The vast dunes of the Kalahari demand respect from hunter and quarry alike. In this edition of The Hole Story, Dr. Mike Arnold recounts a long-awaited pursuit of gemsbok in one of Africa’s most striking landscapes. Blending scientific curiosity, fieldcraft and the precision of Hornady ammunition, the story captures both the technical challenge and emotional reward of achieving a true bucket-list goal.

As I looked through the riflescope at the beautiful Gemsboks, some laying down chewing their cud like contented West Texas Herefords (minus the rapier horns, of course), I felt two sensations. The first was awe from the beauty of the Kalahari Desert setting. The second was the Acacia thorns working their way into the skin of my stomach and knees. I turned my attention from both distractions, steadying my breathing as best as I could, while placing the crosshairs a couple inches above the withers of the bull chosen by my Professional Hunter, Nicolai Raubenheimer. Squeezing the trigger, the boom from the .300 Winchester Magnum, came through my ESP electronic earplugs as a subdued ‘thwack’. That sound was very similar to that echoing back across the dunes from the bullet’s impact with the Gemsbok. The muzzle brake did its job, allowing me to watch through the riflescope as the bull collapsed a second after the rifle’s report. With Nicolai smiling broadly and thumping my back in celebration, I sighed in relief and started extracting myself from the thorn-infused, Kalahari sand.

The morning’s hunt started like all our other days on Chapungu-Kambako’s Kalahari Oryx property. Some 230,000+ acres in the midst of the South African portion of the desert from which it derives its name, the property is nothing if not incredibly picturesque. It has also become a second home for Frances and me, and a place to which we return whenever in South Africa. As we drove away from the lodge in Nicolai’s Land Cruiser, with Tracker Simon sitting on the elevated seat in the back, we again marveled at the stunning desert landscape full of dunes and slaks (a.k.a ‘interdunes’), long-thorned acacias, the enormous nests of social weaver birds ensconced in the largest trees, and of course the game animals. The latter included the pride and joy of the Kalahari Oryx owners, White and Black rhinoceroses. A group of White rhinos presented themselves as we rounded a corner along the sandy track. Highlighted by the early morning sun, they halted their grazing as we snapped photographs and videoed them flat. We weren’t there to hunt these magnificent animals, but seeing them, and pondering their rescue from poachers through regulated sport hunting gave Frances and me a thrill.

As we drove through the Kalahari landscape, I thought about the type of shot often required for successfully harvesting the focus of this hunt, Oryx gazella, a.k.a. Gemsbok. ‘Flighty’ is a mild term for the animals encountered on the Kalahari Oryx property. I suggested to Nicolai that maybe this was understandable given the presence of more than two dozen lions in various prides. He agreed that these hungry cats might affect the behavior of all the large protein sources, like Gemsboks. Regardless of the catalyst, the Oryx seen as we hunted, normally presented only their running backsides, at distances of several hundred yards. Pondering the need for accuracy at such distances, the rifle and ammunition riding along on the rack in the back of the Land Cruiser brought comfort. These included Hornady’s .300 Winchester Magnum Precision Hunter – 200gr ELDx cartridges and a Blaser R8 Ultimate with muzzle brake and recoil reduction pad topped with a Blaser B2 3-18x50 iC QDC+ riflescope with QD Saddle Mount. In an earlier range workup, this combination gave amazing accuracy. The question of course was whether the hunter (me) would live up to what the rifle + ammunition could do.

Nicolai and Simon added a richness to our experience by providing a wealth of information about the area. One of the fascinating pieces of data related to native food sources used by the Oryx. Nicolai pointed towards a group of round, green-and-white striped, objects scattered on the sand. As the Land Cruiser rolled to a stop, he explained that the Kalahari melon, a.k.a. t’sama in the Khoekhoe language, was a favorite meal for Gemsboks. When he cut the melon in half, the reddish flesh with embedded black seeds reminded us of a watermelon from our local supermarket.

 About 45-minutes into our drive, Simon tapped on the top of the cab, simultaneously leaning down to Nicolai’s open window and sotto vocing something in Afrikaans. Apparently, judging by Nicolai’s next actions Simon said, “There is a herd of Gemsboks behind the stand of Acacia trees along the top of the dune to our left.” Nicolai slowly turned the Land Cruiser to the right, descending into a slack and out of the Gemsboks’ line-of-sight. We exited the stopped truck, careful not to slam our respective doors. Simon handed me my rifle, and Nicolai and he headed off, with me struggling through the ankle-deep sand, using the half crouch that always makes me gasp for breath after only a few steps. Thankfully, there were frequent stops while PH and Tracker lifted slightly from their crouch, raised their binoculars to eyes and looked for the tops of the saber-like horns on the bull and cow Gemsboks.

We made it to the next-to-last dune crest, covered with the next-to-last cluster of Camel Thorn (a.k.a. Acacia erioloba) trees. As we approached the top of the giant dune, we crossed the elegant tracks of a lone Oryx. The spoor looked surprisingly broad to my eyes, but then again, the animal making them likely weighed 500-pounds or so. By the time I gasped my way out of oxygen deprivation, and glassed the herd located around 500-yards away, Nicolai and Simon were ready for the next phase of our stalk. This involved crawling on hands and knees to the last stand of scrubby Acacia between us and the Gemsbok. Cradling the R8 on my arm, I did my best to keep it out of the loose sand. I drew up next to Nicolai and Simon in the lee of the thorn trees. Instead of glassing, I lowered my face toward the sand, reducing the chance of my pale visage giving off an alarm signal to the Oryx now located around 350-yards from our temporary stand. I wondered how we would get closer to the herd with around 30 animals and 60 eyes on the lookout for danger.

The answer to my question came quickly when Nicolai leaned back from his kneeling position and whispered, “We are as close as we can get. Do you think you can make the shot. I asked for a distance; Nicolai looked through his rangefinder and said, “Approximately 320-yards.” The gusting wind felt about 30-40 mph. The good thing was it seemed to be directly in our faces. My answer to Nicolai was that if I could get steady enough, the shot was doable. Nicolai whispered back. “Do you mind if I take the top off your 4StableSticks rest? I want to use it as a support for the forearm of your rifle so you can shoot from a prone position.” I said of course and then scanned around for a spot to lay down. Nicolai grinned and asked, “Are you ok crawling on your stomach around the bush and to the edge of the dune?” Later I kidded my PH about his question. His explanation was that he had insulted a recent client with the same request. I told him that I experienced no insult but of course he lost his tip by making me crawl.

We reached the dune edge with little difficulty, except for the thorns lurking just under surface level. Setting up the rest involved Nicolai opening the V-shaped support and shoving the carbon rods into the deep sand. Sliding the rifle onto the support and resting the butt on my left arm gave a solid rest. Nicolai did something incredibly smart in helping his client identify the correct animal. He raised his I-phone slowly from ground level and snapped a shot of the distant herd. He then showed me the landmarks around the bull of interest. A few seconds later the rifle boomed, and the bull dropped in his tracks.

Making our way across the sandy environs to the downed animal, Frances and I once again allowed the sights, smells and sounds of the wonderful Kalahari Oryx property to wash over us. Truly a home-away-from-home, and one that produced a massive old Gemsbok bull for this hunter. Smiling for the trophy photographs, I realized that this event was a dream many years in the making, and one made possible by the game rich property and wonderfully accurate Blaser rifle and Hornady ammunition.

Author profile

Mike Arnold is professor and Head of the Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia and author of the 2022 book, BRINGING BACK THE LIONS: International Hunters, Local Tribespeople, and the Miraculous Rescue of a Doomed Ecosystem in Mozambique. Mike’s newest book, BRINGING BACK THE WILD – Stories from Revitalized Ecosystems Around the World and How Sport Hunting Supports Them, appeared in June 2025. You can find a description of Mike’s travels, talks, articles, and books at mikearnoldoutdoors.com.