Johnny,
I did not write a hunt report after our 2018 trip with Paw Print, maybe I should have, but honestly it never felt like a "hunt". It seems a bit ill on my part to do so now considering Pieter's passing. I had no problems with him, he treated us fairly and all our animals arrived here in the states just fine. Our problems came with the hunting, or maybe what I should call shooting fish in a barrel. Just not my style and it did not sit well with my wife. The accommodations were so so. The cook, Claudius was a great guy from Zimbabwe and was thrilled that I could speak a bit of Shona. Dogs barking all night long made it hard to sleep. When we arrived in camp there was already a group of people there from Norway, really nice folks. The first moment they had without any of Pieter's people around, they gave us the low down and were not happy with the outfit and would not be back again. Small properties, being asked if I wanted to shoot animals in small enclosures. A tracker that, though a great guy that I got along with, could not track a Mastodon in a fresh snow.
The items that really made me uneasy about Pieter and our so called PH were the issues concerning our interactions with Stephen our tracker. I would get out and open gates, speak to Stephen as if he was a human being, laugh and crack jokes, generally treat him like I would anyone else. That did not sit well with the PH, to bad I gave no shits. When I was first introduced to Stephen he was wearing tattered tennis shoes. One day coming back to camp I had our PH stop at the sporting goods store and got Stephen a decent pair of boots. I found out later that the PH told Pieter that Stephen had pestered me to buy him the boots, that was an outright lie, he never knew what we were doing. Pieter took the cost of the boots out of Stephens pay. Fine give the money back to me, don't stick it in your damn pocket.
Our PH never sent us the photos he took, like he promised. I too had seen many good reports here and even spoke with Paw Prints US rep and all sounded good. It just was not hunting by my standards. The final straw was being driven around and around the property surrounding Pieter's new home for 3 days in a row chasing the only 2 Gemsbok on the property. Drove the same roads endlessly, saw the same 6 Zebra several times a day, it was like Groundhog day. We did work our asses of and finally on the last day caught both Gemsbok out in the open.
Best thing that came out of our trip is our continuing friendship with Stephen. We Whats app each other weekly and last year in Johannesburg he and his family were able to come to the City lodge hotel and spend the evening with us on our way to Zimbabwe. We got he and his family a couple of rooms and took them to dinner. It was a treat to see his kids really enjoying the meal, their reactions told me it was something they did not do often. The trip was not a total write off, but if I could go back we would have spent the money elsewhere, as long as I could have still crossed paths with Stephen.
John
P.S. The reason I keep referring to the PH, as the "so called PH"was his constant bragging about how good he was. Told me of the time he spent in Zim, and Moz. as an appy. Then promptly turns around and brags how he has never had to carry a gun while being a PH. You show me an appy PH in ZIm or Moz that does not have to carry a gun. I got a talking to on our first trip to Zim for walking away without my rifle. Sorry if this is off topic for this thread, just finally got to the point where I needed to get this off my chest. I have never referred to this particular trip as a hunting trip when talking to others about it. I call it a shooting trip.
I still believe they should be written by the way, with facts. Perspective clients have a right to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.
