Recent Safari Hunting Stories

African Lion Safari

Thought you might enjoy the actual story of the hunt. Here it is.

Awesome lion. Massive. Heavy black mane. Hard hunt. Harder than the Botswana KD-15 blonde lion I took last year with PH Doug Scabdrol. In fact, the hardest hunt on any safari yet.

We started at 6:30AM this morning We cut a lion's tracks at 7AM and started tracking him on foot, not by vehicle. We had 3 Bushman in the lead on the tracks followed by PH's, me and the videographer.

After a couple of hours, we caught a few glimpses of him throughout the morning. His size was impressive. He was a heavy black maned lion. Each glimpse gave us renewed energy and heightened our excitement.

Several times we got close only for him to out smart us and slip away again. On one occasion we caught up with him where PH Doug thru up the shooting sticks and we almost had a shot. The brush was to thick. The lion was running. No shot. The pursuit carried on.

One time during the tracking, the tracks disappeared at a bush. Everyone was trying to workout the tracks and where the lion slipped of to. We walked all around that bush we had tracked him to. Turns out, even though we looked all around the bush and in the big bush, he was hiding in there; we just couldn't see him. The Bushman tracker nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the lion move inside the bush. Quickly the trackers scattered. PH Doug crouched down to look inside the wide bush and peer into its darkness. It was very dark inside and under the bush. I moved next to Doug and was in a kneeing position with the gun up so I could shoot under the branches of the bush. Then I saw him thru the branches in the dark recesses of the bush. I pointed the rifle directly at him awaiting his charge from 20 feet away. He then surprised all of us with a loud growl and mock charge from in the bush. Still no shot could be taken as there were to many branches in the way. He was still in the darkness inside the bush. We were all awaiting his full on charge out of the bush when he turned and ran out the back of the bush.

Again the chase was on. We walked and tracked him for 5 solid hours this morning. Miles and miles of walking thru the thick brush. As the morning wore on the sun's heat intensified as it rose overhead. In short it was hot as hell. Sweat was dripping from every pore on my body.

We continued the track and stalk. As we got closer to him I was close to being out of gas and ready to throw in the towel. I must have sweat 2 gallons of fluid. Everything was soaked, dripping wet. I wasn't sure if I was going to win or if the lion was. It appeared the lion might walk away the victor. We pressed on.

I was exhausted with the long quick pace (of course no one else was), just flatlander Brook. Finally at noon, 5 hours after we started tracking him, we closed on him as he too was tired from the heat and the pace. He gave us the chance we needed when the thick Kalahari brush thinned a bit and we could catch occasional glimpses of him sneaking thru the brush about 100+ yards in front. The trackers quickly fell back. PH Doug and I quickly moved into a position to give me a shot. As we stepped out from a bush on the left side, we saw him quartering away between the large scrub bushes. The moment was here. Doug threw up the shooting sticks. I readied the rifle and in one fluid motion laid the rifle on the sticks, threw off the safety. I took a quick bead thru the 2 1/2 power Schmidt & Bender riflescope. I put the illuminated red dot and crosshairs on his left side behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger as he was trotting and quartering away from us between the bushes at about 70 yards. The Blaser 375 H&H 300 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw hit him hard and knocked him down. He let out a loud roar. I gave him 2 insurance shots from the Blaser; each shot yielding the connecting sound all hunters know...whomp. He stayed put. Success. No wounded lion. No injured or mauled participants. All was good.

The joy, handshakes and high fives were followed by me sitting in the shade drinking lots of water trying to recuperate for pictures. What a great hunt. What a safari hunting memory! What a fantastic, massive, heavy black maned lion.

Now that's a hunt of a lifetime my friends. What an experience. Go hunting whenever you can. Most of all, teach your kids to hunt and the thrill of the outdoors. It will change your life and their lives for the better; forever.

We're resting now and heading back to Moketsi in the Free State Province in the morning to continue on our Safari Adventure.

Rhino Hunt

In all of Africa, the Black Rhino has struggled for survival because Chinese and Far Eastern medicine has placed an economic value on rhino horn for its aphrodisiac quality, an absolute absurdity as far as Western medicine and culture is concerned. Nonetheless, as the Black Rhino populations dwindled because of the aphrodisiac medicinal demands of the Chinese etal, African countries responded by outlawing the hunting of Black Rhino. All this did was increase the economic value of the rhino horn. Poachers for the black market hunted the rhino to the brink of extinction. Elimination of hunting and hunters' payment of trophy fees to the indigenous communities where the Black Rhino resided eliminated immediately the local communities from protecting and policing the rhino population from the poachers. Black Rhino populations dwindled even further.

Legally sustainable hunting of Black Rhino has always been desired by trophy hunters. Hunters are by far the true conservationists in the world. They put their money where their mouth is unlike treehuggers who chat "no hunting" but contribute nothing to conserve, preserve and expand the specie or resource. Their mantra, while certainly highly emotional, is unsupported by payment of fees by them to local communities who have to be empowered to care about saving the creature that lives in their community area.

As South Africa discovered in the 60's and 70's there was more money in raising and protecting game, they converted their cattle ranches into game ranches. The South African game ranchers desire to be able to offer legal hunting for this specie was driven by the desire of trophy hunters to hunt the black rhino. The hunting community and hunters stepped in and started to game ranch the Black Rhino back from the brink of extinction. Assessment and payment of the trophy fees by hunters empowered local game ranchers and communities to become stakeholders in conservation of the Black Rhino. They had a vested economic interest. The hunting community saved the Black Rhino as they did the White Rhino. Score one again for the good guys; the hunters.

Fast forward to today. Today the Black Rhino population contines to expand. CITES (Convention in International Trade of Endangered Species), the worldwide well respected organization that governs whether as specie has a large enough population to hunt, a quota that is, has authorized a quota of less than 10. However, South Africa has not issued any export permits for the taking of Black Rhino. A renewable or green hunting option, however, exists. Trophy hunters can hunt Black Rhino with a tranquilizing dart rifle under the strict supervision, guidance and auspices of the Nature Conservancy in conjunction with a licensed and permitted veterinarian who doses the dart for the rhino. You must also have a helicopter on site to follow the rhino after it is darted to ensure one can quickly get to the rhino after the tranquilizer takes affect and immobilizes the rhino. Once the rhino is immobilized, pictures of the rhino you darted with the dart rifle are taken during a 5 - 15 minute window. Then the hunter immediately under the direction of the vet administers the antidote. Within 30 seconds of administering the antidote the rhino is up, back on his feet again and off into the bush.

My hunt today was a fantastic experience. At 7AM the Nature Conservancy officer, vet, pilot and helicopter arrived. I practiced with the dart gun and hit the bullseye at 40 yards every shot. By 9:30AM we had cut the tracks of the Black Rhino after the helicopter located the Rhino earlier. The helicopter lost visual on the rhino and we set about following its tracks. Soon the crafty rhino was spotted. As he headed our way on a dead run, we hid behind some 15 foot high 30 foot wide scrub brush. We set up for the shot with the shooting sticks. Just as he got within 60 yards he saw one of the trackers and veered to our right to head into the thick bush, a foreboding place we did not want to have to go. The advantage was clearly in favor of the rhino if he went in there. The helicopter cutoff his route and sent him running back thru the scrub savanna. In true John Wayne Hatari style we climbed aboard the Land Cruiser with hunting rack on the back and headed out over the savanna in pursuit of the rhino. We closed to within 30 yards of the rhino. Doug, the PH, driving the Land Cruiser, immediately came to a stop. I let the dart zing out of the rifle towards the beast. The dart flew straight and true and stuck the rhino where I was instructed by the vet to shoot him...a Texas heart shot...right in the ole butt directly right of his tail. "Brilliant shot" exclaimed the vet. John the helicopter pilot announced over the radio "I must congratulate the hunter on a fantastic shot.".

The copter then followed the rhino. The drug according to the vet should take effect in 5-7 minutes. Now with a dart in his backside and a helicopter flying close to keep visual contact with him, the rhino ran on. After about 8 minutes, the vet decided the dart had failed to inject its contents. Off we raced to catch the rhino.

The vet in route of all the bumps loaded another dart. We caught up with the rhino just as it was going into some thick canyon bush. I pulled the trigger and no response from the gun. What?!!! I looked down to see that in all the commotion and bumping up and down from the chase the bolt on the rifle had come undone. I quickly locked the bolt down and sent a Hail Mary shot at the running rhino at 50+ yards. Swing and a miss as they say.

The rhino kept running. By now we were running out of options, so the vet decided we must dart the rhino from the helicopter. We quickly rendezvoused with the helicopter. The vet and I jumped from the truck and ran for the helicopter. I jumped in the open seat without a door behind the pilot. I grabbed my seat belt. Fastened it quickly. Then pointed the rifle out of the open door where I positioned myself to hang half outside so I could shoot. The vet took the seat next to me. Grap the headphones. Put them on. Don't fall out and off we went. Up, up into the air. Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop; the helicopter blades thundered as we approached the rhino. There to the right was the rhino. To cut his tracks, we veered hard right and approached the rhino from his left rear quarter. As we got to within 20 yards, the vet said "Shoot". I placed the red illuminated reticle on the front side of the left rear quarter of the rhino allowing for the small difference in speed. Thomp, the dart flew from the rifle and stuck properly in the left rear thigh. "Outstanding shot" yelled the Vet. John the pilot exclaimed "brilliant, absolutely brilliant shot, well done, you've done it both ways, from the ground and the air. I've never done that before. This is a magnificent day. Congratulations".

The helicopter quickly rose out of the way to give the rhino room and for the dart to take affect. 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 7 minutes later the rhino laid down and we all converged for the quick photo shoot. After pictures and a hunt summary video were recorded, the vet gave me the antidote needle. "Place the syringe here where I have the needle stuck in his right ear. Push in the antidote then we'll run back to the truck. We have 30 seconds before he fully awakens and sets about being very pissed off. We don't want to be on the ground when that occurs.". Plunger in. Run like hell to the truck. I'm thinking "don't fall. Don't trip. Easy does it but be quick." Slam the door shut while simultaneously the rhino rises to his feet and off he goes. Back to his habitat. All is well. All are safe. What a hunt. Unbelievable!

Our hunting business is finished here in the Free State Province of South Africa. Take your kids or grandkids hunting. Your life and their life will be the better; forever.