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TIME KEEPING
I have been asked what kind of watches I really like to wear at night for hunting, well here is a few that I do wear. Keeping in mind that they must be reasonably easy to read in total darkness.
The watches I like wearing are as follows, these 4 are my personal items, please note that I am showing these as this article fits into my course material on watches, see here PART 2
http://www.africanpredator.com/part2.html (ALL ABOUT TIMES ETC)
These watches are easy to read at night and light up easily; here they are as pictured on my arm.
 As you see they all have LARGE hour markings, easy to see in the dark and they all illuminate. (ALL AUTOMATICS)
The first watch is a Rolex Submariner, more commonly known as one of the worlds best looking watches, it is expensive BUT this watch does not miss more than 3 seconds a year! It is seriously accurate, lights up at night and has a big dial to read easily. Swiss made and scratchproof glass, a real masterpiece. ALL THREE ARE AUTOMATICS.
Then another SWISS made watch, an Eternamatic Super Kontiki, this watch is about 25 years old, BUT don’t miss a beat! Keeps fantastic time and also at night is easy to read. All three watches are shock proof and hardy watches, they won’t easily break.
Then the SEIKO, another automatic, another waterproof, shockproof etc, easy to read. Very strong watch and keeps fantastic time. I love wearing it, all 3 are heavy quality watches. I used to dive and wore this watch, until my ears gave me trouble, then I had to stop diving. For divers many of them wear a Seiko.
THIS IS A REAL WATCH! Man it’s a classic – it doesn’t come lovelier than this!
Then finally a REAL favourite of mine, is this LORUS, again waterproof and shock proof etc, this watch is over 10 years old. Is slightly weather-beaten and well used, BUT man it is a serious time keeper and in the dark lights up very well, here are two pictures of it, I love this watch. If you look at photos of jackal hunts of over 10 years ago you will see this watch on my arm, I have used this for many years and its still 100% accurate. The crate around the face protects the face and glass, after all these years the glass still has no scratches at all. The white marks you see are dust particles on TOP of the glass.
Here is a picture of how it shows up at night. After 5 hours in the dark it will still have sufficient illumination left, some watches that illuminate only stay bright for an hour or two.
I love this watch!
Here is a photo taken in 1999, I am wearing this watch, it is a long lasting classic. Over 10 years old and going strong! I bought it in 1996.
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Here is another
photo of myself and the watch,
and a
BIG RUSSIAN FERAL WILD BOAR,
called in Western Cape.
Sorry for the bad
quality of this photo, but I
took this on an old camera back
in 2001.
These pigs are
big, that’s no lie, you can hear
them coming through the forest
over dead leaves, its exciting
stuff! Just be elevated!!!! As
you can see here I am exhausted,
tired, rounded hung shoulders
and slit eyes. It’s an all night
hunt.
This was in 1999, basically wear
this watch a lot! Was a a
Varmint shooting weekend here
with the Thompson Contender in
223 - taken in Sutherland.
Here is an extract from that
TIME section of my 10 part
course.
The hunting of
predators is different in many
ways, especially with regard to
the different times predators
take to respond to a call, and
the routes they travel.
The jackal will
respond in different ways and in
different times to your call,
depending on the time of the
year. For instance, in the
breeding season, May to July,
the jackal will answer very
promptly to a ‘challenge call’.
He will come in even faster and
be VERY aggressive (as long as
he has not spotted you). Less
than 10 minutes will transpire.
However, in a ‘social’ time,
January to April, the time the
jackal takes to respond should
be around 30 minutes or less.
(Though this obviously depends
on how close or distant the
predator is from you when you
start calling.)
Speaking
generally a jackal will take
less than 30 minutes to appear.
It also depends on the
particular area. Here is an
example: I was asked to go to a
new venue in the small Karoo. It
was December and I could hear
many jackals barking. I called
for 30 minutes and got nothing,
only a few very very distant
eyes. I decided to wait 5
minutes and call again, as I
knew they were around. It was
half-moon with clear skies - not
very good conditions! I was
convinced they had seen us. We
sat 10 minutes and I tried
again; this time combining a
puppy sound with an
aggressive-sounding jackal bark.
After 7 minutes I called in a
bitch and shot her at 40 yards.
So, it pay’s to wait and try
again. Sometimes changing a
strategy works. Time management
is important. So make it a rule
ALWAYS to call for at least 35
minutes, or wait and call again,
like I did.
Remember at night
when using a live jackal sound,
after you get responses always
drop the volume of the sound
you are making, otherwise if
the jackal comes in close and
your unit is on full volume, it
will not seem natural and may
‘spook’ the jackal.
Then there are
cats – elusive by nature and
needing plenty of time to come
in. To be a dedicated cat hunter
requires great patience; after
all, cats are on their own
‘mission.’ Cats travel far to
get to a call, and they take
their time about it, so it is
important ALWAYS to stay at a
stand longer than you would for
a jackal. Cats can hear better
than a jackal, and will
therefore come from further to
get to you. Cats are very
unpredictable, as many predators
are, so after calling for 50
minutes and having no luck, you
could wait for 10 minutes and
start again with a different
sound, and give it some more
time. Almost all the cats I have
called and shot have been AFTER
45 minutes (and, strangely
enough, in conditions where a
very light breeze was blowing).
I called in a
camp one night in the pitch
dark; after 45 minutes a cat
appeared on a ridge about 80
yards away. He would not come
any closer, and after another 20
minutes calling he just sat
still. Quietly we climbed from
the truck and walked closer to
the ridge, and at about 50 yards
out we put on a powerful white
light; the cat lay dead-still
under a bush, but a few seconds
later he was even more dead!.
Remember to
identify predators with great
care; cats come in slowly and
low to the ground, tend to stand
still for long periods and just
look, have big eyes and blink
slowly. The nice thing about
calling in jackal and cat
country is you can call both
predators at the same time by
using a ‘food’ sounding call.
Please note that
when I refer to cats I am
talking about feral cats,
Groukatte and Rooikat/ lynx.
I am not referring to bigger
cats; I have no
experience with them.
If you intend to
hunt a farm or two or more farms
with dedication, keep a register
of events. After a year you will
see a story developing, and the
records will tell you what sound
the predators like, the time to
approach, etc. I keep records of
every hunt and learn a great
deal from these records.
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Always use a good watch to keep
your time monitored. If you use
a Foxpro FX5 or Scorpion or
Foxpro FURY they have built in
clocks in the remote – a handy
feature.
See more here
http://www.africanpredator.com/foxprofix.html
Look under
FX5 or
Scorpion/ FURY for
remotes with clocks. The FX3,
XR6 and 416B dont have clocks on
the remote.
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