Dad was very surprised and was smiling. Dad has never shot an African animal because he always said he likes to watch me more than himself hunting. Hannes, Dad, and I headed for the blind. Within minutes animals were coming to water, including a monster blue wildebeest. Hannes grabbed the video camera and whispered to Dad, “He is a monster.” My heart was beating fast. I looked at Dad and could see the arrow shaking in his Whisker Biscuit rest! He came to full draw and released the Gold Tip carbon arrow tipped with a Magnus Stinger. The wildebeest was hit in the heart and only the fletching was sticking out. The wildebeest went crazy and jumped into the water. I was excited for Dad and he was pumped. His first African animal was a huge poor mans buffalo! Back at camp we set out a plan to head back to the river blind to try for my nyala.

We got in the blind early. Animals were everywhere and the butterflies were back in my stomach! We sat until 1:00 p.m., but no sign of the nyala. We started to pack up and Dad?s eyes got big and said, “Grab your bow, nyala!” He was at 25 yards. Dad looked at me and said, “Can you make that shot?” I nodded my head yes and drew my bow and released an arrow. My arrow found its mark! Dad said, “He’s going down, he?s down!” I was pumped and relieved when the nyala went down because 25 yards is a long shot for me. Dad gave me a high five. When we walked up to the nyala, we could not believe how big he was. His hide was as soft as silk and his horn tips were polished white. Hannes grabbed the horns and said, “Unbelievable little Weaver! Now we must get that bushbuck for sure!”

We hunted bushbuck hard for ten days. We saw several, but not a monster. I was hunting with my Remington Model Seven rifle in .308 caliber on the tenth day. We were stalking along the Limpopo River and it was getting late. I finally got my chance when Hannes spotted a monster bushbuck. I had to make the shot count. My Leupold scope’s crosshairs settled on the vitals. With my heart pounding, I somehow found a way to concentrate long enough to place a 168-grain Barnes Triple Shock bullet through the vitals. The bushbuck dropped like a ton of bricks. Soon after the shot, I was standing over my monster bushbuck with Hannes and my Dad. Hannes shook my hand and said, “Congratulations Ty, you have just completed your South Africa spiral horn slam! Unbelievable!” I was so proud because a big bushbuck is hard to hunt. We hunted for a monster for ten days. We walked many miles along the rivers looking for that bushbuck.

On the last day of our safari Dad and I decided to sit in a blind a short way from camp and shoot some guinea with the bow. They are a blast to hunt with archery gear. They are everywhere in South Africa. I shot several guinea and we were eating lunch in the blind when Dad looked over at me and said, “Ty grab your bow.” He pointed to the far end of the water hole at a monster, monster warthog. It was the biggest one I have ever seen! I quickly came to full draw and sent an arrow through pumba at 25 yards. I was pumped! It all happened so fast! My Beman arrow flew perfectly and zipped through the warthog. He ran a short distance and crashed. I was so excited that I was jumping up and down in the blind!

I had the best time of my life during the safari. The best part was hunting with my Dad. It was like a dream come true! I didn’t want to leave. I am working hard at helping Dad sell more safaris so we can return to Africa. I can?t thank my buddy Hannes enough!

Not an ounce of meat is wasted from the animals taken on a safari. Our gourmet chef prepared some wonderful dishes for us. The remainder of the meat was donated to the local school and villages. The local people were very grateful for the meat.

Four of my animals score as new Diamond World Records with Trophy Game Records of The World. The records with the bow are: Common Waterbuck, Blesbok, and Nyala. The Limpopo Bushbuck is a record in the Modern Arms category.

To enquire or book a safari with Limcroma contact Al or Ty Weaver at aweaver1@gt.rr.com or call (409) 223-2260. Visit www.Limcroma.com

• Crimson Talon Pro Staff www.spintite.com
• Big Country Outdoors Pro Staff www.bigcountryoutdoors.com
• Barnes Bullets Advisory Staff www.barnesbullets.com
• Jr Writer The Lakecaster www.thelakecaster.com
• Limcroma Safaris Pro Staff www.limcroma.com (409) 223-2260

“Every kid is waiting to be invited outdoors.” “Ask them!”

Copyright & Published By: Junior Shooters & Junior Sports Magazines Inc. July 2008
Reprinted from Volume 4, Fall 2008

Categories: Archery, Hunting
Tags: africa, Al Weaver, Archery, Hunting, jr shooter, jr shooters, junior, junior camps, junior shooter, junior shooters, junior shooting camps, junior writers, juniors, kids, learning to shoot, limcroma safaris, Olympics, safaris, shooting, shooting sports, south africa, Ty Weaver, youth shooting