Cape Buffalo with a recurve

As long as I can remember I have dreamed of hunting a Cape Buffalo. 2 years ago Chunky convinced me to get it done. I booked a hunt with Dries Visser and began working on my equipment. I was blessed with a strong back and ...

As long as I can remember I have dreamed of hunting a Cape Buffalo. 2 years ago Chunky convinced me to get it done. I booked a hunt with Dries Visser and began working on my equipment. I was blessed with a strong back and a weak mind so a heavy weight bow did scare me but I had fits getting an arrow that was stiff enough. I had Black Widow build me a 83# iron wood recurve and planned to use 200 grain GK heads. I have been shooting that bow for 2 years getting ready and the last couple of months I shot my sons 95# longbow, just to make my 83# bow seem lighter. I have been lucky that 95% of the time when I shoot at a animal my arrow hits right where I want but this Cape Buffalo had me spooked. I layed awake at night thinking about how terrible it would be if I made a bad shot. I knew they would not let me follow it up. I would be told to set in the truck while a couple of PH;s and 3 or 4 trackers risked their life cleaning up my mess. How would you deal with the shame if someone got killed because you made a poor hit? Once we arrived at camp it got even worst. the week before we arrived 2 fellows with Longbow had shot 13 animals and only recovered 1 .... just 1. To make matters even worst the last Buffalo shot by a bowhunter, a compound had taken 4 days to track down and kill with a rifle. My friends in camp were trying to make me feel better but the more they talked about it the more I worried. The night before we climbed into the tree stands I stared at the ceiling all night, trying to convince my self I was ready. I had shot 10,000 arrows.... I was ready. When he whispered down to me that the buffaloes were coming I couldn't breath I was so nervous. All the hours getting ready. All the time standing out in the Texas heat shooting my bow. It was all coming to a head. Once the buffalo were in sight, I zoned out, no longer nervous, I was BUFF, I could do this. Their was a dozen or so buffalo moving down the hill but I was only interested in the one lone bull. He was a massive beast but still spooky. He finally hit the spot where I had dumped out a bucket of some kind of sweet powder to stop him. Auto pilot kicked in. I was no longer shooting at a buffalo. I was shooting at a rubbed spot about the size of your thumb, 2" in front of the crease of his shoulder. The PH is whispering "Wait ...Wait". I had 2 problems. Once you are at full draw with a 83# bow, you can't wait very long. The other was I knew it was time. I KNEW I was going to make a perfect shot, knew it in my soul. I never lost sight of the arrow as it leaped across the 15 yards and into the Buffalo.<br />
It was by far the greatest moment of my bowing career. Not because he was a great animal, he was but because I didn't choke. If I had made a bad shot I really believe it would have haunted me the rest of my life, I had put that much pressure on my self.