I was sitting in the bar/ trophy room reliving several hunts over a dram or two of 15-year 0ld something or another, and realized two of my prized trophies on the wall were photographs. I suspect other members of our clan have similar treasures.
The first was taken in 2012 while hunting in Namibia with Jamy Traut's outfit. We had successfully taken my best buffalo - a huge old 42" solitary bull, and had moved on to a conservancy in the tribal areas. Black Rhino had been introduced, and my tracker and young PH stumbled upon the fresh sign of one while trying to sort out a kudu. We carefully followed what proved to be a bull black rhino and were able to work within about thirty-forty meters of him. The thorn brush was incredibly thick, and I have never been around such a switched-on animal. Nevertheless, I was able to get a couple of photos, before we eased away from the clearly nervous beast.
The second "shot" was taken in 2014 in the Zambezi Delta of Mozambique where my son and I spent a couple of weeks hunting buffalo and plains game with Grant Taylor's Mashambanzou Safaris. My PH, Boet van Aarde, and I had been drifting along one of the tracks which wind through the coastal forest looking for whatever we might find. The area is alive with duiker, nyala, and sable. As we eased around a corner (on foot - not in a vehicle), we came face-to-face with a lion and lioness not sixty meters away. As Boet covered them, he tightly whispered that they looked fresh off a kill, and I could probably take a picture or two before we backed out. I shot this trophy with a tiny pocket camera. They were very close - and not a fence within five-hundred miles. I likely will never hunt a wild lion with a rifle, but I still took a magnificent one in 2014.
Shutterfly does a wonderful job turning these photos into framed canvas print "trophies" that are every bit as meaningful as an actual buffalo or sable.
The first was taken in 2012 while hunting in Namibia with Jamy Traut's outfit. We had successfully taken my best buffalo - a huge old 42" solitary bull, and had moved on to a conservancy in the tribal areas. Black Rhino had been introduced, and my tracker and young PH stumbled upon the fresh sign of one while trying to sort out a kudu. We carefully followed what proved to be a bull black rhino and were able to work within about thirty-forty meters of him. The thorn brush was incredibly thick, and I have never been around such a switched-on animal. Nevertheless, I was able to get a couple of photos, before we eased away from the clearly nervous beast.
The second "shot" was taken in 2014 in the Zambezi Delta of Mozambique where my son and I spent a couple of weeks hunting buffalo and plains game with Grant Taylor's Mashambanzou Safaris. My PH, Boet van Aarde, and I had been drifting along one of the tracks which wind through the coastal forest looking for whatever we might find. The area is alive with duiker, nyala, and sable. As we eased around a corner (on foot - not in a vehicle), we came face-to-face with a lion and lioness not sixty meters away. As Boet covered them, he tightly whispered that they looked fresh off a kill, and I could probably take a picture or two before we backed out. I shot this trophy with a tiny pocket camera. They were very close - and not a fence within five-hundred miles. I likely will never hunt a wild lion with a rifle, but I still took a magnificent one in 2014.
Shutterfly does a wonderful job turning these photos into framed canvas print "trophies" that are every bit as meaningful as an actual buffalo or sable.
