Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Wondering about what dangers a hunter might encounter in the wild

To me, the dangers that might present themselves during a hunt are part of what you are paying for, on the other hand, I would prefer to come home alive, too.

Any PH experiences that us armchair tourists might enjoy hearing about? Or situations that the client got themselves into that they wished they hadn't?

Be careful what you ask for

from what i understand alot of Americans seem preoccupied with the thought of snakes like black mambas or puff adders but given your mainly hunting southern Africa during its winter they arent that commonly seen on todays safari's.....yes you can run into them but you won run into very many.....would guess the hunting over there is much the same as here, most your risk revolves around traveling in the vehicle....

The thing that got trackers the scaredest I have ever seen is when they almost bumped into a tall piece of grass covered in pepper ticks. I had thought they had just stepped on a mamba. It would have been very comical if I had know. What the comotion was about. I thought we were a out to be eaten
The only other experience is when we lost control of the left engine as we approached the camp landing strip and had to divert to Bullawayo for a bigger runway. That one hour detour and landing was as much excitement as I care to experience

It was kind of exciting stalking buffalo in the waist deep grass along the edge of a river when the tracker in front of me just stops and looks off to his right. I follow his gaze and there is a lioness with her head raised just above the top of the grass about 25 yards away that we apparently interrupted while she was stalking this same herd of buff. She looked right at us for just a moment then lowered her head and she was gone. It was almost comical that we were both stalking the same quarry, what was not comical is that we had absolutely NO idea where she went so we just backed out and found more buff to chase later that day.

Some of the stuff that happens or we come across is really super and others you just want to try and forget. I have a few pictures I'm happy to share:
We frequently come across rhinos on properties and of course everyone wants to stop and have a look. Same with this couple so we obliged but unfortunately the depth of field cannot be seen on pictures and these rhinos were about 30 yards from us.



One that always gets a shriek from all concerned are the spiders that abound until about this time of the year. This is a female, the real fem-fatale because she occasionally eats the much smaller male counterparts. When she's busy eating the males come charging in and mate her during her dinner and that's how the guys seem to make it till next season. She would fit in the palm of your hand.



A group of bird hunters were trapped in the house for several hours by these viscious critters.



Below just scares me spitless. Fortunately I come across them only once-in-a-while.

I recall getting bit by more than a few double scotches with Heinken chasers at the AH forum get together in Reno during SCI. We started at about 4:30 PM on Friday. When it's after 1 AM and you have a 6 AM flight and a PH says, "might as well stay up now and drink mate, it's too late to get any sleep" and that sounds like good advice well ...

Peter
My Africa experience only involves one trip, but I did encounter the dangers in your last pic. My experience with them in the States, however, is somewhat more advanced.

It is my contention that they are the most dangerous when they are about half empty.

KC

PS Everybody here wants to know about the snakes. I tell them that we didn't spend much time in the big cities so I didn't encounter any.

My biggest fear during our two trips to RSA, were getting in a car crash! Folks driving habits over there, do spook me. As for critters, I just don't get too worked up over that kinda stuff. Had close encounters with cobras(spitting and Egyptian...I think), puff adders, boomslang, and stiletto snakes. Various spiders, rhino, elephant, lion, etc....I found these encounters exciting, and interesting, rather than scary.

The ride to camp from the Joberg airport, on the other hand, scared the schitt out of me/us!! Drove through the aftermath of a nasty pileup about halfway there, to start things off.

Jeff

Yeah, you're much more likely to be whacked by a car crash, hangover or something "civilized" than a snake or elephant.

I have been charged by elephants, surprised by black mambas and gone after a wounded leopard at night. But by far the most dangerous situations have been in the wrong parts of towns at night, on highways, and when sitting up too late at the camp bar.

Lions and tigers and bears, Oh My!!!

Being shot scares the pooty out of me.

Pooching the shot was my biggest fear.

We are headed over there next week and the biggest danger are the roads and those that travel them.

Hunting dangerous game does have it's risks.

It has been said that you can certainly kill an elephant at 100 yards and then be able to say to the world that you killed an elephant. But you can never say that you truly hunted one. Getting as close as you can and then getting 10 yards closer before you fire is exhilirating, but not the safest of endeavors. However, it is the only sporting and proper way to hunt the animal.

Cat hunting does have it's moments, especially if you wound one and have to follow it up. The same goes for cape buffalo.

Walking a mile or more to and from a cat blind in the dark in DG country is an experience you are not soon to forget, especially if there are elephants trumpeting and lions calling in the vicinity.

Stopping an elephant charge or being in thick bush with elephants or buff close aboard catches your attention.

On my first DG hunt (of many), the PH told me that situations might arise that he could not protect me from and to use my judgement and my rifle if something invaded my comfort zone.

For me, the intensity and risk of hunting DG is why I do it. It is a volitional act on my part. No one forces me to do it.

If you hunt PG only in a non DG area, you aren't at much risk.

Did not encounter any dangerous situations on my one hunt but was slightly edgy and concentrated on the ground one day as we climbed a rocky koptje (sp?) that I took for a snake val halla. Perfect spot I thought were I slinking around but all was good as about an hour of glassing the brush produced a nice pair of waterbuck horns rising above the brush some six hundreds yards lower and in the sun.

Interestingly, the one snake, an adder, was seen not in the bush, but one morning on the PH's fairly well manicured lawn.

But, it was in Ghana (the old Gold Coast) where I can lay evidence as to greatly enhancing your chance to meeting the Amighty any time you got into any vehicle. The roads were potholed and the speed limit was when the accelerator was floored. The chance of a functioning seat belt was about 50/50 up front and much less in back. In fact, a seat original with the vehicle in some of the "public transportation vans" was novel. A seat actually bolted to the floor more so. The green of the ditches was intermittently broken by the red of crashed, rusted vehicles, their final resting place, as stuff mostly stayed where it broke. There were signs posted at some of these locations numbering the souls who had unexpectedly ended their sojourn there. In Accra, a city of millions, driving was chaotic; to my mind, "imagine a lane; drive in it".

Leaving their Int'l Airport, I noticed a large, crumpled, cargo plane that had at one time slid off the end of a runway, smashed through the security fence, and took out a bus with twelve souls. It's still laying there. Inclusiveness and diversity--seems you can get killed in anything that moves there.