It was amazing! I loved it at Clover Creek Ranch! At first the trip to get there was pretty long and I didn’t like that part very much.  But, when we got there it paid off.  Right away, we set up our tent and looked around.   Then I met my guide, Mike.  He was always telling jokes.  I am so glad I had him for a guide.  Later, when everybody got there, he took me to the shooting range.  That was the second time I had ever shot my gun.  The first two shots I hit the ring of the bulls eye, I was pretty proud of myself.  That night and every night we would gather around the campfire and eat dinner.  The guides would tell us their hunting stories.  They made me laugh a lot.

     The next day was my big hunting day.  I was so excited, I woke up five or six times during the night, asking my dad if it was time to go hunting yet.  One of the times I woke up because I had to go to the bathroom and I also heard a noise, so I just thought it was time to go hunting.  However, when I got out of the tent, I didn’t see anyone.  But, half way to the bathroom, I saw a pig over by the quads.  I walked quickly and quietly to the bathroom and once inside, locked the door.  After going to the bathroom I was afraid to go outside, so I waited.  Finally, after about fifteen minutes, my dad came knocking at the door looking for me.  But, when I told my dad the story, he thought I was seeing things because the pig was gone.  The next morning, we told Bob that I had seen a pig and he told us that a dad had also seen a pig last night running down the fence line.  So, then Bob told me that if I see the pig again, to shoot it.  Unfortunately, I never saw the pig again.

     I rode with Mike, on the quad and my dad followed us in the photographer’s rhino, who was also named Mike.  I told Mike I wanted to shoot a Four Horned Ram.  On the way to look for the Ram, I saw a pig with its piglets, sheep, goats and an Asian goat skull.  However, I really wanted to find a Ram, so we kept looking.  Along the way, we ran into Cole and his dad who told us, they had just seen a herd with a Four Horned Ram go over the hill.  So, we took the quads and went off the trail, over the hill. When we first saw them, they got spooked and ran.  We tracked them down again and I got close enough to take a shot, which barely missed him.  We tracked them down again and the Ram was in the middle of the herd so we had to wait.  There were three Water Buffalo in the herd we had to worry about because one of the Water Buffalo had charged Mike the day before. Mike told me that if the Water Buffalo do charge us, that I was to shoot around them, not at them.  My second shot hit the Ram in the right back leg.  He took a couple of steps, so I quickly took my third shot; the bullet skinned his back, taking off some hair.  Then, the herd ran along ways away.  Finally when we got up with them, the Ram was a big distance behind the herd, lying down.  I took my fourth and final shot at the Ram.  My gun was supported by a large rock, which really kept it steady for me this time.  The bullet went into his lungs, killing him.  Quickly, the two Watusi’s and three Water Buffalo ran over to him, trying to get him up.  Mike then waved to Mike, the photographer to come over and look at the Ram.  Mike, my guide, left me to go get his quad, but told me to keep a bullet in my gun, just in case the Water Buffalo decided to charge.  The Water Buffalo, kept staring us down.  Finally, they gave up and walked away.  However, they watched us from a distance as we gutted the Ram.  Since it was my first kill, Mike stripped my cheeks with the Ram’s blood.

     After getting back to the camp, Bob and Mike took me aside and told me that since I was a first time hunter I would get to shoot a pig for their club’s pig roast.  Mike knew that the pigs were over by the bulldozer.  When we got there, I was able to get really close to the pigs.  Mike told me that I could only shoot the black, male pigs.  The one I wanted was behind a tree, so I had to move.  Mike told me to wait until I had a good shot, but I told him that I could shoot the pig where he was.  Right when I put the gun up to my shoulder, I knew that I had him.  When I pulled the trigger I shot the pig between the eyes, and then he flew up into the air, falling onto his side, shaking really fast.  We couldn’t gut him where he was because he was on big rocks, so we had to pull him out.  They used the quad to pull him off the rocks, but when they pushed the button to reel the pig in, the quad starting moving towards the pig because he was so heavy.  Finally, all the men pulled with the quad and they got the pig off the rocks. We took it back to camp, where he was hung, skinned and put into the freezer.

     I thought it was a really good experience for my first time hunting.  Before I went on this trip, my grandpa told me that I wouldn’t hear the gun fire when I shot the animal.  He was right, I don’t remember hearing it fire. I really liked having Mike as a guide because he has known my dad thru work for a while and his never met me.  Mike and all the guides are really funny and helpful.  They had great stories to tell us at the campfire, which kept me really entertained.  It doesn’t matter which guide you have because they are all good guides.  I hope to be able to come back next year and I would recommend this place to every hunter.

Thank you to SCI, Clover Creek Ranch, and the guides for making this a great experience for me!

By Hunter