Mozambique Common Sense Hunting Tip
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Loading... - Portia Dodoo
- 22 Aug 2022
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Traveling across the globe to hunt exposes you to new adventure, but it also enlightens you to new hunting skills. Study the hunting strategies and tactics of those guiding you along in the unfamiliar environment. The new know-how you experience abroad may come in handy hunting at home.
Recently, I had the good fortune to visit Mozambique. There, I picked up a few tidbits of hunting information sure to bring a novel approach to an ancient pursuit regardless of the GPS location.
The Practicality of an Axe or Hatchet
Somewhat fading from use since pioneer times, the axe, hatchet or even tomahawk seems to be less common as an everyday tool. That may change as Jack Carr’s Navy SEAL character James Reece will use a tomahawk for all orders of justice in the new Prime Video series “The Terminal List.” Hollywood aside, chopping tools are still functional in the Third World and yours.
A world away in Mozambique, the panga, a stouter version of a machete, is a standby that trackers carry, use and value as a go-to tool in the bush. Honed for sharpness, our trackers used the axe-like tool to clear brush while stalking, to chop down trees during a wildfire and to sever the head of a lion-killed Cape buffalo before dragging it to a new location for hyena bait. I have been reviewing axes online since then and making space in my truck gear box for a new addition.
There is Always Rope Around
Stuffed behind the seat of my truck and in my backpack, you can always find some paracord. In my truck box there is always a length of climbing rope to lash cargo at a moment’s notice. But what if you forget to pack rope or need an extra length in the backcountry to tie down a survival tarp?
No worries, as I discovered in Mozambique while helping to build a hide one afternoon. Timothy, one of our trackers, began stripping the bark from a nearby sapling in long, thin strips, effectively creating natural rope for lashing branches to form the foundation of our hide. A prairie or desert environment may lack trees, but even twisting long strands of grassy vegetation can do in a pinch. In nearly every other habitat, a sharp tool can deliver lengths of nature-tough lashing.
Keeping it Cool Without Ice
No rural electrical service powered our Mozambique camp. We were hours by air from any major city. A village with thatched huts was the only close civilization and it did not have a store, not even a 7-Eleven. Needless to say, ice was a prized treat. A crammed propane refrigeration system in camp kept food stockpiles and our day lunches cool until they were stored in a cooler, without ice. Read More...
