Anti-Hunting Organizations, HSUS and Friends of Animals, Jeopardize the Survival of Three Endangered Antelope Species06/26/2009 SCI News BulletinAs the result of an HSUS and Friends of Animals assault on a rule exempting captive U.S. members of three antelope species from Endangered Species Act prohibitions, those three species are now in jeopardy. While HSUS and Friends celebrate a success in court, the ramifications of their empty victory have undermined conservation efforts for these species in the United States.Although scimitar-horned oryx, dama gazelle and addax have either disappeared, or all but disappeared in their home ranges in Northern Africa, captive herds of the species have been thriving on ranches here in the United States, in great part due to the ranchers’ ability to sell, trade, breed and allow hunting of members of these captive populations without ESA restriction. The freedom to manage these animals has encouraged private owners to raise large herds and these animals now number in the thousands in the United States. Though, in 2005, the FWS listed the three species as endangered, at the same time the agency adopted a rule that would exempt captive members of the three species in the United States from ordinary ESA restrictions. HSUS and Friends of Animals filed suit to challenge that rule. Their goal was to prevent the hunting of individual animals, regardless of the cost to the species as a whole. They did not succeed. The court did not find that hunting of these species was illegal and rejected HSUS and Friends’ assertions that hunting in the U.S. encouraged poaching or brought any other harm to members of the species outside of the U.S. The court also dismissed the animal rights groups’ allegations that they were in any way harmed by the hunting of the species in the United States. The Court ruled in the two groups’ favor on only a single issue. The judge decided that the ESA does not allow a blanket exemption to endangered species prohibitions and that those who wish to hunt or otherwise conduct activities that amount to a “taking” of these three antelope species, must apply for an individual enhancement of survival permit from the FWS. The judge ruled that because the permit applications must be published in the Federal Register, the notice of the application makes it possible for individuals and groups to comment on the proposed activities. The judge’s ruling forecasts the end to the system that has allowed the three species to increase in the United States. The additional bureaucracy and delays introduced by the application and Federal Register notice procedures will make it more difficult and more expensive for ranchers to raise these animals. More likely than not, ranchers with existing herds will no longer wish to raise and breed these animals. Fewer and fewer ranchers will keep their herds and as a result, the next few years will see a dramatic decline in the number of herds and ultimately the number of animals in the U.S.HSUS and Friends of Animals are busy patting themselves on the back over their “victory” in the courts. Ironically there is no victory for anyone. HSUS and Friends did not succeed in making hunting of scimitar-horned oryx, dama gazelle and addax illegal. They only succeeded in sabotaging an amazing conservation effort for these three species.

Father & Son Elephant Hunt in the East CapriviDates Hunted:May 16 - May 31, 2009 (16 days hunting + the morning of June 1)Location:Sobe & Balyerwa Concessions bordering Mudumu National Park for the Elephant & Hippo, went back to Eden for the plainsgame.Animals Harvested:2 Trophy Elephant Bulls, Hippo, Warthog, 2 Kudu, Impala, Zebra, 6 Gemsbok (1 trophy, 5 cull), Blue Wildebeest (cull), Eland (cull), Waterbuck, Springbok, Red Hartebeest Species seen but not hunted:Souther Roan, Crocodile, Caprivi Zebra (no shadow strips, but still considered Burchell's), Aardvark, Honey Badger, Blesbok, Black Wildebeest, Giraffe, Steenbok, Duiker, lots of Hyena tracks, JackalWeapons:Matching .460 Weatherbys scoped with Swarovski dangerous game scope and Zeiss Divari 1.5x6 for the Elephant, .340 Weatherby for Hippo & Plainsgame, .300 Weatherby for plainsgameOutfitter:Eden WildlifePH: Jamy Traut & Dries Albertshttp://www.eden-wildlife.com Travel Agent:Shawn at Gracy TravelCommercial Flights:United from Sioux Falls, SD to Chicago O'Hare InternationalUnited flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, GermanyChecked into a day room at the Frankfurt SheratonAir Namibia flight to Windhoek, Spent night at the Onganga GuesthouseAir Namibia flight from Windhoek Eros Airport to Mpacha Airport in Katima Mulilo, CapriviEvents Leading up to Elephant Safari: It happened when I arrived home for my '08 Thanksgiving break from college. I was a senior studying Biology and Chemistry at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and I was excited to get some pheasant & deer hunting in over the break. While we were feasting over my mother's fantastic meal she had prepared for us my dad told me that he had received an email from Jamy Traut. Jamy is a well known PH in Namibia who we met back in 2004 when I went on my first African safari, and in '06 when we returned to hunt with him. So naturally we are great friends and emails back and forth are fairly regular, but this one was particularly special. Jamy had become the new concessionaire of two great areas in the Caprivi, Sobe and Balyerwa. He asked my dad if he would be interested in an elephant hunt, and it took my dad about .2 seconds to send a reply with an emphatic YES! but the kicker was that he said that he had an elephant available for me as well. Convincing my dad to take me with was not such a sure thing. Elephant hunts aren't cheap, and they can be dangerous to hunt. But my mom stepped in and said that he was not allowed to go unless I went with!! So it was decided, right there at the Thanksgiving day table, that we would be elephant hunting the coming May, and boy was I Thankful! I stuffed myself and then retreated to living room to watch the football game only to fall asleep after the Lions were down 60-0 at the end of the first quarter (sorry Lions fans ).May 14We arrived to Katima on the morning flight after a somewhat troubling experience at the EROS airport in Windhoek. The police there who checked the rifles wanted to see the ammunition as well as the serial numbers of our guns. Obviously our ammo was in our other checked bags so they had to retrieve those off the plane. The police officer then continued to count every single bullet. Which was very frustrating because I knew this guy didn't have a clue what he was looking at, just trying to make life difficult. He probably couldn't even count that high. Anyway, all of our guns and gear made it safely to Katima where Jamy and his apprentice Naudea came to pick us up. Naudea is a 24 yrold Namibian who is going to make one heck of a PH one day, a super hard worker and a great personality. We stopped for lunch at the Zambezi Lodge on the banks of the Zambezi where we had a beautiful view of Zambia, a country I wish to hunt in the future. We then picked up some groceries, a few spare tires, and checked the status of the Land Cruiser that was "charged" by a kudu cow as Naudea claims. From Katima we drove about 80 km southwest to "elephant camp" which Jamy and Naudea have built in the Sobe concession. There was several kilos of sandy two-track road that went through a rural caprivian village. On this road we immediately started to see elephant tracks....everywhere! We stopped several times to look at them and Jamy took this opportunity to teach us a little about them. We learned what to look for and what to ignore. Any tracks that are 19" or bigger are definitely worth following he said. Then we saw our first elephants! Only 3 km from camp a young bull crossed the two track ahead of us. We stopped and stood on top of the cruiser and for a better look and discovered that there are 5 bulls in total. We couldn't get a good look at 2 of them so Jamy decides that we are going to go unpack and then try and have a look at them this evening. We called those bulls the "Welcoming Committee."May 15 Today we drove around Sobe's perimeter looking for elephant tracks. Sobe borders Mudumu National Park to the North and East. We found several tracks and dung and surprising most of them were coming out of the park and into Sobe. So that was a very good indication. As evening fell we came across a large breeding herd of cows and calfs. I quickly learned that there are a lot of elephants in the area. That night around the fire we met the other PH who will be hunting with us, Dries Alberts. As we meet him and Jamy asks how his drive from Tsumkwe was, he jokingly says that he saw three 80 pounders cross the road into Mudumu. We immediately enjoyed Dries company and listened to the many stories he had to offer about his experiences working for the Ministry of Environment. May 16My dad wanted me to shoot first, usually I take him up on it, but in this case there was no way I was going to shoot an elephant and have him go home with nothing. Anyway, on our first official day of hunting with license in hand we drove south of camp and walked into a waterhole that was frequented by elephants. We didn't find anything worth following so we decided to try another hole north of camp. On our way back to camp the staff said that they had heard branches being snapped off. As we got out of the cruiser we also heard it so we just made the wind right and headed in their direction. It only took us a few hundred yards to see the first bull. As we were moving in closer a second, larger bull appeared to our right. We crouched down and the bull, estimated at 30 pounds, walked only 20 yards in front of us. Jamy made my dad raise his gun and practice the sight picture of the side on brain shot. This bull had a huge body. We let the bull move away and then we moved in closer as he fed on palms. I practiced the sight picture as well and we enjoyed watching the bull at about 45 yards. When we decided that it was time to leave him alone we tried to sneak away but the bull spotted us and came at us in a mock charge. Jamy and Dries were yelling and we all had our guns pointed at the bull when he stopped a mere 20 yards away with his head held high and ears out. Talk about a rush! The bull conceded to us and turned and walked away. Later Jamy and Dries were impressed that both of us held our ground and were ready to put the elephant down if we had to. Needless to say the tracker Kaleishus, and the conservancy guys Chicken and Mike were much further away after the mock charge was through. I feel very lucky to have experienced something like that. May 17 We paid our dues. Walked 12.5 miles according to my GPS and didn't see an elephant. We did find a new water hole that Jamy was unaware of. He named it Mebuke Pan which means "good morning" in Caprivian. This pan had a 23 inch bull track but it was difficult to track on the hard ground so we decided that we would continue hunting in the direction we started in and come back to this pan at first light to see if the bull had visited over the night. May 18At first light we drove to the nearest point we could to Mubuke Pan which was 2 miles. We walked in and found the fresh tracks of not only the 23 incher but also of several younger bulls. We decided to spread out and look for tracks since the grass was long and the ground was not good for tracking. We found some still steaming dung after we had walked about a mile when we heard the unmistakable sound of a herd of elephants running away from us. We followed them and bumped them yet again. We followed until we came to a two-track road. From the spoor they figured about 9 bulls were in the herd. We had the truck come pick us up and we drove to a point where we figured that we were ahead of the bulls and could walk towards them as they walked towards us. This master plan worked, but not the way we thought. We hadn't gone that far when we heard a very loud rumbling sound. It sounded like the truck was starting in the distance, but it was actually an elephant growling at us. If he hadn't had vocalized his presence we probably would have walked right past him. As we were walking one direction the bull was moving in the other so Jamy, Dries, Dad and I quickly moved to try and get in front of him. We reached a clearing that the bull was going to walk through but as the bull came he turned to face us. I had seen the right tusk and knew that it was very long compared to the other bulls that we had seen so far in the past few days, but Jamy wanted to see the other side. Once we saw that the tusks were matched, Jamy whispered to take the frontal brain shot, because the bull was looking right at us but there was a tree between us and him. The bull turned and offered a side brain shot at 18 yards as he moved around the tree. Dad took the shot and the bull fell to his knees but quickly got up and turned to run. Dad put another shot into the forehead and then I shot a few times once in the head and another into the body. The bull fell only 30 yards from the first shot but we definitely made war for a few seconds. My dad was a little disappointed that he didn't hit the brain on the first shot, he was just a little low, but he was all smiles and floating the rest of the day! We took the rest of the day to take care of the butchering of the elephant. We were a long ways from the nearest village so only a handful of butchers came to take part in the process. They set up spotlights and did not finish until 5am. May 19 & 20 We let Sobe settle down a little the next two days and traveled to the Balyerwa Concession, which borders the south edge of Mudumu National Park and has the Kwando River system running through it. Jamy took out a Hippo permit for me and we decided that we would try and make a plan for a hippo once I had my elephant was on the ground. After all Dad had shot his elephant on the third day of the hunt and I had 12 days to find one for me. You could just feel how relaxed that made us feel. Because the Kwando river system runs through Balyerwa there are several other species that Jamy has on quota including Hippo, crocodile, Roan, Impala, Zebra & Buffalo. So Jamy wanted to explore his concession a little more and the only way to do that right now is by boat. There are several flooded channels and Jamy has had people working on cutting the tall reeds away so that he can drive his boat through them. He is also funding the building of three bridges into an area of Balyerwa where there are no people and where all the buffalo are found. The bridge made Namibian national news while we were there. He plans to build a camp similar to the one in Sobe here. So we took the boat out as far as we could. I had the several stories of insane, aggressive killer hippos that Dries has been telling us about in my mind as we rounded every corner. There were 4 big guns in the boat. Dries had named his .416 the "pumpkin slinger." We didn't see any hippo, but we heard them in the reeds and the loud grunts that the bulls make when their territory is being invaded. After returning from the boat ride we found that the staff had killed a 8 foot Black Mamba as it tried to enter the tan tent behind where Derrick is standing just minutes before we returned.It was an exciting couple of days and knowing that we are going to have to get wet if we are going to get a hippo is an example of when it helps to be a little crazy. We spent that night at Namoushasha lodge and acted like tourists as we were warned that its a anti-hunting establishment.May 21 We returned to Sobe to hunt for my elephant. We walked 8 miles today, 4 in the morning and 4 in the evening. I should mention that from noon until 2:30 its really too hot to hunt so you nap, lounge, journal, read or whatever in camp during that time. We did find some big bull tracks but nothing that we could follow. It seems like we spent a lot of time driving from place to place but it pays off because you learn where the elephants are moving and what part of the concession they are in. May 22 At first light we drove to an area of Sobe we had never been before and found that a large bull had walked down the two-track between the concession and Mudumu. Unfortunately, he decided to trick us by going into Sobe and then just a few hundred yards further went right back into the Park. They sure are smart. At about 9am Jamy received a call from Eustace, an old Caprivian who knew that we were looking for a bull elephant. He gave us a hot tip that two bull elephants had been chased out of a pumpkin patch last evening in the village of Lianshulu which is in Balyerwa. We decided that we should go check it out. I forgot to mention that it is a two hours drive from Sobe to Balyerwa via a sandy two track. So its a lot of driving. When we arrived it was around 11 and we picked up Eustace at the school. From there he led us to where he had seen the elephants. We found there track and sure enough we didn't have to walk even a mile before we came up on two bull elephants. They knew we were there and I thought they had given us the slip as we caught a glimpse of him moving in one direction and quickly moved to get into position and he was gone. Jamy figured he had doubled back and said that the bull thought that we were villagers and would not run but simply hide. Sure enough we found the bull not far from where we originally found them. The bulls were sleeping under a big tree, butt-to-butt. When we were about 40 yards away, only Jamy and I crawled to within 23 yards of the bulls. Jamy studied the ivory for what seemed like an eternity and turned to me and said "I really like those tusks, I know that you want something longer but he is thick for a Caprivi elephant." I already had my mind made up though, this was my bull. Jamy told me to stand up slowly. We rose together and I lined up a side on brain shot with the bull slightly quartering towards me. I pulled the trigger and the bull fell right in his tracks. I put a couple more in frontally for insurance purposes and it was all over. I stayed amazingly calm throughout the whole sequence but now I was shaking with excitement. What a privilege. Hugs and handshakes all around because the "Pumpkin Eater of Balyerwa" was down! We found some of his fresh dung and sure enough it was loaded with pumpkin seeds. We spent the rest of the day butchering. Because it was only about a kilometer from Lianshulu it seemed like most of the village showed up. It was a great feeling knowing that I provided tons of meat and protein to this village. May 24So Jamy, against Dries' inner wishes I know, developed a plan on how to get one of the hippo bulls out of the reeds. Let me say that I was the first hippo hunter in this area that Jamy has guided. He had hunted one hippo before but that was in a secluded pan away from the river system. He decided that we were going to wade to an area, and then my dad and I would get into a canoe and hold all four guns, while Jamy, Dries, Naudea, Derrick, Dusty, & Eustace would push and swim next to the canoe. This is exactly how it worked out. There was a small stretch that was about 9 feet deep and they had to swim. Mind you that we were constantly hearing hippo grunts and knew that there were a few big crocodiles in the channels somewhere. Eventually we reached a small island where we knew that the hippo were sunbasking during the day as the water is still too cold. Then the waiting game started because we knew that the hippos were going to want to get onto this secluded island eventually. Well it didn't take long, only about 45 minutes passed before we heard a hippo surface and let out a serious series of grunts that were very loud and very intimidating. The bull was only about 30 yards away and in a small pool where there were no reeds growing. We snuck over to an area behind some tall grass where we could see the pool but we hoped they couldn't see us. The hippo surfaced several times and once even yawned letting us see those huge tusks of his. Then something strange happened, a little calf hippo surfaced. Jamy knew that he had seen a bull, but now there was a cow hippo somewhere as well. We sat there for a long time waiting as the bull patrolled his territory in a half circle around us. We heard him spread his dung which sounded like a helicopter as he swished his tail back and forth. Eventually, he became more and more inquisitive, he knew something was wrong and didn't want to come out of the safety of the water and tall reeds. Then he surfaced very close to us as he let out a huge bubble before he came up. We let him go back under and then Jamy and I stood up. Our backs were to a bush with thorns so I felt like a piece of velcro. Jamy whispered to me that when you see the bubble to raise your gun and then take the shot at the brain when he says. So as we were standing there the calf hippo surfaced several times and I thought he was going to give us away. But sure enough we saw the bubble, I raised my gun (.340 Weatherby with 250gr nosler partitions) and shot the bull squarely in the brain, offhand at around 30 yards. The bull just disappeared at the shot and I had no idea whether I had hit him or not. We waited a few minutes before walking the few yards to the edge of the water only to see the bull belly up at the bottom of the channel. I have to admit that the hippo hunt was probably the most thrilling hunt that I have ever been a part of, and probably the greatest shot that I have ever made. Jamy and I jumped in and only once I was standing on my bull did I realize how big their bodies really are. We got a rope tied around his leg and all 7 of us started to pull as we landed my hippo. May 25-June 1: Quest for the Namibian Tusked TrifectaWe packed up all our gear at Sobe and headed for Eden. A plainsgame paradise just west of Bushmanland where we have hunted before. We took it easy and shot a lot of cull animals for meat and leopard bait for Jamy. What I really wanted was a Warthog so that I can say that I am, if not the only, one of the few hunters to take all three tusked trophies available in Namibia, the elephant, hippo and warthog in the same safari. Luckily to say, that I shot an old, jumbo warthog on May 31st. I also shot a trophy Kudu, impala and a zebra. I also had the privilege of trigger time on three gemsbok, a young blue wildebeest and an ancient eland cow that I took out of her misery. Dad also shot some of the biggest animals that he has ever taken. He took a very nice kudu, monster springbok, red hartebeest, old waterbuck, and a large gemsbok bull. It was an amazing safari, Thanks Dad & Mom!!!

Hey Y'all to my friends around the world, 

As I sit here in the middle of my hunting season I can't help but think how lucky I am to be a resident of South Dakota.  Now before you go and call me biased, hold on to that thought and read the rest of this.  I seriously think that SD is one of the most underrated hunting states in the country. Non-residents have an opportunity to hunt several different species of big game, at a price that is still affordable, and without an outfitter as public lands, BLM lands, and School lands are never far away.  What follows is a quick list of the sport huntable species in South Dakota and the best counties and areas to find them. I hope this helps anyone who is considering hunting for these species.

Whitetailed Deer:  The whitetailed deer can now be found in every nook and cranny of eastern and western SD.  They have invaded lands that were previously home to only mule deer.  Big deer are shot every year in almost every county but historically the best counties are Gregory, Brown and the counties that contain the Black Hills.  Recently big whitetails have been harvested in Harding, Kingbrook, Davison, and Marshall.  The South Dakota deer season system is broken up into West River and East River seasons.  This makes it possible to have a deer tag for each part of the state.  If you draw a East River Special buck tag you are allowed to hunt in any county in the east of the Missouri River, the same goes for a West River Special buck tag. I draw each, a west and east river, special buck tag annually.  It is possible to harvest about 4 bucks per year in SD: East river, West river, archery, and muzzeloader. Now is that awesome or what?

Mule Deer:  The population of Mule Deer is up in SD and this is great news as there have been serious questions about the general health of the herd.  I have hunted mule deer for years in the eastern unit of Pennington county in the Cheyenne River Breaks.  Every year at least one deer is harvested the breaks the 30" mark.  Years that are not drought years (like this one for most of the state), the antler potential should be good.  I recently hunted pronghorn in Butte county and was pleasantly surprised by the numbers of mulies. We saw and videotaped several mature, shooter bucks.  This year some of the best mule deer will be taken in Lawrence, Butte, Harding, Perkins, Corson, Stanley, Jackson, Pennington, Haakon, and Meade.  Checking out the availability of tribal lands for hunting is a real advantage.

Pronghorn Antelope: Butte, Harding, Perkins, and Ziebach are hands down the best places to find big speed goats especially for the non-resident as these units have the largest tag quotas and most public lands. This year the GF&P were distributing triple tags (1 buck, 2 doe) to hunters.  Unfortunately, I don't think this was warranted as where I hunted in southern Perkins county it certainly did not seem as though the population was above average. Another benefit is that most of the land in these counties is owned by large ranchers and it is very easy to get permission to hunt large tracts of private lands.  All you have to do is ask and be respectful.  Close gates if you open them, don't harass the cattle, and don't litter. 

Rocky Mountain Elk: The elk herd in western SD is growing and deciding what unit to put in for is always a difficult decision. The Black Hills have a lot of different terrains and usually going to an area that burned the previous year is a good idea, only every other hunter is thinking the same thing. The southern hills unit has always been a good bet especially the area around Jewel Cave National Park.  Residents should put into the Custer State Park bull elk tag every year for this once in a lifetime tag.  Building preference points is worth it, as when you are finally lucky enough to draw you are almost guaranteed to see a monster. Unfortunately, it may take 15+ years to draw.  Drawing cow elk tags are relatively easy and is a good way to scout out the hills for a future bull hunt.   Also there is a Prairie Elk  unit that is seperate from the Black Hills unit.  There is a unit in Bennett county, as well as Gregory county which extends down into Nebraska on the Missouri River.  

Rocky Mountain BigHorn Sheep & Mountain Goat: There is a very limited amount of tags handed out every year to residents only.  I guess you will have to move and live here long enough in order to draw a tag:) 

Bison: There are several ranches that offer Buffalo hunting. Some are better than most as far as the hunting experience goes. Custer State Park offers a trophy bull bison hunt every year where they harvest 10 super bulls. These are the only bison found in South Dakota that are eligible for the Boone & Crockett record book.  It is a lottery draw and the cost is $5,000.  It took me three years to finally draw one and my hunt starts on December 29th. I am extremely excited as hunting a bison should be on everyone's list of trophies.

The SD Game, Fish, & Parks department will send information out and answer any questions that are offered.  You can request a public lands & walk-in area plat book that shows exactly where all the public lands are that can be hunted by anyone.  I encourage you to visit the GF&P's site at http://www.sdgfp.info/. 

I plan on adding more to this blog entry in the future along with prices and more links to useful SD info.  I also will add information on Pheasant, waterfowl, predator, and varmint hunting.