88 http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com
Huntress Diana – South Africa: 2018
M
y husband Mike is a hunter. He
started as a boy with a Daisy
BB gun, and at 12 years old he
was givena .22 rifleforChristmas,tohunt
squirrelsandrabbits.Thenhebegantrapping
for raccoons and muskrats - $35 for coons
and $6formuskrats,which in the late60s
wasgood moneyfora 12-year-old.Hekept
huntingandtrappingthroughouthighschool,
andhispassionforhuntingneverlefthim.
Wemetin1980,gotmarried,andaswe
bothlovetotravel,webegantravelingand
hunting,together.Wehadseveralyears of
huntingaroundtheUSandabroad,withthe
helpofmanypeople.
We kepttalking about what wason our
bucket lists. Thetopof minewas a black-
maned lion, and Mike’s was an elephant,
neither of which did we think we could
afford. Althoughwe are outfittersand own
Mikeys Outfitting in Stockton, Kansas, I
assureyououtfittersaren’trich.However,as
thesayinggoes,“It’snotwhatyouknowbut
whoyouknow”,andas luckwouldhaveit,we
met Eldre’ Hattingh of Lucca African Safaris,whenwewereworkingat a SportShow. That
meeting changed our lives. We discussed
several possibilities of a lion and elephant
hunt at prices we couldmanage, and first
Eldre’wasabletogetme a beautifulblack-
manedlionhunt.Thentwoyearslater,it was
Mike’sturntohuntfor
his bull elephant. We
neededtogetinshape
forthathunt,andsowe
alsostartedeatingright.
Wehad heard a lot
about Swiss A-Frame
bullets which are
made right here in
Kansas,sowewentto
seethemandaskedwhatbullettheywould
recommendfora .375rifle. Theysuggested
theSwiftBreakaway.Weboughta box,went
home,andshotthemtoseehowtheywould
perform.Withexcellentgrouping,youcould
putthreeintothesizeofa quarter.
ThenEldre’emailedustosayhehadfound
an elephant hunt we could afford. Mike’s
dream was really coming true. We were bothRabbits, Rhinos, and a
Bucket-list Elephant
By Karen Spielbusch
abouttofillourbucketlists,andthensome.
Then on the Internet we saw a rhino
darting operation in the private Zulu
Nyala game reserve. They havea healthy
populationof rhinoandarecommitted to
protectingthemfrompoachers.ZuluNyala
offers limited darting
safaris to assist with
theirrhinoprojects. I
gotintouchwithMark
DeWet and wetalked
it over and decided
on the best dates and
howthedartingwould
commence. On our
first day out we saw
many animals - kudu, zebra, impala and
lots of vervet monkeys, and in two dams
there werehipposandcrocodiles. Wesaw
a coupleofrhinos,butwewerelookingfor
onewitha bignotchinitsear.
So backfor lunchand relax. Itwas very
hotatthistimeofday. Wewentoutagain
lateafternoonandsawfiveotherrhino,but
not the one we were looking for. Early nextWe called for help,
and it took 14 men
to push him up on
his belly.