Mark Biggs-Successful baitman!

Congratulations to Mark Biggs of Port Elizabeth in himself baiting and eventually shooting a bushpig in just the moonlight!

Mark has access to a friend's property,Longhill, very near to our property,Blaauwkrantz.

The property was recently bought and a lot of investment and work has been done in converting it into a private game ranch.The owner and Mark have a management idea for all the other trophy species except for the one specie that remains under the radar...yes you guessed it,the bushpig.

I mentioned to Mark that there are healthy populations of bushpigs there although they are hardly ever seen.So much so that many other landowners often doubt the presence of bushpigs on their properties.Bushpigs occur almost everywhere where there is cover and fences can't keep them in or out.

I advised Mark on how to set up a bait site and make use of an old house as a blind.

Mark did all this to the tee and also made use of a digital scouting camera to monitor their patterns.

I joined Mark on Wednesday afternoon the 15Th Sept to attempt a stakeout for these "ghosts".The moon was waxing very nicely and the forecast showed a clear night.We sat from sunset(6:30pm) till 10pm when I noticed a bushpig at the bait site.A layer of cloud had emerged and enveloped the moon.Mark struggled to see the pig at first but after a bit of frantic low level-frequency chatter Mark could make out the pig in the darkness.The shot of my 300 Win Mag topped with the Zeiss illuminated reticule scope roared and the muzzle blast temporarily blinded us.

Mark said that he missed!

I couldn't believe it since it was only a 45 yard shot.What I did see was blood running down from above Marks eye...He certainly was a member of the Half-Moon club already!

We walked over to the bait and low and behold there was a very nice boar lying stone dead.

Mark not only made it to the Half Moon Club but the Bushpig in the Moonlight Club too.

May the bushpigs on Longhill Farm also prove their value and sustain this fantastic endeavour of preserving natural habitat in order to sustainably utilise the wildlife.

Long-live the wildlife on Longhill!

David "Skip" Erickson,Montana, the newest Bushking!

If luck isn't on your side then intrepidness is the name of the game and Skip showed tremendous resolve in eventually bagging a good boar after four nights and a total of twenty hours in bushpig blinds.

Skip has been hunting Africa since 1985 and has never been able to add a bushpig to his Children's Museum collection despite hunting in areas where they occur. He heard about the Bushpigs of Blaauwkrantz and set his sights on a trip here to collect a bushpig amongst other unique Eastern Cape species.Skip cleverly planned his safari to coincide with the full moon too.

No sooner had Skip arrived and we set off with his son,Rob,to a bait site where I felt we had a good chance.The Moon was one night from full so we only had three good nights to be able to see what was going on when any pigs appeared at the site.

We sat two nights at this bait site without any pigs showing up.I was confused but not surprised as bushpigs do this,just when you think you've got them they throw a curve ball!

We went to another site on the third night and sat there till 12:30 am,still nothing...!I was getting worried as the next night the moon would only rise at 8:40pm .If the pigs came in before that we would have trouble in seeing them and of course making that shot.

Skip was resolute and showed no sign of giving in and we headed off to the site that we sat on the 3rd night again.At about 8:15pm I noticed what looked like a pig scurrying around the bait site.We watched it there till the moon came out and Skip could see it clear enough in the scope.

Skip made a shot and the pig dashed off into the night.I almost felt worry but Skip said he was right on the pig.We walked the 70 yards to the bait site in anticipation and Skip found some blood and then saw the pig lying in some brush not more than 20 yards from where he had shot.

Since Skip's Bushking accolade two more bushpig hunters have arrived at Blaauwkrantz and the first missed his shot and the other ended before it started.But these stories are better left untold,although to be fair the moon was gone and bushpigging without moon would be chancing it anyway.

Bushpigs aren't for everyone but understanding that they aren't just a normal hog or feral pig goes a long way in actually successfully hunting one.

Congratulations Skip!

Rob Woodward-The new Bushking!

Congratulations to Rob Woodward from Kona,Hawaii for successfully hunting a bushpig on Wednesday evening the 18Th July.

Rob had spent a total 14 hours at two different baits over a period of three evenings before he made that shot at a SCI bronze medal bushpig.The moonlight certainly helped us identify the bigger pig that appeared at 8:30 pm.Our relief and joy was tangible when the boar went down.

Once again our stoic efforts in habitat conservation has been rewarded by being able to hunt our wildlife that has value.Bushpigs have value not only as a hunting trophy but financially too.

We will continue to diligently conserve our very sensitive Valley Bushveld habitat thanks to bushpigs and the other species with value that exist here.

Thank-you bushpigs.

The new Bushking Award

Because targeting and actually succeeding in shooting a bushpig is not something that any Safari Outfit can even try let alone suggest, I feel that when a Blaauwkrantz Hunter attempts a bushpig he/she needs to be honoured when achieving his goal in shooting a bushpig.

As this blog of mine is mainly to describe what bushpigs are really all about, the Bushking trophy is merely the crowning glory of all this description.Reading all the past posts and many yet to come hopefully gets the message through what bushpigs are all about.

Our bushpigs live in a very sensitive habitat in the Eastern Cape namely the Valley Bushveldt Biome and because we are permitted to hunt bushpigs and enjoy the sport they provide and meat they supply(the locals are very partial to this meat) we are extremely determined in conserving their habitat.Habitat conservation is the cornerstone of all our wildlife resources and on private property the sustainable utilisation of our bush animals such as bushpig, bushbuck and kudu naturally ensure that we guard our sensitive habitat from livestock overgrazing and constructions such as powerlines and mines.

The Bushking Award is a floating trophy that is awarded to the newest, successful bushpig hunter.The "necklace" consists of bushpig tusks and porcupine quills that I put together myself. A Board of Honour is on the wall at the Buhpig Bar in the lodge to acknowledge the holders.

The picture accompanying this post is that of Rafael F.Ruiz from Spain who was the inaugural winner of the new Bushking Award.

Congratulations also to Tom Harrison and Hans Zagleur who have since won the award, they will join all the other bushpig hunters in the "Bushpig Hall of Fame" too.

Long live bushpigs.

Great bushpig hunting in the waxing moon during July at Blaauwkrantz!

Rafael F. Ruiz (Spain) PH Eardley+Tom Harrison(N.Carolina) Hans Zagleur(Montana)

In the space of four nights these three lucky hunters managed to hunt these three bushpigs each at a different baitsite.What made it even more remarkable is that they were all taken in just the moonlight.

The moon was waxing beautifully from 1st quarter on the 18Th July when Rafael arrived and headed straight to the bushpig blind not far from the lodge with myself.At 19h10 he made the moonlight shot to take a boar,congratulations Rafael!

On Monday afternoon the 19Th PH Eric and Hans headed to another bait site and settled into the blind just before dark.They saw a lot of animals moving around them but the elusive bushpigs didn't arrive.They lucked out!

The next afternoon Tom arrived from North Carolina and immediately set off to another bait site with myself. With a cameraman in tow we didn't wait long after dark when the hogs showed up.There were a bunch of them milling about but Tom and myself managed to isolate the biggest one and Tom also made an excellent shot in the moonlight to take a very nice boar.Congratulations Tom!

Meanwhile Hans and Eric where at another blind waiting patiently....As their luck would have it nothing other than warthogs were showing themselves. Again they lucked out!Hans had sat out two nights on his previous safari here in 2008 without success either.So he had spent four nights now without luck.The pressure was on.The next afternoon they headed to the same blind they were in the night before as I said there was no chance the bushpigs would stay away there two nights in a row.At 18h40 the bushpigs appeared and Hans made that shot,congratulations!

Apart from this feat of three bushpigs in four nights at Blaauwkrantz, is that Tom and Rafael had made 25 hunting safaris to Africa between them and had neither taken a bushpig yet.They had been to countries like Tanzania, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Zambia, Namibia, Benin, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa with Tom only once catching a glimpse of them in Tanzania.

No one can ever guarantee getting the extremely shy bushpig, but I can certainly say that Blaauwkrantz has something special here.

Yours in buhpigs,

This is how we are giving our wildlife a chance on private land

Less than two weeks ago my Brother,Francois, and I apprehended and arrested this poacher with his plunder on our property,Blaauwkrantz.
The Police were still on their way by the time we risked our lives and intercepted him before he crossed the boundary.He is still in their custody.Although this incident was a relatively uncommon occurence,our efforts weren't just by chance as we are constantly vigilant on our private property and have professional scouts giving us the alarm should any trespassers/poachers be spotted.

This is the beauty of the equation involving private land and "incentivised" conservation :the wildlife is really being protected.

Bushpig Taxidermy

Bushpigs are such unusual looking animals that I always recommend the full mount to give the correct visual perception of what these strange animals really look like.They have very large heads with extended snouts and the boars have those prominent warts or protuberances from their upper snouts that make them look almost alien-like.Bushpigs also have those glistening, shaggy coats that distinguish them from all other pigs.Their short stocky legs are also a feature of interest.

An extended wall-pedestal would also give the mount its due as just a frontal view doesn't allow for enough depth.Bushpigs can't turn their heads, so a 1/2 turn on a head mount is not an option and just plain straight-facing head mounts aren't fashionable anymore.The wall pedestal would then be advisable if not going for the full mount.

In the end it's up to the hunter to choose but these are such fascinating strange creatures that they deserve all the credit they can get,believe me!

Immortalising the bushpig hunt is just another good reason to give this animal its due.

Long Live Bushpigs!!

(The full mount of the bushpig attached to this entry is that of a goat killing pig that I shot in November 2008.The excellent taxidermy was done by Basil and Kevin Boucher of Port Elizabeth)

Some more tips for practising that moonlit shot

In three more nights the new moon will be bright enough to illuminate a target early in the evening with each night getting brighter as the moon nears the full stage on June 26Th.

A couple more tips that I have thought of in addition to the previous entry to practice looking through the scope in the moonlight , is firstly to make sure the backdrop of the target ( e.g. a 40lbs hay bale ) is lighter than the target. This will easily outline the target.Bushpigs normally appear black in the moonlight,so the backdrops of most bait sites are lighter than the pigs.

The second most important tip here is to make sure that there are no shadows on the target such as from tree branches or other structures.Trying to see something in moon shadow will be difficult for most people.

Obviously the less cloud cover there is the better to see something in the moonlight too.

The distance is always important too, anything further than 100 yards starts getting difficult for anyone when looking through the scope in the moonlight.

Lastly....keep eating those carrots!!!

Preparing yourself for that moonlit shot..

Shooting a bushpig in the moonlight may not be longest shot you'll ever make but it may the most extreme shot you'll ever take in terms of quality of light.In other words it's like the saying goes..."almost a shot in the dark!"The emphasis here is on the word ALMOST, so here is a simple exercise that may help prepare you for this shot of a lifetime.

I'd suggest before embarking on the long trip over here, to practice looking through a very good light gathering scope (such as a Zeiss or Swarovski with at least a 50mm objective) at an object roughly the size of a bushpig during a moonlight night. A 50 lbs hay bale at plus minus 75 yards should do the trick.
If you can see the hay bale in the moonlight through the scope you should be able to see the bushpig at bait when the hunt is on.
I understand that the skies aren't always as clear in the Northern Hemisphere countries as we are lucky to have here in Africa, but when it's full moon there should be ample light filtering through for this exercise.
Don't worry about the cross hair, the scopes we have here have very faintly illuminated reticules to show where to hold. All you need to do is to identify and practice looking into the darkness.

Hunters should also read and research the bushpig before arriving as this will certainly help them understand this elusive and wary quarry they are targeting.

The sense of achievement and the look of pure elation I've seen on many bushpig hunters faces after making this incredible shot certainly goes a long way in me encouraging prospective bushpig hunters to succeed too.

Happy Hunting!

The Southern Africa (SA) HOG SLAM

Tony Silva, May 2010

Dr Terry Witzu, June 2009

In the Southern African countries of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique there are two indigenous wild pig species. Most hog hunters should know these to be the warthog and the bushpig.

Further North in the equatorial belt the red river hog replaces the bushpig and the giant forest hog also occurs in these rain forests. Along the the Mediterranean coast of North Africa the Barbary boar (similar to the European boar) represents the wild pigs there.

In the Eastern Cape of South Africa both the warthog and bushpig occur in relatively good numbers. When considering a safari to Blaauwkrantz the Southern Africa Hog Slam is a goal that all hog hunters should try for, given that hunting these two species is relatively cheap as compared to a current guided safari in Central and East African Countries such as Central African Republic, Cameroon, Benin, Tanzania and Ethiopia where legal trophy hog hunting is still possible but at a hefty price.

Bushpigs are a challenge in themselves (just read all the other blog entries) and the thing with warthogs is to try find a monster boar (10 inch tusks or more). Finding a really big warthog takes a lot of luck , of course location and what is also really important is the time of the year. From end of April until end of June the big warthog boars come out of hiding and start getting restless as they start marking territories and scouting for sows that may be on heat. That eerie sound of a big warthog boar chomping on his tusks is a really strange and exciting sound...

At Blaauwkrantz we have had a few fortunate hunters who have completed the SA Hog Slam and note ably the following clients have done it on a single safari :

1. Danny Hicks (May 2007)

2. Dr. John Tucker (May 2008)

3. Val Nicholls (May 2009)

4. Dr. Terry Witzu (June 2009)

5. Dr. Chad Nelson (April 2010)

6. Tony Silva (May 2010)

Last night Larry Boyd tried but was unlucky in completing this single safari Hog Slam. He took a spectacular warthog (see www.blaauwkrantz.com/latestnews ) a couple days before but true to the wary bushpigs ,they didn't come to the party...Next time Larry!

The One that got away....almost,Anthony (Tony) Silva,California

In May 2007 Danny Hicks from Central Valley,California hunted with me and one of his priority species was the hard-to-target bushpig.His safari lasted 6 days and after an initial disappointment at missing a bushpig at bait,Danny managed to get another chance a few evenings later and shot a very large bushpig.He wrote a story about this hunt and submitted it Safari Club International and they duly published it in their bi-monthly magazine.

Danny wanted to return again with some friends who he hunts with in California, one of their quarry species is feral pigs.

Last week Danny returned to Blaauwkrantz with three of his friends and one of them,Tony Silva, is an avid hog hunter over there and had heard all about bushpigs from Danny and through our meetings at the SCI show in Reno each year.

Tony understood very well that hunting the bushpig was a different ball game all together to feral pigs..

Due to the moon on the waning phase, things were always going to be tough when staking out these nocturnal creatures at bait.

I had a bait set up where I thought the pigs wouldn't be too nervous of the spotlight that we would need to illuminate the target instead of the preferred moonlight.

We spent two nights at this sheep carcass where my camera had indicated some pigs coming in.

The 10 hours we spent there in total proved totally fruitless.It was tough but I must commend Tony on his resilience and intrepidness at being able to sit so still for so long.These bushpigs are worth that effort and Tony fully understood that!

We had two nights left of the safari and we were trying to squeeze in as much other hunting as possible as we were hunting a 2x1 which effectively halved the hunting time per hunter,so the pressure was on..(see the Blaauwkrantz website http://www.blaauwkrantz.com/)

On Friday the 7Th May we returned from a successful gemsbok hunt for Danny and headed straight to another one of my more established bait sites, problem is that at these spots the pigs are often wary of an artificial light.

We settled into the hide at 5:45 pm and waited for 4 hours in complete silence until I noticed two pigs through the dark night making their appearance at the bait from the thickets.The bait was only 35 yards away, so seeing the shapes through my Zeiss 8X56 binos was possible, but barely.

One of the pigs started wandering over to our hide and it looked like the sow, it was now or never as this pig was going to become aware of us inside the hide. I indicated to Tony to get ready and I put my little Surefire flashlight onto the pig at the bait, after a few stern words under my breath telling Tony to SSSShooot, he fired.

The bushpig bolted at tremendous speed and was gone into the night.We didn't hear the shot hit and the bushpig didn't drop at the shot as they often do when they are hit.

We went to investigate at the spot but saw no blood or any sign of the pig.The reality started dawning,Tony might've missed.We were all feeling sick and travelled the 25 min trip back to the lodge in complete silence.

Tony did however say he felt confident at his shot.

The next morning I went to investigate in daylight as this bait site was close to my home.

I saw not a drop of blood and was getting really despondent after a few minutes of it becoming a reality that Tony had missed.Suddenly, Marty my Wife , Carmen's, little cross-breed poodle started barking and growling in the thick bush some distance away.I went over to investigate and to my great relief there was a 160lbs bushpig boar lying stone dead!

The 150 grain 30-06 bullet had hit the bushpig from behind as this is how it was turned when the light went on.The shot went into the stomach and chest,the bushpig probably took a while to die there,but only went 100yards, so it was the best thing we could've done ,to leave it there in the night otherwise we may of had one angry pig charging at us in the darkness.

Needless to say everyone was overjoyed when I arrived at the Lodge with Tony's monster.

Well done Tony, 14 hours at bushpig bait was well rewarded.

Dr CHAD NELSON,UTAH

Chad arrived at Blaauwkrantz with his Dad,Reed and Brother Travis after making the long trip from Salt Lake City as the moon was waxing nicely in the evenings.Thanks to this blog Chad was aware that he would be here in prime bushpig hunting time:THE WAXING MOON PHASE.

On their arrival Chad indicated that he would be interested in hunting one of these ghosts.Chad was already pursuing many of the other fantastic species available too,but I assured him and his PH, Francois, that I was always prepared for bushpig hunters especially when the moon was good...

According to their tight schedule we decide that Wednesday the 28Th would be the night, it was the night of full moon and the second last night that would be available in this months' moon cycle to attempt a moonlit hunt.

The weather forecast indicated cloud cover and a possibility of rain, I had two specific baits that were getting regular hits from big pigs, and as the afternoon progressed we noticed the heavy clouds rolling in, things were looking dicey..

I eventually decided to send them to the Bloustoot Bait site that was further away from the coast than the other good one, as the inclement weather was coming in from the ocean and maybe this would give them time to hunt before the rain set in making visibility at night even harder.

Francois and Chad settled into the blind just before dark which is at 6:15 pm this time of the year. At approximately 7:15 pm a single pig appeared from the thick brush, according to Francois and Chad it seemed very nervous ,darting around the bait and disappearing into the bush again.

They were getting very excited and anxious at the same time as it appeared and disappeared,not sure if it winded them or whether it would return.Eventually at 7:30pm it reappeared and started feeding cautiously,Chad decided to shoot as it didn't seem like there was another pig with it.

Chad levelled the 300 WSM topped with a Trijicon scope on the pig,he could just make out the body through the scope in what was fast becoming a very dark night as the clouds were rolling in. The illuminated reticule indicated where to aim on the shape of the bushpig as Chad squeezed the trigger and the pig dropped dead in its tracks.Chad made a fantastic and unique shot: a bushpig in the moonlight!

The big sow tipped the scale at 67 kg or 147,4 lbs.Congratulations Chad and welcome to the Bushpig Hall of Fame!(see the picture)

Happy Hunting..

(See the rest of Chad and his Family's fantastic trophies on the Blaauwkrantz website at http://www.blaauwkrantz.com/ )

Bushpig Downtime..

The moon is disappearing and soon it will be New Moon...So in the meantime the nights are pretty dark and no good to see those ghosts coming in or not coming in to those baits!
The baits are getting hits but without moon there's cant be too much pig-action..
Watch this space though!

Ghost in the darkness taken!

Fleming Lund and his parents with his trophy bushpig taken in just the moonlight.We've had an early start to season this year,with two Swedish clients arriving in the 1st week of Feb already. The second Swedish hunter,Ulf Daniellson , arrived a couple weeks later and bushpig was on his list.
Although both hunts were conducted in generally hot conditions the other trophies taken were fortunately hot too!
PH Eric guided both hunts and managed to negate the heat and hunting very well.
I took Ulf out on two evenings in the waxing moon phase.The first night was fruitless with no pigs coming to the bait we were staking out.
The next evening I decided to switch locations and it wasn't long and a pig made its appearance.There was a bit of cloud cover obscuring the 1st quarter moon, so Ulf battled to see the bushpig at first.When he managed to pick the pig up in the scope he shot and the pig dropped in its tracks.I could see the bushpig spinning around where it fell and yelled ; shoot again!
Before Ulf could shoot again the pig jumped up and disappeared into the moonlit night never to be seen again.
After a sleepless night we went to investigate the next morning but only found its tracks where it made the speedy getaway into the notorious Eastern Cape thorny thickets that the famous author, Maj. Pretorius , once called "a hunters hell" in his book , Jungle Man.
Ulf's shot was probably high on the shoulder.Bushpigs are one of the harder species to target and this episode clearly illustrated just that.
Hard lines Ulf, maybe next time!

Halfway through March old friend ,Fihl Jensen, from Denmark returned for his seventh visit to Blaauwkrantz.He brought the Lund Family with him for their first African trip.
Fihl, a Bushpig Hall of Famer himself , indicated to Flemming Lund that he should accept the famous bushpig challenge in addition to his plains game package he was hunting. After arriving and spending a few days out in the thick bush and being assured by PH Francois that there were buhpigs all over but hardly ever spotted, he accepted the challenge to target the these "ghosts".
The first evening I took Fleming out , was the night before first quarter (Mon 22March).
Once again that group of bushpigs' sixth sense rescued them and we sat till 10 pm with nothing coming in.
The next evening,at a different spot, saw a clear night with the first quarter shining brightly once the sunlight had gone. At 7:50 pm two pigs came walking almost within touching range from our bush blind.The wind was good so they didn't smell us.They passed by and did their customary "circle" around the bait and then closed in.We could clearly see the boar was larger than the sow,although this is not always the case.(bushpig sows are good trophies too)They had their heads facing us as they started feeding.They stayed in this position for more than 15minutes.These 15 minutes felt more like 15 hours!Finally the boar turned and Fleming made an excellent shot with the bushpig dropping dead in its tracks.Fleming was using his .308 topped with a Swarovski Z6i 3-18 X 50P scope.This scope also has the feint orange dot to indicate the centre.This rig makes for an excellent bushpig combination in this type of hunt.
The bushpig weighed 70 kilograms or 154 lbs.Tusks should go good silver medal SCI.

Congratulations to Fleming Lund ,the first Bushpig Hall of Famer for 2010!

What's the difference between a trophy species and a non-trophy species?

I often wonder about this topic as who can really say they have the authority to call a trophy a trophy and who cant?
Why should Rowland Ward or SCI decide that certain species are good enough to "make" the book and others not?
I suppose if it has horns,antlers or tusks there seems to be consensus they "make" the book because they can be measured.But what about the cats?They don't have horns,antlers or tusks yet they're in the book.
What about the impressive Zebra? They're not in the "book" although they have a skull like the cats.
Why should some be left out while others enjoy all the glory?

I'm sure the folks who put the record books spent a lot of time discussing this issue: is size really always the goal?
At the end of the day it is each individual hunter who decides what is HIS trophy and how much hew rates it.
The bushpig probably doesn't look as regal as the sable antelope to most but that's just looks..what about all the other qualities like degree of difficulty that are attributed to species?Surely they count too?
Fortunately these other qualities are mostly in the eye of the beholder as they can't be measured with a tape.

I'm happy to say the bushpig makes the "book" as a trophy species in both publications and is much more than that in my eyes too.

Proof that bushpigs can fly!

Almost as if this pig read my last entry...he also had to show that I wasn't making things up about bushpigs flying.

The flash didn't quite light him up as he was a bit further away but one can still see him "taking off" into the night with his partner looking on in the background.

Amazing picture,amazing animals..

Meet the Superpig...ready get set...

At one of my baitsites last night,my Reconyx Rapidfire camera took a picture of this bushpig in a great pose.

With a physique like that one can understand why I regard them the ultimate pig.Usain Bolt would hardly be over the the 50m mark and this pig would be over the finish line!!

These pigs Can fly.

Twitter Account

I've got a Twitter account going and through my limited Internet skills I managed to get it linked to this blog post.So I'll be trying to give even more updates regarding bushpigs and other wildlife conservation issues in general on privately owned land through sustainable utilization.
The Internet is also playing an important role in wildlife conservation!
Thank-you Silicone Valley!

The heat is on!!

So our show season is over and we are back from a tremendous amount of travelling and moving in the fantastic US of A! As arduous and tiring all the airports and flights are,as accommodating the rest of the great country is.

From the cold winter in North America to the dry heat of South Africa!February is generally the hottest and driest month here.The bit of rain we normally get at this time evaporates quicker than I can down a cold Castle after a long day in the cricket field!

It's certainly not the most favourable time to hunt but the cooler afternoons just before sunset is a good time to be out there although this a relatively short part of the day.The rest of the day is perilous!

Every night the bushpigs are feasting on the sweet prickly pear fruit that are dropping by the thousands from their thorny mother plants. Baiting them at this time is tougher but they are carbo-loading big time right now.

I have just returned from a bait site and my camera took a picture of me in the heat,and it's not even the hottest part of the day yet! It'll probably go to 45C today...118F-check the picture.

(my camera is in the shade)

I'll try get a entry on this post every week from now on for those that are interested in things relating bushpig.

The heat is on!

Dallas Safari Club

The 2010 Dallas Safari Club annual convention is up and running and Blaauwkrantz Safaris is here in full force.

As usual there are a huge amount of South African outfitters exhibiting as opposed to other African countries,with the exception of Namibia who also have a fair contingent of exhibitors.
Some don't like all the opposition but I feel it is a real attribute to South Africa to have such a tangible wildlife industry as opposed to countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe who also have the habitat but clearly not the quantity of hunt able game.
The reason is simple: Private ownership.
South Africa's ownership policies allows for people to own land and the animals which creates the incentive to conserve.A very simple but effective initiative.

What does all this have to with bushpigs?

Blaauwkrantz harvested arguably the most bushpigs on a single property(80 000 acres) in 2009(see also 2009 bushpig report) and I can quite safely say that with South Africa having the leading wildlife industry in Africa this bushpig tally can be applied to the rest of Africa too.
So not only does Blaauwkrantz deliver the most kudu trophies in the world but the most bushpig trophies too.
All this thanks to private ownership.Lets hope it stays that way.

Kruger Park bushpigs

On a recent trip to the fantastic Kruger National Park (Letaba/Phalaborwa) we looked hard and often to find any bushpigs but to no avail.

I know they are there, but it just drove home my point that even in a world famous National Park like the Kruger, bushpigs are hard to find.
We did however see some monster elephant tuskers,with the biggest going well over 100lbs a side.We also spotted some really big "duggaboy" buffalo's, a few going well over 40".There were also numerous reports of lion and leopard being spotted in the area.
We also saw other game including kudu, bushbuck, steenbok, waterbuck, warthog, impala, hippo, babboon and crocs.

But no bushpig.

This gave me even more food for thought on the bushpig and the pursuit of them as compared to the other more common and conspicuous species even in a wildlife paradise such as the Kruger.