High-tech keeps Namibia’s Desert Lions away from livestock
Namibia has a unique population of lions that have adapted to life in the Namib Desert and the Atlantic seaboard in the north-west of the country. They are a unique tourist attraction and visitors from all over the world come to see these very special predators. But...
The Kilombero Valley, Africa’s best kept secret?
By Quintin Whitehead It was a classic case of love at first sight when I first set eyes on the famed Kilombero Valley in 2019. The Kilombero North Safaris story starts a lot earlier though. It was founded in 1994 and later purchased by the current owner, Akram Aziz....
Hunting for “Blackie”
By Ernest Dyason Cameroon: 2022 Back in March of 2019, I was hunting in northern Cameroon with Mark Schroder from Houston, Texas, when on our last hunting day, while still on the hunting truck, we spotted a large herd of Lord Derby eland. Standing about 150...
Classic and Contemporary African Hunting Literature
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures Written by Lieut. Colonel J. H. Patterson (Macmillan and Co., 1907, 352 pages.) Reviewed by Ken Bailey This is quite likely the most well-known story of African hunting and adventure. And rightfully so, as it...
AHG Monthly March 2022
March into Africa - The season is dawning Back in January 2009, we hosted the first African Hunting Expo. It was a small group of African outfitters in Toronto, Canada. These boutique shows grew across Canada – also in Atlanta, GA. Today, the model of outfitters...
News from Namibia – The GOSCARs
Wildlife conservation in Namibia is probably the best-managed in Africa, with a very strong NGO movement, community programmes and unwavering support from the government for a policy than includes sustainable use and hunting. One of the latest initiatives sees the...
Warthog Fillet with Red Peppers and Onions
By Leslie van der Merwe The ugliest pig you will ever see is a warthog. Bushpigs are not glamorous, and giant forest hogs must have myopic lovers. But a long forehead, wide mouth and jaw, facial warts and a grey leathery skin with spiky hair is not exactly...
The Twofer
By Ricardo Leone After another great Zambian Safari in 2016, we set out to try a new African country to hunt in 2017 with news species to chase after. Our friend, Richard Louw, who had recommended Hunter’s Namibia years prior suggested another Farm, this time in his...
Classic and Contemporary African Hunting Literature
From the Cape to Kasserine – Craig Boddington (Safari Press, 2018, 324 pages.) Review by Ken Bailey This is the fourth book in Craig Boddington’s series describing his African hunting adventures; he writes one every decade, but for my money this is the best...
Dangerous Game Quest
A Personal Journey By Kim Stuart Unlike the months-long safaris of the past, the opportunity to be challenged on an African safari nowadays has become a rare one. In an effort to find a demanding and unique challenge, the idea of taking the Magnificent Seven...
Campfire Thoughts & Reminiscences Part 2
Chapter 2 My First Double Rifle – A Proud Moment and Then… Having purchased and used my SAKO .375 H&H on a number of hunts, the gleam soon wore off. It was a bitch of a gun to shoot. It was far too light and kicked like a mule. The stock developed a crack...
Reborn as “Bwana”
By McKennon “Mac” Laas Certain tribes believe that a person has two births. The first occurs when one is physically born, the second when he is acknowledged as a person, reborn with purpose and direction. His mind and body is altered forever, and he has a clearer...
Among Giants
By Thierry Labat Having previously and successfully hunted with Will Parks for a Lord Derby a few years earlier, we agreed that on this our fourteenth hunt together, we would look at as many eland as possible for at least the first week and then come the second week...
The One that Didn’t Get Away
By Ken Moody It had been a hard hunt to this point. Five days into a ten-day safari, and still not a quality bull spotted. Richard, our client, was cheerful as always, never doubting that we would persevere to the end, but those of us in the know were becoming a bit...
Letter of thanks from the winner of the Rigby rifle
Good afternoon Richard, I am still in shock! I want to thank you, AHG, Maria Gill at J Rigby & Co. in London, Kevin with Blaser USA in Texas, and Jim Morical at C&J industries in Nevada, Iowa for making this happen. I have my new rifle in my...
African Hunting Gazette Monthly – Feb 2022
Amanzi,* Our life blood Toto’s song Africa - ‘I bless the rains down in Africa’ - celebrates and gives thanks for life-giving rain. Some say the song is about starting out, cleansing, getting away from technology. And where better than on an African...
Gorongosa had a tough but positive year in 2021
The story of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique is one of the mos remarkable conservation success stories in Africa, if not the world. The Park was virtually destroyed during the dreadful civil war which wracked the country for 15 years from 1977 to 1992, during...
Stuck in the Mud
Written by Ricardo Leone Our 2019 safari had a vastly different feel for me – it was my first since I had officially retired from fulltime employment. I had worked for 38 years straight, and our first day in Zambia was just two months after I retired, and being back...
Campfire Thoughts & Reminiscences
Written by Neil Harmse Over many years I have written articles and short stories for various magazines and publications, most based on personal hunting experiences, and some articles hopefully of interest on firearms, ammunition and equipment. A number of...
Classic and Contemporary African Hunting Literature
Spiral-Horn Dreams – Terry Wieland (Trophy Room Books, 1995, 344 pages.) Review by Ken Bailey I suppose there’s a certain irony in that finding a copy of Spiral-Horn Dreams is as challenging and frustrating as it can be to hunt the very animals that Wieland...
Looking at Kenya
Written by Ian Batchelor I was born in Kenya in 1965, a turbulent time in this part of Africa with the uneasy onset of the “winds of change” sweeping the continent, with all sorts of upheaval and uncertainty. Very few countries in Africa escaped this; some...
Second Generation Hunt
Written by Darby Wright We had booked another full bag safari for 2021 with Simon and Kate Rodger's Safaris de Moçambique. This concession borders Lake Cahora Bassa in Mozambique. My 27-year-old daughter would be the shooter, and her PH would be Brian Ellement, son of...
January 2022 Newsletter
The great migration… To the Conventions… January is the start of what many refer to as Convention Season. The time to wave the African hunting flag. Long flights, many shows, house parties, fund-raiser events and, of course, the major expos – the two big ones being...
Richard Leakey (1944-2022) – Conservation Hero or Zero?
One of Africa's most colourful conservation personalities passed away on 2 January 2022 having lived a full life: "But what a life he had: in a career spanning more than half a century Leakey transformed himself from a fossil hunter, who became a bestselling author...
Classic African Hunting Literature: Chui!: A Guide to Hunting the African Leopard
Written by Lou Hallamore and Bruce Woods (Trophy Room Books, 2011, 238 pages.) Review by Ken Bailey With few exceptions, African literature has generally been intended to allow the reader to live vicariously through the words and experiences of the author. As readers...
On Safari in Africa with Charles Price
I was born in Queenstown in 1967 and grew up on the farm, Bowers Hope, in the Tarkastad district. My father, Murray Price, pioneered the hunting business in the Eastern Cape, with the first clients arriving in 1963. As children we were to be seen and not heard, so we...
Some Year-end Thoughts
In my role as an editor and a writer, I get to read many interesting things, and some of them are so good that they need to be shared with others. Such is the case with a wonderful essay called 'This Land of the Ligers'. Kartik Shanker is an evolutionary...
When it is meant to be!
By Thierry Labat Zimbabwe: 2019 Chris and Bob from Montana have hunted with me on many occasions and we’ve always done pretty well as a team. They are the nicest people, so when Chris contacted me for a possible late season double buffalo and plains-game hunt, “of...
Mayo Oldiri News
We started to hunting the Savannah again in January and actually it was only July that we finished our forest season – with the same (and in some cases, better) level of success as always. We saw to it that our areas were not abandoned during the pandemic. And...
Book review: African Hunter II
Book edited by Craig T. Boddington and Peter Flack (Safari Press, 2004, 606 pages); Review by Ken Bailey When James Mellon’s book African Hunter was published in 1975, it was hailed immediately as a classic, a thorough and contemporary guide to hunting Africa. But, in...