Kudu Mountain
by Mark Reilly - Team Camp Stories
Africa………..probably not in my lifetime or at least that is what I thought until our annual Easter Oregon elk hunt.
2004 would mark the arrival of Tommy Iannarelli, a new addition to elk camp, and the lives of five Western bow hunters
would forever be changed. Seven nights of camp stories and good scotch would culminate in the birth of a planned trip to
South Africa in July of 2006. You see, Tommy is a veteran of many Africa adventures as both a hunter and videographer
and to this day I’m convinced the sole purpose of his trip was not to chase bulls but rather to convince a group
unsuspecting elk hunters that Africa was not a dream but a reality. As a result of his many trips to Africa he has been able
to foster some great relationships, the most meaningful to our group would turn out to be with the owners of Numzaan
Safari’s, Stef and Lanette Swanepole (www.numzaan.com). Upon returning home from our elk hunt Tommy solidified a
package with Stef and Lanette that was too good to pass up - we were all headed to South Africa!
“The culprit in orange, Tommy Iannarelli”
Roughly 18 months passed and our group was headed to the Portland Airport to start our long journey to the Dark
Continent. LA, NY, London and finally Johannesburg; we had made it. Once on the ground the Numzann team greeted us,
marking the official start to African adventure. Little did we know that we were about to experience the most incredible trip
any bow hunter could hope for. As we loaded our gear into land Rovers we were treated to some incredible news; Stef had
rested the Archery properties for over 5 weeks in preparation to our arrival. If we weren’t already boiling over with
excitement, this news was defiantly enough to push us over the edge.
Finally camp, some general instructions and a quick tour of what would be our home for the next 7.5 days and we
were off to our chalets, tearing into our gear ready to squeeze in an evening’s worth of hunting. Tired - are you kidding?
With all the animals we saw during the 2 hour drive to Numzaan there was no way any of us was going to take the evening
off to rest. As the sun finally dropped beneath the horizon, the score was already 3 arrows – 3 trophies. I scored a
beautiful warthog, Greg Seidel a wildebeest and John Dombek an Impala. As the days passed our group’s success
continued as each and every one of us continued to harvest an incredible variety of trophy animals. As the week drew to
an end and our thoughts began to drift back to the states and family, I had no idea what Africa still had in store for me. Day
6 will forever remain as one of the most memorable experiences I have had with a bow in hand.
Warthog – 8” Impala - 22" Impala - 25" Gemsbok – 28”
Having already filled my allotted package (Gemsbok, two Impala and a Warthog), any additional animals would “break
the budget.” Still having roughly a day and a half remaining in the hunt, I was at a cross- roads as to what to do. Just leave
the bow at camp and concentrate on filming or try for the one trophy not included in the package that remained at the top
of my wish list. Earlier in the week Stef and Javier, my PH for the week, had mentioned a blind that was at the base of a
mountain about a half hour’s drive from camp. This blind held the potential for some very large Kudu but also offered very
little in the way of other species. Perfect - there will be little chance that I will be tempted to shoot something other than a
Kudu, and I have complete control over what leaves my string. Huge Kudu and I’ll squeeze the release, average Kudu and I
will return home completely satisfied with my first trip to Africa. With that Kent Thomas and I were off to Kudu Mountain.
Kent and I have shared many deer, elk and turkey camps over the years but none of these prepared us for what we
were about to share. 2:30 PM and we were settled into out Double bull blind for the afternoon. To be honest we both
figured it would be a great way to catch up and relive our adventures from the past week. This would all change at 3:15
PM when the King of the Mountain appeared out the side window of the blind. As I glanced back towards Kent to continue
our conversation I caught some movement through the heavy brush. “Kudu,” I whispered. As Kent got the video rolling, I
finally got a good look at what we had, there was no doubt that I was going to exceed my budget!
As the bull moved into position, Kent flashed the thumbs up so I knew he was locked in and ready to capture the shot
on film. Moving from our right to left, the bull approached the water hole that I had earlier ranged at 22 yards. Stay calm,
breathe, draw, anchor, float the pin and squeeze the trigger was all I was attempting to focus on. I knew if I concentrated
only on the bull’s massive horns, I would be making a mistake. Like I’d practiced a thousand times in preparation for this
trip, I released the arrow. Perfect shot!
Moments later we heard the bull fall and the celebration began. Immediately we radioed back to camp, and Javier
was on his way to meet us. We passed the time doing some post shot filming since it is not advisable to leave the blind
without a PH present. Finally Javier arrived and we immediately picked up the blood trail. Moments later we were standing
over my 55-inch trophy of a lifetime.
Mark and Kent with the “King of the Mountain” Kudu – 55”
What made this whole event even more memorable was the fact that I was able to share it with such a great friend
and hunting partner. Kent and I will forever be able to look back and reflect on that magical afternoon at the base of Kudu
Mountain.
by Mark Reilly - Team Camp Stories
Africa………..probably not in my lifetime or at least that is what I thought until our annual Easter Oregon elk hunt.
2004 would mark the arrival of Tommy Iannarelli, a new addition to elk camp, and the lives of five Western bow hunters
would forever be changed. Seven nights of camp stories and good scotch would culminate in the birth of a planned trip to
South Africa in July of 2006. You see, Tommy is a veteran of many Africa adventures as both a hunter and videographer
and to this day I’m convinced the sole purpose of his trip was not to chase bulls but rather to convince a group
unsuspecting elk hunters that Africa was not a dream but a reality. As a result of his many trips to Africa he has been able
to foster some great relationships, the most meaningful to our group would turn out to be with the owners of Numzaan
Safari’s, Stef and Lanette Swanepole (www.numzaan.com). Upon returning home from our elk hunt Tommy solidified a
package with Stef and Lanette that was too good to pass up - we were all headed to South Africa!
“The culprit in orange, Tommy Iannarelli”
Roughly 18 months passed and our group was headed to the Portland Airport to start our long journey to the Dark
Continent. LA, NY, London and finally Johannesburg; we had made it. Once on the ground the Numzann team greeted us,
marking the official start to African adventure. Little did we know that we were about to experience the most incredible trip
any bow hunter could hope for. As we loaded our gear into land Rovers we were treated to some incredible news; Stef had
rested the Archery properties for over 5 weeks in preparation to our arrival. If we weren’t already boiling over with
excitement, this news was defiantly enough to push us over the edge.
Finally camp, some general instructions and a quick tour of what would be our home for the next 7.5 days and we
were off to our chalets, tearing into our gear ready to squeeze in an evening’s worth of hunting. Tired - are you kidding?
With all the animals we saw during the 2 hour drive to Numzaan there was no way any of us was going to take the evening
off to rest. As the sun finally dropped beneath the horizon, the score was already 3 arrows – 3 trophies. I scored a
beautiful warthog, Greg Seidel a wildebeest and John Dombek an Impala. As the days passed our group’s success
continued as each and every one of us continued to harvest an incredible variety of trophy animals. As the week drew to
an end and our thoughts began to drift back to the states and family, I had no idea what Africa still had in store for me. Day
6 will forever remain as one of the most memorable experiences I have had with a bow in hand.
Warthog – 8” Impala - 22" Impala - 25" Gemsbok – 28”
Having already filled my allotted package (Gemsbok, two Impala and a Warthog), any additional animals would “break
the budget.” Still having roughly a day and a half remaining in the hunt, I was at a cross- roads as to what to do. Just leave
the bow at camp and concentrate on filming or try for the one trophy not included in the package that remained at the top
of my wish list. Earlier in the week Stef and Javier, my PH for the week, had mentioned a blind that was at the base of a
mountain about a half hour’s drive from camp. This blind held the potential for some very large Kudu but also offered very
little in the way of other species. Perfect - there will be little chance that I will be tempted to shoot something other than a
Kudu, and I have complete control over what leaves my string. Huge Kudu and I’ll squeeze the release, average Kudu and I
will return home completely satisfied with my first trip to Africa. With that Kent Thomas and I were off to Kudu Mountain.
Kent and I have shared many deer, elk and turkey camps over the years but none of these prepared us for what we
were about to share. 2:30 PM and we were settled into out Double bull blind for the afternoon. To be honest we both
figured it would be a great way to catch up and relive our adventures from the past week. This would all change at 3:15
PM when the King of the Mountain appeared out the side window of the blind. As I glanced back towards Kent to continue
our conversation I caught some movement through the heavy brush. “Kudu,” I whispered. As Kent got the video rolling, I
finally got a good look at what we had, there was no doubt that I was going to exceed my budget!
As the bull moved into position, Kent flashed the thumbs up so I knew he was locked in and ready to capture the shot
on film. Moving from our right to left, the bull approached the water hole that I had earlier ranged at 22 yards. Stay calm,
breathe, draw, anchor, float the pin and squeeze the trigger was all I was attempting to focus on. I knew if I concentrated
only on the bull’s massive horns, I would be making a mistake. Like I’d practiced a thousand times in preparation for this
trip, I released the arrow. Perfect shot!
Moments later we heard the bull fall and the celebration began. Immediately we radioed back to camp, and Javier
was on his way to meet us. We passed the time doing some post shot filming since it is not advisable to leave the blind
without a PH present. Finally Javier arrived and we immediately picked up the blood trail. Moments later we were standing
over my 55-inch trophy of a lifetime.
Mark and Kent with the “King of the Mountain” Kudu – 55”
What made this whole event even more memorable was the fact that I was able to share it with such a great friend
and hunting partner. Kent and I will forever be able to look back and reflect on that magical afternoon at the base of Kudu
Mountain.
| Ordinary Guys Making Extraordinary Memories |
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