Newsletter No 2 of 2013

Bush Breaking Newsletter No 2 of 2013

A friendly hallo to all during this Memorial Day Weekend. We trust you are all doing well!

We are experiencing lovely fall weather here in South Africa at the moment. In this edition we give a late

report on some hunts that took place in April and early May hunts ,so expect an exciting jam packed

report from the Bush with lots of photos of excellent trophies and wonderful people who wondered across

Somerby soils the past 6 weeks! Three of these hunts were with hunters who were here with us for the

third time!

On 9 April we welcomed back with Somerby for the third time, CJ and Alice Merriman from Lapeer, MI. CJ and Alice had hunted with a twice before and we were excited to have our friends here again. The hunt started off in the Limpopo and Drom, Charles and CJ set off after Cape Buffalo.

The smile on CJ’s face in the pictures above speak a thousand words. Well Done CJ , Drom and Charles enjoyed

hunting with you!

CJ and Alice always give back to the community on their trips and these Children from the two schools that they

supplied generously with shelving, carpeting and insulation for the classrooms and toys, t-shirts and tooth brushes

Appreciated these things that we often take for granted more than anyone could ever imagine. We cannot thank you

enough for this CJ and Alice. Thank you for all our effort in putting such a wonderful project together again.

On April 19th we also welcomed back, for the third consecutive year, from California, Dave Benham and Marvin

Thomas whom we met at the ISE Sport Show in Sacramento in January of 2011. When these two are here, we do

not know who has the most fun, the PH Wian, or Marv and Dave!

The hunted started off in the Limpopo with some cull hunting and Marv worked hard for his Bushbuck, Waterbuck

and Nyala

Well Done Marvin! You deserve that Bushbuck! The three musketeers then headed South to the Free State area and

shot some truly exceptional Springbuck and other trophies.

David with a snow white, White Springbuck and a very old Springbuck Male with several battle scars that gave him

allot of character.

Dave and Marv both shot a Common Reedbucks and a big Trophy Steenbuck at 100 yards with his 243. Well done!

The boys really enjoyed a special BBQ after the Steenbuck hunt and also shot an Ostrich that day. They wanted to

say a special thank you to Wian for showing them such a good time! Thanks Wian!

Below is Marvin with 4 more trophies of exceptional quality, the pictures will have to do the talking since the

adjectives are running out! Well Done Marv!

Marvin and Dave, it was really great to have you guys here again, next time, PLEASE bring Joanne and Ginger along too! Hope to see you all soon!

We were so pleased to also welcome back for the THIRD time, the Wardy family from El Paso, Texas. Joe, his wife Dee, their son, David and Joe’s brother, Mike, arrived and what a reunion it was that first evening before we all boarded a short South African Airways flight to Port Elizabeth to meet Andre for their hunt in the Eastern Cape. Hunting Caracal was a high priority so we made use a pack of hounds which was very successful!

During the caracal hunt

David also shot an

outstanding Duiker!

Joe also with a Grey Duiker and a very nice Vaal Rhebuck that he had to work very hard for.

David with a beautiful Bushbuck.

And to top it all off, a Majestic Sable for Dee and Joe’s home in El Paso! Congratulations.

Thank you to the Wardy family, our family in Texas! We will soon you again soon! Thank you for a

wonderful hunt!

Early in April we met Scott Behnken from Ohio for the first time at Johannesburg Airport and Wentzel and

Scott flew to Harare in Zimbabwe and travelled the rugged roads south to hunt Elephant in Naivasha Safari

area near the Gona Re Zhou National Park.

Wentzel and Scott worked really hard , following tracks and scouting the area and were elated when they

found their 56 pound bull after several days are hard , hard work ! Well done to both Scott and Wentzel!

Scott made a great shot at 25 yards and still this old guy presented them with a full on charge and was shot

again at 22 yards!

Scott, well done! Wentzel enjoyed hunting with you and we hope to host you for a hunt in the Eastern Cape soon!

On May 3rd Mike Thibault and Thad Pearson from Missouri whom we met at the Kansas City SCI hunters Expo in

2012.

Andre and the guys headed north to hunt near the Botswana Border. Mike shot these exceptional trophies here, the

pictures speak for themselves!

Thad with his bag of equally great trophies from this area: especially a magnificent wide Kudu

Anyone can see the exceptional quality trophies that these guys took, well done! They then moved further south for more plains game hunting and keep an eye on the newsletter to follow soon with pictures

of their bird hunt!

Guys, Andre sent a special thank you to you two for a fantastic time! We cannot wait to have you here again soon!

At the 2011 Dallas Safari Club show, our good friend Harold Smith from Greenwood Arkansas, introduced us to his

friend and colleague, Chris Wooten. On April 29th Chris and his Wife, Jennifer and their friend, Troy Branch, arrived

and the hunt started off in the North West Province.

We are going to give you the accounts of the hunts in the words directly from Chris’s mouth:

“Well words can’t describe the Lion hunt. This was something I never thought I would be able to do but it was made

possible with SOMERBY SAFARIS. And man was it a hunt! As soon as Drom got a look at the lion that we were

hunting he told me we had a 90% chance this lion was going to charge because the way he was acting. Well sure

enough after one mock charge we were in for a hunt. Drom told me that I need to take a shot as soon as he faced us.

After a full on charge and several shots the lion finally went down 6 feet in front of us!!! An experience that I will

never forget!”

“From that point it was my wife’s turn for a lioness, needless to say I think we were all on high alert and on edge for

round two! After tracking her lioness for several hours one afternoon we had to quit around dark. We were up and

running the next morning and tracked it for about 4 hours before she could get a shot on it. After a good shot in the

cat we had to get back on the track. I tried to take my gun with us on the follow up but Drom said oh no my friend

put the gun back up and grab the camcorder it was my turn to film my wife like she did me. Boy that was a tough

trade!! After tracking the lioness for a short distance she was spotted under a small tree crouch down and waiting

for us. Drom and Freddy got Jennifer in position. She put 3 shots in the lioness in about 2 seconds. She was a pro at

reloading that gun. Congratulations Jennifer!”

“We’ll after two exciting lion hunts Troy was in the driver seat for a Gemsbuck and a Kudu. After two great evenings

Troy capitalized on a beautiful kudu and a fantastic gemsbok. These were the two animals that were highest on his

hit list.”

With those animals down it was time to move on to a different camp. We ended up at Botsalano game reserve. The

number of game on this place was amazing. It was a tented camp that gave you an old Africa feel with a ton of game

around. The next day in camp Troy took down a nice Black wilder beast and Chris got a nice Springbuck.

“Then the hunt was on for Chris’s Water Buck. After passing up on several Waterbucks Wian spotted a nice bull and

they worked into position for a shot. There were several different animals with eyes on us on the stock so it made it

difficult. After careful planning and stocking the shot presented itself and Chris had a beautiful Water Buck on the

ground. “

“From that point the hunting ramped up with Troy taking a nice Blesbuck and springbuck which ended the day. “

“After a great meal and campfire it was time to start again. After

hours of trying to get Jennifer an Ostrich she finally got her

opportunity. The end result was a nice male bird on the ground.

Man can these things run!! We never thought it would ever stop for

a shot! “

The hunt continued with Chris taking a Red Hartebeest and Troy ending the day with a nice impala. The next day it

was time to move on to another camp in the Limpopo region.

On the second day at camp Jennifer took a wart hog to complete her list for the trip. Later that day Troy took a nice

Blue Wildebeest to complete his Africa wish list.

Chris, Jennifer and Troy, what a great pleasure it was to have you three here! We trust your hunt was everything you

imagined it to be and more and we hope to share another unforgettable African adventure with you soon!

Well that is it for now, the rest of May is going to be busy , busy, busy with several hunters from across the USA

including a Big Group of 12 hunters.

We hope to hunt with you soon too – so send us you “wish list” so we can send you a quote for your

safari and let us make your African Dream come true, it could be your tracks in these African sands…