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Into Africa - South African hunting today

by Colin Greenwood
Hunter 1

Looking across the valley at Valhalla Hunting’s Helpmekaar base. The hunting ground extends just beyond the escarpment in the far background.Britain still offers the sporting rifleman a wide range of hunting opportunities and Australia offers greater opportunities that are more widely available to the average shooter, but most hunters have dreams about African hunting. To many it is a distant dream, just something they would like to do when that cash windfall tumbles onto the doormat.

Some of the great safari areas of the pastin countries like Kenya are now reduced to tourist traps where hunting is no more, thanks to poaching supported by corruption. Lack of stability in other areas means that hunting there is simply impossible, but African hunting is still there and the African dream can still be realised - and at a cost far lower than many would expect.

South Africa rates hunting high on its list of attractions. There are still plenty of opportunities to hunt big and dangerous game in areas of truly wild country but the costs are high, as they have always been, but plains game hunting is much more accessible and the animals range from the 270kg kudu with its magnificent spiral horns down to the tiny dik dik at five kilos. Many of the names resonate - nyala, wildebeest, impala, blesbok, springbok. The names themselves recall the adventures of the great hunters of the past.

Two major problems are imagined. The first is that the cost is far beyond the pockets of most of us and the second is that South Africa has become an extremely dangerous place to visit. South Africa now has a very high homicide rate, but as usual, that headline statement is both true and false. If a visitor is stupid enough to walk around in certain parts of many of the big cities or to wander into the townships, particularly at night, he will be in dangerous territory, but there are parts of British cities that I would not now care to visit late at night. During our several visits to Kwa-Zulu Natal, my wife and I have taken sensible precautions and neither of us has felt even slightly at risk.

The cost of hunting South Africa is a matter for the hunter. Flight costs are falling all the time. The cost of hunting varies with what you choose to shoot. Most professional hunters, like my host on several visits, have a base farm but also obtain hunting rights across much larger territories. They make a basic charge per hunting day and cater for non-hunting guests. There is then a list of trophy fees for various animals.

Some professional hunters operate within a tightly fenced area and buy-in animals each year. They do that well in advance to allow the animals to become acclimatised but there is an artificiality about this that does not appeal to me.

The impala, beautiful and graceful, is common in Africa. Behind it are Zulu tracker, Pumlan, and professional hunter Danilo Pefelli.I have hunted on several occasions with Valhalla Hunting based at Helpmekaar, Natal and there are very special reasons for my return visits to this base. The first is that the property is entirely unfenced and animals are retained only by providing the right environment. Animals are truly wild and not brought in except for the occasional introduction of new blood. Although the property is also used for limited stock rearing, that is very much secondary to the hunting. It might also be added that the accommodation and food are top class.

I have, however, another reason. The name Helpmekaar might mean something to military history enthusiasts. It was Lord Chelmsford’s base for his invasion of Zululand in 1879. Rorke’s Drift is just over the hill and Isandlwana, where the Zulus wiped out half of the British column is a short distance away. Within a couple of hours’ drive lies Majuba Hill where a tiny handful of Boers inflicted a humiliating defeat on the British Army in the first Boer War. A battle took place at Helpmekaar itself during the second Boer War and the sites for the first battles of that war, Talana, Elandslaagte, Ladysmith and others, are close by. The place where Winston Churchill was captured by the Boers is a short drive away. The involvement of Australians in the Boer War might make these sites, which are well preserved and well mapped, of special interest.

What is the cost of such hunting? On a one to one basis, the hunter is charged £200 (about $A520) per day with non-hunting guests at £95, including accommodation, all meals, laundry and the services of a professional hunter, tracker, skinner, the use of a vehicle as required and the skinning and salting of trophies. Trophy fees start at about £145 for impala, springbok, mountain reedbok and blesbok. Large animals cost more and limits are placed on the number shot each year. Zebra is charged at £425 with wildebeest (blue and black) costing £430 and the magnificent kudu - a trophy to be admired forever - is £450. Close by are other species including that magnificent, ugly warthog and animals such as the waterbuck, red hartebeest and many more. Altogether some 30 species are available in the immediate vicinity of the base.

Therefore, the hunter new to Africa could elect to hunt, say, one impala, blesbok and springbok and then add just one of the larger animals to complete the hunt. If he were interested in military history, he could couple that with some battlefield tours for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The hunting itself is truly natural and ethical. Hunting at the home base is usually done in the early mornings or evenings and always on foot. In South Africa the impala is a common animal but to the visitor it is far from common. It is an exquisite animal with the male carrying attractive lyre-shaped horns. It is also an alert animal, often seen in herds from a distance but far from easy to approach. When disturbed, the herd will take off with graceful leaps rising three metres into the air and covering as much as 12 metres. To watch the herd literally fly away in this manner is unforgettable.

It took two days to secure this superb kudu - and every second of the hunt is instantly recalled each time I see the head.Despite some experience in stalking deer, my first attempt at impala failed. The party was led by the tracker, a Zulu named Pumlan, with professional hunter Danilo Pedrelli bringing up the rear. The herd was sighted by the tracker some distance off and, taking into account wind and terrain, it was fairly easy to get within about 200 metres. On the basis of my supposed experience in stalking deer, I was allowed to stalk in alone to take a selected male, but the grass was dead and brittle and it was impossible to move silently. The herd became agitated and then suddenly it took off with enormous grace and speed. There was no hope of a shot.

On a later attempt, I remained more or less upright, moved slowly and steadily from cover to cover when the animals had their heads down and on that occasion retrieved my reputation.

Conversely, on a later trip the party was moving carefully over open savannah when a male blesbok was sighted facing us. He was a lone male away from the herd and careful glassing showed that he was a very old beast that should be culled. A short crawl on low grass to a stunted bush gave both a cover and a rest. He remained head-on and was taken in the chest at about 75 metres, dropping like a stone.

My hunt for a kudu occupied two days. On the first day an excellent male was spotted and the tracker led the stalk in. It was a difficult approach that involved running about 100 metres while bent double to get to a starting point where we paused for the final approach. The tracker, who was not even blowing, pretended that he needed to study the final approach to allow me to recover. We moved forward carefully, the tracker still leading, but I know that I spooked the animal. I do not know how I did it but the tracker was still and behind cover.

The following day, after an equally difficult approach, we got within shot of two fine bulls standing quite close together. The tracker offered his shoulder for a rest and, after my breathing had returned to something approaching normal, I tried for a neck shot on the larger of the two. Down he went as if pole-axed. I lifted the rifle to reload, having been caught out like that before. It was as well I did for the Zulu leaped into the air with joy. He may have been overjoyed that I had my trophy or he may have been relieved that he did not have to track a wounded animal.

The old blesbok ram, also a common animal, but an exciting trophy for the visitor.The kudu head now hangs in my home and each time I see it, I can close my eyes and re-live that hunt second by second.

African hunting is still there and, for the vast majority of us, it is affordable as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I should end with a health warning: Africa strikes like a recurring disease and once it gets into the blood it could be incurable. My own intention was for a one-time hunt but I continually want to go back.

Valhalla Hunting can be contacted at:

  • Mail:
    PO Box 790,
    Dundee, 3000
    Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
  • Telephone and Fax: ++27 34 6421 790
  • E-mail: [email protected]

Captions
Image 1: Looking across the valley at Valhalla Hunting’s Helpmekaar base. The hunting ground extends just beyond the escarpment in the far background.
Image 2: The impala, beautiful and graceful, is common in Africa. Behind it are Zulu tracker, Pumlan, and professional hunter Danilo Pefelli.
Image 3: It took two days to secure this superb kudu - and every second of the hunt is instantly recalled each time I see the head.
Image 4: The old blesbok ram, also a common animal, but an exciting trophy for the visitor.