“During a close encounter during a Cape buffalo bow hunt in Africa, with a limb blocking the shot and a bull staring us down, I had one choice: trust the bow, trust myself, and make it count.”
The Question That Started the Cape Buffalo Bow Hunt
My Cape buffalo bow hunt began several years ago at the Harrisburg sports show. I stopped at the Motsomi booth and asked Pieter whether a walk-and-stalk archery hunt for Cape buffalo was even possible. Pieter did not hesitate. He was confident his team could make it happen.
I wanted to believe him, but the more I thought about it, the more my confidence slipped. In the end, I booked my second African bowhunting safari for plains game instead, with eland as the prized trophy.
When the Plan Changed
Our bowhunting trip to Africa was set for August 2020. Then the world shut down in March. Like everyone else, we hoped things would return to normal soon, but that hope did not last.
When I contacted Pieter, the only opening he had was in April. He warned me that the waterhole hunt I had planned would not be successful that time of year. I suggested switching to a rifle hunt for Cape buffalo.
Pieter said no: “You’re a bow hunter. We must hunt with a bow.”
After some thought, I agreed. From that moment on, the idea of chasing Cape buffalo with my bow consumed me.
Then April fell through too, and we rescheduled for August 2021. We were back in the dry season, and blind hunting would be good—but by then, my mind was locked on taking Cape buffalo with a bow.
Meeting My Professional Hunter in the African Bush
Several months later, I found myself meeting my professional hunter, PC Potgieter, and heading into the African bush to begin the Cape buffalo bow hunt that had been on my mind for months.
On the ride to camp, we talked through the plans for the next couple of weeks, from tracking buffalo sign to making a careful walk-and-stalk approach with the bow. It became clear that PC was just as excited about hunting Cape buffalo with a bow as I was.
Moving Camps and Turning Toward Buffalo
After a successful day watching Pam chase and harvest a sable and bushbuck, we packed up and moved to another camp to begin the Cape buffalo hunt.
The plains game portion of the safari had already been memorable, but now everything shifted toward the dangerous-game bow hunt I had been thinking about for months.
Tracking Fresh Buffalo Sign on Foot
The first day of our walk-and-stalk Cape buffalo bow hunt was spent driving, glassing, and looking for fresh buffalo tracks.
When we finally found a set of big tracks, we slipped into the African bush. Hours of walking and tracking led us into a group of Cape buffalo buried in thick cover. They exploded out of the brush and vanished into more of it.
We followed until the red African sun began to fall.
Bright and early the next morning, we cut the tracks again. This time, the stalk produced a sighting almost immediately.
It was game on.
We eased along behind the slowly moving herd, played the wind, and worked closer step by step with the bow.
Finally, the chance we had been waiting for was right in front of us.
The bulls were bedded in tall grass and brush. Sliding along on our backsides, using the grass for cover, we inched closer.
At 35 yards from the target bull, PC positioned me for a shot and made a call to get him to stand. As the bull rose, a smaller bull stepped into my shooting lane.
Before I could release an arrow, the rest of the group spooked and thundered away.
Just like the day before, we followed them until daylight ran out.
Seven Yards from the Bull
The next couple of days were spent adding two more animals to Pam’s collection and sitting in blinds for eland and warthog.
After another sit in the blind, we decided to move to a new area and look for buffalo sign before starting fresh the next day.
With about an hour of light left, we spotted a group of nine bulls. Two were shooters.
We checked the wind, gathered our gear, and moved in.
At 35 yards, PC made a calf distress call, and the entire group stepped into a thinly brushed section of grass. PC picked out our target bull.
Now I just needed a clear shot.
The bulls bunched together, all facing us, as if daring us to make the next move. After a few long minutes, they began to relax, shifting around and feeding.
PC set me in an open lane and coached me quietly: which bull, the range, and when he was clear of the others.
My target began to separate, and I drew my Hoyt for the 24-yard shot. Just as the other buffalo cleared him, he stepped into the opening—and kept moving.
I let down.
PC repositioned me for the next opening. The bulls moved through, but they were not going to stop. PC made a noise to hold the bull.
Instead of stopping, he turned and started walking straight toward us:
20 yards.
15 yards.
10 yards.
Then I heard the click of the safety on PC’s double rifle, and I thought my buffalo hunt was about to end in a way I had not imagined.
PC spoke to the bull and stopped him at seven yards.
We slowly backed up and slipped around a couple of trees. The bull turned and walked parallel to us.
We took a position at the next opening.
The Shot I Had Waited For
As he approached, I drew again—maybe the third or fourth time by then.
He stepped into the gap, broadside at 12 yards, but a small limb blocked his vitals.
I had to do something fast.
This buffalo had clearly had enough of us.
I dropped to my knees while holding full draw. With that green sight pin floating on the giant shoulder of the bull, I told myself:
“Pick the right spot. Make the perfect shot.”
My pin settled.
My back tightened.
The release broke.
Watching my white fletching disappear into that bull’s shoulder is a feeling beyond any words I can write.
As the bulls sprinted away, I heard PC say, “The shot was perfect.”
In that instant, all the doubt from years before—the question I had asked at the Harrisburg sports show, the uncertainty about whether a bow hunt for Cape buffalo was even possible—fell away.
At seven yards from one of Africa’s most dangerous animals, with my bow in my hand and PC at my side, a dream I had hardly dared to believe in had come true.
A Cape Buffalo Bow Hunt I’ll Never Forget
Thank you, PC and the Motsomi team, for making it happen.
