Jul 18, 2018 | News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It was a crisp autumn morning. I was overlooking the river, having coffee, when the Facebook message stunned me…
Not six weeks previously I had spent a night in the Makuya Game Reserve, a community-owned reserve bordering Kruger National Park, and arguably one of the finest truly big-game areas in South Africa. Claude Kleynhans, PH & owner of Guwela Safaris had a 10-year concession in the reserve, and had invited me to see this incredible area. Years back Claude and I had met through his best friend Natie Oelofse, with whom we published The Practical Shot. Natie (who had touched many lives) had entered a battle with cancer which, after giving it a really good go, he would eventually lose. Claude and I became great friends over that extremely sad time. Catching up with Claude this past January at Dallas Safari Club after so many years, was just fantastic.
It was ironic that the name of Claude’s safari business was Guwela Safaris, meaning “an old buffalo”, a Shangaan word from the tribe native to that area of the northern Kruger. Because, being Africa’s most iconic hunting trophy, it was the animal that would ultimately take Claude’s life.
Claude had safely guided his last buffalo hunt. With his loyal and right-hand tracker Simon, he was cutting a path to retrieve the felled trophy when, out of nowhere, Africa’s bushveld debt collector came calling – unannounced, on a mission, and for no reason that we will ever know. In seconds this gentleman of the African professional hunting industry was gone.
A deep love and understanding of nature; decades of hunting experience across the continent; having every skill – it all counts for nothing when it is your time. And so it was for Claude. Doing what he loved in the area he had told me was the finest bit of bushveld (next to Tanzania) that he had ever hunted. He had found the lady and soulmate of his dreams – Merissa – and had started a long business relationship with the people he loved, headed by Esther Netshivhongweni for whom he had the utmost respect.
But so soon? Those left behind feel it the most, and that beast of the bushveld could have at least waited a few more years – but we are not here to try to understand.
This prompted in me some questions: If there is anything you can do in your own way – whether you are a hunter who loves Africa with many friends and connections, (perhaps some with considerable influence), or an outfitter with a dozen, or hundreds of clients – just think.
Just think: If someone is prepared to die for their profession
- Why the questioning of what’s ethical or not, when really, ethics are personal, and all that should count is obeying the law?
- Why run a fellow PH or outfit down because he is from a different country, nationality, or area. If he is legal and he is in the same industry, trying to make a living doing something he loves, that must count for something.
- Why fight over what is free range, game-fenced, managed or cattle-fenced, when the animal is still ultimately the same species?
- Why fight over how heavy, long, old, or inch size – when it should be your individual experience of the African hunt that matters.
- Why squabble over all this? Unnecessary infighting, when there is a much greater battle to embark on. The future of our industry is at stake and we need to work together.
Dangerous game is called this for a very good reason. So whether you hunt Africa for the sheer magic of this land, or you hunt Africa to share the magic of this land – be careful.
[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16580,16579″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jul 18, 2018 | Ammo Past Issues, News
LONG AND TOUGH
Over the last century, too many writers have used Walter Dalrymple Maitland “Karamojo” Bell as an example of how big, big game can be successfully hunted with light, light rifles.
Bell undoubtedly did take thousands of elephants with rifles like the .303 British, 6.5×54 Mannlicher and, most famously, the 7×57. Undoubtedly, he also compared their performance against big doubles of the day, such as the .450/.400 NE, and found them every bit as effective when the bullet was put in the right place. None of this can be argued with.
Bell’s success with the 7×57 on elephants, however, is not living proof that light bullets at high velocity are a better formula for all kinds of game. Far from it.
What is usually ignored are the facts that Bell was a superb hunter who could get in close, and also a top-notch rifle shot who could place bullets exactly (and knew exactly where to place them). Finally, he was not using light bullets at high velocity. In fact, he was using bullets that by today’s standards are heavy-for-caliber, and launched at very modest (again, by today’s standards) velocities.
The .303 British employed a 215-grain round-nosed bullet; the 6.5×54 was 160 grains, while the 7×57 standard was a 175-grain bullet at 2,300 fps. What’s more, Bell never “polluted” (his word) his rifle barrels with soft-nosed bullets; he used only solids, for everything. With their excellent sectional density, such bullets penetrated very deeply and rarely deviated from their line of impact.
Less often cited is Werner von Alvensleben, who killed more than a thousand Cape buffalo, shooting on control in Mozambique, using a 6.5×54 Mannlicher-Schönauer. Like Bell, von Alvensleben shot for the brain, and sportsmanship didn’t come into it.
Neither of these gentlemen would have been so unwise as to attempt all this using light, frangible bullets at high velocity, as George Grey did, with his .280 Ross, hunting lions in Kenya in 1911. He hit a big male several times, failed to stop it, and was fatally mauled. Before he died in a Nairobi hospital, Grey admitted it was his own fault for getting too close. This, too, is often taken out of context to prove the inadequacy of high-velocity rifles for dangerous game. In fact, the rifle was more than adequate (although not recommended) if used carefully under the right conditions.
As you can see, the 7×57 benefited greatly from Bell’s example, while the Ross suffered from Grey’s. Yet both are excellent cartridges, when used properly, with the right bullets, under appropriate conditions.
Ironically, it was Sir Charles Ross more than anyone else who discovered and promoted the use of highly streamlined, long-for-caliber bullets for long-distance match shooting. Ross’s match ammunition, in both .280 Ross and .303 British, dominated the 1,000- and 1,200-yard matches on both sides of the Atlantic between 1910 and 1913. His .280 Ross bullet was 180 grains, with a form like a racing yacht. Had the Great War not intervened, who knows where Ross might have taken that principle, for both match shooting and hunting?
Today, match shooters have rediscovered these principles, with ultra-low drag and extended-ogive bullets used for shooting at extreme ranges. Where before the heaviest bullet you could get in .308-diameter was 220 grains, we now have 250-grain match bullets; in 7mm (.284), 180- or even 190-grain bullets are available.
In long-range shooting, bullets with high sectional density both retain velocity and resist wind better than lighter bullets. When you think about it, these are exactly the same qualities Bell found with heavy bullets in hunting — good penetration and straight-line performance. After all, penetration is nothing more than retained velocity: When a bullet stops moving, it stops penetrating.
In all kinds of shooting, it would appear, high sectional density trumps higher velocity, whether it’s an elephant at 15 yards or a steel plate at 1,500. Occasionally, the opposite combination will deliver a spectacular kill, when a light bullet at high velocity strikes exactly the right place at exactly the right time. But these, I suggest, are anomalies. The one thing the heavy-bullet, lower-velocity combination delivers is dependability, shot after shot after shot.
One other thing is obvious, too: You can go too far, either way. A 400-grain .308 at 1,100 fps would be useless, as would a 68-grain .308 at 5,100 fps. Somewhere between those two extremes lies the perfect combination for any application to which you might put your favorite .30-06, .300 Norma, or whatever. Chances are, the best combination will be a little heavier bullet at a little lower velocity.
Jul 18, 2018 | News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Has Kenya Finally Seen the Light?
There must have been collective panic among the animal rights groups over the weekend of 24 March, 2018. Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife announced that they would be setting up a task force to look into the modalities of wildlife utilization. A cyber (if not an actual) stampede to the door of the minister by the likes of the African Wildlife Foundation and Born Free must have ensued. The ministry’s Facebook page was littered with the type of vile rhetoric we have come to expect from the anti-utilization mob.
The task force is headed by former Kenya Wildlife Service Director Dr David Western, and will evaluate options of consumptive utilization of wildlife (game farming and game ranching) in community and private lands, taking cognizance of the impacts, successes and failures of the previous wildlife cropping program. It will also evaluate how consumptive utilization will contribute to the national GDP, food security, job creation and livelihood support, with a view of creating co-existence between communities and wildlife. For answers, the commission need only to look at the work done on the Swara Plains Conservancy just outside Nairobi by Kenyan national, Professor David Hopcraft.
As a teenager Hopcraft worked in the northern part of Kenya where there was very serious land degradation. When he arrived in the area the first dust storm had just blown through and there was no grass, just bare earth. The few surviving cows were eating the bark off the trees, and there was massive starvation among the people. He realized that it was the endpoint, desertification. He was worried that if it could happen here, it could happen right across Africa.
His initial studies showed that it was not simply a matter of overgrazing. The indigenous wildlife species had been eliminated, and all that was left was domestic livestock, which are not a natural part of the African environment. The ecosystem had been altered and was falling apart. He concluded that wildlife was an essential component to the survival of the range. Wherever wildlife disappears and livestock takes over, the process of desertification begins.
Finding a solution to this problem became his life’s work. After completing a master’s degree though Cornell University, Hopcraft received a grant from the United States National Science Foundation to study the model of wildlife ranching as a viable means of land use. Back in Kenya he started his research on a cattle ranch by putting up enclosures with cattle on the one side and gazelle on the other.
After a few years the results proved very enlightening. First, the productivity of gazelle outstripped that of livestock in terms of lean meat production. Secondly, the range stayed in good condition. In the livestock area the land and vegetation started to degrade and disintegrate through hoof pressure. Paths to the water troughs formed lines of erosion.
By measuring the species diversity of the vegetation and cover he found that the change was dramatic. In the livestock area fewer and fewer species were surviving, while in the wildlife area the opposite was happening. He then looked at the economics and realized that wildlife was far more valuable than livestock.
Hopcraft ended up buying the ranch where the research had been carried out, and over a period of time he removed the livestock and ran it as a full-scale wildlife ranch with 17 different species. When he took over the ranch it was the most degraded in the area, but today you can pick it out on a satellite map because it is in such good condition.
Hopcraft petitioned the Kenyan government to allow landowners to manage and profit from the wildlife resource, and wrote policy papers on the benefits of the sustainable use of wildlife. He wanted to show that this strategy would give wildlife a value. The process took around 10 years, and in the end the government would only allow a culling program. Safari hunting had been banned, and the area was not suitable for tourism as it wasn’t on the tourism map. It could not compete with the likes of the Masai Mara.
The government agreed to allow four districts in Kenya to participate in the program, and it ran for about 15 years. Then in 2003/4 the responsible minister at the time closed the whole wildlife program overnight. The animal rights groups had finally got to the Kenyan government.
Hopcraft turned to consultancy and worked in different parts of Africa. In the early 1980s he was advising South Africans on the lessons that he had learned through his research in Kenya. With private ownership and the ability to utilize the resource, wildlife populations in South Africa burgeoned, and today there are over 20 million head outside of national reserves. In Kenya the wildlife numbers plummeted.
As it turned out, the actual amount of meat that was being produced in Kenya through the legal program was only a small fraction of what was being produced illegally. By closing down the legal program the chance of the implementation of a wise management system was crushed. The end result is that in Kenya today wildlife is worth nothing to the landowner. A buffalo sold to a safari hunter could realize up to US $ 8 000. If that same buffalo is poached, the dried meat may earn the poachers US $ 200. Landowners are essentially businessmen. They have to make an income from whatever land-use option is permitted. If their choices are narrowed because of nonsensical laws, manipulated by a Western preservationist agenda, then it is the environment that ultimately suffers.
Hopcraft estimates that since 1963 Kenya has lost 90% of its wildlife, 80% of its forest land, and between 30% and 40% of the rangelands to desert. The Kenyan government has taken a step in the right direction by setting up this wildlife task force, but they don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Professor David Hopcraft’s work can show them the way forward.
[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16449,16451,16450,16448,16452″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jul 15, 2018 | Gear & Gadgets, News
The Garmin Xero™ A1 and Xero™ A1i bow sights.
Know the range and shoot the exact pin with minimal movement using the Garmin Xero™ A1 and Xero™ A1i bow sights.
It’s the first bow-mounted laser range finder and targeting display system that measures the angle-compensated distance to the target and provides an LED pin for the shot, even on those “in-between” yardages. Dual color LED pins3 automatically adjust brightness to conditions, allowing you to see your target, unobstructed by physical pins. A single trigger lets you range at rest or full draw to game1 up to 100 yards away or to reflective targets up to 300 yards. To help you track game or arrows, Hot Zone GPS waypoint projection works with a compatible Garmin devices2 to show you exactly where the target was located when the shot or range was taken. Saves settings for various bow setups. Customizable for single-pin and multi-pin configurations or for manual pin selection.
1 Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit the use of electronic bow sights for hunting. Always know and obey all state hunting regulations before using this device.
2 Available on the Xero™ A1i only compatible Garmin GPS devices sold separately
3 Available on the Xero™ A1i only
Garmin Xero™ A1i bow sight plus
Fact Tags:
• Bow-mounted laser range finder that automatically measures distance to the target and provides an LED pin for the shot
• Dual color LED pins allow you to clearly see your target, unobstructed by physical pins
• Saves pin settings for various bow configurations – change from a 3D target to a hunting configuration without readjusting the sight
• Silent single-button trigger requires minimal movement; lets you range at rest or full draw up to 100 yards on game1 or up to 300 yards on reflective targets
• Hot Zone GPS waypoint projection enables use of a compatible Garmin GPS2 to know exactly where the target was located when the shot or range was taken
• Customizable for single-pin and multi-pin configuration or manual pin selection.
• 1 year of battery life with two lithium AAA batteries (not included)
1 Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit the use of electronic bow sights for hunting. Always check state hunting regulations before drawing a tag.
2Compatible Garmin GPS devices sold separately.
3 Available on the Xero™ A1i only
Garmin Xero™ A1 bow sight
Fact Tags:
• Bow-mounted laser range finder that automatically measures distance to the target and provides an LED pin for the shot
• LED pins allow you to clearly see your target, unobstructed by physical pins
• Silent single-button trigger requires minimal movement; lets you range at rest or full draw up to 100 yards on game1 or up to 300 yards on reflective targets
• Customizable for single-pin and multi-pin configurations or manual pin selection.
• 1 year of battery life using two lithium AAA batteries (not included)
1 Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit the use of electronic bow sights for hunting. Always know and obey all state hunting regulations before using this device.
Jul 12, 2018 | Bowhunting, News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Steenbok – a Bowhunt Quest
By Frank Berbuir
I remember quite well my first encounter with a steenbok. It was in northern Namibia in 2004. On the second day of that hunt with my PH Gustav, we suddenly spotted this rather beautiful tiny antelope that is quite common in southern Africa, but somehow not easy to find – small, shy, and almost entirely independent of drinking water, getting any moisture they need from their food. This one looked really cute, with his huge radar-bowl-like ears, graceful, slightly built body, nice brown coat, and big eyes that reminded me of a child begging for sweets. Gustav was so enamored with the beauty of this animal that I finally felt sorry about wanting to shoot it, and let it go. In the following years (2005 and 2006) I never saw another steenbok.
In 2007, again in Namibia in the Khomas Highlands, I was once more specifically looking for steenbok. My black guide was a highly experienced tracker, and from the moment he found the first fresh tracks, he followed them like a predator. After a three-hour stalk in the burning mid-day November sun, he pointed to a beautiful little buck resting in the shade of a small brush. The bokkie was at approximately 30 metres. I remembered my first chance encounter a couple of years ago, and this time I was also a bit reluctant to shoot a lying down animal. But when we moved another step forward, the steenbok jumped up and was gone in a split second. Another chance gone!
In all the following years that I went to bowhunt in southern Africa, I did not see another steenbok till the August of 2014 when I went once again to the Dark Continent.
This time I travelled to bowhunt with my friend and PH Izak Vos from Vos Safaris. On my bucket list I again had a steenbok, this appealing creature, one of the “Tiny Ten”. Izak had told me that he knew an interesting place up north in the Limpopo Province not far from the Botswana border where, hopefully, we could find this long-sought-after antelope.
Izak met me in Joburg, and during the drive to the camp we discussed our hunting plans for the following eight days. With good memories of our extremely successful bowhunt on a huge Cape buffalo and other big game the year before, I decided to bring again my trusty Elite GT 500 bow set at 90 lbs draw weight with the Easton Full Metal Jacket 250 Dangerous Game arrows, and the Muzzy Phantom SS 200-grain Broadhead with a total arrow weight of 800 grains. Rather an overload for a steenbok, but I felt very comfortable with this bow set-up, and my previous month’s practice sessions went well. “Never change a winning team”, was my thinking, particularly as I wished to take an eland as well.
The difference between those two animals could not be more extreme: An eland, with a shoulder height of about 1.6 metres (5 feet) and a weight up to a ton (more than 2000 pounds), compared with a steenbok of about 15 kilograms (33 pounds) and just half a metre (1½ feet)) in height. However, the pretty little steenbok is not easy to hunt, because at the first sign of trouble they typically lie down low in the vegetation, and then it becomes quite challenging to find them.
The first day at our destination we just scouted for game by driving in the area, and glassing and stalking. The countryside was mainly quite flat bushveld with open savannah, peppered with thorny bushes, some acacias, and a few rocky outcrops. This is really challenging when stalking with bow and arrow, especially if you try to get close to the game. Izak had definitely not exaggerated about this area, or the numbers of steenbok. That day, besides numerous impala, warthog, blesbok, kudu and blue wildebeest, we saw about a dozen of these tiny antelopes, and among the males, females and young ones there were some really good trophies. We also spooked a pair of bat-eared foxes just twenty metres in front of us, which was a one-of-a-kind encounter for me because I had never seen them before. They are beautiful animals.
When we arrived at a large grassy area we spotted a big steenbok male at approximately 130 yards. He was a very impressive specimen, and Izak estimated the horns to be a tremendous trophy at 5½ to 6 inches! The steenbok was facing us for quite a while before he jumped away on a zigzag escape route before he finally disappeared in the high grass.
“This is the one we will go for tomorrow,” Izak decided. “He will stay in the area – they are territorial animals and there is a fair chance to stalk him and get close tomorrow early morning.”
Back at our hunting camp we relived the wonderful impressions of the day and talked about the plans for the next morning as we enjoyed some excellent, tasty grilled springbok ribs. Our accommodation was a rustic self-catering hunting camp in a roughly 100-year-old former farm house, with its own special non-luxurious charm. It was planned that way from the beginning between Izak and me – just the two of us. We had no electricity, and used old gas lanterns after dark. Hot water was boiled on a campfire with a water kettle, and all the cooking and the braaivleis was also done on the campfire. We both really enjoyed this simple “like in the old days” arrangement. One day, we even had a very special visit from an adult monitor lizard who was very much interested in what we could offer him when the door was open, and he went straight into the house checking out the kitchen for flavorsome goodies.
At sunrise the next morning, after a quick coffee and biscuit, we walked to the area where we had spotted the outstanding steenbok the day before. We glassed the area carefully, going at a slow pace for some hours along the edge of grassy opening, using the bushline as cover.
“There he is,” Izak suddenly murmured. “He’s resting on the ground. Do you see the bare patch with no grass? He is lying in front of the grass and the bare patch is in front of him.” I moved my binos a bit to the right and could also then see him. Yes, it was the one we had seen the day before. Now we had to plan to get closer because the distance was about 70 metres. There were only some small bushes in the open grass field that we could use as cover, and we needed to keep our silhouette as low as possible.
Izak crept slowly but surely forward like a leopard, and I followed in his tracks directly behind him.
At the last bush between us and the animal, he stopped and took my rangefinder, checked the distance, and whispered, “He is lying at 40 metres, nicely broadside looking to the front. It’s now or never, Frank. It´s Showtime!”
Now it was up to me. I moved up slowly on my knees, nocked in the arrow quietly. Calm, I pulled my bow smoothly to full draw. I had to slide my upper body a bit to the right for a clear shooting window, and aimed with the 40 metres pin of my sight to where Izak told me before, on a spot low on his vitals because he was lying on the ground. This time I was not reluctant to shoot, but I could feel my heart beat in my chest while aiming. I took a deep breath and finally tapped the trigger of my release. The arrow was on its deadly mission and within a split second was into the tiny antelope´s body. “Yes,” Izak whispered. “The arrow went through.” He had followed the action with his binoculars. He shook my hand, hugged me, and said: “Congrats, well done my friend. You got your steenbok!”
I was overwhelmed and very emotionally touched when we walked to him and I saw this beautiful animal. Finally, after all these years, a wonderful trophy steenbok was lying in front of me. After a few minutes of silence of respect, we arranged the buck for some trophy pictures. Back at our camp, even though it was just 10 o´clock in the morning, a Castle Lager tasted excellent. The bokkie was stored for a full mount trophy in a cooler box before sending it to Izak´s uncle Jan Viljoen, my taxidermist of note, who did a fantastic job on my previous trophies, but that is another story. On the remaining days of this safari we had even more exciting encounters, hunting success, and moments of lifetime memories. One more time, thank you very much to Izak for the great organization, experience and company, and all the nice people I had the opportunity to meet during this fantastic time.
Always good hunting – “Waidmannsheil” and alles van die beste.
Frank Berbuir
German hunter Frank Berbuir is passionate about the outdoors and hunting – especially bowhunting, which he has practised for more than 18 years. Although he’s bowhunted in several countries, he’s become addicted to hunting in Africa since his first safari in 2004. Frank is a mechanical engineer and risk manager in the automotive industry.
the shoulder and a weight of about 15 kilogram or 33 pounds. Their coat is any shade from fawn to rufous, typically rather orange, and blends in appropriately in their habitat The underside, including chin and throat, is white, as is the ring around the eye. Ears are large with “finger-marks” on the inside. Males have straight, smooth, parallel horns 7–19 cm respectively 2.8” – 7.5” inches long. There is a black crescent-shape between the ears, a long black bridge to the glossy black nose, and a black circular scent-gland in front of the eye. The tail is rather small and not usually visible.
Equipment:
Bow: Elite GT 500 @ 90 lbs
Arrow: Easton Full Metal Jacket 250 Dangerous Game with heavier inserts
Broadhead: Muzzy Phantom SS 2-Blade @ 200 grain
Optics: Zeiss Victory Binocular & Nikon Rangefinder
Release: Scott
Camo: Sniper Africa
Captions for the pictures:
Steenbok female alone:
A female steenbok – one of the prettiest of small antelopes.
Steenbok with me:
My beautiful steenbok with huge horns for such a tiny animal.
Steenbok with Izak and me:
PH Izak, me, and our fine “Tiny Ten” antelope trophy buck.
Campfire and cooking site:
The fireplace and cooking facility in our rustic hunting camp.
Wide Country:
The countryside where we hunted was mainly quite flat bushveld
Stalking Arena:
The grasslands were peppered with thorny bushes and some acacias.
Accomodation:
Our cozy, very rustic accommodation.
Monitor Lizard:
The monitor lizard – our primeval visitor![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16443,16444,16445,16447,16446,16441,16442″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Jul 9, 2018 | Bowhunting, News
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A ROOKIE’S Take on BOWHUNTER’S PARADISE
By Dr Tom Deters
I knew every inch of the dense, thorny brush and the smorgasbord of scents that filled the crisp, early morning air. I could feel the raw energy of the land. After a long stalk on fresh tracks, the morning mist slowly evaporated to reveal the seventy-inch spiraled horns of the legendary “Grey Ghost”. More formally known as Africa’s greater kudu, he was the record book animal I had been seeking for decades. I slowed my breathing, becoming deathly still, though worried that the pounding of my heart would betray me.
Hidden at the base of the baobab tree, I watched, frozen. After carefully surveying his domain, the magnificent, bull slowly turned broadside and lowered his head to drink. His cows were momentarily distracted by a jackal trotting by, allowing me step out and bring my PSE Evo to full draw. At 32 yards, the 30-yard pin settled one-third up the bull’s chest from the front leg, and I released the 475-grain, Easton A/C Super Slim, tipped with a 125gr Silver Flame broadhead. Traveling at 280 feet per second, the razor tip pierced its target and exited the opposite lung. Instantaneously, the huge bull leapt six feet in the air, spun, landed in a crouch and took off in a cloud of dust, bright red blood spurting from both sides. I stood, silent, and within seconds I heard the crash. My dream hunt was over, and my dream animal was in the books!
There was just one problem. Unfortunately, the above scene had only happened in my mind. I had never actually been to Africa!
Decades of bowhunting deer, elk and boar, reading dozens of books on African safaris, and the hours spent watching National Geographic and Discovery Channels had fueled my imagination and stoked my heart’s yearning to hunt the Dark Continent. But I waited for my son Jake to grow up and hunt with me. Since age six he prepared, learning, practicing, shooting 3D tournaments and logging his first boars in the Everglades of south Florida. Jake dreamt of gemsbok. I dreamt of kudu. Now it was time. He was sixteen, shot his sixty-pound PSE Evo just fine, and was cool under pressure. Africa beckoned for a hunt of a lifetime, for memories we would both carry to our dying day. Business commitments be damned! We were going on our dream hunt.
But first – the daunting decisions of where to go, who to hunt with, and all the arrangements.
We made a wish list:
- Safety, ease of travel and friendly customs policies.
- Bowhunting only – PHs that specialized in bowhunting, and an area where the game didn’t hear much shooting.
- Great game: diversity in plains game, large herds, and Record Book-level genetics (don’t many hunters want this?) For the time and money, we wanted the best chances!
- Areas where animals had not been not been over-hunted.
- Cool temperatures for great movement of game and fewer bugs.
- Nice accommodations
- Moderately strenuous – mostly still or blind hunting (vs. a walk-8-miles- a-day elk hunt)
- Great professional hunters
- 10-Day Package –my longest window to be away.
- Minimal danger – as a first trip to Africa, no need to deal with big cats, or elephants.
After considering all of my wishes, South Africa came up as the go-to place, with the Limpopo Province in particular, in the northern part of South Africa, close to the Botswana border. It is roughly a six-hour drive from Johannesburg, widely recognized as one of the top African plains-game hunting areas, both in terms of herd numbers, as well as incredible genetics. Some quick research in the Safari Club International Record Book certainly confirmed that.
There were daily, direct, non-stop flights to and from Atlanta / Johannesburg on Delta Airlines. Perfect. South Africa had no visa requirements and is U.S. friendly. There were no required vaccines, and Limpopo Province was in a low/no-malaria-risk area, and we chose to hunt in the African winter months where night temperatures dropped into the forties, and rose into the sixties during the day, further reducing insect-related issues.
Things were shaping up. The next step was finding the right Professional Hunter / outfitter. After much in-depth research, including costs per animal (trophy fees), accommodations, pictures, videos, cross referenced with YouTube and social media, we finally came to a decision.
I was drawn to Bushmen Safaris (www.Bushmensafaris.com) for a number of key reasons.
They are exclusively archery only, since 1986, and only let eight hunters on the 22,000-acre ranch per month. Also, they only hunt the ten day “dark of the moon cycle” during March through October. A reported 80% of hunters return after their first hunt, and the Record Book stats were off the hook with over 300 Top 25 placings, over 100 top 10 placings, over 50 Top 5 placings and a dozen World Records (note, the current numbers are higher).
I found that the head professional hunters were a father and son team, Nick and Shannon Van Zyl. Nick, the patriarch, had served as a PH for decades in many African countries and had spent his career hunting dangerous game. I remembered reading about him in Capstick’s classic African safari hunting book “Death in the Dark Continent.” That sealed the deal for me. I had to meet this guy, learn from him and beg him to tell me and my son every single hunting story he could remember!
I had detailed packing lists, including all the obvious items – bow, backpack, binos, rangefinder, video camera, appropriate clothing but the list on the Bushmen’s Safari website also suggested a charged radio and an ozone generator to kill any scent. And of course, remember everything in Africa has a thorn and they are sharp! So long sleeves can be good. If you want to capture every single moment on video, it’s important to have multiple video cameras, phone holders for your bow or whatever, and to practice with them before you leave, and all shooting gear dialed in. (Thankfully, Shannon is an archery expert and can fix just about anything.) It helps to learn the anatomy of African game.
Finally, the trip was for real. We flew from West Palm Beach to Atlanta and met with a group of hunters from Utah, all of whom were returning to Bushmen’s. For most it was their third or fourth trip, but for one it was his ninth! That spoke volumes. Nick and Shannon treat you like family.
We were speechless going out in the jeep the first morning, passing herds of impala, zebra, blesbok and wildebeest. The excitement was palpable. This was going to be an incredible ten days, seeing dozens, even hundreds of animals up close, all day long.
Bushmen’s has large, incredibly well built, well insulated, carpeted blinds with sitting benches, chairs and shelf ledges, most of which were nicer than my first apartment. When you get dropped off around 7:00 a.m. (I couldn’t believe the banker’s hours!) you have a well-packed lunch. The inside of the blind is black, so it’s best to wear all black, although camo is just fine.
The hunt was more than we could have hoped for. Together Jake and I took ten animals; a zebra, black wildebeest, waterbok, blesbok, warthog, impala, blue wildebeest and, yes – kudu, and gemsbok! All shots were taken within thirty yards. Jake’s gemsbok and black wildebeest made it into the Safari Club International record book, as did my kudu and waterbuck. My wife even got the zebra rug she always wanted. Talk about being on cloud nine!
Our trophies are beautifully displayed in our home after extraordinary taxidermy by Bill Turner of World Class Artistry, with wall mounts and the kudu and gemsbok on pedestals. I relive this hunt over in my mind almost every day, and do does Jake. The bond we shared can never be broken. We just can’t wait to go back!
Make your dream hunt in Africa a reality. There is no perfect time. You have to decide and just make it happen. You will be glad, beyond belief, that you did!
SIDEBAR: FROM FIELD TO LIVINGROOM TROPHY
One of our main concerns going into this trip surrounded the issue of “How do I get my animal from the bush in Africa, to a mount in my living room in Florida?” I’ve heard a few horror stories on this topic, which did little to ease my anxiety, such as capes getting lost, customs issues, or mounts taking more than two years to process and be delivered. But as I learned more and networked both with the hunters who had been to Bushmen Safaris, and Nick and Shannon Van Zyl themselves, I found that my concerns were born largely out of ignorance. The key was the time spent researching and setting up the chain of events before the trip, which really helped things go smoothly and efficiently. Nothing got lost. Nothing sat on a dock. Nothing sat in Customs. The bottom line is we got all our mounts delivered to our home within one year of our trip. Just ask around and you’ll find that’s pretty quick in the grand scheme of things.
We had the entire chain of events choreographed before we even left for our hunt. Here’s exactly how it worked: Once we took a shot at an animal, from our enclosed blind overlooking a waterhole, we turned on our radio and let Nick Van Zyl know, as well as how we felt about the shot placement or if we could see the animal down. Soon thereafter he showed up with a truck, the dogs and trackers. The downed animal was quickly found in less than 75 yards for all but two of our ten animals. Once found, the animal was brushed, positioned for photos and then lifted onto the flatbed of a truck by winch to be taken back to the compound for skinning and butchering. All we had to do was shoot and smile for the camera.
The staff at Bushmen’s expertly skinned and heavily salted all our hides. They were then picked up at the end of the hunt to be processed, under South African law, for treatment (to prevent infestation), and certified for either export or shipping to a taxidermist in our country. The cost for this was nominal.
At this point, a decision needed to be made to either 1) have the skins shipped for tanning and taxidermy in South Africa after which the full mounts would then be shipped to the U.S. or 2) have the skins sent stateside, where they would be processed by a receiving broker for customs entry service (which included USDA certification), then sent to a tannery and then to a taxidermist. If I chose a U.S. taxidermist, I wanted them to have a depth of experience mounting African plains animals, which is not all that common.
We went with Option #2 (decided before the trip), having lined up HuntingTrophy.com services to get our skins through customs so that they could then be sent directly to Carolina Furs for tanning. Both teams were on standby, as everyone in the process was copied in on emails so that they could ensure notification and coordination.
The tanned capes were then sent to Bill Turner of World Class Artistry who was, as good fortune would have it, located about twenty minutes from my house in Florida! While I can’t mention names, let’s just say that a number of the TV show hunters have Bill do their work, which is quite honestly breathtaking. He is an artist more than a taxidermist and he was even kind enough to rent a truck to deliver our ten mounts. We enjoy them immensely and thank God for them and the wonderful African hunt we experienced with Bushmen Safaris. [ ]
(As an aside, I have to say that the food is probably one of the most undersold aspects, as the meat was incredible! As the son of a butcher I love red meat, but there is nothing that comes close to kudu or gemsbok backstraps or wildebeest steaks or impala neck. Tender, tasty and delicious!
[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”16440,16438,16435,16434″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
