Comment / Spring – new hope and a new energy 

Is it not true that with spring’s first blossom a new hope arises in one’s soul? It is said that as Adonis rises from the underworld men are filled with new energy to work the land and take on new endeavours. Well, I do not believe in Adonis or any of the other Greek gods, but it is surely true that spring brings a new zest for life after a bleak winter.

With spring also comes the end of the hunting season – which is, of course, quite unfortunate for all bowhunters. However, archery and bowhunting never stops. One can bowhunt all year round on some farms – and the long summer days give one many hours to practise with the bow and arrow in the evenings after work. This is surely the time to compete in archery competitions and to spend time practising archery with the family.

Just as spring renews the landscape after winter, so has Africa’s Bowhunter experienced many changes. Our move to new offices is complete and we are back in full operation. We are also constantly trying to renew the magazine with fresh new articles and ideas and we are certainly planning many new endeavours for the future. Africa’s Bowhunter is happy to announce that by Gods’ grace we finally have our ABC rating – which means we have been audited and we can prove our sales. This opens many doors for acquiring advertisements, which in the end will result in us producing an even better magazine with more pages filled with bowhunting and archery articles – all to the benefit of our readers. It is estimated that most magazines are read by at least three people per copy – so if we do our calculations, it means that Africa’s Bowhunter is read by no less than 23 000 people. How bowhunting has grown!

Bowhunting has certainly developed into a popular activity, practised by people from all walks of life. In this issue you can read about the well-known Springbok rugby player Danie Rossouw’s passion for bowhunting and nature in the article Die bok wat boogjag. Also in this issue is a lion and buffalo hunt with the bow, a quick guide to bowhunting the impala, a test on the Martin Pantera, an article on how to judge the distance to a 3D target, other bowhunting stories, archery news, and much more.

In the past our bow tests were done by Blacky Schwarz from Germany – who will continue writing our traditional bow profile. However, Africa’s Bowhunter decided to do the bow profile on the compound bows locally. This is a new endeavour we are taking on and one we do not have much experience in, but it will be done to the best of our ability and as objectively as possible. As we continue the tests, we are sure to adapt and change as we go along and get inputs from our readers and from the different bow manufacturers. We welcome all help and positive criticism in this regard!

God bless

Rean Steenkamp
Publisher