SOUTH AFRICA: Perfect Safari With Paw Print Safaris

Robert T.

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Trip summary with Paw Print Safaris: Owner and PH - Pieter Erasmus

On our ten day safari we harvested Eland, Kudu, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Zebra, Nyala, Impala, Warthog and Jackal. I had communicated with Pieter prior to the hunt on specific expectations concerning trophy size for the Kudu and Eland. Of course in hunting there are no guarantees, but we hunted hard and I was not disappointed…both trophies score SCI gold. In addition, all other trophies taken were mature representatives and score SCI bronze, silver or gold.
Our accommodation at Buffalo Thorn Hills Lodge (North West Province) was first rate. The lodge is managed by Steve and Deidre Lindemann who leave no detail unattended. The food was magnificent; the individual chalets were clean, comfortable and charming with beautiful views all around. After our hunt Steve and Deidre, along with their two delightful children (Ethan & Abbigail), guided us for the day at Pilanesburg National Park. If you have a chance, do not miss this tour. We also took a morning long break from hunting one day as Pieter, his wife Madie and two children (Maryna & PF) accompanied us to the local craft market for souvenir shopping / lunch; a wonderful experience!
Another Paw Print Safari associate, Jan Engelbrecht, accompanied us in the field and filmed our hunts. Jan presented us with an excellent DVD of our individual hunts, stalks and shots the last evening of our stay as we sat around the campfire regaling the day’s events. Jan is also an experienced taxidermist (my trophies are currently in his studio) and an accomplished PH in his own right. One more member of the Paw Print team I must mention is their tracker Sami. I had made a less than perfect shot on the Nyala as my bullet was deflected by the thick brush. Sami was able to track the animal with only a few drops of blood scattered over a large area, he recovered my Nyala trophy and it is now in Jan’s hands for a shoulder mount.
A few more items that in my mind are noteworthy: we were collected at the airport by Pieter / Jan and delivered by Jan at the end of the hunt with no incident. Paw Prints vehicles are well maintained and built for the job. Our comfort and safety was attended to AT ALL TIMES. Pieter and his team hunted at our pace and took the time to position us for many photographic opportunities in addition to the hunt itself.
Bottom line: Paw Print Safaris hunting, accommodation and staff are all top shelf; we give them an A+ and our heartfelt thanks for the trip of a lifetime.

Sincerely,
Robert & Anne Taliaferro
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Another great report from Pieter's camp. Par for course!

Love the Eland in paricular...
 
First, Welcome to AH. Great first post.

Glad you had a great hunt. Thanks for sharing.

All the best.
 
Nice trophies, thanks for the report.
 
Thanks for the hunt report, nice trophies. I just love your waterbuck and kudu.
 
great report and glad to see you had a great time.Some fine animals you got to harvest with pieter.We leave monday to go hunt with paw print and can not wait.Looking for the same animals you hunted and a few more for the other 3 guys.
 
Seems that Paw print Safaris people knows how to do the things in a perfect way........very well done, great pics an amaizing Kudu bull.....!!!!!

Congratulations for the good report......!!!!!
 
Congrats for a great hunt Robert, and some very nice trophies !
 
What a great hunt... It brings back some good memories! Pieter runs great operations; can't wait to be there again next year...
 
Fantastic report and pictures, Nice , very nice trophies ! What great memories you had the opportunity to make !
 
Well done, good stuff! I really envy your eland!
 
I love reading a good hunting story, looks incredible. What was the areas like you were hunting, were the properties on the larger or smaller side?
 
Another satisfied customer. Anyone see a trend with Paw Print? Besides offering some great deals he always seems to have very happy clients. And trophy quality always seems to be good. If I was on the fence about who I book my next safari with I'm not anymore. After having lunch with Bill C and talking hunting of course and hearing his thoughts and opinions on Pieter I can say without a doubt I'm booking with Paw Print for 2017. Billy best of luck on your safari.
 
n
I love reading a good hunting story, looks incredible. What was the areas like you were hunting, were the properties on the larger or smaller side?
The farms we hunted were located in the Northwest and Gauteng provinces no more than 45 minutes from the lodge. We hunted a total of 5 farms that ranged in size from ~ 2500 to 25,000+ acres. All of the farms had good game quantity / quality and provided a great hunt. We did spend a lot of time on one of the properties as Pieter knew there were several mature Kudu bulls that were in the 55+" range which was a specific goal of mine. The hunting on this property was tough....the bulls were wise and the entire farm was very thick brush. In the end we were successful but it proved to be the most challenging hunt of the 10 animals we harvested.
I had hunted a few years earlier in both the Eastern Cape and Karoo area. These were great hunts with a wonderful outfitter. The Gemsbok hunt in the Karoo was particularly challenging and I loved every minute BUT for me the northern provinces are more exciting mainly because the Southern Greater Kudu are much larger than the Cape Kudu and like most plains game hunters the Kudu is my favorite.

BR,
RT
 
Nice articel, excellent trophies and cool pictures. Thanks for sharing.Congrats Robert T.
Congrats Paw Print Safaris.
Witold
 
Congrats on a Great Safari! Great read and awesome pics, love that Eland. Thanks for sharing
 
Nice trophies. Did you have your trophies taxidermied with Pieter? Have you received your trophies yet? How was the quality? Was Pieter your guide? How was the food, did you get to eat the game that you shot?
 
bowfishholic,
This hunt report is a good one! I hunted with Pieter last year and can tell you that he was my guide and he was GREAT!
If you have questions please PM me and we can share information.
 

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