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There’s nothing like being in Africa. The flight in yesterday was a lot better than it was 2004. It seems SAA has made some changes for the better. I met Jimmy and Linda from Madiakgama Safaris and headed off for a long drive (6 hours) to their property in the NW Province of South Africa. During that time we discussed the hunt and decided that for my first day I would shoot a little and unwind by hunting a waterhole. This made good sense, this hunt was intense and I wanted a zebra anyway. After unpacking the gear and settling in- it was quite late. I popped a sleeping pill to get on Africa time and wiped out in no time.
My wake up call was a 7:30AM where I joined everyone for a quick bite and then it was off to the practice range. My Bowtech was shooting well (actually, the loser holding the Bowtech was shooting well, the bow always shoots well) and I was ready. Jimmy accompanied me in the blind and from the first 10 minutes until lunchtime it was nonstop action – including this special surprise:
All in all we saw about 50 animals during the morning hunt. Lots of gemsbok, warthogs, ostrich, wildebeest, and of course, our rhino buddies. No zebra. We called it quits at midday and went back to the lodge for a nice lunch. Then it was right back into the same blind, this time with Linda, Jimmy’s wife. The afternoon was much slower. We had a couple of waterbuck join us along with one very annoying wildebeest bull who busted us. A few warthogs and kudu cows wrapped up the evening hunt and it was back to the lodge where I listed to stories about lion hunts, which had me at the edge of my seat.
Lion hunting is just dangerous – there’s just no other way to put it. It was here that we had a serious discussion about South Africa’s notorious “canned lion hunts” with drugged lions and hunts conducted in tiny pens on tamed animals. The idea of that type of hunting nauseates me to the core. To the uninformed, you’d assume every South Africa lion hunt is conducted this way. And frankly, despite the numerous conversations to the contrary about Madiakgama’s lion hunt, I still needed to see it for myself. Enclosures (big ones) don’t bother me; virtually all hunting in Africa is done on game ranches where the wildlife is highly managed. The thought of hunting what many describe as a “zoo lion” was of no interest to me. But people I know and respect had bowhunted lions here with Jimmy and they all laughed when I asked them if they considered this a “canned hunt.” One guy described it as one of the most challenging hunts he’d ever gone on, and he hunted grizz, sheep and moose more times than I’ve probably been whitetail hunting. After listening to the stories, the lingering doubt was going away. I was going to hunt hard with no guarantee of success. Jimmy and Linda made it perfectly clear, it’s fair chase or no hunt at all. That meant no hunting over bait, no dogs, thousands and thousands of acres for the lions to roam, and all of it spot and stalk. I had to listen to every word that Jimmy’s son Jacque, says. There would be two Professional Hunters accompanying me, both with large caliber rifles along with Linda hanging back and running the camera. The biggest thing they stressed to me was that if I got charged, do not run! I then told them…been there, done that… Tomorrow I will be hunting a lion.
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Our Professional Hunters for this safari is: Madiakgama Safaris |
