Just had news that one of our network users who booked a hunt through our Agency shot a nice Lion in Burkina Faso. It was a very exciting hunt, as they dont allow baiting in Burkina.

I have also been informed by the PH that one lion is available for this year in the Presidential area. If someone is interested please contact me asap. All details on the hunt can be viewed under our hunts section on top.

Thanks for looking,

Arjun

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Classroom desks and office cubicles stand empty. Hunters in blaze orange stand out like drops of bright paint against brown fields. Parking lots at bars are crowded with pickup trucks draped with deer carcasses.

This is Wisconsin’s gun deer season, a tradition as engrained in the state’s identity as beer, brats and cheese. But as the years slide by, fewer people seem to care.

Hunting’s popularity has waned across much of the country as housing tracts replace forests, aging hunters hang up their guns and youngsters sit down in front of Facebook rather than venture outdoors.

The falloff could have far-reaching consequences beyond the beginning of the end for an American tradition, hunting enthusiasts say. With fewer hunters, there is less revenue for a multibillion-dollar industry and government conservation efforts.

“As paradoxical as it may seem, if hunting were to disappear, a large amount of the funding that goes to restore all sorts of wildlife habitat, game and nongame species alike, would disappear,” said Steve Sanetti, the president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Hunting generates billions in retail sales and pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into government conservation efforts annually through license sales and federal taxes on firearms and ammunition sales.

But fewer hunters are involved in the sport each year. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 33 states had declines in hunting license sales over the last two decades. The sharpest drop was in Massachusetts, where there has been a 50 percent falloff in hunting license sales during that time.

Millions of Americans still hunt, of course, and some states have had increases in license sales over the last 20 years. But the overarching decline has outdoor advocates worried.

Suburban sprawl has consumed prime hunting land, forcing many hunters to choose between driving for hours to get to the woods or staying home.

Gerald Feaser, a Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman, said his state’s urban footprint had nearly doubled since the early 1980s.

“Whole farms turned into housing developments or shopping malls,” he said. “Once that land is lost, you can’t get it back.”

Fewer youngsters are taking up hunting, too.

“Fifty years ago, a lot of kids would hunt and fish and be outside,” said Mark Damian Duda, the executive director of Responsive Management, a natural resources research group in Virginia. “Now it’s easier to sit in your playroom and play video games.”

The drop-offs have hurt state conservation agencies that rely heavily on revenue from license sales.

In Massachusetts, the lost revenue has hampered the state’s habitat restoration efforts and its ability to repair its vehicles.

Michigan has had a 31 percent drop in license sales over the last 20 years, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. As a result of the ensuing revenue losses, wildlife officials have not been able to fill 35 vacant positions and have taken a less-detailed approach to managing the deer population.

In Pennsylvania, license sales have dipped 20 percent over the last two decades. The state’s game commission has cut spending by about $1 million in the last two years, cutting back efforts to repopulate pheasants, leaving 30 positions unfilled and asking employees to repair their own vehicles, Feaser said.

Decreasing license sales in Wisconsin, one of the nation’s destination spots for deer hunting, has not been as drastic, falling 2.5 percent over the last 20 years. But the drop-off has grown steeper in the last decade. License sales for the state’s traditional November firearms deer hunt dropped 9 percent from 2000 to 2009.

To help stave off the losses, states and outdoors groups have been increasing their efforts to retain and recruit hunters. The United States Sportsmen’s Alliance, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation began the program Families Afield in 2005, which calls for states to scale back youth hunting regulations. Thirty states have since reduced or eliminated minimum hunting ages, said Bill Brassard Jr., a National Shooting Sports Foundation spokesman.

Michigan officials have offered more hunting workshops for women and children. They also hope to use a federal grant to bolster participation in a decades-old program that pays some landowners up to $10 an acre to let hunters onto their property. Only about 50 farms out of potentially thousands participate, state officials said.

Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources is researching how to use social networking to recruit youngsters into the sport.

But the hunting fabric continues to fray.

Jeff Schinkten of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is the president of Whitetails Unlimited, a national conservation organization that works to preserve deer hunting. He said his 33-year-old son, Oliver, recently gave up the sport after years of seeing no deer and taking care of a newborn child.

“I miss my son and wish he was out here,” Schinkten said. “Hunters better be concerned. If it keeps going like this, it’s not going to be good. We lose hunters, we lose license sales. It’s just a vicious circle.”

New listing added for Giant Chukota Moose in Russia. Click on HUNTS link above and then Asia on the dropdown menu. These are some of the largest moose going. A fabulous hunt and adventure!

Folks,

We are now pleased to offer terrific hunts in some of the old Soviet Union countries. These hunts are not inexpensive but are great hunting experiences. We have teamed up with a top notch operator who has first hand knowledge of these countries for several years and has hand picked some of the best areas to hunt. We will keep adding these hunts over the next few days. For more information go to: http://huntersnetworks.com/content.php?page=asian-hunts, dont forget to click on the video links in the PDF files or visit www.youtube.com/seladang to see some video clips of these amazing hunts.

Feel free to call me on 845 259 3628 to discuss any of these hunts.

Regards,

Arjun Reddy

A large mature Burkina Faso lion hunted fair and square.

Burkina Faso (BF) in West Africa is off the beaten path for most American safari hunters. Burkina Faso however offers a terrific lion hunting experience, but its certainly not for everyone! Firstly and foremostly lions cannot be hunted over bait in BF as one normally does in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Namibia etc. Lions are tracked and shot face to face at close range. This method of lion hunting separates the men from the boys in my opinion as the lion knows someone is after him and they are on their guard.

These lion hunts are conducted in the hot summer months when temperatures are often 40 deg+C = 100s in F! The hot summer months is when the lions are easiest to locate as they are generally in close proximity to water holes where their ambush their prey and once having made a kill generally lie up in dense vegetation close by during the hot midday hours.

One important point of note is that lions in BF genetically do not grow large manes. But keep in mind that a lion hunted this way will more than make up for any short comings in the hair department! The lions themselves are big bodied mature wild animals.
A lion hunt in Burkina Faso also offers the additional advantage of hunting a variety of other unique west african game species that are not available in most southern african hunting destinations. These include, West African species of buffalo, waterbuck, bushbuck as well as Western roan and the smaller antelope such as Oribi, duikers and so on.

With the current exchange rate of the dollar to the Euro, Burkina Faso lion hunts are also probably the cheapest lion hunts available today.

To book a hunt to Burkina Faso or for more information visit http://www.huntersnetworks.com/hunts/BF.pdf

Am posting this in case you cant see the new facebook feed in the left hand column of our website. To see it login to your facebook account and then view huntersnetworks. Join our official page on FB by going to www.facebook.com/huntersnetworks after you login click on the [like] button next to the HN logo in the left hand corner of the page. Thanks.

Why shoot solid bullets and when do you really need one?

As the name implies Solid bullets are essentially bullets that are made to penetrate as deeply as possible without breaking up or deforming. Many shooters are under the impression that military style jacketed bullets are also solids. That's simply not the case. While they are also completely enclosed in a copper jacket they are not built as strong as a proper solid bullet is.

Solid bullets come in two types. The steel jacketed ones in which the lead core is enclosed in a thick steel jacket which is then washed in copper or a mix of metals to provide a softer coating so that the steel jacket does not wear out your barrel. Woodleigh solids are of this variety and are one of the best ones out there. In the photograph above are shown two woodleigh solids. The 375 H&H bullet on the left is a solid recovered from a body shot on a Hippo, you can see the rifling marks on the bullet, but it is perfect and probably can be used again! An unfired 375 H&H solid is in the middle for comparison. The other type is the monolithic solids which is essentially a bullet made from a solid bar of metal (copper/zinc alloy) with no lead core. The .416 bullet on the right is an example of this type of solid and is made by Barnes. Notice the pressure grooves cut in the bullet, when the bullet passes throught the barrel and engages the rifling the displaced metal flows into these grooves which helps reduce pressure and barrel fouling as well.

Monolithic solids are getting more popular as they do not deform and are known for straight line penetration. A poor solid will bend and deform and cause the bullet to veer off its straight line path, this is not good as it will not reach the intended target such as the brain of an elephant.

Solids do not expand and create a large wound channel thus should only be used on game such as Hippo and Elephant where the bullet is required to penetrate through huge mass and break tough bones. In the old days solids were also used on Buffalo but with the premium softnose bullets available these days a solid is not necessary for the first shot.

Many African PHs when backing up a client hunting buffalo, Hippo and Elephant use solids exclusively, this is because their shot is often taken at game that is (hopefully) running away and deep penetration is required to get to the vitals infront. They need for their bullet to penetrate from any angle that they can get.

Solids also have a place for shooting very small antelope like dik dik, duikers, klipspringers and so on when hunting with a big rifle so as not to destroy the little animal completely and ruin your trophy.

There is some talk of using a softnose bullet for elephant this is not recommended and you MUST use a solid for any shot on Elephant. For Hippo however when taking the brain shot which is really the only shot that is taken when shooting one in the water, a good quality softnose bullet is what is required. A Hippo's brain lies on top of its skull which is very thin where the brain is located and any softnose from a heavy caliber will easily penetrate the skull.

Remember to sight in your rifle to ensure that your solids and softnose shoot to similar points of impact as they don't always do this. Reloaders note that when loading solids the powder charge is typically a bit lower than your softnose bullets so consult your reloading manuals.

Lastly solids come in a traditional round nose like the older woodeighs as pictured above (the new ones have a different shape) and the new design flat point bullets like the barnes solids. It is now thought that the flat points are better and keep the solid on course through bone and muscle. Some manufacturers of good solid bullets include Barnes, Woodleigh, Northfork and Hornady.

Am posting this in case you cant see the new facebook feed in the left hand column of our website. To see it login to your facebook account and then view huntersnetworks. Join our official page on FB by going to www.facebook.com/huntersnetworks after you login click on the [like] button next to the HN logo in the left hand corner of the page. Thanks.

NEW Hunt Booking Agency Service added!!

Dear Friends,

We have just added a new Hunt Booking Agency to facilitate hunts for our members. Please click on the new "Hunts" link which you will find on the top navigation bar - 3rd link from the left. We will only work with the finest operators in the business, which we know can provide our clients with the best hunting experience possible. While there can never be a 100% guarantee of success in any free range hunting situation, we will do our very best to ensure that you know clearly what you are buying and that your expectations will be met.

Our service is FREE to you and you will not pay a penny more than what you would have paid if you booked the same hunt directly with the operator. There is no such thing as a cheap hunt these days and furthermore there are many unscrupulous operators around who are all too happy to take your hard earned money and not deliver at the end of the day. Using a service such as ours or any other well respected Hunt Booking Agency can save you big bucks!

My team and I look forward to working with you and to providing you with quality hunts. Do not hesitate to contact us even if you just want to shoot the breeze or tell us about a new hunting opportunity.

With Kind Regards,

Arjun Reddy
Founder
HuntersNetworks
Tel: 845 259 3628

The Zambezi ate my Crocodile!

A moment ago the large Nile crocodile having eaten most of the elephant leg we had so generously provided for it, had been sunning itself on the steep river bank, its snout pointing towards the water. Now all that was left were the marks in the sand from the thrashing of its powerful tail and a pool of blood in the Zambezi River which was fast disappearing before our very eyes. The Zambezi had eaten my Croc!

A half an hour earlier we had quietly made our way along the steep rocky banks of the Zambezi, moving in slowly to check the last bait site that we had started a few days ago with the intention of shooting a large crocodile. The hot sand and rocks burnt the soles of our naked feet as we closed the last 75 yards. The direction of the wind and the Go Away birds were our biggest enemies now. Soon we would be on our final approach, crawling our way through the final obstacle - a small dry river bed which flowed into the Zambezi. I looked up to see my PH, Mitch Bunce belly crawling in the hot river sand ahead of me, making it look so much easier than it was. The last few yards dragged on forever as I did my best to imitate his fluid snake like movements.

At last we were in position; at the base of a little sandy mound below which lay our bait at the waters edge. Mitch slowly made his way up the little rise inch by inch scared that anything at that last moment would give away our position to a wary crocodile at the bait. As he peered over the top his body went rigid and he excitedly whispered to me to pass him my rifle and motioned for me to crawl up the rise quickly. The huge scaly head barely 25 yards from the muzzle of the rifle filled the scope as the crocodile lay facing towards the water offering a rear angled side brain shot. A moment later a 300 grain Swift A frame delivered from the 375 H&H hit the crocodile! At the sound of the shot all hell broke loose. All the Go Away birds within earshot took off making a loud noise, a couple of smaller crocodiles which we had not seen earlier at the bait jumped with a loud splash into the river and Mitch was now up from my side running, shouting and falling down the steep river bank.

I took this all in, in a flash and what alarmed me most of all was the large crocodile with a now bloody head was writhing and rolling, its powerful tail thrashing, propelling it towards the dark and foreboding Zambezi. Mitch was now nearly at the bank when I shouted out to him to get out of the way. I fired again trying my best to anchor the crocodile by shooting it between the shoulders, but to no avail!

At the sound of the second shot Mitch went for the crocodile like a terrier after a rat. He lunged for but missed the end of the powerful tail as the huge prehistoric animal entered the water and slithered out of view!

We couldn’t believe our eyes! Where had it gone? We strained to catch a glimpse of the large reptile in the stirred up muddy water stained red with its blood, within a few moments all the evidence was washed away and we were left gaping at an empty sand bank and the river swirling before us.

The boat was dispatched back to camp for any equipment they could find that would help us locate the wounded crocodile! The 10’ poles the trackers cut in the meantime would have to do for now. From the bank we poked and prodded and discovered to our horror that at the very edge of the bank where we stood there was a steep drop off going down into the depths of the mighty Zambezi.

The sound of the outboard engine and the returning boat brought new hope, but very little in the way of recovery gear! A coil of rope and a very thin but pointed anchor shaped like a treble hook was all that they had been able to find.

Unlike their watery companions the Hippo, crocodiles do not float after being shot, they sink to the bottom only to return to the surface when the body is completely decomposed and the trophy ruined, if one is lucky!

The minutes and hours slowly ticked by while we played every card that we had in our pack! The boat’s anchor had snagged for over an hour in some rocks costing us precious time, we had even risked an International incident by seeking help from a Zambian fishing camp across the river enquiring if they might posses a fish finding device which we could use. Six hours had come and gone, soon it would be time to give up and make the ride upriver back to camp before darkness fell.

With the evening’s lengthening shadows our faces grew longer as we got down to play our last card! We had noticed earlier that when we threw some twigs in to the river to gauge the direction of the current some of them would get caught up in the fast current and hurtle downstream while others thrown a foot or so closer would swirl around in the little cove where the bait was positioned. After several attempts due to the current the boat was finally anchored in the right position, Mitch took up his position as the wireman, the line was attached to the feeble treble hook shaped anchor and the casting began.

On the 4th cast Mitch shouted out that he had felt something at the end of the line, he threw it back in the same spot over 20’ deep and again shouted out that he had felt something as before but was unsure as to what it was! This got all our attention. He bent the barbs of the thin anchor like treble hook so that it would bite into whatever was down there and cast it out once more.

Gently pulling in the rope he announced that the hook had seemingly snagged again on whatever was lying at the bottom of the river. By this time we were all standing up on the bank watching the proceedings. Hand over hand steadily the rope came back while we all held our breath; Mitch broke the silence saying it was probably a rotten log, but kept up the steady rhythm. Suddenly he shouted “there it is”, through the clear water he could see at the end of his line a large greenish scaly monster dangling precariously from a single barb of a hook. Time stopped as he slowly brought in the last few feet of line, Norman and Richard the trackers lent over the side of the boat and as soon as they could they grabbed the dead crocodile and held on to it for dear life.

It was far too heavy to pull onboard, with the boat listing to one side they started the outboard and made for shore. My somersaults of joy and happy shouts rent the air as the rest of the crew grabbed hold of the crocodile and dragged it ashore. A single barb had snagged the crocodile in its soft underbelly, not even puncturing the skin but just barely holding it.

My two shots had been perfect the first shot had entered directly behind the right horn angling forward towards the brain cavity and had killed the crocodile outright, the hastily fired second shot missed the front shoulders but had hit the base of the neck. The crocodile had been dead instantly but the reptilian mechanism of the beast which has worked for thousands of years had worked one last time pushing it back towards its home and safety.

As far as trophy crocodiles go, at 12’ it was not a record breaker, but I would guess that there are not that many Crocodiles that have been recovered from the depths of the mighty Zambezi.

The moment they got hold of it!

 

On their way to the shore, everyone has big smiles!

 

Top view of the brain shot - you can see where the bullet entered on the left and went right across the brain pan.

 

Mitch and I with our trophy! At the end of its jaw you can see where the 2nd bullet exited.

 

They are truly great trophies and unique animals to hunt! The next one I shoot however will not be facing the water, I don't care who says what shot to take .

Can anyone recommend a good outfit to hunt MuskOx in the spring? Thanks.

The old bull of the Gwai River Bridge

One afternoon we decided to head up to the Gwai river bridge crossing to see if there was any elephant activity. The river had a thin trickle of water flowing throught it with a few pools dotted around. It was an extremely hot day perfect for elephant hunting! On enquiry a local native informed us that we had come to the right place and a very old bull elephant with a younger askari bull was drinking daily at the river. He went on to tell us that they would drink every evening around 6pm and then feed along the banks till the early morning where the children from the local village would see them everyday as they went to school. What wonderful sights for a child to see everyday!

Since it was already around 2pm, we decided to hang around and check out the bull ourselves. In time other local villagers came by and they all had the same story to tell! This is always a good sign as local natives exaggerate and often tell you what you want to hear. So we sent the trackers to look for tracks! They came back to confirm that indeed there were tracks from the night before of two bulls drinking at the water, one track in particular was that of a very old bull, his feet were worn with deep cracks, the tracks were not large but sometimes elephants can have small feet and big teeth! Scott the PH was also excited at the sight of the very old tracks.

Around 5ish we loaded up and headed down to set up on a path which the bull would have to come down towards the river. 6 o clock came and went and the village cattle passed us by, the shadows lengthened and day slowly gave way to night, it was the day before full moon, so the moon came up early bathing the dry river bed and surrounding forest in its soft but bright glow. We waited sweating under the sausage tree, the mosquitoes came out to feast on us, but still no sign of the bulls! At 8:30 we decided to call it a night and quitely withdrew. We were back on the bridge at 530am, now using binoculars to look into every shadow along the river bank expecting to see the old bull in the early morning. Still no sign!

The trackers were despatched to see where they had drunk and we decided to drive the boundary road which ran parallel to the river but a mile away. The road was our area's boundary and we could not follow the bull across the other side. The boundary was all too close for our liking but rules are rules. Halfway down the boundary road we picked up his fresh tracks from the night before, he had come from the river and crossed the road heading into the other hunting block! Dissapointed we returned to collect the trackers and they confirmed what we already knew that the bull had drunk at the river but at another pool lower down!

The next morning we returned again, this time a light drizzle had washed out the tracks from the night before and all we could tell was that a herd of cows had passed by! Had we lost the chance of finding this old bull, an animal that had walked under the African sun for close to 50 years, perhaps carrying ivory well into the 60s and 70lb range. One tall villager described the tusks as being taller than him, surely a 100lb and every elephant hunter's dream! This was a quiet hidden away little place, a place where an old clever bull could easily hideout and spend his old age. We wondered whether his sixth sense which had kept him safe all these years told him that he was now being hunted and whether he had packed up and left with his younger friend! The daily tracks and foreign smell of our hunting vehicle would have been enough sign to warn him.

The sight of that old foot haunted us and we knew we had to go back at least one more time. Back again we made the early morning drive to the Gwai. We dropped off a couple of trackers to check the pools in the river and started our drive down the two mile boundary road. A mile later still no sign, perhaps he had moved off, at the end of the road, we stopped waiting for the trackers who were walking the length of that stretch of river to join us. Scott, decided to stretch his legs and walked down to the river, he was back in a few minutes to say that he had just found very fresh tracks of the two bulls and they were heading towards the river. The chase was on. We waited patiently for the trackers to return, they came at a run to say they had also seen the fresh tracks where the elephants had drunk, but were now heading into the one mile band along the river. We loaded up and followed them going as fast as we could in the dry river sand, up the river bank into the thorn bush, up and down the rough terrain following them, hoping that we would catch them before they got to the boundary road which was somewhere ahead of us! We lost the tracks twice in the grass and leaves, Luxon and Ben found them and off we went again. The elephants were heading as we suspected towards the boundary and to safety. There was no way we could catch them now, the boundary was only about 150 yards away still invisible in the thick bush! Suddenly the tracks turned sharply, as we followed I realized that we were heading back towards the river and deeper into our hunting area. Perhaps the elephants were planning to cross the river and head into the hills.

The big green accacia trees that only grow along the river came into view, we were not far now from the river and getting into the real thick stuff. Suddenly a loud cracking sound came from infront, no doubt elephant. A few more careful steps and they came into view. The old bull feeding on the left and the younger one on the right, we had him! Checking the wind we closed the distance one step at a time. Trying desperately to get a look at the ivory. This was it, the elephant I had come to shoot. At 25 yards a long yellow tusk swam into view, too thin and really not long enough. Scott cursed for both of us. The expression on his face did not need words. It was the old bull of the Gwai alright but not what we were looking for. We watched the old elephant as he fed quietly, got some good video footage of him and slowly withdrew.

We made our way back to the boundary road and sent for the vehicle. As a new day broke and the sun came up, we sat in the dust laughing at our misfortune. That old bull could have been that once in a life time elephant, he could have had pillars of white gold, but his small yellow ivory had kept him safe all these years. All hunting is about the experience and not just the final outcome. But more so when hunting for a trophy bull elephant I have come to realize it is the journey that is to be savoured as much as it is to get there.

Long may the old bull live in his little honey hole at the river Gwai and amuse the local villagers and children.