Reflections on 2007

Another year of excitement and fun passed as we shared our little bit of heaven on earth with some old friends ... and many new ones as well. There is something special that makes Fort Richmond what it is. It is our sense of place which inspires and provides most of what we are about. On reflection of the past year with all the wonderful people we had the pleasure to share our lives with, it suddenly struck me that we — our family — have been here for 139 years. Most of our staff was born here or next door on neighbouring farms. What a privilege to be able to share all this with so many people from all over the world. Our son, Geoffrey, did exceptionally well in his final exams and our daughter, Marion, continues to shine in her studies.

The first hunt of 2007

Our first hunt last year started on 23 March with the arrival of John Solo and his brother Rob. They brought dad, Mark along for the ride and for some moral support. It was a really enjoyable hunt with some great trophies taken. One of the highlights was the joy that these somewhat quiet and unassuming guys derived from the hunt. Although Mark did not hunt, he was a great pleasure to have with us.

Hunting with an Encore

The first of April signalled the arrival of Marvin Smith and Barry and Rob Farkas. A delightful hunt ensued with the help of our old friend, Paul Phelan. We had some great discussions and hunted with an Encore for the first time. The Encore was a pleasant surprise for me. I had heard about them, but this was the first time I had seen it at work. I was impressed, to say the least. One often thinks that some designs are just about selling guns and I guess that for the most part that is true, but this one I would buy for myself. Originally they wanted to hunt with handguns, but the long flight undermined their energy and confidence and there was just no time to get back to the range to try again. Hopefully next time!

The joy of a good trophy

It is really great when you get a trophy that surprises you when you get to it. Before the bang it looked like a good specimen, on the ground it was really great. That is how I felt about the red hartebeest taken by Alex Thompson. Although we had taken many good ones, this was the first that measured over 24 inches. Alex and his friends Ron Egle, Butch and Brandon Gregg were next to hunt. The fun continued with some excellent shooting along with some exciting and protracted follow-ups ... perhaps caused by being over confident? Nevertheless, fun was had by all, and, even though they had to wait their turn, everyone took home excellent trophies.

Unplanned adventures

John and Jaye Jerome arrived next from Bath Mi and an adventure started that took us beyond what seemed like a joke at the time. We had started out with some great hunting and moved to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The state of the roads was so bad that our vehicle needed to be exchanged. Leon drove all night to get us going again with a replacement vehicle, and towed the other vehicle back. Alas, the new vehicle broke down as well. A delightful couple from Swaziland came to the rescue this time and took John and Jaye on a game drive, while park rangers helped us to fix the fuel line that had snapped off because of the vibrations on the road. With the vehicle fixed, we continued through the park with great lion and cheetah sightings, and home again to continue the hunt. Having sat all day at the waterhole in the hope of seeing a warthog, we were treated to a rather large white rhino arriving to drink across the water from us: a really great end to a fantastic time.

A surprise encounter

We were treated to another delightful family visit with the arrival of Bob and Cheryl Lambdin, daughters Michelle and Jackie, and Cheryl’s dad, Ron Gulette. Although the girls spent some of the time sun-tanning, the rest hunted hard and took some great trophies. A memorable moment was the super warthog taken by Ron. After being busted we decided to come back another time, but during the few minutes wait before our trek home, we were presented with a point blank opportunity. After the shot, the group took off and I thought it was impossible to have missed at less than 30 yards. A short search later and we were taking photos.

An interesting hunt

No sooner had the Lambdins left when Rick and Carol Cross arrived with son, Peter, and daughter-in-law, Alicia, and dad, Victor, who was a true blessing. I learned much from this 82-year old veteran. Like so many of our visitors, we have that common bond of having served our respective countries in times of conflict. Again, an interesting hunt as Rick wanted to hunt with his lever action guns. And what a great job he did! It just goes to show that what’s good for deer, is good for African game as well. The secret is good shot placement and getting close enough to be sure of yourself. Knowing your gun and practicing makes all the difference. While Rick and Vic hunted, Carol, Peter and Alicia went on an excursion with Annamarie to the Kruger Park, where they had a ball. On return to Fort Richmond we spent a few hours learning a new card game called “Skip Rick”. On their last day, after hunting, we visited Mokala for a last game drive.

Television and black powder

Earlier last year we had met up with Jason from Cedar Spur Outdoors — a TV show dedicated to spotlighting outfitters on their show. He sent Gino Attardi and Paul Rambo to film the hunt, which is due to be televised and promoted for 6 months on a hunting channel in the US. This was another first for us as they had only hunted with black powder, proving to be somewhat of a challenge. Lots of bullet failure caused frustration for the shooters. We are looking forward to seeing the final product... We will post the broadcast schedule and channel on the website and we will let all our regulars know about it.

The vision of a kudu

The Daniels family from Bucktrail Ranch, Petoskey arrived next. The fun we had started having at various shows we have done together, continued. Again it was a pleasure to hunt with guys who had done some shooting before they had arrived. Both Frank and Dale took excellent trophies. Some excitement developed around a kudu hunt when a bullet deflected and hit another. A real freak, as it was nowhere near the one being aimed at. We have had this happen before, but this was a first for a Kudu.

Another heart-pumping event occurred while we waited for warthog to come to a waterhole: a female kudu came within 20 feet of us. Although very tentative, she wanted a drink very badly and kept moving closer. With no cover to hide behind, we sat very still as she kept moving. The grace and beauty of these animals is very hard to describe. Like a sunset, not even a photo does justice. At 20 feet with their ears on full extension and eyes wide open, on full alert, they are awesome.

A hunter down with malaria

As I have discovered, malaria is not something to play with. During the last few days of the Daniels’ hunt I started feeling very tired and just wanted to sleep whenever I sat down. Little did I know that after dropping them off at the airport I would spend the next four days in hospital ... the start of a two-month recovery program. I was originally misdiagnosed, which did not help matters, because the treatment started too late. This is just a note that if you do decide to go to a malaria area it is advisable to take simple, but very effective precautions, which I did not do. I obviously picked it up while in the park with the Lievenses. Not their fault, mine entirely. The real blessing came with the arrival of Maegan Hakes, her husband Mike, her brother Tom and Carol Davis. Maegan is a chiropractor and kept me adjusted, which helped speed up the recovery process. I felt better in no time at all. It took longer however to get rid of the “poisons” pumped into me while in hospital.

Kgalagadi ... Okavango Delta ... Victoria Falls

We (Maegan and Mike Hakes, her brother Tom, and Carol Davis) had an awesome trip through the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, where we saw thirty lions in four days and a leopard in a tree, followed by some great sightings at the Okavango Delta in Botswana. We finished at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where we had an extraordinary interlude with some lions. This project that will eventually put captive bred lions back into the wild, allows you the chance to interact with the cubs in stage one of their development.

In stage one the cubs from tame mothers are taught to hunt as a group. In stage two they are set free in a smallish enclosure of about 10 000 acres, with no further human contact. From this stage they fend for themselves and are allowed to breed naturally. At two years old they are released straight into the wild to roam freely. This rather ambitious project is worth a visit, as it gives one the opportunity to make a contribution to much needed resources.

Success in the rain

After getting back to South Africa, I picked up Manuel Thies on his fourth visit with us. We started in the Durban area with our friends Paul Phelan and the team at Kia-Ora. A lot of rain and some very slippery slopes made for a very interesting hunt. Nevertheless Manuel succeeded in topping off last year’s excellent performance. Suffice it to say that the common duiker, a fine nyala and common reedbuck can now be taken off the list of animals that have eluded him.

After a couple of days, we moved up to Fort Richmond where Manuel took an excellent Waterbuck and a couple of good black springbok - one great trophy and another management one on the way home after we found a ram stuck in the wrong place. It really is a pleasure to hunt with someone like Manuel, whom we have gotten to know so well.

The final hunt for 2007

The final hunt of last year was with Rick and Michele Ireland and Michele’s sister and brother-in-law Todd, and Cheryl Robinson. They were on vacation in South Africa and stopped by for a few days to hunt. Endless hours to no avail were spent looking for a warthog for Todd, but it eluded us. Warthogs seem more plentiful in drier and cooler areas. Todd and Cheryl had a prior engagement so they left early and the hunt continued with Rick and Michele. On their last day we spent some time again at Mokala where we were treated to lots of Kudu. Rick seemed to draw every Kudu in the district to himself. I had never seen that many big bulls as with him. One almost has to bring him along for good luck.