Innehållsförteckning för Jan/Feb 2022 från SA Hunter/Jagter

The speckled pigeon (Columba guinea), or “rockies” as they are known amongst us hunters, must surely rate as the bread-and-butter game bird of Southern Africa. The alternative English name is “rock pigeon”. In Afrikaans, they are mostly called bosduif, although the correct name is kransduif. Whatever takes your fancy, I suppose… Their numbers abound in most agricultural areas where grain crops are planted. In some areas, they are considered vermin due to the damage they cause to especially sunflower fields. It’s not only the staggering number of seeds a single bird can eat that is of major concern, but also the number of seeds that fall on the ground and are wasted – these seeds are dislodged from the ripe sunflower head by the bird’s feet when sitting on it.…

At noon on the fourth day, halfway up a steep boulder, we stopped to catch our breath. Sifiso and I were both tired and the sun was scorching hot, but the black wildebeest couldn’t be far now. Finally, we had them where we wanted them – trapped high up on the last ridge, bordered by a cliff on one side and a steep spur on the other. Their only escape route was past us. We summoned up what seemed to be the last bit of energy and climbed the final few metres. Then, as we peeked over the edge of the boulder, we unexpectedly met the gaze of almost a hundred curious eyes a mere 20 metres away. We were too close! I was hunting at the pristine Kwaggashoek Game…

Although the first .22-calibre centrefire cartridges made their appearance during the 1880s, the ballistic and calibre philosophies of the time were not particularly well suited to extract the utmost from mini-bore cartridges. Smokeless propellants were in their baby shoes, and the velocities and performance of .22s were therefore rather mediocre by current standards. As a result, the .22s were not taken seriously but only seen as point-blank rat, dog and bird dispatchers – gallery cartridges, at a stretch. A BIT OF BACKGROUND Among the first attempts at turning the .224” bore into something useful in the hunting field were those by the American attorney-inventor Charles Newton (1870-1932), also known as the “Father of High Velocity”. In the winter of 1905-06, Newton tapered the straight-walled .25-35 Stevens rimmed case down to…

Wanneer die meeste jagters aan handwapens dink om veld toe te neem, dink hulle aan jagwapens – iets soos ’n Ruger Super Blackhawk, ’n Thompson Contender of selfs een van daardie grendelaksiehandwapens wat eintlik maar ’n geamputeerde jaggeweer is. Hoewel dié soort handwapen wel ’n rol in die jagveld as ’n jagwapen speel, handel hierdie artikel oor minder indrukwekkende en meer draagbare pistole of rewolwers wat nie as ’n primêre jagwapen aangewend word nie, maar ’n aanvullende funksie het. MAAR HOEKOM? Ek kyk soms na die pakkasie wat ek op ’n jagtog saamdra en verlang terug na ’n eenvoudiger tyd toe ’n gelaaide geweer, ’n mes, ekstra patrone en miskien ’n waterbottel of lemoen al was wat ek saamgeneem het. Deesdae is daar ook ’n verkyker/afstandmeter, GPS, multitool, tweerigtingradio, selfoon,…

When the editor of this magazine recently asked if I was available to test a riflescope made by Zeiss, I had absolutely no hesitation in agreeing. This is based on the premise that anything carrying the Zeiss logo is automatically considered superior. The company was started in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss in Jena, Germany, and has become synonymous with high-quality optics. My easy acquiescence was also spurred on by the fact that I have always enjoyed fiddling around with high-end optics, so the Zeiss was up my alley, so to speak. The box duly arrived with the V4 6-24x50 Zeiss scope, and initial inspection showed that it was equipped with the Zeiss ZBI reticle. I immediately noticed that the scope was made in Japan. Nothing wrong with Japanese optics,…

Whenever shooters mention a “three-seven-five” calibre, one naturally assumes they are referring to the famous .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, also known as the .375 Magnum Rimless Nitro-Express. In 95% of all cases, this would be a correct assumption. The .375 H&H Magnum is the most popular .375-calibre cartridge ever invented and certainly Holland & Holland’s most successful cartridge. However, some people are unaware that Holland & Holland also built rifles in other, more obscure .375 calibres. It is not particularly well known that the .375 H&H Magnum was neither Holland & Holland’s first attempt at a sporting cartridge in this calibre, nor was it their first belted cartridge. In this article, we take a closer look at this and examine some rifles. .375 FLANGED 2½” NITRO-EXPRESS The oldest amongst…

“Buffeljag-loting: Buffelbuljag langs Sabie Game Park in Mosambiek, R50 per inskrywing” Die meeste van SA Jagters se lede sou deur die loop van 2019 dié advertensie iewers teëgekom het, hetsy in die maandelikse nuusbrief, die SA JAGTER/ HUNTER-tydskrif of selfs by HuntEx. Twee van ons lede het wel die geluk aan hul kant gehad. Die gelukkige eerste trekking het ’n buffelbuljag langs die Sabie Game Park in Mosambiek gewen, asook die opstop van die trofee deur Custos Taksidermie (wilka@mweb.co.za) en ’n skildery van die jag deur die kunstenaar Michelle van Jaarsveldt (michellevjart@gmail. com). Die gelukkige wenner van die tweede prys het ’n geslypte diamant ter waarde van R28 000 ontvang. So het ook ons nie die impak van die Covid-19-pandemie vrygespring nie en weens die sluiting van die landsgrense moes…

Die sebra (Equus burchelli) is een van Afrika se mees kenmerkende diere en kom in groot getalle in verskeie lande in suidelike, Sentraal- en Oos-Afrika voor. Benewens ander sebraspesies soos Grévy se sebra, Hartmann se bergsebra en die Kaapse bergsebra, word die vlaktesebra deur natuurkundiges in vier subspesies opgedeel. Die onderskeid lê in klein verskille in die streeppatroon van die onderskeie subspesies, asook waar in Afrika hulle aangetref word. Hulle is by uitstek grasvreters en in plekke soos die Masai Mara in Kenia en Tanzanië kom hulle in baie groot troppe voor. Die hingste is bekend daarvoor dat hulle aggressief onder mekaar baklei vir die merries se aandag. Dit is dus nie vreemd om ’n sebrahings met bytmerke op sy vel raak te loop nie. Sebras is taai diere en…

Die wêreld van versamelbare vuurwapens is meermale amper met ’n doolhof vergelykbaar. Versamelbaarheid, aldan nie, hang in baie gevalle van verskeie faktore af wat nie aldag baie mooi deur almal verstaan word nie. Dit lei dikwels tot misverstande en meningsverskille, veral tussen diegene wat wil verkoop en dié wat wil koop. Ten einde ’n bietjie duidelikheid te bring, is dit dalk nou ’n goeie tyd om ietwat meer indringend te kyk na wat ’n bepaalde vuurwapen versamelbaar maak, of dalk net die teenoorgestelde tot gevolg kan hê. DIE TIPE VUURWAPEN Wêreldwyd is daar ’n magdom vuurwapenversamelaars met geweldig uiteenlopende belangstellingsvelde. In die VSA is dit groot mode om Winchester-, Colt- en Smith & Wesson-wapens te versamel en die Amerikaners het in baie gevalle amper ’n patriotiese streep as dit by…

Om ’n koedoebul met ’n geweer of boog te jag is gewis elke jagter se droom. Dié statige dier met sy pragtige horings is egter nie so maklik om met die boog te bekruip en op ’n kort afstand te skiet nie. HAASTIGE KOEDOES Tydens een van my eerste probeerslae om een van hierdie diere te jag, het ek ’n hele paar probleme gehad om te oorkom. Probleem nommer een was dat ek eenvoudig nie te voet naby genoeg aan ’n koedoe kon kom om dit te skiet nie. Nadat ek bykans ’n hele dag van bos tot bos en skadukol tot skadukol gekruip het en nogtans elke keer die koedoes verwilder het, het die plaaseienaar Francois besluit om in te gryp. Nadat hy besef het ek sal nie maklik…

The Nyae Nyae Conservancy, part of an area traditionally known as Bushmanland, is one of the wildlife jewels of arid Namibia. It is the haunt of giant tuskers as well as the rest of the Big Five and a range of plains game. The limited quota set out for trophy hunting – especially the legendary elephant bulls – is in high demand internationally, for here Africa is still wild, free and unfenced. We were standing around the morning fire, watching the dawn over mugs of coffee with some trepidation. It was an overcast and drizzly morning, with the temperature down to 28 degrees after weeks of murderous days measuring 41 degrees-plus. This was our last day in camp and it would be Stephan’s last chance to shoot a roan be-fore…

With a proud history of manufacturing quality optics for various purposes for over a century, the German optics manufacturer Leica recently introduced two new products that are certainly worth a good look. AMPLUS SCOPE The first product, the Amplus 6 scope, is aimed at the entry-level, premium scope market. As the magnification range suggests, it is intended for a wide variety of applications. The Amplus 6’s body is machined from aircraft-grade aluminium. In a somewhat surprising move for a German-manufactured scope, it is not available in a rail-mounted model. It has a 30 mm maintube, and each click from the open adjustment turrets shifts the point of impact by 1 cm at 100 m. The illuminated L-Ballistic BDC reticle in the scope’s second focal plane was a touch too busy…