CUSTODIANS GOOD STORIES

A Testament to the true essence of a sentimental big game safari

This unknowingly all started at the 2019 Custodians AGM Gala Dinner where we all know we drink too much and spend money on items for which, when we wake up the next morning, we have buyer’s remorse!

Well, that night, with the old man and myself about six double brandies and a bunch of shots worse for wear, I pointed out the double. My pops gave me a look which said, ‘no bud’. Whereupon I casually said, ‘you’ve always wanted a double’. His response was that I could bid, provided we close at R120k at the absolute maximum! The lot came up and before we knew it, we heard R120k announced to another bidder. Herman raised his hand and I looked at Kev as if to say, ‘what now?’ He said to raise the bid and that he would tap me to say when to stop. Well, not feeling the ‘tap’ I carried on until we reached a figure we will not speak of and heard the words ‘SOLD!’. But hey, it had seemed like a good idea at the time and with the proceeds of the auction going into our Association, that’s always a win and well worth it!

My late father, Peter Kevin Schwartz, had purchased a Krieghoff Cassic Double on auction that night. As the bidding closed, he smiled from ear-to-ear, leaned over and softly said ‘I don’t mind what I paid, this is the rifle with which I’m going to hunt my elephant’. Kev decided to have the rifle chambered in a 500/416NE!

Sadly, we lost Kev at the end of April last year (2023) following a sudden illness and a long month fighting in ICU, so he was unable to realise the dream of hunting an elephant with his treasured new rifle.

Fast forward to 16 May 2024, and Howard Knott from Greater Kuduland posted a DCA elephant on the Custodians member group. I tried to set this up for a client, but when the client turned it down, it crossed my mind that it would have been really special to guide someone with my father’s precious double on an Ellie hunt. The following day (17 May) when Howard called to ask for feedback, after pausing for a few seconds thinking ‘the price is right, I have the budget for the hunt’, I said ‘Howard – let’s do it – I’M going to hunt it!

The wheels were now in motion. At the age of 35 I felt like a child waiting to open a birthday present. It was so close yet still so far, but finally after eight long and stressful days of waiting for the permits, approval was received on the Friday. I then had to move fast (no problem - I had already been packed and ready to go three days before) and by 5.00 am Monday morning I was on the road awaiting the hunt of my life. This was a hunt my father and I had always dreamed of, and now to top it all, it was going to be with my father’s double. He had even had an elephant-engraved grip cap fitted when he had received the rifle from Eugene at Sabi Rifles.

Nothing beats the nostalgia of pursuing dangerous game with a double rifle over your shoulder. Little did I know arriving that Monday, was that this was going to be the most thrilling, adrenalin filled and sentimental hunting experience to date. Joined by seasoned hunter Howard and his son Gavin, none of us were expecting what went down that day.

Tuesday 28 May 2024 is a day that will be imprinted in my mind for the rest of my life. I headed out with Howard, Gavin, Sammy and Musa in search of two specific bull tracks. These were the two bulls which had been causing all the trouble and damage to fencing. After assessing and cutting tracks for about three hours we had success in picking up the two correct ones. Gav took the bakkie around to check that the tracks had come out of the block we were in, and we managed to get a bit of a jump on the bulls, although we were still a good four to five hours behind them.

Anyone who has hunted in greater Kuduland knows the spectacular scenery, and the wide diversity and variety of fauna and flora – truly special, not to mention a Big Five reserve. Every time I go there special things happen, and this is the closest I have felt to ‘Old Africa’ in South Africa.

We headed into the gomos from the sand veld, and I couldn’t help but be blown away by how these animals traverse the landscape considering their size and weight (this was my first-time chasing Jumbo), so as a professional hunter I was taking it all in almost like a practical classroom. I was just feeding off Howard’s and Sammy’s knowledge and experience. I stand to be corrected, but they have been hunting elephant together for about 30 years. At one stage it became very intense as there was also a very big, fresh, lone buffalo track. I’ve guided on buff hunts but nothing like this - super close contact if something went wrong.  Everyone’s eyes were fully open with radars on high alert. We didn’t come here to shoot charging buff on a one way out of a deep gomo!

As the bush started thinning out and we started to feel easier, suddenly, not more than 30 yards to our left the bush came alive. Two doubles came off shoulders at high speed, only to find split seconds later a waterbuck and kudu bull bursting out. RELIEF and a few nervous giggles later we carried on walking.  At our exit from the gomos and up over the top of the ridge and down towards Kudu dam, we were struggling with communication with the vehicle Eventually we had success and the vehicle met us on one of the long through roads on the farm near ‘Kudu’ dam.

We took the decision not to return to the lodge in the midday heat as we were making such good progress and slowly but steadily closing the gap on the bulls – a no-brainer to push on. It had now been two and a half hours walking on the trail on a very hot day. We had gone from sand veld, to deep canyons and back and into the mopanis. I’m not sure of the plant species, but it’s almost like sekelbos - the road maps on our legs told the story! We intercepted Musa with the vehicle on another through road, grabbed some water and continued. Not 100 meters from the road where the vehicle had stopped, we came to a halt, finding to our great surprise these two elephants sleeping in the shade of a large baobab. The vehicle must have spooked them on its arrival - their urine hadn’t yet soaked into the ground and was still warm to the touch along with their dung.

The intensity immediately ramped up and reality sunk in that this was finally about to happen. ‘Okay guys - quietly and slowly’ came Howard’s whispered voice, with Sammy leading followed then by H, myself and then Gav with the camera. We started moving on the tracks through some tough thick bush for about 300 meters. The bulls were circling back toward the direction they had come from. We came to a small rise which gave us an advantage and noticed they had pretty much crossed over our tracks on route to Musa and the vehicle on our way in. Gav picked up what we assumed were one of the bulls. We glassed for a couple minutes just to confirm we indeed had the correct bulls. They were a good 250 to 300 meters away so we had to move quickly but quietly - we didn’t want to blow our opportunity after what was now a good 4 to 4 ½ hours of hard work. It was a ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’ situation.

We worked our way in, until Sammy slowly picked up his hand and pointed to the right with this ‘in the zone’ stare of knowing it was about to go down - we all did. There was a small opening just in front of us that would give me a good shooting line from about 40 yards. I took the sticks and slowly opened them while I was stepping out, but they weren’t lined up properly. The bull caught my movement, turned and picked up his head and looked at us with purpose. I wasn’t stuffing this up - I held the double against the side of the sticks aimed just below his eyes and squeezed the shot off…. Bang!! Now we were in what felt like slow motion. It seemed like an eternity for the bull to drop. Howard called it a ‘beautiful brain shot’. The bull DID drop but was lying on all fours almost rocking slightly. As soon as I noticed that, I put a reassurance shot in just to make doubly sure. We moved towards my bull whilst reloading and as I closed the barrels and was ready, the bull rolled over and it was done. I still remember dropping to my haunches covering my mouth trying to fathom what had just happened. I hadn’t even had time to look upwards and have words with the old man and was still taking in the reward from all that hard work!!

Not three seconds of soaking all this in, and Sammy frantically spoke to Howard in Venda. The other bull was getting very stand-offish, and we all started shouting at him to get away, keeping rifles at the ready. The bull, however, was having none of it. About a minute or so later we were about 20 to 25 yards from bull number two, in some really thick brush, whilst we were all standing close together trying to avoid a potential charge. He seemed to calm down and we moved into a little corridor in case things escalated so we had a clear shooting line. We stood for about two to three minutes with rifle barrels up but pads against our groins - classic waiting stance in case s**t goes south! Then suddenly bull number two came into the corridor at 15 meters and motionless, stood facing us with its right front foot in the air, head up, and ears flared out.  I stepped out and forward, so I was beside Howard and our guns went into our shoulders – Howard’s 470 and my father’s 500/416. It was a classic dangerous game standoff and was my first. It is unbelievably hair-raising as anyone who has experienced it will agree. However, I hope it’s not inappropriate to say that it’s thrilling and addictive. Howard then said not to shoot (I retorted that I wouldn’t – my budget most certainly wouldn’t allow it!). Howard shouted at the animal a few more times, whereupon the bull dropped its head, closed its ears and started coming for us. One stride into charge and Howard’s 470 went off, and I then followed suit, with Howard dumping his second barrel as well. The bull went down at 13 meters like a crashing building. You can feel the vibration as it hits the ground at that distance – I’ll never forget it. Howard’s first shot brained it, but in the moment, a couple more reassurance shots gives one a little insurance on less chance of escalation. I think we were all asking ourselves the same question – ‘What Just Happened?’ A few moments later after taking it all in, Howard immediately contacted the relevant authorities. Howard’s words to me then were ‘you got a proper Safari today!’

We all agreed, and I managed to say with a smile on my face, that I wished my ‘Pops’ had been able to be here for that one! I had accomplished a life-long dream for my dad and myself. We had wanted to share it together and I was very emotional. However, I knew that he was sitting up there in his camping chair looking down and having a good laugh, watching something thrilling, and hopefully that he was very proud. Without him this hunt would never have been possible, and for that I will always be so grateful. I have since developed a deep sentimental love for that rifle and think it’s fair to say it’s always in my hand now when in the bush.

When we lost Kev, before anything else went through my mind at the hospital I realised that I had lost the only backup that I trust in the field. However, when I knew Howard and Gav were going to be with me for this entire hunt, I thought that if my old man couldn’t be there, there were actually no other two people I would rather have by my side to assist and to share it with, since coming know them through the Custodians.

When I was younger, before I learned and gained a true appreciation for our lifestyle and what we do, my father said: ‘The memories we make in the field whilst on safari, whether we be guiding or hunting for ourselves, are priceless. We get to see and experience things some could only dream of. The thrill, the hard work, frustrations and ups and downs make the reward all worth it. That’s what makes the memory. I get just as much enjoyment and excitement guiding, as I do hunting for myself’.  I will always remember those words and will be forever grateful for the legacy he left for me to continue.

I have made a video of this whole hunt which is on my YouTube channel link below:

https://youtu.be/PyU-SRgdSdM?si=je-2cRAm0s_ZrsXE

This hunt is dedicated to the life of my father Peter Kevin Schwartz.

Should the telling of this experience be eligible for the Garry Kelly Award I would like to request that it be awarded in his name, and for me to accept it on his behalf, as without him and what he built as his legacy, it would never have taken place. He also invested a lot into CPHC. In as much as there were ups and downs, he always respected and stood strong to the Custodians model and remained loyal to them. Nothing made him happier than knowing the money spent on that double contributed to the Custodians. That’s who he was.

BWANA KEV

12 June 1959 – 28 April 2023

May God rest his soul. 

Steven Schwartz