African Hunting Gazette – July 2019

102 http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com

Professional Hunter - Q&A

African Hunting Gazette: Tell us about

yourself– where youwereborn, and about

yourfamily.

AndreViljoen:Accordingto myknowledge,my

ancestrycomesfromFranciousVillion,from

ClermontinFrance, whocametotheCape

in 1671 andsettledona winefarminIda’s

Valley.I wasborn 31 December 1946 inPort

Elizabethandhavebeenmarriedto Jeannefor

45 years.I havefoursons,Armand44,Jeandre

40,Hagen 37 andPatrick 29 yearsofage.

AHG:Whataboutyourearlyyears?

AV: I grewuponourfarmSanddriffiesinthe

Knysnaforest. Inthosedayselephantswere

regular visitors, astheir summer andwinter

migrationpathscrossedthroughourfarm.I

startedhuntingbushbuckandbushpigwhen

I was 10 yearsold.Huntingandwinemaking

hasalwaysbeeninourblood! Theoldpioneer

elephant hunter Jan Viljoen, who guided

Selous,wasmygreatgrandfather’sbrother.

AftercompletingmystudiesatElsenburg,

Stellenbosch and Neu Dam in Namibia, I

farmed until the Government expropriated

our property in Knysna. On a friend’s

recommendation,I decidedtogotoRhodesia.

AsJeannewasbornthereshewentwith me.

AHG:Whatwasyournextmove?

AV: I startedhuntingtheZambeziValleyin

1973. After swimmingthe Zambezi, I shot
      myfirstbuffalo onanislandinChewore. I
      hunted the Valley as much possible and was

verykeenat thatstageto starta safaricompany,

butwasadvisedagainstthisas thebushwarin

Zimbabwewasinfullswing.

I wentbacktoSouthAfrica,marriedand

started a family. I worked for Stellenbosch

FarmersWinery until 1985.One dayI got

stuckina trafficjamagain,drovebacktothe

office, resigned and joined a friend’s safari

company.I didnotapprenticewithanybody.

AHG:Howdidyoumanagestartingouton

yourownas a PH?

AV:Theearlyyearswheretough.Everytime

I went the US to market, there was some

politicaleventoranotherin Africawhichoften

madeit difficulttoconvinceclientsit wassafe

tocomeandhunt. Youreallyhadtopersevere

againstallodds,andhave extreme passion to

survivethebusiness.

AHG:Wheredidyoumainlyhunt,andwhere

areyouhuntingnow?

AV:I havehuntedextensivelyinSouthAfrica,

Botswana,Zimbabwe,Namibia,Mozambique

andZambia.I am still hunting Namibia and

SouthAfrica.

AHG:Whichis yourfavoriteanimaltohunt?

AV: Hunting from a makoro along the

floodplainsof theOkavangoDeltais something

specialforme!Myfavouriteanimaltohuntis

themagnificentkudubull. Theysee,hearand

smellextremelywell,andoncetheyknowyou

are on their track, they are challenging to hunt.

I have often stalked specific bulls foryears,

beforebeingabletoshootthem.

AHG:Whatwas yourbestevertrophywith

a client?

AV: The besttrophy animal one client took

wasa 63”kudubull.

AHG:Tellourreaderswhichrifleandammo

youlike?

AV: I likea custom-built.460Weatherbyon

a MagnumMauseraction,anda 9,3X 62FN

Mauser.I believeinusingBarnesX bulletsand

also use SwiftA-Frames when I don’t want

totalpenetrationonlionandbuffalo.

AHG:Whatadvicewouldyougivetoclients

onweaponsandammo?

AV: The animalswehunthavenotchanged

overthelast 100 years,sowereallydon’tneed

all the new fancy calibers. Don’t sell your

father’s pre 64 Winchester .30/06 or .375

H&H tobuysomethingnew. Formedium

plainsgameI likethe7 mmMagnums,andthe

.338Magnumif youwanttohuntsomething

bigger. Bullet construction has improved

greatlyandhasmade the old standby calibers

workevenbetter.

AHG: Any particular moment you recall?

AV: havelookeda 5 m mambain the eye

whichwasprettyhair-raising!Whenyourun

around in the bush for 40 years, the odds

should catchupwithyou. ButI knowofa

fewguyswhowereinthewarandneverhad

combat, and those whohunted buffalo and

neverexperienceda charge!

AHG:Whathasbeenyourclosestcallwithde

ath?

AV:MyclosestcallwaswhenI washuntinga

lionin theDelta.Thelionwasmatingwhenwe

sawthem,andwehadbeenlookingfora good

trophyfortwoweeks.Theysawusfromwhere

theywereresting,jumpedup,andslippedinto

thethickbush. I grabbedmyclientBrad,ran

afterthem,andaswegotintoa clearing,we

ranintothebigmaleabout 20 ydsfromus.He

turnedbroadsidetolookatusandI toldmy

clienttoshoot,buttheshot caughtthelion

toofarbackandit chargedus! Atthesame

timetherewasa tremendousroarandgrowling

going on in the bush right behind us.

PH Andre Viljoen –

from wine to lion and everything else in between.

Tracker Zacharias and Eric Rudderin with Eric’s oryx.