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The MAY 2013 issue, available soon in a bookstore near you
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Current issue: May 2013 / Hunting Blue wildebeest
Comment May 2013/ Dertien gelukkige jare
Terwyl ek die naweek saam met my veertienjarige dogter in ‘n skuiling sit en wag vir ‘n bokkie om in te kom, tref dit my dat Africa’s Bowhunter met hierdie uitgawe dertien jaar oud word.
Hoe vinnig gaan die tyd darem nie verby nie! Net nou die dag nog het ek met ‘n klomp jagboeke van Capstick onder die arm huis toe gestap. Dit was dieselfde jaar wat my eerste dogtertjie gebore is. Ek het net kort voor dit ‘n langboog gekoop en het nog daarvan gedroom om my eerste bok met ‘n pyl deur die hart te laat val. Ek het elke boogjagtydskrif wat ek in die hande kon kry gekoop – almal natuurlik Amerikaanse tydskrifte, want daar was toe nog nie ‘n boogjagtydskrif eie aan Suid-Afrika nie.
En hier sit ek nou – en ek hou duimvas dat ‘n bok moet inkom wat my dogter met haar kragboog kan plattrek. Ek onthou skielik hoe ek die eerste Africa’s Bowhunter by SABA se boogskietbyeenkomste probeer smous het. En dit tref my – dit is nou dertien jaar later. As ek aan die dertien jaar dink glimlag ek want...
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Leading article / Hunting blue wildebeest
 Cleve Cheney writes about the blue wildebeest, one of the most hunted game animals in South Africa. He describes the animal’s habitat and how to hunt it with bow and arrow. This article is Part 1 of two articles on the subject.
“Gnu!” – the nasal vocalisation of the blue wildebeest gives rise to its onomatopoeic name given to it by the Bushman. Blue wildebeest are rather strange looking creatures that are prone to comical behaviour at times. They are famous for their migrations in the Serengeti, where hundreds of thousands of these animals will darken the African plains on their annual trek to greener pastures. They are tough animals in terms of their will to survive. Subjectively speaking they do not appear to rank very highly in the intelligence department, and this is often the cause of their demise. Let’s take a closer look at one of Africa’s marvellous creatures
The blue wildebeest is an unmistakable animal, large, heavily built and of rather clumsy appearance. Bulls stand about 1,5 metres tall at the shoulder and weigh in at about 250 kg (350 to 600 pound); cows are slightly smaller. The wildebeest has large forequarters and slender hindquarters, making it appear ...
page 8 in the May 2013 issue
Testing PSE's Omen Max
 The Omen Max is one the fastest bows on the market, with an IBO speed of 366 fps. I had the privilege of shooting one, and although I was outclassed, may I present, the Omen Max! It has a typical PSE look – double limbs at acute angles, and small brace heights. The bow I tested was fitted with 80-pound limbs, but due to aggression of the cams, way beyond my draw strength. Of course, the limb bolts can be turned out ten turns, instead of the normal 2½, so I could turn it way down to a much more shoot-able weight (about 66 pounds). The let-off, according to it’s birth certificate is 70%, but I think the cam rotation was a bit slow, and it felt like only 65% (ever popular double cam system). However, it did measure exactly 70%, which means the valley was small, and therefore the reason the bow kept on “grabbing” me. This again made things difficult for me, since I prefer 80% let-off, with a bit of travel at the bottom. Yes, I don’t have the best form, but then neither does the average archer/hunter…
Page 18 in the May 2013 issue
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May 2013
CONTENTS
5 Dertien gelukkige jare
7 From our readers
8 Hunting blue wildebeest part 1
16 The first crocodile
18 Testing PSE’s Omen Max
22 The prince of antelopes
27 Preparing for the 2013 hunting season
28 My eerste boogjag
30 Readers' trophies
33 Hou wat belangrik is, belangrik
37 The way I see it
39 Pretoria Winter Knife Show – 2013
40 Testing Elite’s Hunter
45 Hunting and the law: part 2
50 Subscribe and win
53 Product review: Beman – first in carbon arrows
59 Target bow accuracy with your hunting bow
62 Hunting at N’kosi Sana Game Lodge – a SABA review
65 PH student diary part 9: – Firearms and shooting skills
66 Barky’s notebook
69 Selecting a bow
71 NASP: 2013 NASP All Star World Championship!
73 Straight from the butt
74 The Chinese repeating crossbow
76 Bowhunting opportunities
80 Letter from the rookie
Cover image: http://www.123rf.com/photo_13056416_blue-wildebeest-in-rainstorm-artistic-processing.html’>johanswan / 123RF Stock Photo
We now have a sister-magazine in the USA
Welcome to Universal Hunter Magazine (< click to go there)
 From the editor
When we decided to call this publication the Universal Hunter magazine, it was not for reasons of grandiloquence. In other words, we did not choose the name because it sounds grand. We chose it because hunting really is universal. It is practiced all over the world, in every country and region, by all the peoples on the planet. Hunters are and always were found everywhere, and hunting is as old as mankind itself. Our magazine is aimed at this universal activity and the universal body of people who practice it.
That automatically brings up the next question: why is hunting so universal? Why is it so old an activity, and why do people still do it today, when meat is available at butcher shops everywhere?
Dr. Randall L Eaton may find the answer to this in the article Call of the Chase, on page 30. Dr. Eaton is the foremost psychologist of hunting, and he explains in the article that the instincts of hunters, even meat hunters, tell them that they need trophies to prove their worth in society. A trophy, he says, is any part of an animal that communicates a hunter’s achievement. In ancient times all men had to go through rites and ceremonies that related to their passage from boyhood to manhood, and hunting trophies played a major part in these rites. Hence man has been collecting trophies for thousands of years. The provision of food, of course, was also a strong motivation. This article is excellent reading for those hunters who aspire to a deeper understanding of why they hunt.
Interesting as this article may be, it is far from the only story in the magazine. As in the first issue, we offer a great variety. There are various hunting stories: moufflon sheep, elk, black bear, whitetail, blue wildebeest, mountain sheep, Persian Ibex, buffalo... There are also articles on bow tests, buck-tracking devices, medical improvisations in the veld, and making your own bow release, as well as advice on shooting techniques and the choice of species when hunting in Africa. Last but not least, we have an article on a challenged hunter and how he solved his problems. Just as hunting is a universal activity, we strive to offer our readers a magazine with universal content.
Enjoy the read, and if you have a hunting story you would like to share with other readers, let us have it!
Keep well.
The editorial team
Bringing bow hunting into your heart and into your home for 11 years now
AFRICA's BOWHUNTER is the magazine for the bowhunter, archery enthusiast and game farmer. We mainly publish news and articles of interest to the bowhunter in Southern Africa and any bowhunter in the world who hunts or plans to hunt in Southern Africa. –
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Where did the warthog go? In the April issue we had Bowhunting the warthog part 1 and then the warthog ran away and we could not find him in the May issue. Luckily we caught him and part 2 will be in the June issue.
Rooikrans. 16 km van Magaliesburg op R24.
Jaggeleentheid nuwe plaas eerste jag in 7 jaar. 30 blesbokke, 18 blouwildebees, 35 impala, 4 koedoe, 4 rooihartbees, 2 waterbok, 13 sebra, groot elandbul (1 horing). kontak Quintus Roets 083 589 2386.
Alma/Nylstroom
An once-in-a-lifetime bushveld experience! Bowhunting farm, 1,5 hours from Pretoria, ten species to choose from. Most recently stocked black impala. Luxury tents, self catering, shooting range, cooling and slaughtering facilities. Max 10 hunters and non hunters welcome. Call Buks 082 785 1846 -
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.
Thabazimbi.- www.vogelpan.co.za1 200 hectares exclusively for bow hunting. Fully equipped self-catering accommodatAlma/Nylstroom. An once-in-a-lifetime bushveld experience! Bowhunting farm, 1,5 hours from Pretoria, ten species to choose from. Most recently stocked black impala. Luxury tents, self catering, shooting range, cooling and slaughtering facilities. Max 10 hunters and non hunters welcome. Call Buks 082 785 1846;
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. Ten comfortable hides; cooler room; large variety of game. No rifle hunting has been done on this farm for the past five years.
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or Pierre (A/H) 082 891 3172.
CLICK ON THE STARS BELOW TO VIEW CONTENT
 Die jaarlikse Sterkrivier-tradisionele boogskietkompetisie word op die langnaweek van 27 tot 29 April 2012 aangebied en boogkskuts van oor die hele land gaan die byeenkoms bywoon, skryf Rean Steenkamp.
Die byeekoms word op Henk du Plessis se plaas naby Sterkrivier gehou. Dié tradisionele boogskietbyeenkoms is sekerlik die bekendste en oudste byeekoms vir stokboogskuts in Suid-Afrika en moet gewis nie misgeloop word nie! By hierdie byeekoms kom vriende en stokboog-entoesiaste bymekaar en kry hulle die geleentheid om hul ondervindinge met die langboog en kurfboog met mekaar te deel. Hulle kan ook hul entoesiasme vir die sport met hul gesinne deel. Die Sterkrivier-saamtrek is ‘n jaarlikse byeenkoms waar mense met ‘n liefde vir die tradisionele boog saam uitkamp, waar hulle met hulle selfgemaakte boë spog, waar boogbouers hulle nuutste ontwerpe kan wys en waar boogjagstories en boogskiet-praatjies tot middernag langs kampvure vertel word ....
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Dear valued members, It’s with great pleasure that we can now announce that we are able to receive online payments! Visit our online shop. If you do not have a registered account yet, create one today, and make your credit card payments online. For more information contact us. Kind Regards - Africas Bowhunter team
For electronic subscriptions (non credit card transactions) please use the "subscribe" link in our main menu.
Mashudu Lodge
Busch Taxidermi & Bow hunting
Moselesele
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Bookreview: Let loose the arrow
 Let Loose the Arrow by Rean Steenkamp succeeds in presenting ordinary and unique hunting experiences in such a way that when one starts reading, one simply cannot put the book down. Every hunt he has experienced tells its own story and encourages the reader to follow in the author’s footsteps and learn from his successes and mistakes. Let loose the arrow! is aimed at the ordinary bow hunter or rookie hunter and the purpose of this book is to put emphasis on the hunting of run-of-the-mill plains game. It is about the animals hunted by the average bow hunter, hunted as the average hunter hunts with his or her bow and arrow. It is about the mistakes bow hunters make and the things all hunters experience during this journey.
Cleve Cheney, well-known game ranger, bow hunter and writer says: “Reading Let Loose the Arrow has been an absolute delight. I remember as a young boy reading books on hunting by Peter Capstick (Death in the Long Grass) and Jim Corbett and about his hunting exploits in India, and Harry Wolhuter’s Memories of a Game Ranger. Reading these books made me “want to be there”. They had a great influence on where I eventually ended up. I get the same feeling when I read this book – it makes me “want to be there”, wanting to experience what Rean was experiencing. I think it will have the same effect on young boys and men who read it as the effect the books I mentioned had on me. The fact that it is not too technical makes it so much more pleasant to read. I think when one gets too technical it actually detracts from the readability of a book. It is like a breath of fresh air because it is honest – he is not trying to impress anybody but shares his emotions in an open and transparent way.
For more information, contact Santie at 012 332 1051 or
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page 74 in our February 2013 issue
Whatever it takes...
 Dr Adrian de Villiers has finished his second book on bow hunting and it should be available by the time this book is on the shelves. This is his second bow hunting book. The first, “Bowhunting in Southern Africa”, was sold out. Only a few copies remain in his private book collection.
Adrian started bow hunting in 1983 after having handgun-hunted for nearly ten years. He has bow hunted well over 1 800 documented animals plus many more not documented. For thirty years he supplied all his staff’s meat requirements on his game farm with bow and arrow. He was the first South African to legally hunt the big six with bow and arrow. He has shot 26 buffalo of six different species on three continents ...
Read more on page 31 of our Januaray 2012 issue
Beman – first in carbon arrows
 Beman is the carbon shaft manufacturing company that started it all. Many archers and bowhunters will know the name. They have been around for a couple of decades. They were the first to manufacture carbon arrows. We asked the question why it has taken so long for Beman to hit the South African shores. Seppie Cilliers from Magnum Archery says: “Back in the 90’s, Beman was a very popular arrow in South Africa. Beman was initially a French-based company, and a couple of years ago they started manufacturing in the USA. It has increased in popularity, and Beman has an extremely good line-up of products for the South African market. We thought it was something that the hunters and archers in South Africa would want. Now it is more readily available.”
Beman has an extensive range of products. For the recreational archer with a budget in mind, to the serious big game, bone collector bowhunter. The range offers products to be used by archers using bows from 22 up to 90 pounds.
A great new feature of Beman is their HotTail ViBrake insert technology. HotTail ViBrake inserts with vibration dampening technology is patent pending and very innovative. It is a simple design, yet lethally effective. HotTail stops vibration and quickly stabilises the arrow for more accuracy and stealthy shooting ...
page 53 in the May 2013 issue
Target bow accuracy with your hunting bow
 I just love target archery – when I’m not shooting I’m thinking about it. I like the challenge and I like to spend time with awesome people on the shooting line. There is just something about signing a good-looking scorecard at the end of the day. It takes years of training to shoot consistently under competition pressure. Even when I’m training it’s hard to put the bow down and say “enough now”. Around April, when the morning air feels crisp on my face and my hands take a little longer to warm up, my mind starts to drift and I feel the urge to get my hunting bow and grab a camo T-shirt and go out in the field.
By this time I’m pretty confident with a bow. I have put a fair amount of practice into shooting. I have always been advocating accuracy for hunting. Follow these important methods to get your hunting bow shooting like a sweet machine!
Shoot the correct draw length
I believe there is no hard and fast rule here that will apply to everybody. The correct draw length has much to do with a person’s entity inclination as a whole. Factors like the type of body build the archer has and even his personality may determine the archer’s ideal draw length...
page 59 of our May 2013 issue
 Letter from the rookie
Dear mr PH sir
My great grand uncle, twice removed, three times divorced and now living in Patagonia, used to say that one should not hold on to tightly to one’s things because one could be pulled down with it easily. Being a youngster at the time of said saying being said, one was not confident enough to ask for an elaboration to the actual meaning of said saying. Hence one’s natural curiosity about said matter, until recently that is, when one encountered a situation (German for being on the south side of a good time) that shed some light on the matter. Not that one was particularly excited about what came to light or what went down for that matter.
Anyway, let us not get distracted.
I was invited to hunt warthog on an open farm in a neighbouring country recently. This particular farm was notorious for harbouring very large and aggressive warthog boars. These said monsters are legendary for the large tusks they sport – as well as their aggressive behaviour towards the hunter once shot. Hence the honor amongst peers if it should become known that one has actually hunted such said warthog and that on foot.
Many hair-raising tales were told by hunters, after being discharged from the hospital that is, about their individual encounters with these monsters.
Anyway, when I arrived on the farm the owner refused to allow me to off-load my gear before I signed the required sworn affidavit that should any harm or injury befall me while hunting, due to the unsolicited aggression (Japanese for not looking for trouble) on the part of the warthog I intended to hunt, he (the farm owner) is not liable for any damages. Loosely translated it means that if the pawpaw hits the fan, it’s not his (farm owner again) problem – I have been warned ...
page 80 in the May 2013 issue
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