Hunting Cape Buffalo at Night

[CarrieZylka]

Carrie / Gordon,

Welcome to AH. Love the way you both jump in without hesitation. Hope you both stay around and participate on other threads.

All the best.

Thank you so much! I've moved on from this post, people are attacking my integrity because I dared to see the side of the PH, I have been told the other side of the story from two people who were actually there, the problem is I can't really clarify as I am not a legal representative of the outfitter, just a friend of the outfitter's daughter who I've met and worked with and done interviews with several times.
I can tell you that they are a very reputable company, all PH's had the appropriate licenses, there was a and the original poster's definition of "night" is quite different than what I would consider "night". But that would be hearsay and relayed through a third party which I'm sure no one would believe anyway. I don't care to engage with them anymore.

I have been reading and commenting on other threads and I find them to be much more informative and less inflammatory than this one.

I actively participate in another African Hunting forum and I've found a few threads on subjects not covered there so I'm enjoying reading through them!

Thanks for the warm welcome and rest assured I won't be going anywhere.

 

[gordon-kruger]

Wheels, no problem for me with some disagreements, like billc say (old Gordon) yes I'm perhaps old (53) but that give some kind of experience in the subject... anyhow I will for sure stay around and will continue to give my point of view from time to time

By the way, ActionBob you are so right in your post regarding modern communication.

Best wishes, Gordon

 

[jand]

I am deeply saddened to read about your bad experience in South Africa. We are already fighting a battle of ethics with the captive bred Lion controversy , the "hunting" of Rhinos by Asian clients in our recent past , the subsequent involvement of PH's in Rhino poaching and the high fence , put and take debate going on. We don't need another incident like this to occur. It was unethical and irresponsible and showed a lack of professionalism on the part of all the parties involved in organising the hunt. It makes us the laughing stock of African hunting. You were the innocent victim that got talked into this in the heat of the moment.
I would like to assure you that this behaviour is not condoned by most of the outfitters and PH's in South Africa.
I hope you will return to South Africa. It is a fantastic country to hunt with the right people.

Happy hunting

Jan

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Jan could not agree MORE, this is simply put unacceptable.

To think these are companies with which reputable outfitters need to compete with.... Simply put no comparison.

It makes me wonder In which direction we are headed..... Ai!

My best always

 

[gordon-kruger]

Jan and Jaco, unfortunately this kind of things happens everywhere in the world and I have witness unethical behaviors regarding night hunting from famous roebuck Estates in England to "cutting-corners" for trophy big game hunting in Russia with help of chopper, my point is that RSA is one of the most reliable/controlled hunting destination in Africa with PHASA that watching the hunting industry most carefully.

Unethical lion breeding, yes, for sure it can be discussed if its ethical to take one of the greatest cats in the world under fence, but the Britt's have breeding pheasants for 250 years with the same idea, same as the Hungarian/Austrians have done with red stags for 300 years, hat will say breeding it for sport hunting. And we have to clear out something here, if you tracking a lion on a 50.000 acre fenced Kalahari farm its exactly as wild as a Masai lion in Tanzania with out fence, and the reason that is born is to be hunted one day and therefore its a very small ethical difference because with professional controlled game management this is what it is all about over the whole world, that will say selective shooting in combination of breeding with the reason to produce top quality trophy's.

Gordon

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Point noted Gordon, i just think its crap to hunt buff at night.........especially in the EC.

this is why SA is often frowned upo
on regulation i agree it is allot better regulated than the rest of Southern Africa.
my best

 

[gordon-kruger]

Yes Jaco, this is the first time I hear that someone hunting buffalo during the night, its not normal !

My best, Gordon

 

[ChasingHemingway]

Still no one has answered the question why were they hunting buff at night with 5 days left on the safari. Doesn't make sense to me on many levels...

 

[NitroX]

Came to read the thread and see what the story is about after seeing what Christina posted elsewhere.

I am really dumb founded that a PH would recommend to a client to shoot a cape buffalo in low light or at night with the aid of a torch or other light. Irrespective of whether it is legal or not. Irrespective of whether it is the last evening of the hunt or five more days to go. Never heard of a sporting trophy cape buffalo hunt being conducted with the use of a torch or spotlight.

Shoot the cape buffalo when it feeds on the alfalfa pellets bait which it regularly feeds on .... I hope this "sporting" buffalo was properly weened as well.

PH conducting hunts on cape buffalo possibly not being properly licensed for dangerous game in South Africa.

Failure to diligently follow up on a wounded cape buffalo. Especially when the client is asking to do it. Why was a cape buffalo offered to a client if the PH did not have the appropriate qualifications?

A pretty damning set of points above.

 

[garyleach]

Walk Prey, i got an update a month ago that they had recovered my buff and i got the pics a bit ago but hadn't had enough time to send, any ways of course its only the horns, but they are my horns now and i should have them home say the end of the yr... Any ways to say i was elated was an understatement.. here is a couple pics. At the end it did work out for me, but it was a lot of follow up etc, but the outfitter and PH came thru at the end with flying colors!!!!

 

[gordon-kruger]

Nice skull preparation, I see sometimes the taxidermist in Zimbabwe are painting the skull with white color... not very nice, anyhow looks like its a 38" buff, with a 13" boss would score 91-95 sci points or something, tell me the score please...

Good they find it ! Can you explain what is - flying colors - ???????

 

[BRICKBURN]

…….

Good they find it ! Can you explain what is - flying colors - ???????

"to pass an examination with a very high score or to complete a difficult activity very successfully."

 

[otsego44]

Glad to hear your buff was recovered. PH doing as they should, not like those mentioned in this thread.

 

[Patrick R]

...Dealt with 3 ph on that one trip and all had more common sense then what you have on this thread...

Bill,

if you had that Amarula with me, you would have known 4 ph's...lol

Sorry guy's couldn't help myself...

 

[spike.t]

I wholeheartedly admit I am a friend of the owner (if I was trying to hide it I wouldn't have used my real name) - and that is why the whole thread made me angry. You're insinuating that a well respected outfitter (who I am assuming was your friend as well) in essence forced you to take the shot. I also found what you stated as to how long after the event you were leaving to be inconsistent. One minute you were leaving the next day, the next minute you had 5 days before you were leaving - it may have been in the way it was written/or read.

Your posting makes it seem as if the outfitter did anything wrong which they did not, we all have had terrible experiences with outfitters (I've had my share) but there are always two sides to every story.

You could have asked the question and not stated any names if all you were really after was a simple answer to your question.

hi carrie nothing to do with this thread but please can you tell me what a "professional outdoor communicator" ( your profession on your profile page) is in english please.

 

[gordon-kruger]

Mike, sounds like someone that can communicate with a PH... or .. ????

 

[garyleach]

Gordon, don't know the score, other then they told me he was just over the 40" mark, nothing on the bosses.... Brick nailed the flying colors comment!! When I find out I will post, never the less he will have a good story behind him, that's for sure!!!

 

[BnC 04]

Gary, great looking bull! Glad they recovered it for you.

 

[garyleach]

Thxs 44 and 04, sometimes it does work out at the end...

 

[gordon-kruger]

Yes for sure Gary, you have the skull..

Turn it back and forward it's still a buff that was walking away after a somehow not very successful shooting from your side, and allot of bad feelings that comes with this afterwards. When you look at that trophy on the wall the bad memories will coming back unfortunately... that's the life, and a trophy should be a final price for something that is well done and to remember that fantastic moment.

I feel that I had to say this because you sounds so happy that the PH find or finish a wounded buffalo because something was going wrong with your shooting. Also if you was the person that have together with the PH tracking down that buff and then finish him it would be another story, and a happy ending.

I do not like to remember bad memories, and there is allot of them I can promise you that... so I try to keep them in mind to not do the same mistakes, but I do not like to view them every day on the wall.. hope you understand what I mean.

Gordon