African PH Hunts South Texas
We have hunted with the Venter cousins in Africa for sometime now.
Mof Venter owns and operates Adansonia Safaris and Louis Venter owns and operates Louis Venter Safaris. They often work together to arrange and conduct hunts in Africa, Argentina or here in this country.
They offer hunting packages for all types of game animals, plains and dangerous game, all species of game birds and the entire line of cats. Their headquarters in South Africa in located in the Northern Province and for the US operations it is located in Fort Worth, Texas.
We have often invited both Mof and Louis to hunt with us on our place that is some 70 miles west of San Antonio, Texas. This year Louis was in country and had a few days to call his own so he flew into San Antonio International Airport where he was picked up by Scott Martin and delivered to the ranch just in time to make the first hunt of the big game season in Texas.
The next morning, the day before the big game season opened, we decided to do some early morning scouting and perhaps collect a hog or javelina if the opportunity presented itself. We saw plenty of deer and turkey during this sweep of the ranch, but no hogs or javelina. So there was no shooting that morning until we stopped at the rifle range to verify our rifles.
That afternoon was spent making final preparations for the opening day action. As the day rolled on, more and more of our group showed up and joined in servicing, repairing, and construction of blinds and or feeders.
Cleaning out the blinds is most important because insects love to make their homes in those blinds during the off-season. The last thing that a hunter needs is to walk into is a mess of hornets, yellow jackets, or other biting or stinging insects before sunrise on the first day of the hunting season. Some hunters have been injured during these chance encounters. Not so much from a bee sting or spider bite, but from reacting to an attack and falling off a high step or ladder.
Many a hunter has been seriously injured when they attempt to climb a high ladder with his rifle slung across his back and for one reason or another they fall to the ground landing on their rifle. Permanent damage is generally very serious and most painful. I know several hunters that have been victims of such accidents.
As a side issue, most hunting operations carry liability insurance so the members will be financially protected should there be a serious accident or injury. It is interesting to note that most insurance carriers will not insure or provide coverage for the hunter while they are entering or exiting blinds used for hunting. Take this hint as to how dangerous those events can be and be very careful when executing this early morning and late afternoon practice.
Early or about 0500 hours on opening day of the big game season a big buck somehow finds his way through the living room announcing that it is time to get out of bed, get dressed, grab a cup of coffee, and perhaps a snack and load out for the big hunt. While the older folks may be slow to react, the kids are the first to hit the floor – eyes wide open; some already dressed because they slept in their clothes; and quick to grab a glass of milk a cookie or two and start taking inventory of their guns, ammo, hat, gloves, coats, etc.
On this hunt I agreed to be the host and PH for Louis. Others decided where they wanted to hunt and so we quickly departed for our hunting areas. When hunting with several other folks it is advisable to have designated hunting areas rather than have folks crisscrossing the ranch disturbing the game, but more importantly keeping some distance between hunters for safety reasons.
When Louis and I reached our destination and unloaded the vehicle, Louis loaded his borrowed .300 Winchester Magnum with three rounds of ammo. I gather my gear and we were off on the hunt. We took our positions and began the early morning vigil for that big buck and or other game animals, i.e., turkey, javelina, hogs, etc.
In Texas you are permitted to shoot thirty minutes before sunrise and may continue to shoot until thirty minutes after sunset. When it is thirty minutes before sunrise, one can hardly see, but as it lightens up you may start to make out the know terrain features and perhaps some animal movement long before you can make out just what you are looking at.
Finally it was light enough to identify the six or seven deer in our immediate area; one was a fine buck and would make a handsome trophy for Louis. Accordingly, we waited until it was clearly light enough to grade the deer before I gave Louis the go ahead to shoot. Once I said that it was a good one to take, he sent the round to the kill zone and that deer was down.
Louis started to move out to retrieve the deer and I told him to sit still a few more minutes to see what develops – perhaps some other game just might present it's self. Sure enough after about 15 minutes a large group of turkeys appeared and I suggest that Louis select a large tom on the left side of the group. Now this bird was all of forty yards.
Louis aimed at his head and shot -- the tom remained in tack -- and the group began to scatter. Louis reloaded and shot again – this time he lowered his aim and collected a fine bird. He was now out of ammo. The turkeys kept lingering so I took that opportunity to collect another bird.
So we sat there collecting our thoughts and discussing what had just happened; one deer and two turkeys to our credit. Now three raccoons were spotted going to a nearby tree. I told Louis to take them because they are responsible for so much damage around the ranch. Louis was out of ammo so I told him to take my gun and dispatch them. Louis quickly shouldered my .308 Winchester in the Browning BLR configuration and fired. This gun also has a customized brake installed. While these breaks do reduce the recoil they also magnify the report.
He quickly dispatched one raccoon and decided that shooting that .308 was not for him. So he ran to the location of the remaining raccoons, picked up several rocks and began stoning the raccoons. I doubled up laughing while watching this African PH taking on these raccoons with a hand full of rocks. He is pretty skilled at rock throwing, but it was something that I had not been expecting.
We were satisfied that the hunting was over for the morning so we collected our equipment and headed back to the truck. After we loaded into the truck we drove back to where we had left the deer, turkeys, and raccoons. Took a few minutes to record those events on film and loaded the deer and turkey on to the truck.
The route that we took back to the ranch headquarters was a little out of the way, but I wanted to check out the stock tank to see if there was any activity in that area. As we approached the tank a very large group of turkeys broke off to our left so I stopped the truck and Louis got out and was deciding which one to dispatch. About that time a large tom fanned his feathers and presented a perfect target. Louis quickly dispatched him.
After we collected that bird, we loaded back in the truck and headed for the ranch headquarters. So in one morning hunt, Louis had collected a trophy buck, two tom turkeys, and three raccoons for a total of six animals. Not bad for a combo hunt in South Texas while using a rifle and rocks to accomplish the tasks.
After we returned to the headquarters we hung the buck and Louis went to work capping the head for mounting and skinning the remainder of the animal. The head was delivered for mounting and the remainder to the local deer-processing center.
We took pictures for the benefit of Louis's cousin Mof. I guess I just like to see grown men cry.
Louis was quick to help out around camp as we continued to work on blinds, feeders, and take care of other chores required to get and keep hunting operation in running order.
That was an enjoyable experience for all-- great hunting, fellowship, and good food. It was also another heartwarming experience watching these kids as they continue to develop into fine young men and women.
This one’s for Mof!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
From South Africa to South Texas
