By Luke Guest
People have asked me why I would take my children halfway around the world in pursuit of big game animals. I once heard it said that you should let your children see you chase your dreams, so when they are older, they will not be afraid to chase their own. That statement really made an impact on me, and I have never forgotten it. It has led to my family being alongside me in Africa and Australia. My children may not aspire to hunt big game, but they will know they can chase whatever dreams they have and that there is a lot of this amazing world left to be explored.
My daughter, Jorie, is 6 years old and has already traveled more than most. She is not quite old enough to hunt just yet but she has been around it her whole life and I cannot wait for her to ask to go. My son, Karson, is 17 years old and has hunted since he was 8, and started tagging along on turkey hunts when he was only 5. He has taken some Mississippi whitetails and an old gobbler or two in his day. He also had the opportunity to do some hunting in Africa last summer where he took an impala, a zebra, and a nice kudu.
When I first told him I was thinking about going to Australia to hunt water buffalo, the first thing he said was that if he was going that far he wanted to shoot something too. It was a fair request I figured, so I reached out to Alex Jagers of Big Country Safaris to see if he could accommodate. Alex is one of the largest buffalo outfitters in Australia and was very open to having the family in camp, and he felt confident in getting Karson on an old cow buffalo to add to my bull hunt.
In the months leading up to the trip, I had conversations with Karson about the seriousness of hunting dangerous game. It is a little different when the pursued animal can flip roles, turning the hunter into the hunted. While the Australian water buffalo is bigger in size than its African counterpart the Cape buffalo, it does not have quite the temper due to the lack of predators. Regardless, any animal of this size and with that much power must be respected and has been known to turn the tables on those that dare to hunt it.
Karson was guided by Lewis Reid, one of the most experienced hunters I have had the pleasure of meeting. Lewis has hunted the world and chronicled his travels in magazine articles and even his own book. Lewis gave Karson an overview of how the hunt would go and off we went in search of a water buffalo.
We camped deep in the Central Arnhem Plateau in the Northern Territory on the banks of Buffalo Creek. Everyone crammed in a UTV and drove an hour or so down the creek. While driving we spotted a group of buffalo that appeared to have an older cow in the bunch. They were at quite a distance and across the creek so we parked the UTV and started our stalk.
As we crept to the steep banks of the creek, I could not help but notice a ripple in the water. Freshwater crocodiles were a common sight, but it was apparent something of pretty good size was in the water. We paused and suddenly a bull buffalo emerged on the surface just a few yards below us. He eased out of the water and gave us a look. Soon we found ourselves in a staring contest with him. He stomped and threw dust and sand in the air to let us know we were in his territory.
We slowly descended the banks of the creek and down to the water. At this point we were only around 15 yards from the massive animal. I was behind Lewis and Karson was behind me asking me over and over why we were so close to the bull. Lewis knew this was the best location for us to cross and if Karson wanted to get to the old cow, we had to get to the other side. Lewis walked towards the bull but he didn’t budge. As the bull took a few steps in our direction Lewis slammed the bolt closed on his rifle to get his attention. The first attempt did not seem to do much good and Lewis gave it one more try before shouldering his rifle in defense. I glanced back at Karson and the look on his face showed that he understood that things can go wrong in the blink of an eye when hunting animals of this size.
When the bolt clanked closed a second time the bull decided to live to fight another day and stomped his way through the water and up the opposite bank. Lewis looked back with a wry smile and led the way as we waded the creek and made our way up the steep bank. Easing down the opposite side of the creek we searched for the group we had seen from a distance. The ability of these large animals to hide in a bit of grass was nothing short of astonishing. We searched and searched when suddenly I spotted a buff no more than 40 yards away. We had some trees as cover and the wind was good as we settled in and waited for better views of the buffalo. Lewis spotted the old cow with another cow and calf. He pointed her out to Karson, and they gave her a good look. She was an old cow, over 20 years old, and seemed to be past breeding age. She was the perfect animal to remove from the herd.
Karson eased a round into the chamber of the Sako .375 H&H and used one of the trees to settle his aim. He placed a perfect shot solidly in her shoulder. As she wheeled around I heard Lewis tell Karson to give it to her again. He had already bolted and put another round in the cow as she tried to retreat. It only took a few seconds and she was on the ground. I watched Karson approach and stand over her, taking a few good long moments admiring his first buffalo before turning to me with a huge smile. I realized Lewis and I just witnessed the birth of a dangerous game hunter.
I’ve always wanted my kids to know that they should chase their dreams, regardless of where they lead and regardless of anyone else’s opinion. I don’t know where my childrens’ dreams will take them in life, but I can’t wait to find out.
