Dear Hunting Friends

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

Since my last newsletter on the 9th of May we have had some very good hunts to report back to you on including my own bear hunt in Siberia/Russia plus the True Green Alliance and Matt’s big 5, please read on:

Starting with the new hunts that have taken place/the business side of things as far as Take Aim Safaris goes:

On a recent hunt in the Gonarezhou area PH Lloyd Yeatman guided these clients from Europe on this buffalo and leopard hunt, Lloyds near 100% success rate on leopard makes Naivaisha a contender for the best leopard area in Zimbabwe, buffalo are plentyful in Naivaisha as well and of course the big one as far as the Gonarezhou goes is the chance for trophy elephant bulls. Lloyd and Sabine run a first class safari operation, Sabine has refined the camp and the kitchen adding the womans touch to the Yeatmans safari experience (no more coke and cigarettes for breakfast), for a first class safari in a first class Gonarezhou safari area contact me, dates and quota for 2017 are available.

I have added a few Naivaisha camp pictures to this newsletter, if you want to see all the camp pictures I have plus read area information and see maps of the area please follow this link:  https://www.takeaimsafaris.co.za/hunt-in-zimbabwe/zimbabwe-hunting-areas/gonarezhou/

On a Matetsi hunt that finished today a client of ours from Europe hunted this buffalo, giraffe and kudu with PH Zane Bronkhorst, also in Matetsi we currently have a lion hunt going on for a Russian client, we have a good lion feeding on one of our baits as per the attached photos. I will update you on this lion hunt with my next newsletter but it’s looking good. We do still have one Matetsi lion left on quota for the 2017 season, if you want to hunt a full maned Matetsi lion then contact me…. Best priced wild lion hunt in Zimbabwe.

On a recent hunt in South Africa a South African client of mine hunted this lion with PH Riaan Lourens, there has never been a better time for foreign or RSA clients to hunt lion in RSA, if you are interested in a lion or lioness hunt please contact me for more info, a South African male lion hunt will now cost you the same as a buffalo hunt.

The cost and hunt comparison between a ranch/farm lion and ranch/farm buffalo is an interesting one as these two hunts are very similar from the point of view that they are both walk and stalk hunts for farm/ranch dangerous game animals that have been bred, fed and translocated in captivity for hunting. I have dealt with and booked hunts for hunters who have hunted lion in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique that have also hunted these RSA lions, all agree that these walk and stalk RSA lion hunts are right up there with the wild lion hunts from an experience point of view. (not buffalo nor lion can ever be tamed or domesticated captive bred or not.)

This low price window will close as will this form of hunting I suppose, whether other key species like buffalo and crocodile bred and hunted the same way in RSA will close with lion is anyone’s guess, however right now we can legally hunt and export the trophies from them all. Contact me for bookings.

Now for a special note: He started as a client and has become a valued friend, those of you that read my newsletters and have been on my newsletter list for some time will recall me mentioning Matt and his quest to hunt the big 5 and the dangerous 7, we just hunted his rhino last month. I have booked a few hunts over the years for clients finishing their big 5 by achieving key species that I could and do offer, those have all been special hunts for me as I understand the commitment to finishing what one starts from a hunting perspective (and in life) however Matt is the first client to start and finish his big 5 with Take Aim Safaris plus he got his hippo and croc finishing his dangerous 7 then added sable, roan and a whole host of plains game including a 60 inch kudu and some massive baboons.

Now to be clear I did not guide all these hunts myself, some I did some I didn’t but I was there with Matt on all his big 5 hunts, I did credit the PH’s at the time of the hunts on past newsletters that are still all on my website if you care to review them please do so however another short thanks to all that were involved in making this dangerous 7 quest a reality especially Matt and Dave.

Now the stories of these hunts will stay with me a lifetime and are too numerous to recount on this platform, let me say that this has been a great project that has taken us 5 years and resulted in friendships that will last a lifetime, here are a few photos of Matts big 5 and dangerous 7:

You may be wondering whats next?? Well Matt just booked his next male lion hunt with Take Aim Safaris so here we go again…. Thanks Matt. A more deserving hunter I have never met, Matt never complained once about anything from camps to food to vehicles including when things go wrong as they can and will do never a bad or sad word, dankie boetie.

Here goes another bucket list achievement this time my own, since I was a young boy my dream has been/was (amoungst others) to hunt a brown bear, I am please to tell you all that I have just returned from Siberia/Russia where I went with another friend of mine from Johannesburg where we live to hunt our bears. Both Shaun and I had fantastic hunts that were made possible with the help of my good friend Tony Ulmer from Mistral hunting agency in Austria, like most Africans I know/knew very little about international hunting until I went into this buisness 10 years ago. Tony helped make this trip not only possible but affordable as well. If any of you are interested in a brown bear hunt feel free to contact Tony directly, thanks Tony and Maria.  Anton.Ulmer@mistral-jagd.at mistral@mistral-jagd.at

Here are some photos of the Siberian mountain range we hunted, our camp and my bear… Hope you enjoy.

If you are interested in a Tuskless elephant hunt let me know, I have some great offers from the Zimbabwe Lower Zambezi Valley Operators on tuskless elephant hunts where you can shoot a few tuskless on one hunt, 2×1 is available etc. etc.

Now for something a little more serious. All us hunters know that we are under ever more serious attack from the animal rights brigade. They began campaigning to shut us down 30 years ago but did not succeed.  However, they have never given up.  And, in the current era, they are more numerous than they have ever been and they are finding more and more ingenious ways to destroy us. But “non carborundum illegitimi!” – we are not going to let the bastards wear us down!

Many of you may know, or know of, Ron Thomson who is emerging now, in his twilight years, as the hunter’s and the wildlife manager’s most courageous champion. He has spent 58 years of his life managing Africa’s national parks and big game animals – and writing about hunting and wildlife management controversies – and he has huge experience. In my opinion, there is no hunter alive with more big game hunting experience than Ron; nor do I believe has a more experienced big game hunter ever lived.  Over a period of 30 years, Ron has hunted (not culled) 5000-odd elephants.  These he tracked down on foot with Bushman trackers and he shot them with – mostly – a .458 Magnum rifle (but he has used many other calibres, too).  He has also hunted some 800 buffalos and a great many lions and leopards. He dedicated many years of his life to pioneering the capture and translocation of Zimbabwe’s black rhinos in his capacity as a game ranger for the Rhodesian (now Zimbabwean) national parks department.  He estimates that he has spent some 25 000 hours hunting Africa’s big game animals – each hunt being calculated from the time he took up the animal’s tracks to the time he pulled the trigger – ONLY.  That amounts to 5.7 years of actual hunting from dawn to dusk each day. Do yourself a favour and buy his seven, limited edition, big game hunting memoir books.  They represent the best big game hunting literature I have ever read – and I re-read them as often as I can.  I spent my life as a youngster reading hunting books – and I still do – and I can assure you these books will take you to “the next level”. Look at his website: www.ronthmsonshuntingbooks.co.za.

Ron, and a number of his close associates, recently created a new NGO in South Africa (going global) called “The TRUE GREEN ALLIANCE” – of which he is the CEO.  The TGA’s express purpose is to destroy the credibility of the animal rights doctrine in the public domain; and to teach everybody about the principles and practices of science-based wildlife management. The TGA’s main purpose, however, is to destroy the anti-hunters.

Please review the attached literature and get involved with Ron’s TGA.  Help the TGA to achieve its goals. Help the TGA to educate non-hunters and anti-hunters alike – that we hunters are not the anti-Christs they believe us to be. Rather, we are true conservationists who really can save the world’s wildlife into posterity. And look at the TGA’s website: www.mahohboh.org.  It is packed with all sorts of information and advice that hunters will enjoy. The TGA’s Facebook can be found at: www.Facebook/TheTrueGreen Alliance/.

Please, hunters, get involved with Ron and the TGA, and, trust me, his big game hunting books are the best of the best.  They are a must read for anyone interested in hunting Africa’s big game – and the more experienced YOU are the more will you love these books.

It is personal honour for me to be this man’s personal friend, and to now be associated with his TGA. I hope, therefore, that you will join me in doing your bit to save the future of the sport we all love so much.  At the least, become a member of the TGA – and learn all about it. No contribution is too small.  Whether you want to spend of your time in the service of the TGA, use your professional expertise, or merely provide financial assistance, please get involved.  The TGA needs all the help it can get.  It is ranged against a number of extremely well-heeled NGOs that have oodles of money to spend on counter attacks. Those of you who are editors and writers please learn more about the TGA and help spread the word of this very worthy cause.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TGA MEDIA PACK

Lastly if you are considering booking a big game hunt in RSA then hold your horses please until you read my next newsletter #64 when I will introduce to you two of the best hunting areas that RSA has to offer, one of them @ 10.000 hectares in the Limpopo and the other @ 14.000 hectares in the Free State province on the Van Der Kloof dam, both of these areas are the best of the best when it comes to South African hunting. I have decided to do my best to sell more RSA hunts by offering the best of RSA to my 5000 plus strong client/newsletter reader base.

As always thanks for taking the time to read my newsletters and pass them onto your hunting friends, sorry that this one was extra length and thanks again.

Please contact me for all your Zim and RSA big game hunting requirements, Agents, PH’s, Clients, Outfitters all welcome. (bear hunters as well…. J)

Hunters best wishes.

Carl Knight
Contact Number: 0027-82-749-1747
Email: carl@takeaimsafaris.com
Web: www.takeaimsafaris.com