Booking Agent: Theo Blignaut - Skin Afrika
Outfitter: Sans Souci Safaris
PH: JS Steyn and Jason Whitehead
Dates: January 2016...a few days prior to ESA listing effect date
I wanted to do a quick write-up about a recent hunt I had in South Africa. I was contacted by Theo Blignaut about a last minute male lion hunting opportunity. I have used Theo in the past and he was good to work with. The deal was exceptional, cheaper than many plains game hunts and especially good considering the lion would be importable. Boddington had hunted lion there with his wife and enjoyed the experience. I have yet to see even a non-export female lion hunt price come close.
I will admit I was leery about how I would feel about a ranch lion hunt. I always prefer wild and free range, but if I wanted to hunt a lion I knew I needed to do it. 'Can't knock it until you try it' and all that. A week after finding out about the hunt I was in Africa.
I was pleased with Sans Souci Safaris and their people. Nice camp, nice people who treat you like family. The hunt was exciting. We cut for tracks until we found a mature male. We tracked him during a building thunderstorm, the first in months and when we caught up to the lion he stood his ground and was not happy we were there.
My first shot was quartering-to and the second as he was running away. It's a good thing I got a quick follow up shot into him because I later found out the first shot, a 375 Norma factory soft, was stopped by the lion's shoulder. Complete failure. I do not know what happened, but I assume it was the charge and not the actual bullet. The second shot hit his femoral artery as he spun to run away. Things would have been interesting had I not gotten the second shot in. I've used Norma solids for an elephant and they were awesome. I still have no idea what the heck happened.
I did a little plains game hunting after, but not much because of a tight budget.
Back to my comments on South Africa lion hunting. I enjoyed it. The experience was a good one. I felt it was fair chase in that the lion could have went a long damn way without hitting a fence, and they're not exactly defenseless if they decide not to run away. The tracking aspect was really exciting. I would love to hunt a free range lion some day, especially in Burkina where you have to track, but it is likely out of reach financially. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to do what I did. My lion cleared customs two weeks ago which I am excited about. That being said, I would have done this hunt for the experience alone knowing how special the hunt was to me. I hunted a non export elephant last year and would not trade that experience for anything.
Outfitter: Sans Souci Safaris
PH: JS Steyn and Jason Whitehead
Dates: January 2016...a few days prior to ESA listing effect date
I wanted to do a quick write-up about a recent hunt I had in South Africa. I was contacted by Theo Blignaut about a last minute male lion hunting opportunity. I have used Theo in the past and he was good to work with. The deal was exceptional, cheaper than many plains game hunts and especially good considering the lion would be importable. Boddington had hunted lion there with his wife and enjoyed the experience. I have yet to see even a non-export female lion hunt price come close.
I will admit I was leery about how I would feel about a ranch lion hunt. I always prefer wild and free range, but if I wanted to hunt a lion I knew I needed to do it. 'Can't knock it until you try it' and all that. A week after finding out about the hunt I was in Africa.
I was pleased with Sans Souci Safaris and their people. Nice camp, nice people who treat you like family. The hunt was exciting. We cut for tracks until we found a mature male. We tracked him during a building thunderstorm, the first in months and when we caught up to the lion he stood his ground and was not happy we were there.
My first shot was quartering-to and the second as he was running away. It's a good thing I got a quick follow up shot into him because I later found out the first shot, a 375 Norma factory soft, was stopped by the lion's shoulder. Complete failure. I do not know what happened, but I assume it was the charge and not the actual bullet. The second shot hit his femoral artery as he spun to run away. Things would have been interesting had I not gotten the second shot in. I've used Norma solids for an elephant and they were awesome. I still have no idea what the heck happened.
I did a little plains game hunting after, but not much because of a tight budget.
Back to my comments on South Africa lion hunting. I enjoyed it. The experience was a good one. I felt it was fair chase in that the lion could have went a long damn way without hitting a fence, and they're not exactly defenseless if they decide not to run away. The tracking aspect was really exciting. I would love to hunt a free range lion some day, especially in Burkina where you have to track, but it is likely out of reach financially. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to do what I did. My lion cleared customs two weeks ago which I am excited about. That being said, I would have done this hunt for the experience alone knowing how special the hunt was to me. I hunted a non export elephant last year and would not trade that experience for anything.
