As the 2021 season kicks off, I thought some insights from someone who understands big game could be interesting.
Stretch Ferreira, a professional hunter and now full-time guide, based in arguably one of the most wonderful areas of southern Africa – Mana Pools – has been hunting and now exclusively guiding safaris for 37 years.
With new hunting blinds, record animal births and thriving populations of South Africa’s most prized game, 2021 is poised to be an unforgettable year at Eastern Cape Bowhunting.
As the world knows, 2020 was unlike any year ever before experienced—and that was true for life at Eastern Cape Bowhunting. When the government implemented the lockdown, we refocused our efforts on our hunting grounds, staff, facilities and animals to elevate every experience for future guests.
Thriving Populations
The rainfall in the 2020 season was so much better than the previous seven years, which led to thriving animal populations and record new births. Because there was no hunting in 2020, the prospects for success have truly never been better. With the improved rainfall and feed availability, we’re seeing some truly impressive bulls. This hunting season is going to be remarkable!
New Hunting Blinds
We built two new bowhunting blinds to provide guests with new opportunities. Dassie Blind is set into the side of a kopje (stone outcrop) and has a rugged feel, unlike the concrete blinds on the property, making it an ideal spot for baboons, kudu and waterbuck. Cliff Blind is situated along the Tarka River on a remote part of the property, where we’re seeing nyala, kudu, sable and golden wildebeest.
Pop the Cork
With the help of our head sommelier in Cape Town, we’ve acquired some very exciting wines for our guests. The cellar is stocked with prize-winning South African wines, as well as a few new selections to keep things interesting. If you’re new to South African wines, fear not—we’re always excited to host wine tastings for your group. And, of course, when the occasion calls for it, we happily open a beautifully chilled bottle of champagne!
Caring for Staff Families
During the lockdown, all our staff’s children came to stay with them on the farm. Because we feel so strongly about education, we’ve been supplementing their learning with educational materials and games. We built a community vegetable garden to supplement food through the year for our families and created a sports area for the children to play netball and soccer. We even hosted a proper South African Christmas party with all the kids!
Ready for the Hunt
The start of 2021 has seen all our rivers flowing, our dams full, and we’re irrigating our newly planted crops with strategically collected rainwater. There’s plenty of green grass and the animals have had a bumper birthing season. The excitement, trophies, camaraderie and friendships forged in the pursuit of the hunt are all starting up. The firewood has been prepared and the campfires are eagerly awaiting your return to the starry African skies. The hunt is on!
To learn more about Eastern Cape Bowhunting and make your reservation for 2021, visit easterncapebowhunting.com, Password: hunting.
The publication of a tender document for the auction of four groups of elephants in Namibia triggered howls of protest from the animal rights lobby all around the world. As often happens in these cases, the mainstream media published sensational and misleading information that vilified the Namibian government with accusations of corruption and all other kinds of malfeasance. The Namibian Chamber of Environment (the NCE) is a respected non-government organisation – a comprehensive assessment of the issue has now been published on its website.
Gail Thompson has written a very useful account of the background to the controversial move by the government of Namibia which puts things into perspective. Readers can find the article here: http://conservationnamibia.com/blog/b2021-elephant-auction.php. A summary of Gail’s document follows.
Towards the end of 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) announced its intention to sell a total of 170 elephants from four different locations in Namibia. The rationale was to address the increased human-elephant conflict in the four areas, which has been exacerbated by the recent drought. In each area, the elephants to be taken were entire family groups (females and young) plus a few bulls. Potential purchasers of these elephants had to employ qualified Namibian game capture teams and move them to suitably fenced private reserves in Namibia, or if exporting them to another country, adhere to all CITES requirements.
Important to note are MEFT’s insistence on taking whole family groups (rather than individuals) and their requirement that the buyer and destination abide by national and international law. This would exclude unscrupulous buyers who might want to take young elephants that can be tamed for the purpose of human entertainment. The requirements for proper fencing in Namibia are to ensure that the elephants do not simply cause conflict in other areas of the country, or return to the capture locations.
The tender advert does not provide sufficient information to understand the thinking behind the decision. Gail obtained a draft copy of a document called An Overview of Elephant Conservation and Management in Namibia that accompanies the Draft National Elephant Management Plan. This document details all of MEFT’s recent public consultations, past and present elephant research and monitoring, and approaches to reducing human-elephant conflict by MEFT and non-governmental organisations. The information contained in this extensive document (commissioned by MEFT, but prepared by an independent consultant) provides valuable insight into the reasoning behind MEFT’s intention to sell these 170 elephants.
Gail discusses in detail the history of elephant populations in Namibia. The country was colonised by Germany; then in 1920, after the end of World War I, the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa. As the mandatory power, South Africa imposed its laws, including racial classification and policies. The central and southern areas of the country most suited for farming were fenced and elephants were exterminated.
At the same time, rural Namibians were pushed into apartheid-type ‘homelands’. With the passage of time and the independence of Namibia, these communal rural areas have adopted the practice of ‘communal conservancies’, where wildlife has thrived and elephants have multiplied. And elephants have also prospered in Namibia’s game reserves.
However, the farms are still privately owned, and the people living on this land farm for commercial purposes with livestock or wildlife. The infrastructure on the livestock farms includes windmills and diesel pumps to provide water for cattle, and fences have been erected to manage livestock grazing. The farms that have converted to wildlife are fenced with high game fences to keep valuable wildlife in (some are particularly valuable, such as sable and roan antelope), and while internal fences have been dropped, water is still pumped for game species to drink.
Over time, elephants in the communal areas and the wildlife conservation areas in the northern parts of the country have multiplied and expanded, now causing substantial damage to the commercial farms in their quest for water. The human-elephant conflict that is addressed in MEFT’s tender for selling 170 elephants is targeted at elephant populations that have moved onto freehold farmlands from neighbouring communal lands and National Parks. With an estimated 180 freehold farms affected by elephants, infrastructure damages could come to N$ 9 million (US$ 600,000) using a conservative estimate of N$ 50,000 per farmer per year. The situation as it stands is untenable; doing nothing is not an option.
The simplest solution would be to cull the elephants and sell their meat. The Namibian government is trying to avoid this by seeking a short-term solution to the problems of the commercial farmers, while working on some longer-term solutions. A better understanding of the situation would hopefully make the media more mindful of the true story about these elephants.
Namibia’s wildlife management policies are the most progressive and successful on the African continent. This has resulted in the country having growing populations of all species of wildlife, including rhinos and elephants. When elephant numbers increase, conflicts with humans become inevitable, and Botswana is now experiencing the costs of successful elephant conservation. Managing human-elephant conflict is not easy, and those who approach the issue with compassion and good intentions deserve to be treated fairly by the media. Readers are encouraged to access Gail’s comprehensive article, and to share it with friends and objective journalists.
Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za
This is a cautionary tale for those of you that hunt internationally and wire large sums of money for deposits, trophy fee pre-payments for after safari final payments for extras.
In August of 2020 I booked several dangerous-game hunts in Zimbabwe for international clients. My normal procedure has been to issue a written quote along with a deposit wiring instruction PDF by email. Unbeknownst to me, criminals had hacked into my email account and were waiting for just such an opportunity. They intercepted and modified my wiring instructions to divert the funds to a series of fraudulent bank accounts in Texas, and began communicating with my clients out of my email account as if they were me. In some instances, the clients had received my original instructions but were subsequently contacted by the criminals and asked to send the funds to a different account. One of the hunters actually had his account frozen by his bank and flagged as fraudulent. He then attempted to contact me by email, but the scammers intercepted that email and provided him with another set of wiring instructions to a different bank account in Texas. In Europe they call this type of fraud, “Man in the Middle”.
At no time was I aware that any of this was occurring, as none of the clients’ messages were coming through. It finally came to light when I contacted two of the clients to inquire as to why I had not received their deposits. Once I became aware that multiple bank wires were missing, I immediately sent out a potential fraud alert to my client base and worked with the clients to try to pull the funds back. By this time, the criminals had surely withdrawn the money and disappeared. Fortunately, one of the client’s bank returned the pilfered funds, but in the other cases, the money had disappeared.
The banks should have never delivered the funds to an account where the recipient’s name was not on the account. But how do I hold someone’s foreign bank account responsible?
I filed an FBI Internet Fraud Complaint and to this date have not heard a word. This type of fraud is rampant, and losses occur each year in the hundreds of billions. There is just so much of it that the investigative agencies are overwhelmed to the point that they just let it roll, as they lack the investigative resources to chase every complaint. It appears they expend more efforts in accumulating statistics that they can report, than they do in trying to catch these criminals.
So how did they gain access to my email account? I will most likely never know. Our inboxes are full of phishing email scams seeking to gain access to our personal information. One wrong click and a virus can get through, or, providing any personal information on a seemingly genuine email request can give them access. I have had to update my security measures and no longer send wiring instructions by email. I now either send a photo of the wiring instructions by phone text or WhatsApp or the clients must pay the deposit with a credit card and incur a 3% fee. Most of my domestic clients in the US pay by mailing a check. The US Postal Service is incredibly reliable, and I have never had an issue with mailed deposits.
So how did this all turn out? Although I did nothing wrong and was also defrauded in this scam, the clients were defrauded while doing business with my company. To maintain both my own and my company’s reputations, I had to step up and try to make good with my clients. All the clients moved ahead with the booking of these hunts.
The total sum lost in these scams was $20,000. Only $2,000 dollars was recovered. That is a lot of money, but it could have been worse. Fortunately, the outfitter in Zimbabwe and another outfitter in South Africa also stepped up and helped me with compensating the clients.
I share this with the readers of the African Hunting Gazette to help bring you awareness that email is not secure for sending wiring instructions. There are just too many crooks out there looking to steal your money. To help secure your email accounts, use dual factor authentication. Then any new sign-in to your email account will generate a message to your phone that will require a password to gain access. Nothing is 100% foolproof, but this will make it more difficult for the thieves to gain access to your email account.
I hope this helps you avoid falling victim to one of these scams!
John Martins
Discount African Hunts – an Internet-based International booking agency based in Florida, USA. Formed in 2012 and over 1,700 clients in 53 countries.
AHG: When and where were you born?
Grant Taylor: I was born in 1980 in Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare.
AHG: How did you get into hunting – what was it that influenced you?
GT: I was raised on a farm and started hunting at a very young age like most farm kids. My father had always hunted and was very influential in teaching us gun safety and how to hunt properly. I was never in any doubt as to what I wanted to do in life after my first few early experiences.
AHG: With whom did you train, apprentice and learn from?
GT: I worked under Pete Fick of Mokore Safaris at the time, and with Russ and Geoff Broom before going on my own. They were all hugely experienced and giants of the industry.
AHG: The early years of professional hunting – any embarrassing and interesting experiences?
GT: Embarrassing stories are too many to mention all in one article. One that does come to mind was following a wounded old buffalo bull in the thick coastal forests in central Mozambique. After several hours on the tracks and having jumped the wounded bull several times we were a little mentally drained and maybe lost a bit of our sharpness. I saw at very close range in the thick forest what looked like the wounded bull lying down facing away from us. I put the client in position and we both shot in quick succession only to find it was a dead tree stump that looked like a buffalo in the low light of the forest.
Another was before I opened up my own business as a PH. Working for another company I had a client that had wounded a large bushbuck that we were following up with very little blood to follow on baked dry ground. We were not making much progress so we spread out 10 meters abreast and combed slowly through the bush in the direction the wounded bushbuck had ran off. As we came over a slight rise no more than 10-15m in front of me was a big bushbuck lying down facing away from me. I was the only person that had seen it and I tried to get the attention of the client who was on my left hand side, but he wasn’t catching my hand signals. Fearing the bushbuck would spook and we would lose the opportunity I decided to shoot the animal, only to find that my bullet was the only bullet in the animal. Fortunately in both cases the actual wounded animals were both recovered, but that night on the radio when breaking the news of my mistake to the boss, thinking that I would be let off the hook, I was told that I had to pay full trophy fee for my bushbuck mistake. I still have the shoulder mount of that bushbuck in my office to remind me not to be too quick on the trigger.
AHG: Anything you learnt about what not to do?
GT: I learnt very quickly that a visibly nervous or excited PH’s energy rubs off on the client, who then tends to get excited and make mistakes. Even if the PH is excited/nervous inside, he must portray a cool, calm demeanor on the outside which will in turn keep the client calm and ensure that he makes a good shot or, better still, hits the right animal.
AHG: Which countries/areas have you hunted?
GT: I have hunted in many areas throughout Africa including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Mozambique which is our home base and country of primary operation. There are too many specific areas to name within these countries. Most of the areas have been great to hunt but not all hunting areas are equal, that is for sure.
AHG: What were some of the interesting things that happened there?
GT: Hunting Lord Derby eland was always something that I had wanted to do, and no doubt it is a truly fantastic animal, but I will never forget walking up to the first bull I ever took with a client and being somewhat disappointed by the body size compared to a big Livingstone eland bull. Like a sable, they stand very proud, and with the size of their horns and huge dewlap it makes people tend to think they are a lot larger than they are.
One of the most gut-wrenching moments as a PH was on my first safari in Ethiopia having wanted to guide a mountain nyala hunt all my life. Finally I had made it happen and the client missed a huge nyala within the first hour of the first morning. But Lady Luck smiled on us and we got a second chance at an even bigger bull two hours later at 80 m, and unfortunately we wounded and lost the bull. After several hours of follow up and jumping the bull once, the rain came down and it was impossible to follow afterwards, and we never managed to find that bull.
AHG: Where do you currently hunt and what makes your area and your hunts special?
Nice herd of buffalo on the floodplains of the Zambezi Delta
GT: I predominantly hunt in Mozambique now as that has been the base of my operation for the past 16-plus years, but on special request with repeat clients I do often still hunt in other destinations. What makes Mozambique so special to me is that the country is so diverse in terms of the different habitats. One always has variety in terms of species and terrain to hunt in, from the floodplains and palm forests of the Zambezi Delta to the miombo woodlands and granite inselbergs of the Niassa Reserve, to the mopane and jesse bush of the Cahora Bassa region. Also, the hunting itself is challenging but the numbers of game are there, and if you put in the time you will be get the reward. Often in some of the areas that I have hunted in like South Africa, you can shoot several animals a day, and although it’s great fun every now and again, it would be something I would get bored with if it was always too easy.
AHG: Client hunts, experiences and memories – Was there a most annoying, funny, etc., experience?
GT: Funny stories, again too many to detail, in one article, but this was funny for everyone else in the hunting party but not so funny for me. We had a client who requested a crocodile trophy but didn’t want a huge trophy as he didn’t have the space to mount it and would be happy with something in the 10-12ft range, which is not a request one typically gets. We started the safari in an area of ours for buffalo and other species which we finished pretty quickly, but this area was not renowned for many crocodiles. However, we had seen in an oxbow lake that there was a croc in it that would meet the client’s criteria, so we went to take a look at it. The whole lagoon was covered in heavy weed and papyrus and we couldn’t see anywhere that the croc came out to sun himself where we would be able to get a shot. He would sun himself on top of the papyrus making it impossible to stalk him. We had 7-8 days left in the safari, and the lagoon was only about 50mx50m, so I suggested to the client to take the shot at the croc in the water as there was no current for us to lose the croc in.
We discussed all the possible scenarios and agreed that this was the best and only way forward. The client took the shot and the croc rolled over and sank to the bottom of the lagoon which was expected. What we weren’t too sure of was how many days it would take for it to float, as water temperature and other factors play a significant role in this. So we left and came back every day for the next two days looking to see if it had floated, but nothing. We tried grappling hooks but with the reeds and papyrus it was impossible to try and snag it. Obviously we were all getting a little anxious about it, especially me as I had suggested to the client to take the shot while it was in the water. On the third day we went back with some rope and a tractor tube, and I was fairly confident I would be able to convince one of my trackers to retrieve the animal for me with a financial incentive, but we had absolutely no takers, and I was left to go in and sort it out myself.
Now if there is one croc in there, then there can very easily be another or more that you don’t see. Anyway, I got into my underwear, put on a brave face, and with the rope around my waist paddled out to where the croc went down. Everyone had strict instruction that if I got taken by a croc to shoot me not the croc as I wasn’t overjoyed with the idea of being eaten alive by a croc. Anyway, I jumped in and it was a lot deeper (and colder) than I thought, but in the murky water I finally felt the horny back on the top of the croc’s spine with my feet, and cold shivers ran down my spine while I waited for a bite to follow. After a few seconds nothing happened and I was convinced it was dead, so dived down and tied a rope to the croc and we got it out. But that was the last time I will ever suggest shooting a croc in the water.
AHG: What about any interesting trophies – where they took place, how the hunt went.
GT: In 2019 I had a good Russian client of mine, who hunts with me every year, come for an 18-day safari for lion, leopard, buffalo and everything else we could offer in our concession in Niassa, northern Mozambique. We have hunted together several times and I know him well enough to know that he never stays the full duration of any safari, so I got started on prebaiting prior to his arrival. Fortunately I did, as when he landed in the charter plane he told me that he would be going home in seven days, which meant we had a monumental task ahead of us. He was also not his usual enthusiastic self, and for the first three days of the hunt he seemed very lethargic and disinterested in the hunt, which meant we missed several opportunities at species he was after. That night we had a sit-down together along with his cameraman and the next day he was like a completely new man. We had only shot one trophy the first three days and the next four days we got a beautiful old male lion, lovely leopard, buffalo and all the possible plains game we had in the area. It was just one of those hunts that everything came together.
AHG: Which is your favorite trophy animal to hunt, and why?
GT: Got to be elephant, closely followed by lion. Elephant hunting is like a love/ hate relationship. When you are midway through an elephant hunt with long hikes every day, sore feet, dehydration, dust and bugs, only to find the elephant is too small or has broken ivory, you have to turn around and start again. You tend to ask yourself why you are doing this to yourself, until you find the right bull, then all is forgotten and you can’t wait to do it all over again. Lion hunting is tough, with many long days and nights trying to formulate a winning plan, often with a lot of driving between bait checks and replenishing of baits, but the adrenalin one feels when you check a bait and find that a big male has fed, and then setting up and watching him come into the bait makes it all worth it.
AHG: What is the best trophy animal one of your clients ever took?
GT: In 2012, with a good client friend of mine, I was fortunate enough to take a single-tusk elephant bull that tipped the scales at 102 lbs. We had heard from some local villagers of a large elephant with only one tusk, but like many of these reports of big elephants, one tends not to give them too much notice as they very rarely turn out to be truthful. A day later we picked up tracks of 10 elephant bulls and caught up to them late evening. A brief scan of the herd, and we could see a very nice 50-55lb bull with nice symmetrical ivory as well as the big single-tusked bull which at the time I thought was in the 80-90lb range. The client was adamant that he didn’t want the single-tusked bull, so we had a bit of an arm wrestle back and forth over the matter until he decided that it was the right animal. Fortunately there wasn’t any ground shrinkage when took the tusk out, and everyone was super happy when we got the official weight of the tusk a few days later. This is something I doubt I will ever have the chance of doing again.
AHG: Tell us about a most memorable hunt, without naming names.
One of the three big bull’s tracks in the sand. Note the large pronounced cracks in the center of the track
GT: Probably my most memorable hunt was with a good Canadian friend of mine who came for his third elephant hunt in 2016. We had a pretty slow start to the hunt, and midway through we got information from one of my PHs who was doing a leopard hunt, of three big bulls that had drunk in a riverbed in an area of the concession where we had little or no roads. We shot across there and checked the tracks which by then were 24-36 hours old, but they indeed were three very nice, so we decided to start tracking them.
It was early season and the marulas were still bearing fruit, so we hoped the bulls wouldn’t head off cross-country and would stick around the area for a few days, but we knew we were in for a helluva walk regardless. About three to four hours in on the first day of tracking we found where they had rested up against a termite mound, and we saw the tusk marks against from one of the bulls where he had lain down – it showed at least 4ft of thick, heavy ivory sticking out, which meant that at least one of the bulls in this group was definitely north of 60lbs and worth pursuing. This gave us the energy we needed to keep going.
We walked 11 hours that first day without seeing or catching up to the bulls. Because of the lack of roads in this particular part of the concession we had to mark the last tracks on our GPS and come back the next morning and pick up where we left off. This continued for the next three full days with 10-12 hour walks without ever catching up to the bulls. We did find several times where the bulls had played in mud and a tusk had accidently gone into the mud, so we would stop and measure the depth of the hole and the diameter of the tusks, and it looked like all three bulls would be shooters.
Late on the fifth day of following them, we caught them in some thick shrubs moving back to the marula groves to feed. I quickly got the client ready while I looked over the three as they were getting ready to move, and the wind wouldn’t hold for very long. I nearly blew the success of the hunt as all three bulls were spectacular, with the smallest being easily 60 lb a side, but the biggest-bodied bull was standing behind the other two and was considerably bigger than the others. But I couldn’t see his ivory, so we quickly manoeuvered slightly and saw that he was indeed the best of the three and I motioned to the client to take him which he did, and dropped him right there. He was a tremendous bull with just under 80 lb on the one side and a little over 55 lb on the other, but he was an ancient old bull and we were thrilled to have him.
AHG: Have you ever had a disaster of a client?
GT: Fortunately these are very few and far between but, sadly, they do happen from time to time. One of the toughest I recall was a group of three overseas clients who came in by private charter from South Africa direct to the camp, one for an 18-day full bag hunt, and the other two guys for leopard, buffalo, sable, and plains-game hunts.
The first alarm bells went off when the King Air landed and the three guys could hardly walk out of the plane carrying enough empty whisky bottles to euthanize a horse. Second alarm bells were when we needed another whole Land Cruiser just to offload the extra alcohol that they had brought in for the hunt, and then they informed me without any prior warning, that the plane must collect them in nine days as they would have to return home early. We started well with two guys getting great leopard the first night, and then the partying started. The guy who hunted the hardest left camp with a total of 4½ full hunting days out of nine, and thankfully managed all his species. The other two guys made it three days out of nine and got pretty close to achieving their goals. The rest of the time was spent consuming industrial quantities of alcohol in the camp, day and night. At the end of the hunt two of them were absolutely perplexed as to why they hadn’t quite succeeded with their goals for the safari. Anyway, thankfully 99% of the guys are great and enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
AHG: What are your recommendations on guns, ammo, or equipment for hunting in your current camp(s)?
GT: It’s hard to beat a good scoped .375 H&H for a one-rifle battery with a 3-9 power scope with good, quick detachable mounts. I haven’t used the .375 Ruger much, but there are not too many places in Africa that you won’t be able to find .375 H&H ammo or a spare rifle if things go wrong with a .375H&H. If you have a budget to spend on a rifle setup, rather spend the money on decent optics than spending everything on a high-end rifle then end up scrimping on the optics and ammunition. Also, I have yet to find an outfitter or PH who doesn’t like Swift ammo, so if your gun shoots this ammo well, then stick with it.
AHG: Which guns and ammo are you using to back-up on dangerous or wounded game and tell us why?
GT: One of my many addictions in life is double rifles. I have always been fascinated with them and have been lucky enough to build up a small, unimpressive collection of them. I have two double .500NE – one is a Heym and the other a Ferlach, and I’m equally fond of both and use them regularly. I use reloaded ammunition with Swift A-Frame softs and Woodleigh Solids and both have proved perfect numerous times.
My Heym .500NE and all the necessary items for a PH to carry
AHG: What was your closest brush with death? If more than one – go for it and explain!
GT: Like with all PHs there have been many close shaves, but I am fortunate (touch wood) to have never been mauled or knocked over by anything other than a wounded warthog several years ago that ran me over in some thick brush while trying to get away. Probably one of the most frightening experiences I’ve had was facing a wounded lion’s charge that fortunately we stopped within a few feet of us. Thankfully, I have only had to do it once but that certainly cleared any blockages in the arteries. The closest I have come to death was a client’s accidental discharge with a .458 Lott that missed me by inches while following up a wounded elephant after he had assured me his rifle was on safety.
A lot of the time as a PH if you are alone on a follow-up or with a single client, it’s much easier to control a situation. Last year with a big family of clients we were on tracks of a small group of about 20 buffalo in some thick, swampy papyrus. We had bumped them several times in the hopes that we would push them out of the papyrus and then begin to hunt them conventionally again. As we approached the herd with the wind on our backs hoping to push them out, they jumped and started to run again. As is usual when a herd stampedes it takes several seconds to ascertain which direction the herd is moving. This time, strangely, we saw the oxpeckers flying over our heads, which meant the buffalo were not running away, but in our direction. We couldn’t see anything other than a wall of papyrus, and the noise the stampeding buffalo made in the water meant they couldn’t hear our shouting. We had nowhere to go, with no trees to get behind or any cover. With four clients behind me I tried as best to shield the family and waited for the buffalo to break cover, and fired a shot in the air to turn them, which, thankfully, they did at two paces. The clients had two very high quality old Holland & Holland double rifles that went for a bath in the mud that day, but thankfully no one was hurt and no damage to the weapons.
AHG: If you should suggest one thing to your hunting clients to improve their safari experience, with you, or with anyone else for that matter – what would it be?
GT: Practice shooting from unconventional positions such as off the side of a tree, off shooting sticks, offhand or over your backpack, as this is most likely what you will need to be able to do in the field. Also learn to shoot with both eyes open regardless of whether it’s open sights or not. Another is quick target acquisition, getting yourself into position quickly while you wait for the PH’s instructions. Rather have your rifle set up, and try and locate the animal with your scope than using your binoculars, especially if the game is close and moving through the brush, as you may only have a second or two to make the shot. All too often clients try to locate the animal with the binoculars then put them down, take the gun out of the bag and then try and locate the animal again through their scope, by which time the game is usually long gone.
Client setup looking over a herd of buffalo in our concession in the Zambezi Delta. From there if the right bull gives us a shot he is in position to take it before the bull is lost in the herd again.
AHG: What would be your dream safari if you have one last safari to go on?
GT: I would dearly love to explore Southern Sudan or Southern Angola. It’s unlikely that hunting will ever reopen in these two countries, but they have fascinated me for a very long time. Southern Sudan still, after many years of war, has some of the largest migrations of animals on the planet, and I have it on fairly good authority that there are still very big elephant found in the Sudd swamps.
The waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, and other countries. Males are larger than females, weighing between 430 and 580 pounds, and standing 47 to 54 inches at the shoulder. Females weigh 350 to 470 pounds and reach a height between 40 to 47 inches at the shoulder. The long spiral horns found only on the male can exceed 39 inches in length. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the waterbuck as “Least Concern”.
The defassa waterbuck is found west of the Gregory Rift that runs from Ethiopia to Mozambique. Over 60 percent of the population thrives in protected areas, most notably in national parks in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Mozambique. The common waterbuck is listed as of “Least Concern” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (ICUN), while the defassa waterbuck is listed as “Near Threatened” by the same agency. The population trend for both animals is decreasing, but the defassa waterbuck is being eliminated from its habitat by being hunted for bush meat, and by encroaching human settlement.
Mayo Oldiri Safaris
However, the common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck are remarkably different in their physical appearances. Measurements indicate greater tail length in the defassa, whereas the common waterbuck stands taller than the defassa. However, the principal difference between the two types is the white ring of hair surrounding the tail on the rump, which is a hollow circle on the common waterbuck, but covered with white hair on the defassa waterbuck.
Waterbucks are rather sedentary in nature, though some migration may occur with the onset of the monsoon. They form herds of up to 30 animals, for defense against predators. The various groups consist of the bachelor herd, the nursery herd, and dominant males. Herd size maxes out in summer, then fragments with onset of winter, possibly due to lack of food. Males start to show dominance and become territorial by age five, but are most dominant from age six to nine.
The waterbuck cannot tolerate lack of water, especially during hot days, and because of this, it stays in areas with a good supply of water. The waterbuck is primarily a grazer with grass making up almost all of its diet. It will consume reeds or newly grown rushes if that’s all that is available. In the dry season, up to 30 percent of the day is spent browsing for leaves, small fresh shoots and fruit, but no time is spent browsing during the wet season.
Waterbucks are slower than other antelopes in the rate of maturity. While males become sexually active at six years of age, females reach the same point in two years. In habitat near the equator, breeding takes place year round, and births peak during the rainy season. However, breeding is seasonal in the Sudan, with a four-month season. Breeding in areas of southern Africa can last even longer. Gestation lasts eight months, with the birth of a single calf. Twins are possible, but rare. Calves stay hidden for up to two months, and are weaned at eight months.
SB Hunting
There are not a lot of predators hunting waterbuck. The animal’s sweat glands produce a horrible discharge that keeps the coat dry, but stinks up the meat something terrible. When hunting waterbuck, a good pair of binoculars will be essential, as the animal can be spotted from quite a distance on the open grasslands and flood plains where they tend to stay. They have excellent eyesight and hearing, but are not hard to approach, due to their sedentary nature.
When hunting waterbuck, the choice of caliber is important. Trophy males can weigh 550 to 600 pounds and take a bit of work to get in the salt. The .270 caliber is minimal, but the 7mm Magnum or one of the big .30 calibers with good expanding bullets are a much better choice. If a broadside shot is available, aim right behind the foreleg and one-third up the body for a good heart/lung shot. Should the waterbuck be facing you, aim for the point where the neck touches the chest, and shoot right into dead center. The hardest shot, and one that should only be taken if it looks like it won’t improve, is the front or rear quartering shot. This will involve aiming for the quartering away leg on the opposite side of the waterbuck, then shoot through the body. This should ensure that the lungs get hit, and probably the heart also.
*******
The defassa waterbuck Kobus ellipsiprymnus got its name from the Amharic language. It means tired or fatigued, and comes from the animal’s sedentary nature. Modern taxonomists, however, consider the common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck a single species, given the large number of instances of hybridization between the two. Interbreeding between the two takes place in the Nairobi National Park in Kenya due to the extensive overlapping of habitats.
McCallum Safaris
Despite its name, the defassa waterbuck is not truly aquatic, nor as much at home in water as the sitatunga or lechwe. It does, however, take refuge there to escape predators. It inhabits areas that are close to water in savanna grasslands, forests, and woodlands located in sub-Saharan Africa. Such areas provide food and a place to hide from lions, leopards and other predators.
The waterbuck’s habitat furnishes it with a year-round source of food. Mainly a grazer, it consumes course grasses that are seldom eaten by other grazers. It feeds in the morning and after dusk, resting during the day. They are sedentary antelopes and don’t migrate or travel great distances, so territories are held year after year.
Defassa waterbucks stay in heavy cover, so hunting one will require walking and stalking in the brush around waterholes, floodplains and rivers. Often they will freeze and not run until the hunter is within a few yards. Then, with much crashing and thrashing, the waterbuck will bolt for thicker cover.
The main area for hunting defassa waterbuck is in Tanzania. Size is hard to judge from a distance. The best horns have thick bases and are best judged for curve and length from the side. A well-placed shot is essential when hunting defassa waterbuck, as they are tough animals and if hit wrongly, or lightly, can go for days. When wounded, they can be aggressive, so care is needed when approaching the animal. A good choice of caliber is the .375 H&H. A .300 Magnum with 180 grain, or heavier, bullets will do the job, but shot placement is critical with either caliber.
Chivic Safaris
Company Name: DonClaire Taxidermy
Contact: Owner, Linus van Heerden
Physical Address: Kareeboomlaan, 8752, Orania, Northern Cape, South Africa
Tel Office/Mobile: +27 82 796 350 225
Contact Email: donclaire@talkomsa.net
Tell us a little about your operation, how it started & why you got into the industry.
I grew up on a farm and hunting has always been a part of my life, I realized that unlike my brothers the skinning of the animals was never an issue for me, I enjoyed it. And I have an artistic side. One day while I was in Standard 9, a friend brought his steenbuck mount to the hostel, and that day I knew that I needed to try doing this.
After school I started working at a taxidermy without income, just for the opportunity to learn the trade. In 2005 I started working at DonClaire Taxidermy. Later on I received shares in the business. When the owner, Dennis Pickard passed away in 2014, I took over the business.
How many years have you been in the business?
I’ve been in the industry for 16 years.
What are your favorite mounts & why?
I would say spiral horns, pigs, buffalo, any carnivore is definitely on top of my list but is difficult to choose. Each animal is unique in its own way, and presents a different challenge. I like a challenge and it is always nice to receive something you haven’t done before and to do all the necessary study of the species to create a truly life like mount.
What are your specialty areas that you have in the business?
We are unique because we are a relatively small business that believes in giving personal attention to each individual trophy – unlike some of the bigger taxidermies where it is more of a production line.
We do everything ourselves; we do the tanning, sculpting and mounting. We constantly improve on our forms to suit each individual piece making each trophy truly unique.
For me it is not just work it is my passion to create new and better trophies.
Current processes offered
Pick up & collect trophies: Yes
Maximum distance offered to collect trophies: Currently we do a trip from Orania through to Kwazulu Natal, Newcastle to drop off and collect trophies. We are always open to do collection in other areas if demand is enough.
Own tanning facilities: Yes
Do you buy in forms or sculpt your own or both: Mostly I sculpt my own but from time to time I will buy.
Delivery time (approximate)
Dip and Pack through to full mounts: 9 Months
We had the absolute privilege and honour to have the Late Brigadier General Chuck Yeager and his wife Victoria visit us twice in South Africa. During their visit in 2010 they spent two weeks with us hunting and touring. This was General Yeager’s first-time hunting and touring in Africa/South Africa. However, The General did mention to Nicole that he had “bombed” Libya (gunnery practice as US air base there) many years ago while still on active duty, but guessed this did not count as a visit. Needless to say, this was not arranged by any tour company….
The time we had with the General was incredible, like standing in the shadow of an elephant. He had an excellent memory and incredible dry sense of humour, often laced with technical information and sound advice. On hearing of his passing, 07 December 2020, that night we sat around a fire, something he enjoyed very much, and toasted the General, reminiscing some memorable moments of our time with him.
Victoria and Gen. Chuck Yeager with Bontebuck
To share but only a few. Upon their arrival at Cape Town International, we drove them to their Waterfront hotel. When we got to the hotel the General said “you should check your left front tyre, it needs more pressure.” I look at him with surprise and said that I just had the vehicle serviced including wheel balancing and tyre pressure. “Mmhh,” he said, “check it out tomorrow when you come and collect us from the hotel,” This bothered me the whole night, so the following day I woke early and proceeded to check the tyre pressures. Yip, he was right, the font left needed one more bar pressure. Then I knew he definitely had the right stuff.
On another occasion, while we were busy hunting, he noticed a water reservoir about 150 yards away from where we were standing and ask me to drive to it as he said, “the water pipe is leaking and we need to check it out.” It looked fine to me, but he insisted. Well, upon arriving, to my surprise he was right again, the pipe was leaking. He asked me if I have pliers and can I please bring it to him, after which he proceeded to repair the leak himself. A genuine humble man of the soil and sky. What was more amazing, that every time the General came to sit with us at our stand at the Dallas Safari shows he would ask me if the pipe had leak again. What a memory he had.
He would tell me about the times when he grew up on a farm in West Virginia and would help his dad, repairing things around the farm. As he said, in those days, you didn’t have all the modern equipment like today and you had to make use what was at hand. This no doubt had an influence for his love for all things mechanical and wide-open spaces.
Another incredible moment I had when we were hunting a Blue Wildebeest. The Blue Wildebeest was standing about 120 yards from us on its own. I got the General on my shooting sticks and said he should wait for the Wildebeest to turn broad side. The Wildebeest must have got wind of us and decided to take off, running to left at full speed. The General, not to miss an opportunity suddenly took the rifle off the shooting sticks, mounted the rifle to his shoulder and he took a running shot at the Wildebeest, to my absolute awe, the animal dropped like a stone, a perfect heart and lung shot. This at the age of 87. I asked him how he did it. Cool calm and collected he said “that’s how we shot those enemies in my P-51 Mustang..” Well, all I could do was shake my head and laugh. Now I know why you are the greatest pilot of all times with the real Right Stuff. The General had 20/10 vision and awesome hand eye coordination that helped him become the outstanding pilot he was.
Joe and Gen. Yeager with his Blue wilderbeest running shot
On another occasion, something I will never forget, and then again, I could go on writing more stories of the General, but this one shows how in-tune he was with flying machines. I arranged a flight with one of my friends from the Stellenbosch Air Club. We flew in a Bonanza Beechcraft to a farm just outside the small town of Citrusdal. Renowned as the Rooibos Tea growing area. Of course, the Generals wife, Victoria, is a big tea lover so I arrange to visit one of the large Rooibos tea farms whose owner is not only is a big tea grower but is also an avid pilot with his own hanger of planes and landing strip. Taking off from Stellenbosch myself and the General sat at the back and Victoria who also flies sat as co-pilot. She flew most of the way there and back. While we were flying and chatting over the microphones General Yeager called out, “you might want to adjust your trim.” Victoria and all had a good laugh. He was right again, that was just unbelievable.
During the second week we flew to Johannesburg and stayed in Pretoria where we arranged a very special dinner for the General and Victoria with our then current chief of Air Force, Lt General Carlo Gagiano, previous Chief of Air Force, the late Lt General Dennis Earp and wives, Fiona Capstick, the Late Adelino Serra Pires and myself. This was quite a historical moment for me to be with such accomplished people who have impacted the lives of many. Thanks to Fiona arranging this special day indeed.
From left to right: Jesse Roos, our pilot who flew us in the Bonanza Beechcraft, and Johan Ferreira, owner of the rooibos plantation, with Victoria and Gen.Chuck Yeager
We concluded our time up north by visiting the air force base called Makhado that was all arrange by Lt General Gagiano. Spent some time in Kruger National Park and then return to our home in Cape Town. It was trip I will remember forever. There is completed story of their whole trip publish in DSC Game Trails, 2012 convention. Can be also be viewed on my web-page “About us” under NEWS Articles www.capetownhuntingsafaris.co.za.
So, goodbye my dear friend, until we meet again high in those blue skies you know so very well.
South Africa’s Minister for Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, announced at the beginning of February 2021 that rhino poaching during 2020 had declined by 33% compared to the year before. A total of 394 rhino were poached in 2020 compared to 594 killed in 2019. She also said this marked the sixth year that rhino poaching has continued to decrease in SA, and praised the rangers and security staff that had contributed to this decline. The Kruger National Park (KNP) experienced 1,573 ‘poacher activities’ in 2020, a decrease of 21.9% in comparison to the 2,014 activities in 2019. Of course, much of the decline in poaching in South Africa was probably the result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with its attendant lock-downs and curfews, which restricted the movement of would-be poachers.
In truth, the number of 394 poached rhinos is really nothing to boast about, and the fact that four consignments of rhino horn valued at over R234 million were intercepted at the OR Tambo International Airport between July 2020 and February 2021 is an indictment that the Minister and her Department should actually be rather ashamed about. Moreover, two recent reports about incidents in protected areas in South Africa are cause for concern about the ability of government bodies at provincial level to adequately protect the biodiversity that is under their custodianship
Also reported in February 2021 was news that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) customs unit at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, discovered a large shipment of rhino horn worth R53 million and destined for Malaysia. In a statement SARS said its customs detector dog unit identified a suspicious shipment declared as ‘HP Cartridge Developers’ while checking cargo manifests at the airport’s courier facility.
“The three-piece shipment was taken to the X-ray scanner for non-intrusive inspection, where the image analysis reflected objects resembling the shape of rhino horns. The shipment was taken for physical inspection and upon inspection of the boxes, 18 pieces of rhino horn were found concealed in traditional clothing. The goods weighed 63kg.”
Customs officials contacted the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation (aka The Hawks), and their officers confiscated the shipment for further investigation. This was the fourth rhino horn bust by SARS Customs between July 2020 and February 2021at the same airport. It was reported that the overall weight of the rhino horn seized in these four cases was 277kg with an “estimated value of R234,114, 206”.
In January The Hawks arrested a suspected rhino horn dealer in Benoni, a town not far from the Johannesburg international airport. They said that Kelvin Chigwede (36) was found in possession of R500,000, suspected to be the proceeds of illegal rhino horn dealings.
In December 2020 The Hawks organised crime unit in Germiston, Benoni police and SA National Parks (SANParks) followed up on intelligence regarding a consignment declared as ‘chicken food mixture’ at a warehouse in Kempton Park and containing rhino horns weighing about 72kg. The Hawks said the consignment was intercepted by authorities after being dropped off at the warehouse on the same day. It appears that these horns were also destined for Malaysia.
In a very concerning incident that also took place at the start of February, the luxury Bongani Mountain Lodge in the Mthethomusha Game Reserve was burned to the ground – the financial loss is estimated to be around R9 million. This very attractive reserve of 8,000 hectares is located on the south-western border of the Kruger National Park, and has been restocked with a wide variety of animals, including rhinos. The lodge had employed a staff of around 80 people from the local community.
Press reports indicate that a gunfight broke out between alleged poachers and the reserve’s game rangers. Following this, a group from a local village destroyed a section of game fence and attacked the lodge, gutting it completely and looting the contents. The press also reported on the apparent lack of reaction to urgent requests for assistance made to the police and the provincial nature conservation authority, the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA). Lawless activities such as this on the very border of the Kruger National Park are cause for great concern.
In another wildlife drama at the end of January, five elephants broke out from the western boundary fence of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HIP) in the province of KwaZulu Natal (KZN). Staff managed to get two back into the park using a helicopter, but the other three walked about 7km from the boundary and were later shot dead by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife officials. According to the wildlife agency, there were concerns that the elephants were a threat to local people in a nearby village.
This incident re-ignited a controversy about the maintenance of the game fence that keeps the animals inside the HIP. For several years, conservation staff have been warning about the risks of breakouts by lions, elephants and other dangerous animals after a series of controversies and legal disputes over the repair or refurbishment of boundary fences securing the 96,000 hectare reserve.
The provincial wildlife authority, Ezemvelo, has suffered from a series of management and financial crises for a number of years and is currently under administration, with an acting chief executive. Its management board was suspended last year.
For my part, I think Minister Creecy’s optimism around a ‘reduction’ in rhino poaching is badly misplaced, and she and her national department should be very concerned about the state of biodiversity protection being seriously compromised by incompetence and mismanagement on the part of the provincial conservation authorities.
Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za
I was born in 1968 in the small farming community of Bedford in the Eastern Cape where my grandparents farmed apricots and peaches on our family farm, so I was privileged to have been exposed to, and to get to love, the great outdoors from a very young age. Other than shooting the odd porcupine that caused damage in the pumpkin fields, my Dad was not much of a hunter, so I would not describe myself as growing up in a family of hunters, but Dad’s cousin was a very prominent farmer, commercial pilot and businessman in the area. He owns a lot of land with plenty of game, and he still is very much a hunter.
My interest in hunting was sparked when I accompanied Dad and Uncle Chris one day on a drive on his farm outside Bedford. I was probably six or seven years of age at the time and felt especially important sitting between them in the Land Cruiser as we bumped over the rocky terrain of the Little Karoo. We crested a little ridge and spotted a herd of springbok down below. Uncle Chris turned to me and asked: “In the mood for some venison pie tonight?” Upon my confirmation, he got his rifle (I believe it was a .243) from behind the seat and said: “Stay behind me and stay quiet.” We started with a quick stalk to a nearby anthill. The crack of the shot and the sight of the springbok dropping in its tracks was enough to get me hooked on guns, and I just had to have my own rifle! I had to wait a few more years for this to happen…
Chris Troskie owns Chris Troskie Safaris
It was a Gecado Model 27 that my Dad owned. That little pellet gun accounted for many successful (and unsuccessful) hunts for pigeons and doves over the years It still works and has an honorary spot in my rifle safe. One rule was made abundantly clear when I got that rifle: “You must be prepared to eat whatever you shoot,” or the rifle was to be returned. The only exception to this “eating what you shoot” rule was, of course rats and mice, so fortunately I never had to eat those, but many pigeons and doves were consumed after being braaied over a fire out in the bush.
At the time it never occurred to me that a career could be made from hunting. This did not stop me from fantasizing about hunting bigger game than pigeons and doves. After school I had “real jobs”, first as Forensic Crime Scene Investigator in the SA Police and later also in the corporate world.
My brother owned an air charter company and chartered for McDonald Safaris. I was once invited to accompany him on such a charter to Mozambique, and in the process, I got to spend time with Sandy McDonald. This was my first real exposure to professional hunting. At the time I was senior Manager in charge of the Fraud Division of a major South African Bank, and my hunting excursions were limited to as many hunts as time (and my budget) would allow in hunting season, so I was fascinated by the prospect of being able to do what I loved doing for a living – hunting.
I subsequently enrolled myself for a Professional Hunter’s course with the South African National Professional Hunting School – owned by the late Melville du Plessis, obtained my Professional Hunters Diploma, and registered as a Professional Hunter with a restricted permit (plains game only) in Limpopo Province.
I soon realized that being in possession of a PH permit does not guarantee work in the field of professional hunting. On the contrary, experienced dangerous-game PHs can find it hard to get employment and for novices such as me, it was even harder. As breadwinner of my family there were only two options: (1) get more experience and better qualified and (2) start up my own business. On my PH course I had become acquainted with Les Brett (Ipiti Safaris) who conducted game ranger courses and Big 5 Walking Safaris in Greater Kruger, and I volunteered to work for him for free in return for dangerous-game experience. A lot was learned in the process – notably how to deal with dangerous wild animals and their behavior – but importantly also how not to do things. My exposure to dangerous game during my time with Ipiti Safaris in a non-hunting environment, in addition to the hunting I managed to do during this time as Professional Hunter made it possible for me to apply for (obtain) my unrestricted permit as Professional Hunter (allowing me to guide clients on dangerous-game hunts) and also obtain an Outfitter’s Permit.
In those years, the vast majority of hunting outfitters got their business from marketing themselves at hunting expositions overseas, and I realized that for me as a newcomer to gain a foothold in the business would be as expensive as it would be difficult, so I also had to look at finding business elsewhere. Research showed that surprisingly few outfitters were actively marketing themselves on the Internet. While most had a website of some sorts, they were mostly relying on their annual excursions overseas and return clientele for business. I exhibited at a hunting expo in Salt Lake City full of hope to come back home with a fully booked year, but returned disappointed that first year as there were so many outfitters who were far more experienced and better known than I was, so I started working more intensely on promoting myself on the Internet.
My first real break as new outfitter came when a gentleman from the UK wrote an article about his hunt with me with his lever action rifle. He posted the article on a popular online hunting “chat” forum and got many favorable replies. I contacted the administrator of the forum and offered him a good deal on a hunt if he could get a group of hunters from his forum together for an African hunt. The response from forum members was incredibly positive, and before we knew it, six lever action enthusiasts had signed up for their “African Levergun Safari”. That safari turned out to be remarkably successful, so much so that the next year I had twelve guests from the same fraternity in camp! And the levergunners continued coming back in groups of varying sizes over the next years. This was a nice steppingstone for me into the industry.
Ironically, when I put the offer for the levergunners together, I did not price it “cheaply” – I priced it at market-related rates so the appeal of this hunt was not the price – it was the opportunity to hunt Africa with fellow lever-action enthusiasts.
I wish that more “new outfitters” would follow this example and use the uniqueness of the experiences they have on offer as a selling tool instead of price. Back in the day the playing field was pretty much level when it came to costs, and clients were booking with outfitters for many other reasons than just because one guy was cheaper than the other.
Sadly, a trend has developed in more recent years for some outfitters to sell their safaris as cheaply as possible to sell more hunts – especially those who are new in the business. It is impossible to continue running a successful safari company if you are not charging for what your services are worth. At some point it will come back to bite you and it is here where clients who had booked with you are going to receive the shorter end of the stick.
It is my opinion that good referrals is the single most important aspect of building a name in the safari industry, and it is therefore important to treat every client in such a manner that (a) he/she would want to come back to you and (b) convince others to hunt with no one other than you. Many of my clients have returned after their first hunt with me, and I have clients who have come back every year since their first hunt. But to have clients return takes more than simply good service and good trophies. One needs to be able to offer a greater variety of hunting experiences to keep the interest going, and for that reason I have expanded my operation to not only operate in Limpopo Province but also include other Provinces (and even other countries) as hunting destinations.
Needless to say, operating in different areas implies that I sometimes need to rely on services provided by third parties, and an especially important lesson I learned over the years is to always structure a hunt in a way that I, as operator, can always be in complete control of the safari and that clients will experience the same level of service (accommodations, food and otherwise) that I provide in my own camp. For this reason every camp, hunting area or facility I use is first inspected by me personally, and I take my own personal chef (who happens to be my wife) with me to cook for my clients wherever I go. In fact, my wife has her own “mobile kitchen” that is towed along when we travel to other areas to hunt. This way I ensure that my clients are fed well and are always looking forward to the next meal.
In addition to South Africa I have hunted with clients in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia. I have enjoyed hunting in all these countries as each of them offers some unique experiences, but in my heart, I will always be proudly South African.
I once arranged a hunt in Zimbabwe with a German client, but shortly before our departure from South Africa “Mad Bob” Mugabe introduced a ban on import of all meat and dairy products into a country that was already starving. We had stocked up on a range of German delicacies prior to the hunt to ensure that our client would have good food to feast on during his time with us, but all these were confiscated upon arrival in Bulawayo. However, as we approached the hunting area air strip in our Cessna, we saw two impala rams on the side of the runway. When we had taxied to a halt, I got my rifle out of the belly pod. The client wanted to know what was going on, and my wife said: “We need meat for the week.” He laughed and thought she was kidding, but soon realized she was dead serious, as impala was served for dinner until we could arrange for some extra supplies to be smuggled in a few days later.
I currently mostly hunt from our own ranch – Sabrisa – which is located outside Lephalale (Ellisras) in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. It was love at first sight when we first saw this property some fourteen years ago, and we have since developed it into a private and exclusive hunting lodge with luxurious accommodations with a real Africa feel. We have also since acquired Grootvley Lodge where we can host groups of up to twelve guests at a time. It is, however, our choice to focus on exclusivity rather than volume, and therefore our groups are typically smaller than that. I believe that the more private atmosphere that is created in our lodges provides a far more exclusive experience than that provided in the large lodges that some of my competitors must fill at all cost. We only host one group in camp at a time – even if it is a single hunter – so our clients are never surrounded by strangers in camp. From my perspective it is simply impossible to give the personal attention that every client deserves on safari if an outfitter must bounce around from camp to camp to spend time with his different clients.
As a staunch opponent of so-called “put and take” hunting and given the numbers of animals that are hunted by my clients every year, one cannot restrict oneself to hunting only one property over and over again, so through the years I have acquired exclusive access to several additional properties encompassing more than 60,000 acres in immediate vicinity of my camps. There is a great advantage to having exclusive hunting rights on land here in South Africa. The huge properties I hunt are meticulously managed and teem with a great variety of high-quality game, from duiker to buffalo. As it is only my clients who hunt these lands there is never an issue with availability of hunting areas and my clients will never accidentally come across another hunting party in any of my areas.
I still enjoy hunting with clients after 23 years in the business so for the most part I personally guide my clients. At times I must rely on other PHs to get things done, and I am proud to say that over the years I have formed working relationships with some of the best in the business – folks who share my passion for the bush and excellence – so my clients still get the best hunting experience available in South Africa. And as I am in camp with my clients every night, I get to share the experiences of my clients around the campfire.
Since choosing a career in Professional Hunting, it is a fact that I have never woken in the morning with that “I do not want to go to work today” feeling. Every single day brings new challenges and creates new memories. I LOVE IT!
Thinking back over the last 23 years there are lots of memories and experiences that come to mind but a few that stand out more than others.
I remember the very first hunt that I outfitted for myself with a gentleman from North Carolina and I must admit, I was quite nervous about getting everything perfectly right. I arrived at OR Tambo Airport an hour before his scheduled arrival time and parked my pickup in the underground parking (P3). Before I got out of my vehicle, I double-checked all my documentation, making sure that my “welcome sign” was printed and on top of my client file. I then got out and walked up to the International Arrivals Hall, getting a coffee along the way, and impatiently waiting for Delta 200 to arrive. When the plane finally landed, I realised I had forgotten my file with the “welcome sign” in my pickup! So, I rushed back down to the parking garage to get this, but my pickup was nowhere to be found! After frantically walking up and down the parking garage for what seemed like an hour and with thoughts of my pickup having been stolen rushing through my mind, I finally realised that I was on the wrong parking level (P2 instead of P3). Well, I did find my pickup when I got to the right parking level, got the file and was back in the Arrivals Hall in time to meet my client.
Another time that comes to mind was when John from AB Canada and his daughter Alex were hunting with me for common reedbuck and Vaal rhebok in KZN. John is an expert long-range shooter who feels perfectly comfortable shooting at 500 yards + (which was one of the reasons why I suggested that he hunted a Vaalie with me). Alex was here for the first time with her dad and it was agreed that she would hunt for common reedbuck. I have a hot spot for the latter in oat fields outside Nottingham Road, and one afternoon we drove out to a specific lookout point to see if we could connect with one. As we rounded a bend, with the oat field below us, we spotted at only about 120 yards from us a group of Vaalies with a huge ram among them! As Alex was supposed to be the hunter that day, only her rifle was out and loaded. John’s .338 Lapua was still in its hard case on the back of the pickup. He got his rifle out, loaded, and lay prone, by which time the Vaalies had left. I walked around the hill that the Vaalies had crested and there they were again! John shot a beautiful 10” Vaalie that day at less than 200 yards!
It can sometimes be annoying when hunters get obsessed with trophy size. Personally, I always hunt for the best trophy that I can get with my clients, but when I tell a client to shoot, it can get irritating to hear the question: “Is it a good one?” or “How big is he?” at a stage when timing is of the essence.
On a lighter note – a rather funny (and I should say embarrassing) experience was when I hunted for bushbuck with Uncle Joe from New York State. I had been seeing a bushbuck many times in the same general place on the riverside of our ranch for weeks before Uncle Joe arrived, and we decided to pursue him. As we rounded a bend in the track I saw the bushbuck under a tree – exactly where I thought I’d find him and I told Uncle Joe to take the shot – which he did without hesitation, but the bushbuck didn’t move. Uncle Joe rechambered and fired another round with the same result – the bushbuck remained standing… When Uncle Joe fired the third round, my tracker dryly remarked: “I think you are shooting at a stick.” Upon closer inspection it turned out that my tracker was right. The tree stump that Uncle Joe had been shooting at had three holes in it – beautiful grouping! The shadows caused by the sun shining through the leaves on a tree stump at that time of day and with a prominent branch that had the distinct shape of a bushbuck horn had the exact appearance of the bushbuck we were looking for. We laughed all the way back to camp…
“Interesting” trophies has different meanings to different people. While many clients seek only perfectly symmetrical horns, there are also those who prefer “unusual” trophies. For me, the ideal trophy is an old animal, way past its prime and beyond breeding age, but this is of course not always possible. A couple of years ago we were hunting for Vaal rhebok in the Eastern Cape. We found a ram of which the one horn was estimated to be longer than 8” but the other horn was broken off halfway. The client decided to shoot that ram and ended up with a 9.5” Vaal rhebok – which got him into Rowland Ward’s record book but, more importantly, he shot an exceptional, old, and unique specimen.
The same “John from Alberta” I was referring to earlier wanted to hunt a Cape bushbuck while we were in the Midlands of KZN. I got word of a dairy farm in the area that had changed ownership a year or so before that hadn’t been hunted for quite a while and that supposedly had some decent bushbuck on it, so we took a drive out to have a look. We walked into a pasture and I saw something moving right at the end of the open field. When I looked through my binoculars, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw a white bushbuck grazing at the edge of the field. A short stalk later and John connected with an incredibly unique trophy that measured just shy of 15”. I had seen albino bushbuck once before in Limpopo Province, but this was not an albino. Its eyes were not pink and its fur was dark where it exited the skin, only turning greyish / white at the ends. John’s full mounted white bushbuck is now proudly displayed in his home in Fort McMurray.
My personal favorite animal to hunt is Cape buffalo, and plains game is a tie between kudu in the mountains of Sabrisa Ranch or Kudu Canyon, and Vaal rhebok in the Midlands of KZN or the Eastern Cape.
Hunting buffalo is exciting, and I have had a few close brushes with death, spending many miles on foot chasing Black Death. It gets my adrenaline flowing.
Kudu are extremely wary and can be hard to judge. Finding that perfect, mature, bull can take days, but when you do finally find him it is extremely gratifying.
Vaal rhebok have incredible eyesight and occur in open mountainous habitat. This makes approaching them to within shooting distance particularly challenging, and one needs both experience and skill to do this.
I have had some good luck guiding clients to exceptional trophies, and several stand out in my memory. During the first hunt I outfitted for myself, my client from North Carolina shot a 27” impala ram on his first hunting day. Later that evening, on our way back to camp, we saw what we first thought was a rhino in the bush next to us, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be a massive blue eland bull. That bull only measured 28” or so, but he was gigantic with enormous bases, a pitch-black ruff on his forehead, and simply beautiful! The first 60” kudu bull I hunted with a client from Missouri, and later another 62.5” kudu we got in the same area with a Canadian client here in Limpopo. There was a 10” Vaal rhebuck I hunted in the Midlands of KZN. But it is not only record-book trophies that I remember. During each hunt new memories are made, and that is what I treasure most.
One of my more memorable hunts was a road trip hunt I did with a client from Georgia. He had hunted with me before, and on his wish list were, among others, Vaal rhebok, Cape bushbuck and red lechwe. So I put a hunt together that would give him an opportunity to hunt all the animals on his list in their natural habitat which meant we hunted in three Provinces – the Northern Cape for steenbok, the Springbok Slam, Barbary sheep, eland and red hartebeest, then on to the Western Cape for Vaal rhebok and finally the Eastern Cape for fallow deer and Cape bushbuck. We got every animal on his list with a couple of days to spare and this gave us time to give my tracker – Sammy – the opportunity to see and swim in the ocean for the first time in his 40 years here on Earth.
Another memorable hunt took place near the Battlefields of KZN with a group of hunters from Canada. It was a 2X1 hunt for four clients, so my tracker, Sammy, and I hunted with two clients and I contracted a very experienced resident PH and his tracker to hunt with the other two.
The hunting gods were with me and Sammy, and by the end of the first day, my clients had taken two springbok, a mountain reedbuck, and an impala, while the clients who hunted with the resident PH had not had any luck. The second day my two hunters returned to camp with three animals in the salt and the other hunters had one zebra. This trend continued over the next couple of days – for every animal the resident PH managed to guide his hunters to, we got three or four. One evening the resident PH approached me and asked me if we were shooting from the truck as he could not believe that our success rate was so much higher than his. When I replied that all the animals we had hunted thus far was shot fair chase and on foot he said: “I think it’s time for me to concede to the A-Team, would you mind helping out and hunting with my clients tomorrow?” I was hesitant as I knew that their failure to connect with animals had nothing to do with the hunting skills of the PH and I certainly did not want to embarrass him. But I also knew that time was running out and I did not want to send clients home without at least getting shooting opportunities at the animals on their lists, so I agreed to this change. Well, the “A-Team” did not disappoint, and the next day the tables were turned. A total of 32 animals ended up in the salt by the end of the hunt with the A-Team and its hunters being responsible for 25 of them.
I have not had any “disaster” hunts, but I have had some interesting experiences. One such experience that comes to mind was when a client and I had to fly by charter to Zimbabwe for a hunt. Upon arriving at the aerodrome, the pilot (who is a good friend of mine and was the owner of the Zimbabwean concession) was already busy loading cargo into the plane. A huge pile of cargo comprising solar water pumps, panels and pipes was heaped up outside the little 206, and I assumed he had just started loading but to my surprise I saw that the plane was already packed to the hilt and our luggage still had to fit in as well! My reservations about take-off weight were waved aside with a: “This is a 206, if it fits in it will fly…” comment and miraculously everything did fit in and we did manage to take off. But shortly after take-off I heard the pilot saying: “Oh f@*k”. My client was not English speaking but everyone in the world knows what that short phrase means…
“The weather not good?” I asked – looking at the storm clouds gathering ahead of us. “Nope, the auto pilot is not working,” came the reply. “We can fly without it, but I would rather not”. So we returned to the airfield and my client gave a huge sigh of relief when he stepped out of the plane. “I’ve always wanted to drive to Zimbabwe, can’t we rather do that?” he asked… We ended up doing exactly that, and the rest of the hunt went according to plan…
I think one of the mistakes some clients make when they decide to hunt Africa is to go and buy a large caliber rifle. This is unnecessary as pretty much any rifle that is good enough to hunt similar sized game elsewhere is good enough to hunt Africa with. If a client feels comfortable with hunting Moose with a .300WinMag in North America, and can shoot his rifle well, there is no reason why he should buy a .375 for his eland hunt in Africa. I had a client who brought his brand-new .378 Weatherby for his first African hunt. He ended up wounding several animals during his hunt. because he was so uncomfortable with shooting a rifle with so much recoil that he had a built-in flinch. Fortunately we managed to track down all the wounded animals, but I can think of few things worse than paying for an animal on your first African hunt and not being able to hang it in your trophy room because you wounded it and was irrecoverable.
Some clients also arrive with a host of paraphernalia including range finders, spotting scopes and wind meters. Many of these are nice to haves, but not necessary at all for most African hunting.
A good pair of light-weight hunting boots and comfortable clothing in neutral colours is much more important than a $3K pair of binoculars with built-in rangefinder. Similarly, having a scope with a 20X magnification is unnecessary in the bushveld. Depending on where a hunt is planned with a client, I will make recommendations on what equipment would be needed for that specific area and hunting circumstances.
I use my .458 Lott with handloaded 500gr Barness or 550gr Rhino solid ammo as backup on dangerous game hunts, and it has served me well under a host of different circumstances, from charging buffalo and elephant to fleeing wounded game of similar species. I have considered getting a double rifle in .470 but my .458 has never disappointed me and has all the stopping power necessary on charging game, plus it has the “legs” for longer shots at fleeing game.
When backing up on plains game I usually have my 6.5 Creedmoor or .30-06 behind the back seat of the Cruiser. I use Barness TSX or Hornady ELDX bullets in both these rifles. A lot has been said about the 6.5 Creedmoor – some people love this caliber and others say it is just a fad. I fall in the first category and have used it extensively for both culling and backup on plains game up to the size of eland. It is remarkably accurate, and in the right hands can certainly reach out there.
One of my closest brushes with death was hunting buffalo with a client from Denmark. He missed the vitals with his first shot early in the morning which resulted in a tracking exercise for the wounded buffalo, with precious little blood to follow, that lasted for the better part of the day. We finally caught up with the buffalo around 4 p.m. that afternoon when it stood up in the tall grass about 40 yards in front of us. It immediately started running and I gave the client the first opportunity to shoot. He did hit the buffalo, but it continued running. The client fired a second round at the running animal, and this time it turned for a full-on charge at the client. When I fired my .458 Lott, the buffalo changed direction and was now coming at me. I fired at the charging animal from about 20 yards or so, hitting it squarely in the chest. It was dead on its feet, but it continued to come, and brushed past me as I sidestepped the beast in a move that would have made my high school rugby coach proud. This move got me entwined in a Wag ‘n Bietjie tree, but fortunately I managed to stay on my feet and get another round chambered as the buffalo came to a stop a couple of feet from me, dropping his right horn to hook me. There was no time to shoulder my rifle. I lifted it and squeezed off the trigger with the end of the barrel literally inches from the buffalo’s neck. The buffalo dropped, which was a huge relief.
The post-mortem showed that my second-last shot at the charging buffalo had travelled all the way lengthwise through it and exited through its buttocks. This gave me huge respect for Barness solid bullets (and of course my .458 Lott).
Another close brush with death was when a client had an accidental discharge from his .378 Weatherby while running behind me after a wounded waterbuck. I could feel the air move as the bullet whistled past my right ear. Fortunately, at that time I was more focused on getting to the wounded waterbuck than a bullet flying past me, or I might have needed some fresh underpants.
When you book your hunt, be totally honest with your outfitter about your previous hunting experience and personal / physical abilities as this will enable him to tailor your hunt accordingly. I’ve had a client who told me he had plenty of experience handling firearms and hunting Whitetail Deer – to find out later that he doesn’t own a firearm and his hunting experience was limited to watching his son shoot a Whitetail from a blind. That same hunter ended up wounding two expensive animals during his hunt with me… Do not get me wrong; I have no problem hosting or guiding inexperienced hunters, but it is makes it so much easier to prepare oneself for a hunt if you know what you are likely to be up against.
Clients should listen to advice on matters such as shot placement and hunting techniques and believe that when advice is given it will always be to their benefit. What works in your home country does not necessarily work in Africa so rely on the experience of your PH when you are hunting with him.
If I had a dream safari… Oh, I have dreamed about hunting “wild, untamed Africa” like Selous and Bell did for sure. But for me a “dream safari” would be hunting for any animal that I have not hunted for myself before, or get better trophies than the ones I already have – even if that meant doing so in South Africa. I have a beat-up old 1980 Land Rover Series 3 that I use for recovering game out of the mountains as it goes everywhere. A dream for me would be to pack a tent, sleeping bag and some supplies in “Brandy” (as my Land Rover was nicknamed) and go with her on safari. Maybe start off at one of my favourite concessions called Kudu Canyon, hunt for a 60” kudu bull and once that is done, travel onwards to the Midlands of KZN and hunt for a 10” Vaal rhebok or a massive free-range eland in the Kamberg. From there, down to the coast for blue and red duiker, and a 32+” nyala in Zululand, and then to the Eastern Cape for Cape grysbok and Cape bushbuck! One could even work a trip to the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve next to Kruger for a free-range hunt for an old Dagga Boy… The only problem I envisage with such a trip is that I might spend more time stranded next to the road with a broken-down vehicle than in the hunting field as, due to her age, Brandy is not particularly reliable anymore.
But one can dream…
1 Year Magazine Subscription - Digital
$49.00 for 1 year
3 Year Magazine Subscription - Digital
$129.00 for 3 years
5 Year Magazine Subscription - Digital
$199.00 for 5 years
This will close in 2 seconds