"Look at 'em! Just look at em! Have you ever seen such a collection of huge whitetails taken during a single year…and only taken in Texas and Mexico…one year's worth of hunting!" said my wife as she gazed at the whitetail mounts on display at our recent Los Cazadores Awards. She sort of threw her hands up high, turned and with her blues eyes twinkling stared right into mine. "I don't believe it… I thought I'd never be impressed by whitetail mounts, not after living with you nearly 40 years."
She couldn't believe it? I was the one wondering if somehow an alien creature had suddenly invaded my wife's body! I started to ask her if she had perhaps been sampling a bit too much of the Cazadores Tequila available across the coliseum's floor. But I knew better. The hardest "substance" she cares drink is coffee laced with real cream.
"Are you feeling OK?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am." She replied. "Those mounts are absolutely huge and gorgeous." I listened intently sort of rubbing my beard with my right hand, trying to determine what wonderment might next come out of her mouth. "I know it's been a while since I've been to any sort of deer show. Actually it's been years that I've been to any show with you here in San Antonio, probably going back when a long time ago you used to speak at the Trophy Hunter Extravaganzas. But I have been with you when you talked to or worked the Thompson/Center booth at shows throughout North America. And, I've never seen so many big and extremely beautifully mounted whitetails in one place, especially where all were killed in just one season. I'm impressed. I'm glad I came!"
I still could scarcely believe the words being spoken by my wife. But, I knew if she was impressed, a whole lot of other folks were impressed as well.
If you missed the 2005-2006 Los Cazadores Awards Program the third weekend in May, you missed the Whitetail Hunters' event of the year.
As this is being written we've just finished the Los Cazadores Awards and I'm about to finish my editing duties for the second magazine issue of Los Cazadores. I think you'll be pleased with the new issue. It will contain some excellent, informative and entertaining articles, as well as the full boat of photos of the 2005-2006 Contest entrants and results, that alone will be worth the cost of the issue. We're hoping to have it available by early August, if not sooner. We'll shortly start taking advance orders here on the website.
Most of the time, throughout the year I like to use this column to tell a few hunting stories, try out a story line or two, or something similar. But June in particular is a time that I find it difficult to be inspired to do much creative writing. In June most buck's antlers are not yet far enough along to really tell what they're going to look like come fall. In June it's already too warm if not down right hot to spend much time in the brush looking for shed antlers. And it's been my experience I generally during June find as many rattlesnakes as I do sheds when shed hunting. So, that grand outdoor endeavor is lost for at least a while until it gets hotter and snakes aren't crawling as much.
June is also a time, when there really isn't all that much going on. Turkey season is over if your of that persuasion. Hog hunting is still pretty good and lots of fun, and heaven knows we've got far too many of them. Bear hunting up north isn't bad. And it's a genuine pleasure. This year for the first time in about 25 or so years I'm not going spring bear hunting, something I absolutely love doing. Bears excite me no matter how you hunt them. But this year, however, I've put bear hunting on hold to go to Namibia, Africa to once again go hunt kudu.
Kudu like whitetails are an absolute blast to hunt. It's all a matter of luck and being stealthy when it comes to spot and stalk. They're big as about a long-spiked young bull elk, taste every bit as good (unfortunately I can't bring back any meat), and are regally handsome with their long spiraling horns.
I've been lucky. I've hunted greater kudu in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Three summers ago I shot an absolute monster kudu bull in Zimbabwe. He was 58 inches long and 57 inches wide, and extremely massive, hopefully Los Cazadores Taxidermy will be finished with him soon and he'll be on display at the store (and you thought I got preferential treatment at the taxidermy shop). Put into whitetail perspective that's like taking a 230 or better non-typical, or a 195 or better net typical. Truth be told, and I just as well tell it because we'll show that hunt on my new tv show, T/C's ONE GOOD SHOT with Larry Weishuhn, which appears at 8:00 pm central on Sunday nights beginning in July through December on Men's Outdoors and Recreation (found on the Dish Network and other satellite systems). I think the kudu and Cape buffalo show is scheduled to be the second show and should appear the second Sunday in July (starting the first week of July if not sooner, you can check the schedule of shows and a few other things on my new website, www.LarryWeishuhnTV.com, which is linked to our www.loscazadores.com website as well). Any way real truth is I badly missed my first shot, totally "disconbuberated" I extremely quickly loaded a second shot into my .416 Rigby T/C Encore and hit him hard as he ran across the Save River. We found him about 300 yards across the croc-infested river, an adventure in itself crossing the river, but then re-crossing it carrying meat while dripping blood into the water…
From Zimbabwe's Save Conservancy hunting with Zambezi Hunters I moved over to Namibia to hunt with Trophy Trackings for a wide variety of plains game. There I hunted hard for kudu. I saw many fine bulls, including one bull that had horns in excess of 60 inches on each side. Alas, the cameraman couldn't get on him quick enough when he was reasonably close and I didn't get him. Still he was a sight I will not forget, an absolute monster bull!
As the hunt progressed I passed several 50 to 53 or so bulls, then finally found one that we thought would go 55 per side, an extremely fine kudu in his own right. We were able to stalk close enough for a shot. That hunt appeared on the Bass Pro television show.
I'll be in Namibia most of the month of June, hunting with Frontier Safaris, owned and operated by Barry Burchell with whom I've previously hunted in South Africa. It's a hunt I'm truly looking forward to because I not only hope to hunt kudu, but also gemsbok, eland and then a bunch of the smaller antelope such as the steenbok which is a lot like hunting jackrabbit sized whitetails, and this time too a Damaraland dik dik, one of the smallest antelope in Africa. I'm also hunting klipspringer which lives in Namibia's rocky country where there is also always an excellent chance to take a leopard.
Once I get back, I'll let you know how I did. The we'll get back on the other side of the fence where we'll go back to hunting whitetails and telling stories about our great southern Texas country.
Appreciate ya'll letting me stray a bit this month...
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