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By Sam Wilson
BBC News

The systematic slaying of thousands of elephants is a subject always likely to stir emotions.

So it has been in South Africa, where the government has opened a public consultation on proposals to resume an elephant cull.

In the highly charged debate, opponents refer to the “murder” of elephants, while cull-supporters warn of a “holocaust” among other species if elephants go unchecked.

South Africa’s Sunday Independent has played host to the argument on its opinion and letters pages.

“Letters from our readers have been overwhelmingly against culling. The idea appals them,” says the paper’s deputy editor Andrew Walker.

The outcry now may be nothing compared to the response if and when TV images show rangers in helicopters herding elephants into small groups, downing them with tranquiliser and then finishing them off with a high-calibre shot to the head.

Rapid growth

The irony is that the explosion in animal numbers is due to the success of conservation projects, and measures to counter poaching and ivory-smuggling.

In Kruger National Park, some 13,000 elephants now roam – nearly double the 7,000 that was considered the optimum number during South Africa’s apartheid years, when culling took place regularly.

It is recommended that application of lethal means, specifically culling, be approved as part and parcel of a range of options

Elephant Management Report
SA National Parks
SANParks report (306K)

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The repopulation of elephants since culling was stopped in 1994 has been so dramatic that it threatens other species, and the elephants’ own well-being.

An animal with a large range, a long lifespan, a huge appetite and no predators is trampling less robust creatures underfoot.

Elephants can turn woodland into grassland – killing off the majestic baobab trees that can be thousands of years old, and depriving birds like vultures, eagles and ground hornbills of places to nest.

They have also been blamed for driving rhinos off their ranges, and threatening delicate botanical assets.

“They are converter animals – habitat engineers – they will modify their habitat if allowed to do so,” says Rob Little, director of conservation at World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa.

South Africa National Parks (Sanparks) has recommended a return to culling to save the country’s flora and fauna before it is too late.

“Culling should certainly be retained as an option,” says WWF’s Mr Little.

Elephants live long lives, making passive measures less effective

The government insists it has not yet made its mind up, and is considering all options.

“This is spoken about at a very emotive level – this government prefers not to decide what’s best for its country on the basis of emotion,” says JP Louw, director of communications at South Africa’s environment ministry.

Some groups, however, believe the deal is done and the 18-month consultation will be more about persuading domestic and international public opinion.

Contraception

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) insists there is no scientific proof that elephants threaten biodiversity and says there is no way they should be culled until there is concrete proof of the damage they cause.

“Sanparks is looking at elephants in a vacuum. They need to adopt a far more holistic approach,” Ifaw’s South Africa director Jason Bell-Leask told the BBC News website.

To say we should wait is to say ‘wait until everything is destroyed’

JP Louw
SA environment ministry

He advocates allowing greater migration of elephant groups between parks and countries in southern Africa.

Others point to successful projects to transport elephants to less-populated areas, and to use contraceptives.

A two-year experiment with contraception in South Africa’s Greater Makalali game reserve used darts filled with a hormone that prevented any female elephants from giving birth.

However, experts say a programme to immunise the 5,000 cow elephants in the Kruger, and to track them all for further booster shots, would be unfeasible both in terms of cost and logistics.

Moreover, because elephants live long lives, it would have no immediate effect on their numbers, and the damage they wreak.

Zimbabwe would like to move herds to Namibia

“We’re researching how contraception can be used as an effective method,” says JP Louw.

“At present we don’t know anyone able to tell us that contraception works.

“The option of translocation we continue to test. But this problem of overpopulation is a problem across southern Africa, not just South Africa – other countries have their own problems.”

Botswana and Zambia have overpopulations of elephants and want to conduct culls that would allow them to sell the ivory.

On Monday, Zimbabwe said 50 elephants had died “because of shortage of water and pasture” in a western reserve, and that it wanted to cull or move herds to Namibia.

As the debate rages on, officials insist that doing nothing is not an option.

“To say we should wait is to say ‘wait until everything is destroyed’,” South Africa’s Mr Louw says. “That is definitely not responsible management.”

Should the cull go ahead? Send us your comments

By Richard Black

The eminent conservationist Richard Leakey has given qualified backing for South Africa’s plan to cull elephants.

In an article for the BBC News website, the former head of the Kenyan Wildlife Service says culling is “a necessary part of population management”.

But Dr Leakey says there is also a responsibility to curb human activities that impinge on elephant habitat.

South Africa plans to allow culling after a gap of 14 years because of growing numbers of elephants.

The population is estimated to have expanded from 8,000 to 18,000 in little more than a decade.

Though I find elephant culling repugnant, I can see the sense in it

Richard Leakey
The plan has aroused the ire of some environment and animal welfare groups.

Some are so opposed to the plan that they have called for tourist boycotts.

Necessary evil

Having made his name as a palaeontologist studying the origins of humanity in Africa, the 1980s saw Dr Leakey at the forefront of the movement campaigning for the suspension of elephant culling.

But now he sees it as necessary.

“While I will never ‘like’ the idea of elephant culling, I do accept that given the impacts of human-induced climate change and habitat destruction, elephants inside and outside of protected areas will become an increasingly serious problem unless key populations are reduced and maintained at appropriate levels,” he writes in an article for the BBC’s Green Room series.

Green Room: Richard Leakey
“Though I find elephant culling repugnant, I can see the sense in it [in some scenarios].”

The resumption of culling was announced last month by environment minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk as part of a package of measures for controlling elephant numbers.

In some parts of the country, people have complained that the animals are dangerous, and that they eat crops and drink water intended for the human population.

The South African plan lists culling as a last resort, with measures such as better management of elephant enclosures, translocation, and contraception examined first.

Social impacts

Richard Leakey says the priority given to animal welfare in the South African plan is a major reason for his change of stance.

“I was pleasantly surprised to find that the guiding principles… begin with the acknowledgement that ‘elephants are intelligent, have strong family bonds and operate within highly socialised groups’,” he writes.

Dr Leakey’s career has spanned science, conservation and politics
In contrast, he says the previous culling programme which his campaigning helped to end in 1994 appeared to be largely commercially motivated, was not managed in a scientific manner and was unacceptably inhumane”.

Dr Leakey, whose most recent work includes founding the conservation group WildlifeDirect, believes it is essential to recognise that conflicts between elephants and human communities can and should be addressed by looking at the human end of the problem as well.

With human activities encroaching ever further into traditional wildlife habitat, competition for land, food and water is increasing.

“I believe that we have a responsibility to check habitat impacts in order to reduce conflicts between elephants and humans by controlling human activities as well,” he writes.

The South African management plan sees culling becoming an option from 1 May.

By ZOE BRENNAN, Daily Mail

Marooned on an island, this group of lions should have died out. Instead, in an evolutionary twist, they’ve learned to swim and become strong enough to tackle their only prey… giant buffalo
Fearless, ferocious and mightier than the world has ever seen, this is the new breed of super-lion.
Only one species of prey holds its attention: the buffalo? And in order to bring its powerful foe to the ground, it will take to deep water; use sophisticated hunting techniques and then silence the gigantic beast with a single swipe of a savage paw.
In a remote corner of Africa, an extraordinary evolutionary tale is unfolding, uncovered by the actor Jeremy Irons and an award-winning documentary team. A new film, Relentless Enemies, will tell the story of the emergence of a distinct subspecies of big cat on a tiny and isolated island in the Duba Plains of Botswana’s Okavango Delta.
It also delves into a dark secret at the heart of this special community of lions. For during the investigation into the Duba lions, it emerged that a killer is embedded in their midst? A threat which might eventually spell the end of this incredible biological journey and the lion’s quest for survival.
Irons, who most famously starred in the TV series Brideshead Revisited, describes the scene in this ‘magical world’, where two great warriors live side by side in the most beautiful terrain.
“There is an unusual pride of lions stalking these swamps,” he says. “They are cats that live in water and hunt a single herd of Cape buffalo. Evolution favors predators that can hunt a range of prey. But these lions are defying that trend by becoming specialists. These huge lions are adapting and breeding in isolation on an island in a river that goes nowhere.”
So how has this new strain of lion developed? To answer this question, the South African husband-and-wife film-makers Beverly and Dereck Joubert spent two years tracking their prey in order to capture evolution in the making.
“We discovered this tiny sandy island in the Okavango,” says Dereck. “It is extraordinary because it became totally isolated from the mainland 15 years ago when the course of the river changed, and a huge herd of buffalo and lions were trapped on a piece of land measuring 200 square kilometers.”
—– Lionesses are the same size as males on the mainland —–
Through this twist of geographical fate, these two ancient species are now engaged in a desperate battle of survival? Watched by six bemused refugee wildebeest and a handful of similarly outnumbered warthogs.
Thus, the island has become a unique, ecological experiment. In order to exist without the customary spectrum of weaker African prey like zebra, giraffe and impala, the Duba lions have had to develop distinct strategies in order to trap the single available food source.
They have adapted to this challenge by hunting during the day under the baking African sun, swimming through deep rivers in the hunt for buffalo. This water-based training program combined with a diet of protein-rich buffalo meat has led to the development of huge muscles, and these super-cats now dwarf other lions.
The island lions also use highly advanced psychology in their quest for food, predicting the course of the buffaloes’ daily trek by anticipating their need for water? Then lying in wait at the precise spot along the river where the herd will eventually stop for refreshment.
In turn, the buffalo have responded to the threat by merging into a vast mega-herd of 1,200 beasts? Five times the size of a normal group. They have also, at times, turned on the lions, killing isolated cubs.
Remarkably, in this deeply competitive, life-or-death arena, the three prides of lion operating on the island have also developed very different hunting techniques, with varying success.
The Pantry pride are described as ‘risk-takers’, using smash-and-grab tactics to kill mature buffalo. “It’s fascinating to watch,” says Joubert. “Members of this pride will rush straight into the buffalo, confronting the bigger bulls.
—– Horns facing outwards, the herd faces the lions —–
This is not easy prey; buffalo kill more people in Africa than lions. These enormous male buffalo targeted by the Pantry pride are bad-tempered and aggressive guys. Their slashing horns and razor-sharp hooves can be the death of a lion? It’s a battle of titans.”
Consequently, the documentary team saw the Pantry pride all but annihilated on the island, the lions either being killed outright or dying as a result of infected wounds.
There were nine members when filming began in November 2003 and there is just one solitary survivor alive now.
The Skimmer pride lives across the river on the mainland, but they swim to the island whenever buffalo are in sight.
Numbering four females, one doddery, old male and four cubs, they are the ‘poachers’ in this delicately balanced eco-system.
They will navigate deep and treacherous water, sneaking onto the territory dominated by the other lion packs, and picking off individual buffalo.
The strongest grouping is the Tsaro pride, comprising nine females and two males. Among them are two sets of adult twins? Identical lionesses which often give birth to cubs at the same time, and always hunt together.
This pride has developed perhaps the most finely honed and intelligent hunting techniques, based on interaction with its victims.
“We’ve been studying lions for more than 20 years, but at first we could not believe what we were seeing,” says Joubert, who made the wildlife film that inspired the Walt Disney classic The Lion King.
“The lions were acting as sheepdog to the buffalo herd. The pride would live alongside the herd, following it as it moved. Their formula was sophisticated and clinical? They corral the buffalo together and then ambush a weaker member.”
They follow the herd through the flood waters for up to seven hours at a time and their victim might be a newborn calf or an injured beast.
“These lions stick to the buffalo like glue, always alert,” says Joubert. “They watch day and night, ready for the smallest hint of weakness.”
It is a strategy that has paid off, with the Tsaro lions proving the most adept hunters on the island, which is surrounded by an intricate web of thick papyrus swamps and deep, crocodile-infested waters.
A subspecies is emerging which the experts have named the Duba swamp lion? As opposed to the jungle lion, the desert lion, or the lion of the mainland African plain. It is distinctive in appearance, with a bigger, thicker neck and an extra-strong chest. The lionesses are almost the same size as the male lions on the Botswana mainland.
We should perhaps not be surprised to witness the lion adapt to its environment. The species developed some 5 million years ago, and lions once ranged throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, becoming extinct in Europe around 2,000 years ago.
Ironically, the buffaloes, too, seem to have flourished under the predatory attention of the Duba lions.
“This is how nature works,” explains Joubert. “It is a symbiotic relationship: the lions are pruning the weaker buffalo at an average of 20 a month, strengthening the overall herd. We’ve seen the buffalo population on the island grow by a fifth in two years.”
Indeed, the buffaloes have learnt one particular technique to employ when they are under pressure from the Tsaro pride? When they tire, they gather into a tight-knit bundle, and collectively drop to the ground to sleep, their horns facing outwards to present an impenetrable wall.
In response, the lions also sleep until the herd moves on. The buffaloes also periodically conduct dramatic rescue attempts if a member of the herd is isolated by its predators.
For all their groundwork, one piece of this ecological jigsaw puzzle eluded the Jouberts throughout the first year of their epic study of the Duba lions. Over and over again, the tiny cubs of the strong Tsaro pride disappeared. Without a succession, the pride could not survive.
In 2004, the Tsaro pride had 22 cubs to strengthen the group. Inexplicably, all died. Last year, there were 19 young ones? And again all perished. This year, there been seven, and the pride has lost all but one.
How is it that these super-lions are not able to protect their young?
To their shock, a year into the filming, the Jouberts witnessed a terrible scene. One of the females in the pride was, apparently unknown to her fellow lionesses, killing their cubs.
—– Killing the pride’s cubs was a lioness posing as a babysitter —–
This was the explanation for the mystery that had perplexed the Duba lion experts. According to Irons, who narrates Relentless Enemies, this lioness posed as babysitter so that she could kill?
“Her attentive rearguard while the mothers were off hunting gave her the opportunity to finish off each and every cub in the past two years,” he says.
“Ironically the biggest threat to the lions is not buffalo at all, but the stalking enemy within.”
Joubert says: “It was awful to see. One of their own was mauling the little cubs to death, defying everything we know about maternal love.”
In survival terms, this was devastating for the Tsaro pride; its strength appeared to be ebbing away.
“The future of that pride is in its cubs,” says Joubert. “Lions live in a matriarchal society. Why was this lioness committing such an atrocity?
“We cannot say, but after working with lions for over two decades, I have come to see them as, above all, a collection of noble and powerful individuals. The most likely explanation for this lioness’s behavior was that she herself had lost cubs of her own.”
Intriguingly, it could also be that the murdering lioness is, in fact, keeping the island system in balance.
“It could be that if more lions were to survive to maturity, they would tip the balance so that the buffalo population would decline and the lions would eventually go hungry,” says Joubert.
“This lioness’s behavior could be a twisted form of Charles Darwin’s natural selection at work. Nature never ceases to amaze.”
RELENTLESS ENEMIES will be shown on the National Geographic Channel. Check your local listings.

By: Sandy Trout

Now comes the excitement. We got a deal offered for a lion on a game ranch being plagued by them, and I decided to take one. So we sat in a tree blind about 70 yards from a bait. About 5:30pm, two lions showed up. After determining which one to shoot, I hit the lion broadside in shoulder, and before I could get off another shot, it stumbled from the shot and took off with the second male into the brush.

After a half hour wait, we started tracking and found blood, but as it was getting late we decided to return in the morning to take up the track. With two trackers, Vaughan and myself, we started off on the track and observed the two lions had split up. We started on one track, and after about an hour and half of walking we decided this was not the wounded lion. We returned to where the animals had split up and took off on the second track. In about a half mile, we located the lion lying broadside under a tree with his head against the base. He was not looking our way. After it was decided this was the lion, I took aim just behind the shoulder from about 80-90 feet away.

As I fired, the lion jumped up and with a roar he started a charge at us. I fired straight on at him and scored a hit, but it did not slow him. Vaughan fired his 458 from about 30 feet which slowed him down momentarily, but did not stop the charge. As Vaughan was reloading, he tripped on a bush and fell with the bolt open, and the lion was almost on top of him. I fired from about 2 feet away through his side behind the shoulder, which turned him off Vaughan, and he came at me. I had run out of ammo in the gun and backing up for more room, I tripped and fell on my back with the lion almost on top of me. I had the rifle in both hands and as the lion came at me. I hit him as hard as I could with the rifle, which broke his tooth as it skidded up the forend. My finger got in the way, and I got cut by the canine.

This startled him for a second. He backed off, and his left paw snapped my lower sling swivel. As he appeared to be coming back for seconds, Vaughan had got to his feet and fired broadside at the lion, which fell over about 2 feet from me.

The entire incident probably lasted no more than 5 seconds but the adrenaline high lasted a bit longer. After our hearts had slowed to a reasonable rate we congratulated each other for saving one another’s skins. It took six stitches to sew up the bite, and although this could have gone very bad, it didn’t. Vaughan and I now share something that very few people have experienced. He is definitely a person that passed the test of fire.

Care of game meat

It’s fall again, and hunters will soon be heading afield trying to harvest any one of a number of big game animals. Whether you are after deer, elk, moose, or antelope a few items are essential. And this does not mean the weapon you choose to use, or where to go, but rather the question of “what do I do now?” once the animal is on the ground. Here the old adage of “the fun is over, now the work starts” has never been truer.

Everything you do or do not do from this point on will affect the quality of the game meat you and your family will ultimately enjoy. Here are a few suggestions that may help both beginners and seasoned hunters alike.

First and foremost, be prepared to handle the meat. Such preparation begins long before you leave home. Remember that your animal will yield the same amount of meat whether it is killed 10 miles into the backcountry or close to the road. Obviously, the first location will require more work, but going prepared is the key, regardless of where you hunt.

Take the time to get your knives, saws and sharpening stones ready and make sure to always take them with you in the field. Rope, twine or parachute cord may be the most important item you can have when it comes to handling game meat because it can be that extra hand you need to hold onto something. However, this is an item many hunters forget to carry with them. Plan to carry enough rope to hang the carcass (either whole or in parts) off the ground and then add another 20 feet.

The secret to having good quality meat is getting it cleaned out, hung up and cooled down, not cold or frozen, as quickly as possible. To do this, the internal organs have to be removed, the hide has to come off, and the carcass placed in a cool environment. Without a doubt, the longer the carcass is on the ground, the greater the chance the meat will spoil. Trapped body heat provides an ideal environment for bacteria to flourish.
A big game animal’s body temperature is about 100? to 106? F at the time of death. Under normal conditions that temperature will decrease at a rate of 2 degrees an hour from the larger muscle masses in the rump, neck and shoulders. Twelve hours after death the large muscles of the hind legs may still be 76 degrees or more. Therefore, it is very important to do everything you can to increase that rate of heat loss.

Options that aid in dissipating heat from the carcass include: skinning the animal, placing the carcass in a shaded area, hanging it off the ground for maximum air circulation, and quartering or partial boning. Do not place the meat in any type of plastic because plastic will hold in heat. Also, do not place the meat directly into water. This simply makes an incredibly wet and sloppy mess that is difficult to handle. When was the last time you ordered a waterlogged steak from a restaurant?
During the early seasons, daytime temperatures can reach the 80′s or 90′s. But the nighttime temperatures in the 40′s and 50′s are adequate to cool down a carcass. The first night is crucial and will make the difference between saving all the meat or causing it to waste. If skinned, hung and allowed to cool overnight, the meat should be set up enough by the next morning for handling and packing.

As the daytime temperatures rise, your next priority is to get the meat out for processing. Again, temperature is the main concern. Ideally, meat should be held at about 34? F to avoid spoilage. The higher the temperature is over this ideal, the more bacterial growth will occur, increasing the potential for spoilage.

Believe it or not, during later season hunts the problem is snow. While you do not have to worry about the daytime temperatures getting too hot, you still have to worry about meat spoiling. This will happen because snow works as a great insulator. Many hunters have shot an animal and filled the body cavity with snow in the hopes of rapidly cooling it. The next morning, they are surprised to find that they have a bone-soured carcass on their hands. In these cases the snow worked as insulation, trapping body heat and causing the meat to spoil. Rapidly trying to freeze a carcass can cause a similar problem because the outside will freeze solid, trapping the body heat in.

Other factors to consider are insects and dirt. Here again this should be addressed long before you leave home. If you know that there is a good chance you will have to have to deal with flying insects, take along some precautions. Some hunters use black pepper to coat the meat as a way of keeping the flies off. This helps somewhat as a short-term solution, but should not be the only option you use.

The best option is to have good quality game bags that fit loosely around the carcass. Ideally, the fabric should not touch the meat. These bags should be a light to mid- weight cotton or canvas that will act as a complete barrier to flies, dust, and dirt. If cared for, these game bags should last several years. Avoid the “cheese cloth” game bags because they are not worth what you pay for them. Another way to deter uninvited flying guests is to place the carcass in a tent with screens that will allow the air to circulate, but keep the bugs out.

One other point all hunters should remember is the waste of game meat. Idaho law states that: Hunters are required to remove and care for the edible meat of big game animals, except mountain lion. This includes the meat of the front quarters as far down as the knee, hindquarters as far down as the hock, neck meat, meat along the backbone, and the meat covering the ribs. It does not include meat of the head, internal organs or meat left on the bones after close trimming. This law basically means that you have to bring out meat from the carcass that is usually made into steaks, roasts, hamburger and sausage. If you are only taking the four legs and the back straps you are wasting about 30% of the edible meat and violating the law.

One final word of advice, hunt within your limitations. If you go into one of those deep dark canyons that will take hours of hiking to get into, ask yourself a simple question: “If I get something down here, how am I going to get it out?” If the answer is “I have no idea”, respect the animal and your sport enough to find an easier place to harvest your animal.

Dane Cook, Sr. Conservation Officer, Idaho Fish & Game

Now comes the excitement. We got a deal offered for a lion on a game ranch being plagued by them, and I decided to take one. So we sat in a tree blind about 70 yards from a bait. About 5:30pm, two lions showed up. After determining which one to shoot, I hit the lion broadside in shoulder, and before I could get off another shot, it stumbled from the shot and took off with the second male into the brush.

After a half hour wait, we started tracking and found blood, but as it was getting late we decided to return in the morning to take up the track. With two trackers, Vaughan and myself, we started off on the track and observed the two lions had split up. We started on one track, and after about an hour and half of walking we decided this was not the wounded lion. We returned to where the animals had split up and took off on the second track. In about a half mile, we located the lion lying broadside under a tree with his head against the base. He was not looking our way. After it was decided this was the lion, I took aim just behind the shoulder from about 80-90 feet away.

As I fired, the lion jumped up and with a roar he started a charge at us. I fired straight on at him and scored a hit, but it did not slow him. Vaughan fired his 458 from about 30 feet which slowed him down momentarily, but did not stop the charge. As Vaughan was reloading, he tripped on a bush and fell with the bolt open, and the lion was almost on top of him. I fired from about 2 feet away through his side behind the shoulder, which turned him off Vaughan, and he came at me. I had run out of ammo in the gun and backing up for more room, I tripped and fell on my back with the lion almost on top of me. I had the rifle in both hands and as the lion came at me. I hit him as hard as I could with the rifle, which broke his tooth as it skidded up the forend. My finger got in the way, and I got cut by the canine.

This startled him for a second. He backed off, and his left paw snapped my lower sling swivel. As he appeared to be coming back for seconds, Vaughan had got to his feet and fired broadside at the lion, which fell over about 2 feet from me.

The entire incident probably lasted no more than 5 seconds but the adrenaline high lasted a bit longer. After our hearts had slowed to a reasonable rate we congratulated each other for saving one another’s skins. It took six stitches to sew up the bite, and although this could have gone very bad, it didn’t. Vaughan and I now share something that very few people have experienced. He is definitely a person that passed the test of fire.

Sandy Trout

lion-bw1

Another Day In Paradise, Africa

By Terry Blauwkamp

Each morning we would get up and look outside, and exclaim, “Another day in Paradise”. It just does not get better than this. Each year, we think it just can’t get any better, and somehow we are blessed again, and it just gets better. Or maybe we just appreciate it more as we get older.

This year was to be our longest trip yet. By we, I mean myself, and my best friend and hunting partner, my wife Jo Ann. We are to be gone 47 days. Now most husbands and wives would shudder at the mere thought of being cooped up with their spouse that long.

Now, if you were to make me sit in a lawn chair at a resort or on a cruise ship for 47 days, I would have a problem, but not when hunting and shooting are involved.

We flew on SAA via Atlanta to Cape Town South Africa, connecting to SAA Airlink to Wind Hoek Namibia. There we were met by our PH and host Jan Visser and his wife Marie of Klawerberg Ranch. Jan made his first visit to the USA in February, and visited our SCI Chapter meeting. It did not take us long to figure out that we must go see these folks.

There we got to see Namibia, Africa’s Best Kept Secret. Jan’s place is a vast and beautiful land, only a 30-minute drive from the airport.

They grow Springbok in Namibia to gigantic proportions. I had never even heard of a 15” Springbok Ram, let alone ever shoot one. They also grow exceptional Red Hartebeest, and Gemsbok (Oryx), second to none anywhere. We took them all while there, and all three trophies qualified for a Namibian Professional Hunter Assoc. Gold Medals.

We also had a new experience in Namibia, RAIN, and it “never” rains in Namibia in April, but let me tell you, it rained and hailed very hard while we were there.

An hour later, the sun is out, and starting to dry out. By sunset, you would never even know it rained as the soil just soaks it all up.

After a great week in Namibia, we flew back to Cape Town. There we did a day tour, and also a trip thru the Swartklip Ammunition plant. They make mostly 22-rim fire ammo there, and I was amazed at how much work goes into making those little cartridges.

OK, now on to more hunting. We arrived in Port Elizabeth at 5 pm, and were met my Jenny Wormald. Jenny and her husband Roy are old friends of ours, as we have been with them 4 times before.

We arrived at the ranch just after sundown, and soon were unpacked and quickly assembled around the fireplace swapping stories, with their dog Milo, snuggled tightly against me as he is my pal when we are there.

We spend 10 days with Roy & Jenny, taking a Klipspringer, and a Vaal Reebok, both which I had never taken before. Jo Ann took a nice Red Hartebeest, and I also took a Kudu, Mt Reebok, White Blesbok, and a Zebra.

Time sure flies when you are having fun, and all too soon we again on our way, this time flying to Johannesburg, to hunt for the 4th time with Piet Fouie and Marius Kruger from African Dawn Safaris.

We arrived in Jo Berg at 12:25 Pm and by 3:30 we were in Marius’ camp, changing clothes and getting a chance to look at game yet before sunset.
We were to be here 7 days, and here we took a 30” Bleu Wildebeest, 23” non-typical Red Hartebeest, another Zebra and Jo Ann took three nice Impala Rams. Her highlight there was going to the town of Warmbaths with Marius’ wife Lana for a “day at the spa”.

Darn, we are half way in our trip already, and we are just getting warmed up. Our next PH, Hennie Badenhorst, from Lyon Safaris came to get us, and spent the night with us before we left to go to his place.

By noon the next day, we were in another camp. We are to be here only 2 nights, as it is just a place he wanted us to see. I can see why, sheer luxury.
But, they had plenty of game here too. Now this entire hunt with Hennie is Jo Ann’s hunt. I just take the pictures.

Right after lunch, Hennie says, “I think you need to shoot a Zebra, because your husband has shot two already”. OK, that’s fine with her.

Sure enough, by 3 PM she has a great Zebra Stallion on the ground with one clean shot with her 7mm Mag and a 175 gr Hornady Round Nose bullet. By the time we got the pictures taken, and the Zebra loaded up and taken to the skinning shed, there was just time for her to shoot an Impala yet before dark.

The next day we spend the entire day looking for a big Warthog but to no avail.

Now after our second night, we again packed up and move 3 hours to Hennie’s camp on the Limpopo River.

We are now on a full-scale hunt for Warthogs, but all we can find is Sows and baby piglets. Right at dark that night, we are looking at group of Gemsbok, and Hennie says “Shoot that last one please, he has a broken leg”. OK, Jo Ann is into action again. It was just nicely dark when we got him loaded up and the pictures taken. It was a nice 35” Gemsbok which had somehow buggered himself by stepping in a hole most likely. It’s better to take these out, than let them suffer or the scavengers get them.

Next day starts out rather quiet until 8:10 am, but then pure action. We finally catch a very nice Warthog standing under a tree, not paying much attention to his surroundings. Ahh, this was his last and fatal mistake.

How Jo Ann ever made that shot I don’t know, because she had to shoot thru the crotch of a tree to hit the Wart Hog under a tree behind it and made a clean lung shot and she finally had her Wart Hog.

Twenty minutes later, Bang, and another Impala hits the dust. While heading for the skinning shed, we found the herd of Red Hartebeest, we knew were there somewhere, and Hennie picked out the one he wanted for her, and bang again, one more clean shot with the 175-gr Hornady’s.

We ended our hunt with Lyon Safaris, taking one more nice Male Impala, and great 4” Steenbok.

We are now headed back to civilization, and to a Bed and Breakfast in Pretoria. The next day we are to tour the PMP Ammo factory, and see how the production of ammunition. Whoa, it is assembled in a blur. They load 40,000 rounds a day 7 days a week. What was equally impressive, were the steps of quality control taken, and the vast amount of hand labor. Everything is hand packed, hand inspected and sorted.

The weather continues to be perfect, and I think today was number 28 in a row of perfect sunshine.

While in Pretoria, we took opportunity to utilize the great buying power of the American Dollar, especially eating out. We went to dinner with Hennie and his girl friend one night, and had the “works”. Two waiters, a fireplace, wine, shrimp cocktails, steak, prawns, deserts, etc, all for $59.24 US Dollars. In the states that meal would have cost that much per person.

Lodging in SA is a bargain too. There are lots of B & B where you can stay in wonderful surroundings, and have a full breakfast for $20 to $50 per person.
We are now on to the last leg of our trip, and it seems impossible that we have done so much already. Adriaan Rall from the Orange Free State, a 2-hour drive south of Jo Berg, fetched us and we are off to his home.

He hunts mostly with a bow, and is a large grain farmer too.

We are off to “selectively reduce” some Blesbok and Springbok populations in the area.

It seems that if a herd of animals gets it’s male to female ratio out of sorts, fawn production goes way down so we were to take out some odd animals to fix things.

This is a lot tougher than we thought. It is easier to sort out the big trophy bulls than sort out his competition.

Jo Ann shot 5 Blesbok on the first day, and I took 10 Springbok on the next day.

The next day was Sunday, so we just went with the folks where we were staying on an outing and picnic by the lake. Yes, lake (or dam backwater really) in a National Park with game everywhere to see. It is tough to eat when I’m watching 40” Sable, and Zebra close by, but what a way to spend the day.

We have only one more last day to shoot, and Jo Ann is back on the Blesbok rampage, it took us the best part of the day to sort out 8 more.

The particular ranch we were on, wanted 8 males taken out of his herd. So of course we just had to comply. I’m telling you, we were impressed with Jo Ann’s shooting with her 7mm Mag and 162 gr Hornady BT bullets.

All the meat from the culling goes back to the rancher, and he divides it up to his staff and workers. Nothing ever goes to waste in Africa.

Day 46, the most dreaded day of all. Pack up one last time, and head back to Jo Berg’s airport.

Going to Africa is easy, lots of anticipation and a non-stop 14 hour flight, but that flight going home leaving at 8 PM and having to stay cooped up for 17 hours is the killer.

After the typical arrival at Customs, and then rechecking luggage to the onward flight back home, it just a matter of staying awake a few more hours.

One thing about being gone, “there is no place like home”. Like sleeping in our own bed again, and having enough lights and shelf space in the bathroom. OH and real Ice Cream.

Next year, the Lord willing, same game plan. Going to De Klerk’s in Kimberley first, then down to the Eastern Cape to Roy & Jenny. After 10 days with Roy, back to Jo Berg where Piet will fetch us, and finishing off with Adriaan and Hennie again. There might different caliber guns, but always the same bullets, Hornady’s & Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claws.