Serval Cat Hunting
Serval Cat hunting
By Autumn Gonda
In May of 2024 I had the opportunity to fly across the big salty pond to South Africa where I did some night hunting with Johan Pietrese. This was my 3rd time on the African continent (2nd time in South Africa). I've only done day hunts. This was my first night hunt and I had no idea what to expect. My quest was a serval.
Every night we set out in Johan's truck with me in the bed with his trackers. The trackers used high powered spot lights to shine the bush and fields looking for the elusive serval. The first few nights were slow, with a lot of action, just not the serval we were looking for. Then finally we saw one! It was one of the biggest servals Johan and his guides have ever seen! My intentions were to shoot it, but I got "buck fever" and missed a 40 yard shot. Everyone was devastated, I was almost sick to my stomach over it.
The next morning Johan and I had a pep talk about it. He got my nerves built back up and got me good and relaxed enough to feel confident to go back out and try again. That night we were all back in the truck when a huge porcupine was spotted. I decided that, yes-I want that porcupine! Johan got his truck into position and with the "go ahead" from the guides, I got him!! After the impact of my bullet, I heard an odd noise coming from the animal as it was expiring, Johan said it was his quills making that sound because his body was shutting down. Pretty interesting fact I learned!
We got the porcupine loaded into the truck and headed back to camp for a small celebration of his harvest and to keep planning for that darn serval. A few more nights went by without even seeing one. We were all getting stressed out at this point. We were seeing all of the African night cats, but not a single serval!
Finally, one night we headed out and about 45 minutes into the hunt a guide got just a glimpse of a small spotted furry area in a bush. The truck stopped immediately and I jumped on the gun, getting that cat in my scope. I was ready and not going to make another crap shot! With the cross lines on the target area (which is very small for these cats) I waited for the "go ahead" from the guides. They barely got the words out before I fired my shot. The cat was in my scope then gone. Immediately I reloaded the gun and waited still looking through the scope. I felt the truck go in park, Johan and a guide jumped out and started trekking through the field. I just sat on the truck wondering "did I get it, did I miss it, did I maim it?
Then I heard Johan say to me, "Ma'am can you come here?” Then I knew I finally got my cat! I approached the area with caution and excitement. When Johan shined the light on the serval, I became very emotional. Tears were streaming down my face, I had perma-grin and just pure adrenaline going on. I gave Johan and his guides the biggest hugs. We just stood there looking at how beautiful he was and discussed how hard that specific type of hunt was, all still very emotional.
After getting my serval in the truck, we got back to camp. Snacks and beverages were waiting there for us along with a nice hot bonfire, finally we could really celebrate!!
It was an awesome experience to hunt Africa at night. I might just have to go back and get a few more small cats!