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Professional Hunter Profile - Jaco Oosthuizen, Tanzania
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HuntersNetworks Username: OndjambaGTA Age: 35 Interests/Hobbies: Rugby, Cricket, Golf, Jogging, Target Shooting and lazy kick-back days on the beach whenever I get a little time (Zanzibar is the favorite, mostly due to proximity) Member of: Professional Hunters Association of South Africa, Safari Club International, Dallas Safari Club Life Member Favorite animal to hunt: Elephant and all dangerous game Favorite caliber: .375 H&H My backup rifle: .470 NE Chapuis, .458 Lott My clients best trophies to-date: 45"+ Cape Buffaloes Greg's Rhino Albert's Leopard Jim and Javier's respective Lions Archie's Elephant # 2 Roosevelt Sable with Dr Byron Hodge Several top 10 pigmy antelopes with handgun (Mike Smith) Many top 50 species - various Something about me that most clients do not know: I grew up in a war-stricken Namibia (Southwest Africa) in the late seventies, early eighties, having dealt with friends and family who came under attack numerous times in their private residences, school buses under attack, returning from sport events on weekends, landmines on major roads to ranch houses etc., a time that really, but also unknowingly at the time, shaped my life into wanting to do what I have the biggest passion for, hunting as a professional, surviving in the African bush where survival of the fittest is the only law of the jungle. Currently hunting: Ondjamba Safaris – Game Trackers Africa currently conducts hunts in Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Tanzania is Africa’s premier hunting safari destination. It is wild Africa at its best, completely unfenced, free-ranging and untamed. We hunt in the world famous Selous and Kigosi Game Reserves as well as Masailand to the north. Spectacular rivers flow through this beautiful country including the renowned Ruaha, on the banks of which sits our beautiful Selous camp. Buffalo and other dangerous game are abundant in Tanzania as well as numerous plains game species including roan, sable, East African bushbuck, East African Greater kudu, Roosevelt sable, eland, Bohor reedbuck, Nyasa wildebeest, Defasa waterbuck and many others. Our pristine National Park concessions in South Africa are home to many trophy species; giraffe, rhinoceros, lion, leopard and of course, all of the plains game are available here. We also have private concessions in various provinces to offer all species available for hunting in South Africa. These areas are abundant with wildlife and are a dream-come-true for the first-time African hunter. Ondjamba Safaris – Game Trackers Africa will custom tailor any safari to the specific needs of each hunter. Email: ondjamba@iafrica.com Telephone: SA cell: +27 (82) 9051366  One of my most memorable hunts There are so many, it is hard to decide where to start; for that matter, I am just going to start with the most recent one that will live with us for some time. We were hunting lion in Tanzania's Kigosi Game Reserve, on a (3x2) basis - a father and 2 sons. In hind sight, talking to the other PH (Jose), it seemed like we had at least 2, possibly 3 male lions in the area at the time. However, they were smart as we just could not secure the safe shot on either one of them in the daytime. Slowly, we were running out of time, but the dear Lord was with us one more time; on the very last morning of the 21 day hunt, we walked into the bait one last time. We spotted an old female by herself at the meat, about 120 yards off. All of sudden, a big old male appeared to our left walking out from behind an anthill. He was 160 yards away and this was the only shot we were going to have. He saw us. He was in a clearing, so we took it. The shot seemed great, but the second bullet, as he ran away from us, missed. We got over to the scene, found the blood, gave him 20 minutes, then started to follow. It was 6:45 am. The blood trail was good. We made good progress, a few spots where he already laid down - BUT the wind was bad, all morning, and we could not leave the blood trail. It became evident that the lion was hit just behind the heart, a lot of internal bleeding, but tougher than nails. By 9:30 am the blood dried up. My amazing team of trackers, Nyoka, Danny and Dacho, stuck to the job; we've been here before, everybody knows their jobs, 100% focused on the task at hand. At 12:40 pm I spotted the lion briefly as he got up, running into the low young, green miombo trees. There was no chance for a shot. The guys were still on the track, slow though as we were on dry, black cotton soil, somewhat covered with dry leaves from the burn 3 months before, following a cat...??? At 3:30 pm we called the vehicle in with the lunch box. We needed to get everybody, whose concentration levels were now declining, back up again. By 3:50 pm we were back on the track. Moral spirit was low, things did not look good, but there is always the magic of hope. With amazing luck, the lion was spotted again and by 4:20, all hell broke loose as both me and the client was firing at the lion to make sure we anchored him. That we did, and by 4:23 pm it was all over with a fabulous end to another great safari - the legacy was lived again....!!  |
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