May 2026

Share the facts – Lift the mist

With the southern African hunting season in full swing, there have been some interesting observations and firsthand experiences worth sharing.

Mike, in his 80s on possibly his 70^th or more safari, unfortunately gets hoodwinked by an outfitter at a top-end auction he bought from a major organisation.

There was Jeff, my friend and Life member of AHG on his 56^th safari showing absolutely zero signs of slowing down. He has six hunts planned these years, all around the world.

There was an agent for the uber rich who hosts and arranges billionaires and private-jet owners that fly in for a driven/cull hunt, spending gazillions.

And there were hunters on a shoestring, coming for their first safari that they’d on some drunken night at a fundraiser – not realising this was the start of a lifelong addiction.

Another hunter on his 9^th safari could not believe that rhino can still be hunted. He only found out when talking to a guest from Mexico. One of ‘our own’ and yet so uninformed. Imagine that!

If he’s unaware that rhino can be hunted, how immense is the challenge that lies ahead in educating the masses? No wonder the public absorbs the slick propaganda of the animal rights brigade.

We love them all – we need them all.

But something struck me. Who goes to South America on safari? They talk of a country, not the continent. They go to Argentina. Yet if you are hunting in Zambia or Namibia, you are going to Africa. Got me thinking. Africa is 50% bigger than South America and 11 times the size of Argentina. Yet, the big TV shows and YouTube hunting programs have khaki-clad big-game hunters going on intrepid adventures to… Africa.

Perhaps it keeps the mystique of the dark continent alive. One thing is for sure, though; Hank, let’s call him, the elk hunter watching the TV show in Colorado is not being enlightened about our continent. Entertained, yes, but enlightened? I am not sure. And we need more Hanks in …Africa. When there is an Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Hank does not want to travel to South Africa! I can understand his concern if he is none the wiser as to where the two countries lie, and we have a job to do.

We greet folk stoked with excitement, and it’s fabulous to welcome them on arrival, as they down their customary Amarula shot at Afton. They’re ‘in Africa’ for the first time. I am delighted. It’s the beginning of their lifelong adventure.

But there is more we can all do – and we have a responsibility. The industry has this responsibility. With no official or government hunting tourism body/ies that promotes the sector, it’s pretty much up to us all in the private sector to do this. A few to shoulder this responsibility.

So, what can we do? Share the facts. Lift the mist. Ask friends and fellow hunters to play their role… or just keep waiting in the wings wondering why hunting in Africa does not take its rightful place and double in size.

My mission? Get more hunters to this continent. Help hunters find out the facts. Explain how easy it can be to hunt here. Help reduce the unpleasant surprises by showing the TTS (Taxidermy and trophy shipping) costs upfront. Yes, you can get a quote for your shipping or your taxidermy, or both, before you come over. Hunters who have loved their experience and have contacts back home, help them become ‘mini-African agents’. You name it, there is potential out there.

So, to educate the multitude of hunters around the world who are just plain unaware of what’s on offer, and how easy it is to get here, please, let’s all roll up our sleeves. YOU, as in you reading this, start talking about it, share the news. Forward this newsletter. Share the facts and your love of African hunting and encourage more hunters here.

Have a great May, and if you’re heading into Joburg, see you at Afton.

Regards,

Richard

This month's cover: One of our Namibian Dawn members, Divan Labuschagne runs Divan Safaris has taken a few cover pictures, but this one seemed to resonate with the title of the editorial this month. While not able to hunt them in Namibia, looking out across the river’s edge, through that early morning mist as it lifts, I am not sure there are many better sights.

We all love reading about your African hunting adventures. Let’s spread the word.

Submit your story, and we’ll clean and edit it to be published on Africanhuntinggazette.com

Impala Hunting – Timing is Everything

By Hendrik White

I recently read a book by Wilbur Smith called Assegai. In a nutshell, it’s about Leon Courtney, a professional hunter and his adventures. During his tenure as professional hunter, he guided none other than Theodore Rooseveldt and his son. They hunted for weeks on end. They shot a plethora of game, big and small. The book describes incredible hunting stories where the hunter takes his time, pursues his quarry for days on end and eventually – the moment all hunters dream about – the culmination of days of blood, sweat, and tears for the perfect opportunity, the perfect shot. This was not that.In today’s world, the luxury of time is, well, a luxury.

Caracal: Links to the African Lynx

By Glenn W Geelhoud

“Can you hear that? That’s Ole Charlie, the most experienced of the hounds, and he only makes that baying sound when the dogs have treed a cat!” Jeff Ford said to me and my PH Charl Watts. “Already?” I asked, incredulous. This time, it happened in the reverse of my usual hunting pattern. Charl and I had joked, not altogether without serious intent on his end: “Just once, instead of waiting until the very last minute to score, could we do it up front this time to take the pressure off? “But that way I would miss the hunt! There are days that one has a good hunt, and there are days that one has a good shoot, and they are not always the same day!” I had said.

From the Archives: Dangerous Snakes of Africa

By Johan Marais 

With close on 20,000 snakebite deaths a year in Africa, one may well have good reason to worry about snakes, especially out on hunts.

Surprisingly few hunters get bitten by snakes, and when I do talks on snakes and snakebite for hunting groups, I always ask how many people present have ended up in a hospital after a snakebite during a hunt. Occasionally, one or two hands may go up, and I when ask whether the bite was from a Stiletto snake, the answer is usually yes. The Stiletto snake is a small, brownish-black snake, usually around 30 – 40 cm, that spends most of its life underground, and feeds on snakes and lizards.

Accuracy: It’s All Relative

By Terry Wieland



Like situational ethics, standards of accuracy vary according to circumstances. Many years ago, I had a Sako 6 PPC that would, with Sako factory ammunition, print quarter-inch groups so relentlessly that I was sorely disappointed if one ballooned past a half inch. That was one supremely accurate factory rifle. It was also, in short order, extremely boring. More recently, I’ve been playing with a Stevens .25-20 Single Shot — a target rifle that was, in its day, comparable in reputation to that Sako — and at one point I could not get it to put a hole in a foot-square target at 15 yards. That’s fifteen yards.

What’s an Arrow to a Buffalo?

By Ken Moody

‘What’s my setup need to be?’ was the question offered by an excited client on the other end of the phone. ‘Heavy,’ was my response. For months, Joe and I had spent hours on the phone as he peppered me with questions regarding his upcoming bowhunt for Cape Buffalo. With his New England accent, most of my time was spent deciphering his dialect, but eventually, we got all the questions answered and all the preparations made. I was happy to meet Joe as he arrived in our bush camp, big and brawny, with a wingspan like a condor. ‘Now here’s a man that can handle the heavy bow,’ I thought.

That's Bushbuck Hunting For You

By Alessandro Cabella

Bushbuck hunting… as they always say, that’s bushbuck hunting for you. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or stepping into the veld for the very first time, the bushbuck has a way of humbling you. It’s not just a hunt – it’s a test of patience, awareness, and quiet determination. And on March 24, 2026, in the Eastern Cape, that lesson came alive once again. I was hunting alongside my good friend and professional hunter, Ryan Beattie from Dubula Hunting Safaris with his Zimbabwean tracker, Alex – a man whose eyes seemed to read the bush like a book written just for him. The morning broke slowly over the river valley, a soft light creeping through the thorn trees.

From the Archives: Buffalo in Bushmanland

By John P Warren

“Either shoot the buffalo today, or shoot me,” my wife Joyce said to me – only slightly jokingly – when PH Jamy Traut, his trackers, the conservation officer, and I came in from the morning hunt on the third day. 

It was a hot, dry camp over east of Tsumkwe, Namibia. There were no leaves on the trees. There was no shade. There was no breeze. The ice was gone and the drinking water was warm. You could see between the sticks that were supposed to provide privacy for the bucket shower. The tents heated up in the day as only tents in full sun can. Definitely not a complainer, Joyce just voiced what we were all thinking – that whenever we squared away the buffalo, we could pack up and get out of Bushmanland.

A Flowering of Serpents

By Terry Wieland

One of the first questions you hear, when you announce that you’re going to Africa, is a tremulous, “But aren’t you afraid of snakes?”

Answer: “Yep. Terrified! What of it?”

If I let my life-long dislike of reptiles deter me, I would not hunt in south Texas, I’d avoid Alabama, and Australia would be out of the question. For that matter, I wouldn’t live in Missouri, where we have copperheads, water moccasins, and the occasional rattler.

Every so often, I sit back and count on my fingers the number of times, during 14 or 15 trips to Africa, totalling more than three years of my life, that I have even seen a snake. I have yet to run out of fingers. Snakes there certainly are, but they just haven’t bothered me.

Chapter 14

The Family (part 2)

By Wayne Grant

When I used to visit the Landreys at Matetsi during the school holidays, one of the young “picannins” who sometimes got dragged along on our adventures was a son of the Denda Safaris “mechanic”. I put inverted commas around the word mechanic because as amazingly skilled as some of these bush mechanics were, they had little, if any, formal mechanical training. This young fellow’s name was George Sibanda. He did not attend school, instead, he helped his father in the Denda Safari garages at Matetsi, and later graduated to “spanner boy,” drawing a very meagre salary. Anybody who has lived in the wilderness will know the true value of “bush mechanics”, and there is no short cut to being a bush mechanic – you have to first do the time as “spanner boy”.

Who are the African Dawn Outfitters?

The African Dawn Outfitter Program is about working with an exclusive group, to offer one critical thing, and that is peace of mind for you, the hunter.

With over 1000 outfitters to choose from, despite the majority being good and offering a great safari, it is a minefield out there when trying to decide with whom to hunt across the continent. And when it comes to your hunt, why risk anything? This group can deliver the goods.

Book directly with them, go to our website and sign up to receive the weekly posts, Fresh from the Veld. If you’re an agent looking for outfitters to represent or sell; you’ll be safe contacting any one of these Dawn Members.

www.africandawnoutfitters.com

Richard Lendrum - Publisher African Hunting Gazette

richard@africanhuntinggazette.com

2026 African Dawn Members