Newsletter No 5 of 2013 Bush Breaking Newsletter No 4 of 2013 Good Day and warm welcome from the African Bush! We trust you are doing well and enjoying summer! Here in South Africa, in the midst of winter and the busiest time of the hunting season for us, we were very busy with hunters from all across the USA. Here are the reports on the mid June & early July hunts! Dudley and Carol Whetzel bought our hunt at the annual West Virginia Trophy Hunters show in Charleston. We were excited to have them here for their hunt in early June, but they first took a couple days to relax days and explore the Kruger National Park. Dudley is a very keen hunter and did not waste any time to take this beautiful Warthog.
It was Carol s first time hunting, but she was practicing nonstop in preparation for this moment and what a SHOT! Congratulations Carol with your beautiful Impala. Dudley s dream animal was a Kudu and after a couple of days of walk and stalk hunting, he was presented the opportunity to make his African dream come true. Good shooting Dudley! Dudley and Carol had a good safari and shot 7 animals in total. Thank you for a great time and hope to see you again soon Dudley and Carol. Next we welcomed Dennis and Sandra Butler from JOELTON, TENNESE. Thank you to our friend Harold Smith who introduced them to us at the Dallas Safari Club Show! Charles, Dennis and Sandra headed straight for the Kalahari for a challenging Lion hunt, with a crossbow. After Dennis showed his skill on the target range with his crossbow, Charles had allot of confidence in him! What and exciting hunt! Well Done Dennis! The Buffalo hunt was equally challenging and after several days of hard work and several miles of walking and stalking, everything finally came together and Dennis shot this huge Cape Buffalo Bull! Congratulations!
Sandy is an experienced huntress herself and also shot outstanding trophies with PH Charles. What a great and also challenging hunt the Kudu turned out to be. Sandy with her Zebra and Kudu. Charles had a great time hunting with you, Dennis and Sandra, and said he is waiting for you to come and hunt the rest of the BIG FIVE with your bow! Our good friend, Jim Guist, master Taxidermist of Totally Awesome Taxidermy Studio in Missouri, introduced us to Erick Ammon. The moment the Somerby Team was greeted at the OR Tambo Airport by a little girl in her blue ballerina tutu dress, we knew that the Ammon family was here to have a lot of fun! But these girls meant business! They spent all the hours with their Dad in the Bush and the older ones shot themselves some top class trophies too!
This Kudu Bull was Hope s first trophy and Abigail had hunted in the USA with her Dad before! Two beautiful Kudu s for two beautiful girls! Well Done! The guys can take lessons from you two! The whole Family made the eight hour trip to the Kalahari to go with Eric on the Lion Hunt! It was quite a journey, but we must say, they did really well! Along the way they had to stop to take this Kalahari Ferrari for a spin!
Eric took this unique, beautiful black main Lion with PH Andre Nel and you can see the smile on both their faces tell the story! Excellent trophy Eric and even better shooting! And what a wonderful gesture to share the entire experience with your family! On their way back through the Kalahari, on the dusty roads towards the Limpopo, word of a crocodile came up and a stop was made! Eric shot this huge Crocodile, and right by his side was his Wife and his 2 daughters and granddaughter! What a close knit family! The Plains game hunt continued in the Limpopo and after passing on several Waterbucks, Andre made the call for this old Waterbuck bull! Well done. Next a Nyala was spotted and neither Andre nor Erick took very long to get very excited about this bull!
This Red Hartebeest below was another of the outstanding plains game trophies that Erick took, along with some Impala s, Warthog and a Bushbuck! After the Limpopo leg of the hunt, the Family headed South to hunt in one of the largest and most prestigious areas for Buffalo in South Africa, the Sandveld Nature Reserve.
Erick, thank you for putting your family s safety in our hands, and also trusting us for making your African dreams come true. We have not had a hunt with so much joy and laughter in a long time! It was most enjoyable for everyone who met you and your family! Andre and PD really enjoyed your company and Drom hopes to get the opportunity to hunt with you too next time! We look forward to seeing all of you again soon for another adventure! Thanks again Erick! Gene and Ella King and had been looking forward to their first trip to Africa for a long time! Gene archery hunted and spent many patient hours in the blind waiting for THE Kudu! THE right bull finally made his appearance and Gene made a good shot! Well Done! Gene and Wentzel went on an unexpected adventure to pursue a Lioness with the Bow! In an area in the Southern region of the Kalahari in the North West Province, the trackers had been on the tracks of Lioness that was to be hunted by another hunter, who could not make it on the last minute!
It took a day or so for Gene to jump on the offer of the hunt when it came up, as never in 1000 years did it cross his mind that he would hunt a Lioness with his bow on this trip! And what an exciting adventure it was! Well done and congratulations Gene! While Wentzel and Gene were hunting, the ladies took some time to explore the area with Ansa, rode Elephants,played with Cheetah Cubs and more! What a great safari! Gene, Ella,Patricia and Annelisa, Wentzel and Ansa really enjoyed their trip with you! After the safari in South Africa the King s headed to Chobe National Park in Botswana where we arranged a tour for them that included a photo safari and a trip to the Victoria Falls in the neighbouring Zimbabwe.
We were so pleased to welcome back John Fullmer for the 4 th time! John brought his grandson, Nicholas, with on his 2013 African trip. John has hunted Buffalo and Elephant with us in Zimbabwe. Last year he came for his Lion hunt and this year he came after Leopard. John is a salted hunter and was well prepared for the hunt with the hounds. Wian and the trackers put in allot of ground work and it was not long after they freed the hounds that they picked up these scent of the Big Tom! Well Done John, what and outstanding trophy! Well deserved! Nicholas was very excited to be able to take an African animal and what better choice than this beautiful Blesbuck. Good shooting Nicholas! We hope that you will come back with your Grand Father! Thank you John! It was once again a great honour and pleasure to have you here! We hope to see you again soon!
We so gladly welcome backed Fred and Diane Regenfuss! It was less than a year ago that they were year for their first trip with us! This time Fred had a more specific wish list, which included the Springbuck Slam: Andre, Fred and Diane set off in the Africa skies with a charter flight to the far North West in the Kalahari for Fred s Lion hunt. Diane was right there by his side all the way. She did a great job taking pictures and video.
After an exciting hunt we can congratulate Fred with a spectacular Trophy! It was so special to have you here again Fred and Diane, we certainly hope to have you here again in the future! Next we welcomed Jake and Stephanie Groth here in South Africa for their Honeymoon Safari! We hope the trip was as romantic as they thought it would be! We tried to make it special with a surprise in their suite at every different place we stayed at! Jake shot a very nice Kudu and a very handsome Warthog as well as 4 other outstanding trophies during his 7 day hunt. After the hunt they enjoyed a tailor made photo safari in northern Kruger National park with their PH, Wian. Jake and Stephanie, thank you for a wonderful, enjoyable trip! We hope to see you again!
Andre met Sheldon and Taibree Woods at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City. Sheldon had hunted in Africa before and brought Taibree on safari for her High School Graduation. Andre and the Father and Daughter team hunted in the one-of-a kind concession, The Molopo Nature Reserve. It is here that Taibree showed great shooting skill and shot several outstanding trophies that made her Dad very proud! Sheldon did very well himself too and shot an outstanding Bushbuck, Kudu and Eland. Well done! It was wonderful to have you two here and we hope our paths cross again in the future! JUNE WAS A BUSY MONTH WITH LOTS OF OUTSTANDING TROPHIES AND WONDERFUL PEOPLE! JULY TURNED OUT JUST AS GOOD AND THE REPORT WILL FOLLOW SOON! CONTACT SOMERBY SAFARIS TO MAKE YOUR AFRICAN DREAM A REALITY!