June 2024 – Newsletter
Apologies for a very belated first edition of our newsletter for 2024. As always it was great to be at the SCI Convention in Nashville at the beginning of the year. I managed to meet so many of the people we had been corresponding with throughout the previous year, as well as catch-up with many familiar faces. It is always so rejuvenating to see so many people who are still so very passionate about the outdoors, hunting and conservation.
It has been a great start to the season so far. Laurentiu returned to hunt with me for the second time. We had previously hunted a lion in Nyakasanga but this time the main focus was an elephant bull and sable – time permitting. We spent the first day on Shangani establishing where the concentration of elephant bulls was. Day two saw us on the tracks of a big herd of bulls. Several hours later we made contact with the group. It took us a little while to look them over and once we had picked out our quarry, we made our approach. We got to about 15 yards undetected and Laurentiu side brained the big bull with precision. It was a great experience and celebrations continued for the rest of the day and well in to the night. Our luck and Laurentiu’s skill continued with a huge old sable bull the next day which afforded us the opportunity to move areas to Chirundu and hunt some of the plains game Laurentiu was after – namely bushbuck and civet – and again deftly done.
Thank-you Laurentiu for another great hunt – hopefully we’ll see you again soon!!
A short break for me and my other (or apparently better) half, some administration and then back to work. Long time client and friend Dennis with his trusty side-kick and in-house entertainment, Travis arrived and we headed up to Chirundu for another highly anticipated adventure – hopefully getting an elephant bull as well as a tuskless. A lot of hard work, laughs and a positive attitude seemed to work as it so often does. Travis side brained a tuskless with his .416 Hoffman, recently fitted with a holosun. It seemed to be a good combination as a few days later it did the trick on a huge kudu bull. Dennis and his .505 Gibbs got in on the action with a big old hippo at close quarters. Both of our intrepid hunters got big hogs but the highlight on this 9th safari with Dennis was hunting this old single tusker. Dennis frontal brained it at under 8 yards – charging!! A great way to end the hunt and something that I’m sure will be etched in our minds for years to come.
Dennis, sadly is hanging up his hunting boots and this (apparently) was his last safari. I can only hope that I can hunt as long and as well as you have – it has been an absolute privilege getting to know you over the years and although you may, possibly, have seen the last of Africa – Africa has definitely not seen the last of you – so looking forward to my visit with y’all at the beginning of next year!!!
I am off shortly to the Bubye Valley for a couple of hunts, mostly for buffalo and nyala and I am sure there will be many more tales to tell in our next newsletter. I do have a couple of late season dates available – please get in touch if you are still looking for an adventure in 2024.
I end this newsletter on an extremely sombre note as I would like to pay tribute to a phenomenal woman, Camilla Blain, who sadly passed on the 18th of June. Camilla hunted for many years with my father JPS, and then continued to hunt with me. Camilla was a wife, a mother, a grand-mother, an accomplished huntress, a business woman, a pianist and vocalist, an artist (she painted my portrait above not so long ago after picking up a paintbrush for the first time) and so very much more – a force of nature really and a great friend. We are so deeply saddened by her passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Jim, Greg, Tim and her extended family and community – she will be so very sorely missed.
“The connections we make in the course of life – maybe that’s what heaven is.” – Fred Rogers
UNTIL THE NEXT EDITION…………………………. As always – stay safe and stay true!!!