Let's talk hunting the Dark Continent: Africa.
Let's talk hunting the Dark Continent: Africa.
Many people are fine with hunting for food, but think that us "Trophy Hunters" are the devil. They don't understand what we do when we go on these hunts, and many don't want to listen. This is just one example of a hunt that I am proud as heck to have been a part of.
My husband and I were hunting in Mozambique with Zambeze Delta Safaris, and towards the end of the hunt we heard about a problem croc on the Zambezi river. This particular crocodile had killed and eaten 3 children in the past month. The villagers live on the water. They use it for eating, cooking, drinking, bathing. It is their lifesource. So when a crocodile realizes a human is an easy meal, they will keep doing it, and it will become their target meal of choice. They will pick off the children first, as easy targets.
We awoke at 3am to do a long drive on a dirt road to get to the river. We then got on a john boat and traveled about 45 minutes upriver to a small village. Our professional hunter spoke to the villagers and they told him where the croc typically hangs out, and that it was out earlier, but heard the boat and disappeared into the river. We stayed there glassing the water and riverbanks for several hours, and then took the long drive back to camp, to have dinner and go to bed prepping for another early morning. The next morning we began the same trek. We stopped the boat several hundred yards downstream and climbed the bank and hiked about a half mile to the village (and let me tell you Mozambique in October is BOILING HOT!). When we got close to the village they were waving frantically to us that the CROC WAS OUT! So we stalked quietly to the bank and made a plan. The croc was sunning on a sandbar in the middle of the river. Shot placement in the walnut-sized brain was crucial, as the last thing you want to do is wound a crocodile and watch it go down into the river, never knowing if you killed it or not, and never recovering it. You want it to DROP immediately.
We had 2 PHs with us, one went back to the boat and was going to start the boat and rush to the croc immediately after the shot with a couple of natives to out a rope on the croc and make sure that the current didn't wash him off the sandbar. My husband took the shot at 106 yards. The shot rang true and the crocodile's mouth slammed shut, dead on impact. We retrieved the croc and carried him up the bank and while we were pretty certain this was the man-eater (as they are very territorial) our beliefs were confirmed when we saw machete marks on one side of it, where a villager had tried to stop it as it attacked a child. The animal was butchered there, and every ounce of that meat stayed with the village, with the exception of the heart, which they threw into the river, as part of their belief system is that if the heart gets into the wrong hands (IE - the witch doctor) that they can create another man-eater to terrorize the village.
So I was INCREDIBLY proud to spend two days on this hunt. This crocodile was not what most would consider a trophy, at around 11 feet it was about the size of a large American Alligator. To me, it is one of our most prized trophies.Many will call it a TROPHY HUNT, and yes, we did bring the croc home and mount it on the wall, but we donated all of the meat, and saved lives. Both by killing the man-eater and by giving the villagers a few hundred pounds of protein.
So yes, I am a trophy hunter. I am a meat hunter. I am a conservation hunter. And I am a humanitarian.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Steph Wottrich
RCG Team Member
Prois Texas State Coordinator
Follow on Facebook and Instagram: @stephwottrich
ABOUT REELCAMO GIRL:
ReelCamo Girl is a lifestyle brand focused on ladies who love the outdoors.There is a growing need for a place for women to share their outdoor experiences, as well as an interest in clean eating and self-sufficiency. Through our website and social media networks, we offer a safe place where the ladies can share their pictures, stories, wild game and fish recipes, and news articles about conservation and hunting perspectives.
ReelCamo Girls are strong, capable, kind, compassionate, nature & country-loving individuals. We encourage responsible and ethical hunting. We care about the land and wildlife management and about long term sustainability. We hunt, fish, dive, shoot and hike…for peace of mind, happiness, pure clean protein & connection to the outdoors. ReelCamoGirls can shoot a gun, draw a bow, track an animal, get CAMOed up, bait a hook, clean a fish and still be feminine.