What traits have you picked up from your Professional Hunter?

[Rell]

“Toss the cat”

“He’s a good oak”

Keep a leafy, mesh guili suit in your pack for final stalks on eland.

How to shoot off sticks

A cold castle lagger at sun down goes well with a good single malt. (Who knew)

9 yards is about as close as I want to be to a Cape buffalo

All bushbuck are royal game

All blesbok should be exterminated and made extinct

 

[Bill DeHaan]

They are trickling back to me. Like ....
"Don't shoot (that RUM) until I plug my ears!"

 

[Happy Myles]

Have been going to Africa pretty much annually for fifty years and have learned so much from PHs it all blurs together. A couple of things that have not been mentioned are patience and diplomancy. Also the unforgettable phrase, “He’s coming! “

 

[Dirtdart]

I can not thank my Afrikaans speaking friends enough for educating me on the use of what is possibly the most versatile word in existence. "POES"

 

[VertigoBE]

I can not thank my Afrikaans speaking friends enough for educating me on the use of what is possibly the most versatile word in existence. "POES"

Poes? As in kitty?

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I've met a lot of PH's, not just on hunts, and there are two distinct categories - those who love their job passionately, and those who are totally over it and just do it to keep bread on the table. The former are an absolute pleasure and the latter, thankfully I have only met two, are terrible to be around. I think the latter group are the ones who do a bad job and I think we know who they are.

 

[BeeMaa]

I've met a lot of PH's, not just on hunts, and there are two distinct categories - those who love their job passionately, and those who are totally over it and just do it to keep bread on the table. The former are an absolute pleasure and the latter, thankfully I have only met two, are terrible to be around. I think the latter group are the ones who do a bad job and I think we know who they are.

I've only met the former and hope not to meet the latter.

 

[Bill DeHaan]

What I’ve learned from my PH that I want to integrate into my own hunting;

Before embarking on a stalk, Take the time to make the plan the best plan. If you’re committed to “do what it takes” during a stalk, the stalk needs to be the best achievable plan.

The Corollary- Know when to back out and make another plan.

 

[Dirtdart]

Poes? As in kitty?

It is all but impossible for a Yank to explain if you haven't spent quite a bit of time around Afrikaans speaking people but I will give it a shot.

I do not know if the origin of the word is Flemish, Dutch, or something else? To say it is a derogatory term for female genitalia or an insulting name doesn't do it justice as it is much more versatile than a book definition. A couple of examples come to mind.

If Custer's scouts had told him that there was a "POES LOT OF WARRIORS!" over the next ridge he would have better understood his situation.

Biden is a POES! Says it all.

 

[VertigoBE]

It is all but impossible for a Yank to explain if you haven't spent quite a bit of time around Afrikaans speaking people but I will give it a shot.

I do not know if the origin of the word is Flemish, Dutch, or something else? To say it is a derogatory term for female genitalia or an insulting name doesn't do it justice as it is much more versatile than a book definition. A couple of examples come to mind.

If Custer's scouts had told him that there was a "POES LOT OF WARRIORS!" over the next ridge he would have better understood his situation.

Biden is a POES! Says it all.

In Dutch "poes" is a female cat, but it can be used to talk about female genitalia, or a fine and beautiful woman.

in English you could translate it with pussy. So that last phrase of yours is quite descriptive indeed

 

[Dirtdart]

In Dutch "poes" is a female cat, but it can be used to talk about female genitalia, or a fine and beautiful woman.

in English you could translate it with pussy. So that last phrase of yours is quite descriptive indeed

That is probably as close as you could get for a direct translation in English but in Africaans slang the way I have heard the term used it takes on much more meaning.
I am sure some of our Afrikaans speaking friends could shed some more light on this but I am not sure this is the direction the OP meant when he started this thread. LOL

 

[MarkB]

I've met a lot of PH's, not just on hunts, and there are two distinct categories - those who love their job passionately, and those who are totally over it and just do it to keep bread on the table. The former are an absolute pleasure and the latter, thankfully I have only met two, are terrible to be around. I think the latter group are the ones who do a bad job and I think we know who they are.

OMG, Kevin you are so correct. I have also had a few PH's, some as mine and others met around a Braai, in guest house waiting or dropping off inbound or outbound clients. Good/Great PH's teach, inform and immerse you in safari, you leave feeling like a better person who just had a life changing experience. Love their jobs and their life's choice and it shows.

Then there are others who are there for the money, on their phones every minute of every day, sneak of and leave you so they can sleep or who would make and maybe are better business people than PH, those need google to look up species of a camp lizard when asked. I say THEY know who they are. Us 10 000 km away sometime don't until after we meet.

MB

 

[Bill DeHaan]

I learned what the term “secondary growth” means when judging a trophy.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Whether you have only visited Africa once, or as a seasoned African hunter, what traits or local sayings have you picked up from your Professional Hunter that you still use at home today?

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I always like to think my PH's learn more off me than the other way round.

 

[baxterb]

Good thread. Entertaining as well.

as far as binos, I’ve tried every method and a very short strap with the binos high on my chest works best for me. I make my own straps because there’s nothing available that does exactly what I want.

Haven’t hunted Africa, but did learn from a well-respected Kenyan guide from a hunting family to pay attention small things as well because a) they increase your overall knowledge of the landscape and animals and b) the ‘big’ things aren’t always around.

I gained immense appreciation for cocktail ants and dung beetles.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I always like to think my PH's learn more off me than the other way round.

Even a blind chicken finds a piece of corn every now and so often, ey Tim?

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Even a blind chicken finds a piece of corn every now and so often, ey Tim?

Indeed mate

In reality I learn something every time I hunt. And even more when it's in a new place with a quality PH.

One PH taught me all about Friesland Milkshakes, and in return I schooled him on Rum. Oh, and we hunted some beautiful trophies along the way.

 

[Pheroze]

I am finding this hard to articulate, because the trip was life-changing. There are several 'a-ha' type moments that genuinely opened my eyes. Hunting skills were a big piece of that, but I intentionally booked my trip to learn more in that regard.

I learned that I know nothing about South Africa, or it's people, or Africa. That was a huge learning curve. Watching him interact with his countrymen was insightful - something you can't learn in books or papers.

Seeing how he manages a business where his main customer is 1000s of miles away, until they are basically in his house, and then the baggage they bring is half in their duffle bag and half in their head! The best way for me to put it is that I think I learnt more about me through his eyes than I did about anything else!

I learned how best to annoy a PH.

I also learned that they don't need toothbrushes, but let's not go there, ok?

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I also learned that they don't need toothbrushes, but let's not go there, ok?

You've become a legend.

 

[Charles de Ribeau]

I've also learned how ... how unimportant camouflage is.

As one PH said, "Camouflage is just a fashion statement. The animals don't care."