africa's bowhunter - september 2015

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SEPTEMBER 2015VOL 16 - ISSUE 09SOUTH AFRICAR34.00 [incl VAT]USA $6.50OTHER COUNTRIES R29.82 [Tax excl]

Bowhunter

How to protect your bowEye to eye with a cheetahPreparing for competitionGame farm: RinkalskopThe Genesis bow – a formula for successGuidelines for travelling bowhunters

Bowhunting

Buffalo

Broadhead test: Nanook

Bow test: Missions’s Menace II and Hype DT

AFRICA’S BOWHUNTERBOWHUNTING BUFFALO

SEPTEMBER 2015

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Navrae: Nico 082 442 4506

3de laan 243, Bredell, Kempton Park

GPS-koördinate: S 26 05 min 31 sekE 28 18 min 19 sek

Tel: 011 979 3060 Sel: 082 442 4506

Maandag tot Vrydag: 08:00 - 17:00

Saterdae: 08:00 - 14:00Sondae nie oop nie

...elke man se natuur

Hierrie skoenne... ...is vriekken NICE! ! ! !

Grootste verskeidenheid kamoefleerdrag in SA

Volstruisleer Saalrug vellie Robvelleer

Goue Wildebees

4 AFRICA’S BOWHUNTER SEPTEMBER 2015

AFRICA’S BOWHUNTERAfrica’s Bowhunter [ABH] is an independent monthly publication for the archer, bow hunter, game farm owner and nature lover. Copyright on all articles and material published in ABH resides with the publisher. No part of ABH may be copied or reproduced without permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in articles or advertisements do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, editorial committee or publishers. Submission of articles for publication is welcome, but although care is taken, the publisher can accept no responsibility for loss or damage to any material submitted.

Africa’s Bowhunter Magazine cc[CK/] 96/32848/23PO Box 31688Waverley, 0135South AfricaTel: 012 348 5550 Fax: +27 86 615 7044E-mail: [email protected]: www.africasbowhunter.co.zaOffice address: 1st Floor, The Hillside 318, Lynnwood, Pretoria 0081.

PUBLISHERRean SteenkampE-mail: [email protected]

EDITORRean SteenkampE-mail: [email protected]

HUNTING/ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORCleve CheneyCell: 082 922 5547E-mail: [email protected]

COPY EDITOREmmerentia Steyn

DESIGN AND LAYOUTAndré van SchaikE-mail: [email protected]

REPRODUCTION & PRINTINGPaarl Media MidrandTelephone: 011 201 3460

DISTRIBUTIONRNA DistributionHazel LuüsTel: 011 248 3639

SUBSCRIPTIONS/SMALLS/ ADVERTISEMENTSSantie LiebenbergE-mail: [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENTSLizandré van RooyenE-mail: [email protected]

CONTENTS

5 A world gone mad

7 From our readers

8 Bowhunting buffalo

16 Preparing for competition

18 Testing the Mission Menace II and Hype DT

22 Eye to eye with cheetah’s child

26 The way I see it

29 ABO news

30 Broadhead test: Nanook

33 The trophy that wouldn’t be

36 Readers' trophies

38 Guidelines for travelling bowhunters

43 Rowland Ward kudu bull

43 – First-timer’s luck

44 Rinkhalskop: strange colours and good friends

48 The Genesis bow – a formula for success

55 The African bush – nature’s ultimate therapist

59 Subscribe

62 Bowhunting opportunities

63 Bows for sale

Cover image: Cape baffalo.Photo by Alta Oosthuizen.©123RF.com.

5SEPTEMBER 2015 AFRICA’S BOWHUNTER

CO

MM

ENT The recent killing

of a lion under suspicious circum-stances in Zimbabwe caused worldwide outrage. The lion’s death should not be in vain – we can hopefully learn some

valuable lessons from the incident.The most important lesson to learn

for professional hunters and hunters is that if you operate outside the law there will be consequences – sooner or later. Facts are still sketchy and need to be cor-roborated but some of the allegations that have been leveled at the profes-sional hunter and his client include the following:

Investigations show the killing of the lion was illegal because accord-ing to Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) the land owner was not allocated a lion on his hunting quota for 2015.

The hunters had gone out at night on a vehicle with a spotlight with a bait ani-mal tied to the vehicle to lure the animal out of Hwange National Park.

The lion was 12 to 13 years of age.The hunter shot the animal with a

bow and arrow but this shot did not kill the lion.

It was tracked and found 40 hours later when it was shot with a rifle.

The hunters then found that the dead lion was wearing a tracking collar, which they unsuccessfully tried to hide.

If these allegations are found to be true then the professional hunter and landowner deserve whatever punish-ment the law metes out to them. I for one will not attempt to justify their actions if they were illegal. The hunting client stated that he had no idea that the lion he took was a known local favourite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. He relied on the expertise of his local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt. To his knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted. If this is the case he should be dealt with more leniently, however, I find it very strange that he did not verify the legalities and documenta-

tion with his outfitter/professional hunter prior to the commencement of the hunt.

ConsequencesThe PH has lost his license and his liveli-hood and all those that work for him.

The PH, the hunting client and the landowner are to be prosecuted for poaching and could receive long jail sen-tences.

On Saturday, Zimbabwe’s wildlife authority said it had suspended the hunt-ing of lions, leopards and elephants in the Hwange area. This will also impact on other hunting operations.

Bow and arrow hunts were also sus-pended and can only be approved by the head of the wildlife authority.

American Delta Airlines has banned the transport of hunting trophies on their aircraft.

Great (almost irreparable) damage has been caused to the hunting industry that could ultimately contribute to the collapse of the industry and Africa’s wild-life – a huge consequence for operating outside of the law.

So the lessons to be learned by pro-fessional hunters and hunters are:

Make sure of your first shot – dispatch the animal you are hunting as quickly as possible. This is (should be) the funda-mental ethic of hunting.

If you cannot hunt lawfully – DON’T.

The bigger pictureThe anti-hunting and animal rights lob-byists will sensationalize incidents like this and blow them out of all proportion and perspective. This is done by emotive, uninformed and sensationalist reporting. Examples of misleading reporting in the media reports include the following:

“An iconic animal like that is worth much more in the long term.” (COMMENT: The lion was 13 years old. Lions seldom live beyond the age of 14 in the wild. The lion would have died of injury or starvation within the next year or two).

“The lions death is yet another blow to Zimbabwe’s economy, .We are extremely saddened. Cecil was a draw-card…” (COMMENT: It is illogical to assume that foreign tourists would travel

all the way to Zimbabwe to see a particu-lar lion. Don’t lions die in Zimbabwe of natural causes?)

“The saddest part of all is that now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho, will most likely kill all Cecil’s cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females.” (COMMENT: Male lions become sexually mature at about 26 months of age but generally do not start breeding until the age of four. Theoretically they can breed until about the age of 16, but are seldom success-ful in being able to do so beyond the age of 14 when they cease to reproduce because of their loss of pride tenure. Does the writer have a problem with the natural way of how things work? Don’t lions die as a natural course of events? Does infanticide not occur in natural lion populations? The writer is out of touch with reality.)

A number of reports stated that the lion had been shot with a crossbow. Photos of the dead lion with the hunter and professional hunter clearly indicate that the weapon used was not a cross-bow but a compound bow. (COMMENT: There is a difference and is a further example of ignorance and inaccurate fact reporting).

Lessons to be learned by journalists and reporters from this incident: If you cannot report accurately and objectively – DON’T.

What saddens me most of all is the double standards of humanity in the confusing days we are living in. So much noise and emotion and rhetoric over one lion killed, but a deafening silence when it comes to the millions of defence-less unborn babies aborted and offered on the altar of convenience every day, deafening silence when it comes to 210 000 people killed thus far in the Syrian war, deafening silence when it comes to the thousands of Christians (and other faiths) being martyred by ISIS, deafening, deafening, silence... Somehow the word hypocrisy comes to mind.

God bless

Cleve CheneyHunting editor

A world gone mad

6 AFRICA’S BOWHUNTER SEPTEMBER 2015

Navrae: Nico 082 442 4506

3de laan 243, Bredell, Kempton Park

GPS-koördinate: S 26 05 min 31 sekE 28 18 min 19 sek

Tel: 011 979 3060 Sel: 082 442 4506

Maandag tot Vrydag: 08:00 - 17:00

Saterdae: 08:00 - 14:00Sondae nie oop nie

Elke man se natuur

Grootste verskeidenheid kamoefleerdrag in SA

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7SEPTEMBER 2015 AFRICA’S BOWHUNTER

Meganies of nie...Net my stuiwer in die armbeurs oor die “Broadheads – can we think logically” deur Jan Herholdt. Ek jag nou al jare lank met vaste lemme, maar ek het geen probleem met meganiese jag-punte nie. As dit vir jou werk, is dit reg so. Ek het net ’n vraag: Hoe kry jy met dikvellige diere, byvoorbeeld ’n sebra, blouwil-debees en so aan, die skag deur die maaginhoud van die dier tot by die lewensorgane met ’n laepondboog en ligte skag met ’n skuinsweg skoot? Ondervinding het my geleer jy het ’n beter kans met ’n vaste lem as met ’n meganiese een. Daar sal waar-skynlik jagters wees wat van my verskil. Kan ons hoor wat die manne te sê het.

Dennis Henderson

Waar gaan ons heen?Hoe voorbereid is die geweer- en boogjagter as hulle by ’n plaas aankom? Dié storie pla my nou al ’n geruime tyd en ek moet dit net uit my sisteem kry. My eerlike opinie is dat daar heelwat minder diere gekwes sal word as die jagters net ’n bietjie aandag aan hulle toerusting sal gee voor hulle kom jag. Kom ek noem ’n paar dinge wat my regtig laat regop sit en wonder waar gaan ons as jagters heen. Is daar nou regtig nie meer passie onder ons ouens nie? Moet my nie verkeerd verstaan nie, daar ís manne wat omgee, maar die meerderheid se passie het langs die pad verlore geraak.

Hier is ’n paar voorbeelde:Die jagter kom by plaas aan:1. Hy het geen benul waar sy geweer of boog skiet nie. Die

boog moet ingestel word, só ook die geweer.2. Die teleskoop en boogvisiere is heeltemal los.3. Gewere is ingestel op 200 meter. Genade tog, wat wil jy in

die bosveld op 200 meter skiet, vra ek jou.4. Verkeerde styfheid van skagte en vere en jagpunte en lengte

van skagte. Jy kan dit nie oorvertel nie! “Die boogwinkel het dit aan my verskaf en ek het nie geweet dit is nie reg nie,” sê hulle.

5. Hulle kom jag met net drie skagte en een jagpunt wat nie gaan werk met sy opset nie. Vere is regtig verweer; so hy gebruik maar die beste skag van die drie.

6. Party het nie eers ’n jagpunt of ’n sneller nie. Wanneer laas het die persoon met sy boog geskiet?

7. Om van skootplasing nie eers te praat nie. Daar is meer kwesskote as raakskote, maar die rooijakkalse gee nie om nie, want vir hulle is dit soos ’n restaurant – en elke dag word daar vir hulle ’n maaltyd voorgesit wat deur die jagter betaal word.

Dit is maar net enkele dinge wat ek kan noem. Regtig, ek kan ’n boek vol skryf! My vraag is waar ons passie as jagters is. Het

The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Africa’s Bowhunter. Send your letters to [email protected] or PO Box 31688, Waverley, 0135, South Africa.

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dit by die agterdeur uitgewaai? O nee, die jagter is mos altyd reg, want hy is jou kliënt.

Dennis Henderson

Not happy with some game farmsI write this letter to raise my concerns as I am fairly sure that I am not the only hunter that was caught by this “scam” (if you can call it a scam). At the beginning of each year we as hunt-ers start looking for hunting opportunities. As usual we look at farms where we hunted previously and if they are not available for hunting (as in my case this year) we start looking at other farms for the best value for money. Now in today’s difficult eco-nomic times I am sure most of us can only afford one hunting trip a year, so we make sure we book at least five days for the trip. Then the search begins for the right farm at the right price. First we pick up our favourite magazine and look for hunting opportunities, then we look up the farm on the internet to see the pictures and price list and then we start booking and paying our deposit.

When we go hunting the wife and kids also go along even if they are not hunters as hunting is a family activity. They enjoy the outdoors and evenings around the campfire. We always invite friends that have never been to a hunting farm before, to introduce them to the sport as this was how I got hooked. When we arrive at the farm we are not fewer than 15 people, including the kids.

But this is where it ends. The farm you saw and that what was advertised do not deliver. The ad says bowhunting only, but the guide informs you there was a hunting group the previous week that hunted with rifles. When you enter the farm you drive past a rifle shooting range. You sit in the blind and only a couple of beef cows come in to the water, not even a sound of impala snorting … After day three you realise that there are no animals to hunt on the farm. In the evenings you take the family out for a game drive as they do not want to sit at the camp all day and even on the drive no animals can be spotted. Going home empty-handed after a week in the bush is no laughing matter. After all, you prepared months in advance for this trip and spent thousands of rand on accommodation, fuel and upgrading your equipment – not to mention the weekends you spent practising your aim.

To those farm owners who knowing-ly try to make money by false advertis-ing. You lose potential future customers, as hunters will never go back and will spread the word to friends and on social networks. I invited my friends for their first hunting experience, and they will never take up hunting as to them it looks like a waste of time in the bush. The fact that you cheat the current hunter is just as bad, as potential young hunters will lose interest. Accordingly, you lose their future contributions.

The unhappy hunter T ABH

africa's bowhunter - september 2015

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