What's the big draw? Why do we do it? Africa I mean.

Originally Posted by Peleton

Greetings Jaco. First; THERE IS NO NEED TO SHOUT. I see this as simply a discussion, no more, no less. Enron? I started a small industrial supply company 20 some odd years ago, I went nowhere for the first 6-7 of those years. I dedicated my entire being to growing my business. It grew, so did I. I grew up in a hunting family in the SW USA and never stopped. I just evolved. I evolved into an international hunter. I'm not a big bucks guy, just a guy that is finally getting to enjoy the fruit of many years of my own hands at work.

I take my hunting just as seriously. I always show up ready both physically and emotionally to keep my head in the game for the entire safari Whether that safari is 10 days or a 28 day marathon in CAR like I had this year. I ride and race bicycles here in America, hence the name "Peleton". Walking for LDE? easy days work, walk on flat ground for 25-30K's no problem, the heat in CAR? I live in Arizona and am accustomed to it.

M point is, I take it seriously and give my hunting team (the entire team) 100% every day, all day. They always respond to my dedication and I have fantastic safari's.

When I raced for series wins, I "had" I to ride to train and stay competitive, I lost the passion for racing because of the "have to" mentality, I stopped for several years and now the passion is back. Now I train as many hours as I did back then but, I keep the sport fun. I would expect my passion for hunting to return as well. Mind you I still hunt in my home state as much or more perhaps than ever.

Some of my jaded opinion, not angry, just skeptical, has come from interacting on AR. There are countless pissing match's, members divide themselves into camps, they base their comments on their own personal popularity, not based on the truth or how they really feel. I got into several dust ups with the owner over there for stating opinions not consistent with his or taking forum favorites to task. Sometime's there is a burden knowing more to these stories than is being told on the forum's.

There is no shame in making bad shots, Hell I shot a lion in the back foot at 27 yards. My point is this. African Safari hunting is a Gentlemen's Sport. It has devolved into something else, the chest thumping, the one up man ship that goes on. Honor amongst men of like minds. In my post's from the beginning to now, I have conducted myself as such and will always do so. I will always act on a forum no different than I do if you and I were sitting in a leopard blind. Silent, Predictable and Honorable.

Jaco, I am not or at least don't intend on indicting an entire industry, just from my own experience, I need a break. If you go back and read the first post, I think you will get it. There is absolutely no hostility, if some comes through, my sincere apologies.

PELETON, NO PROBLEM, ENRON WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE NOT AIMED AT YOURSELF..... If I offended you I do appologize...................... , I felt that I had to mention what was said in public in reply to what my interpretation of your post was......., I am so happy to see that you had some great experiences as well....

Spike as you correctly say guys tend to shine or try to polish a high rollers marble a bit more but in camp they are treated with equall respect and shown the same great experiences, I for one am not ashamed but rather proud to say that the red carpet is rolled out for each and every client I entertain and hunt with, this I believe comes with passion, passion for the industry and passion for what we do, which IMO has got lost in some cases especially amongst some professionals,, (I do get you there PELETON.....)

In my experience there are the so called,... premadonna guides........, the excentic ones............, the people pleasers..........., the washed up ones or rather when we's..........., the walking dictionaries........ and then Hollywood........ all of these have certain charactiristics that one could utilise as a professional.... the secret is not to get into the chest thumping as you say, but rather find a middle road somwhere along the line where one can employ or rather put into practice each and every individual (+) skill to provide the most well rounded safari experience and be the ultimate guide.... I have one or two great guides I look up to and try to emulate (to a point), the secret is to be true to ones self and do all you do with the highest level of integrity (agree with you there as well)

I do also agree that there is no shame in making a bad shot, if you have not gone through this,... you have not shot enough... it happens.

I share your sentiment on several of your ideas, unfortunatly my honesty has also got me in some tight spots in the past but then again I have always been able turn around, and be proud or rather do not need to be ashamed of what I had said, as it was an honest and truthfull reply and opinion.

Once again I hope that you are able to reach those goals you have set (especially the remaining ones in Africa) and I truly believe and hope that those will create fond memories even more so than those ones you already cherish...

Once asgain... only my best.

Originally Posted by Jaco Strauss

Spike as you correctly say guys tend to shine or try to polish a high rollers marble a bit more but in camp they are treated with equall respect and shown the same great experiences, I for one am not ashamed but rather proud to say that the red carpet is rolled out for each and every client I entertain and hunt with, this I believe comes with passion, passion for the industry and passion for what we do, which IMO has got lost in some cases especially amongst some professionals,, (I do get you there PELETON.....)

In my experience there are the so called,... premadonna guides........, the excentic ones............, the people pleasers..........., the washed up ones or rather when we's..........., the walking dictionaries........ and then Hollywood........ all of these have certain charactiristics that one could utilise as a professional.... the secret is not to get into the chest thumping as you say, but rather find a middle road somwhere along the line where one can employ or rather put into practice each and every individual (+) skill to provide the most well rounded safari experience and be the ultimate guide.... I have one or two great guides I look up to and try to emulate (to a point), the secret is to be true to ones self and do all you do with the highest level of integrity (agree with you there as well)

Jaco after reading your posts and seeing you fight your corner i wouldnt expect you to provide any other type of treatment than the best for all your clients. and i love your descriptions of the various species of ph , i think i have probably drunk with each type apart from the hollywood ones, who of course dont go to the ordinary drinking holes as you say a good ph should have a bit of each of these characters in them, apart from washed up/hollywood types, as they apart from being good hunters have to be an all round mix of many things to make the clients have a great time, and to make the whole experience go smoothly from when you meet them to when you say goodbye.

Originally Posted by Peleton

Brickburn,

Thank you for the welcome. i think you get my point. The Cliques are the exact word I should have used. Hunters should just enjoy one another's stories, pictures,and accomplishments without having to worry about being ambushed. Posting hunt reports on "some other forums" got to be like handing in a term paper to a prick professor, you just knew he would find a way to be hyper critical of it.

Actually, Christophe Morio told me about this forum in CAR this year, he told me it was different.

I could not agree with you more on the part I put in bold above. I think that is what has made AH a different place from other forums. I am a member of other forums and I appreciate that most of the "citizens" of those forums from what I can tell are good folks. Unfortunately it only takes a few to cause the character of a place to look poor in spite of all the good it may do. I think it's up to the site owner to set the tone. In the case of AH I believe Jerome has done a very good job of a setting a tone of friendliness and not being exclusive.

spikeT- After doing some reading about southern Africa on all of my very few (5) trips that include Zim, SA and Namib, and remembering the "Rhodesian War" when I was in high school (we even heard about on this side of the pond), hearing about that war from a Boer's side in Zim (Thys DeFries and family, Lion's Den, Zim) I may have a good feel on how it would go :-) I'm currently reading Minchner's "The Covenant".

cliffy i have some good friends who were in the selous scouts and other regiments during the rhodesian war , and others who grew up during it, and yes they have some stories..... if you want some books that will give you insight on that conflict and, other books about the southern african region go to 30 Degrees South Publishers | Books for sale | online books for sale | South African Military Books for sale | SA Guide Books for sale , "fire force" by chris cocks is one, and "the saints" which is a history of the RLI . a bit off the subject but the huguenots who fled main land europe under religious persecution and went to south africa also came here to jersey, and the accent of the older jersey people is nearest to the south african accent. it has nearly died out now due to people coming in from uk etc and you only hear it when some of the older farmers are around.

Why do I hunt in Africa ?

I am a hunter and the hunting is good, I was born in Africa (North Africa), and I enjoy being in Africa.

I also get along very well with the Afrikaner, maybe it helps that my family settled in Morocco from Spain three generations ago, along with other people from France, Italy, Portugal....then we all were slowly, gradually pushed out of those countries where we were born, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Libya, and had to go back to Europe.

Sorry, I m getting sentimental, must be the season.

Good luck and good hunting to you all in 2013.

Luckily we are all different .Can you imagine every one wants the same wife lol. I hear what you say and for speaking your mind thank you. Unfortunately you will make the same mistakes again. Don't blame yourself it is the good nature in you that you were born with causing this.
To generalize is wrong you do get genuine people in this business.
Happy new year to you and your loved ones
O and charge those guys for the Scotch and maybe I can use you also.
Theo

What is the big draw?

My interest was piqued by Capstick. I then turned to Ruark.

These books set the tone for how safari would feel, especially Ruark.

Also where else can you go see elephant in the wild along with lion, leopard, sable, etc etc.

I have also fallen in love with Zimabwe. The people I know there are salt of the earth. They have opened their homes to us, I have met their families, eaten their braai, and drank their scotch.

I also love the hunting. To this day I am amazed by the skills of the African tracker. Their eyesight and hearing is on another level. They see tracks and signs I could never find. They have a built in GPS better than my Garmin. Every trip I am impressed by some feat they perform. This year we tracked a small herd of buffalo up the side of a mountain, through rocky areas with no impressions that I could see. After several hours they put me on the buffalo for a good shot. I am also still impressed with the PHs I have hunted with. Their knowledge of the flora and fauna is impressive, fireside manners impeccable, and have not spoken poorly of other clients.

Plus it is safari, it is Africa, it is an exotic, distant land. What is not to love?

Peloton,

After 32 safaris I could see you maybe being a little burnt out. Hopefully if you sit out a year or two the passion will rekindle, especially if can continue to hunt with your wife. If I go to SCI we definitely need to get together.

I am new here and new to hunting in Africa, this might actually be my first post IIRC. Africa never appealed to me, at all. My Dad won an auction at a really good price and sent me and my younger brother (I'm 29 and brother is 11) in August 2012. I actually argued with him for 3 months about him going in my place. I am an avid deer/pig hunter but Africa never called to me. However, as I started planning the excitement built up. Now that I have been home for 5 months I can honestly say for me, Africa will always hold a special place in my heart. When people ask if I want to go back I tell them it is not a want rather it is a need. Africa crawls into your heart and burrows deep and tugs and scratches at you but the only way to scratch it is to go back. It is very hard to put into words, the best explanation I can give is if you haven't been you cannot understand. My biggest problem is while I make a comfortable living I do not make enough to go back anytime soon, it will be at least 3-5 years before I make it back. I will go back, I have to go back.

we all hear ya champ.
welcome and enjoy site