I dont know if this is a first for the Firing Line but it is a first for me.
in june of 08 i received a private message on the Firing Line forum. this happened after i made a post on a topic and Mark from the USA saw i was from S-Africa. he simply asked in the private message if there was hunting opportunities in my region. we sent a couple of messages back and forth.
eventually we started sending each other hunting pictures of the latest hunts.
mark asked me to get him a quote on a local hunt(this was now early 2009). i revered him to a website of a local hunting lodge and ph, that caters for usa hunters. he received the quote and mailed it to me. the pricing on this quote was ridiculous.
mark asked if a know anybody else. i talked to a local ph and gave him some back ground on the situation as it stands. the ph said i should ask mark what kind of a safari mark wants. for example what he wants to shoot and where and at what time of the year. mark replied promptly and Benton(the ph) started to put together a quote that was in line with what mark wanted.
it seemed that as soon as i mailed back Benton's quote mark replied and said he was in. Benton's pricing made it possible for mark to bring along his son(mark jnr) to hunt as well.
from here on things started happening very fast. as soon as the ph had a quote ready for mark jnr i received a mail from mark saying he bought the tickets for the flight to S-Africa. to say i was stunned is a understatement.
i phoned the ph and he came to my office where i showed him the e-mail about the plane tickets, and i wanted to know in no uncertain words how fast he would be able to arrange what still needs to be finalised. he simply smiled and said that everything was already arranged.
at this time everything was still a pie in the sky feeling. i mean here i meet somebody on the net and now i am going to meet him? it seemed unreal.
by this time mark and i spoke on the phone about three times and so did the ph.
mark asked me in a mail if he could bring me something from the states. there was only one thing i wanted: a copy of the latest Guns and Ammo magazine. i thought this appropriate since mark and me met on the firing line forums which belong to Guns and Ammo. i am proud to say that i have in my possession the june 2009 copy with the Stag Arms 7 in 6.8 SPC on the front page. mark also gave me a lot of other gifts that i will use on my next hunt.
mark arrived on the 1 june but i only met him a week or so later, by that time mark his son and the ph were well acquainted and the pictures they had showed of a the trip that was already a success.
i took mark wart-hog hunting on the spots i usually hunt myself and of which i have mailed mark some pictures of wart-hogs. we saw about 15 hogs but got no opportunity to shoot. all of this was however only to keep mark busy as the ph was organising a hell of a party seeing as this was marks birthday.
we had a good party and about 20 people in all attended and Benton(the ph) presented mark with a framed picture of the trophy gemsbok that mark shot. we had a full sized lamb(sheep) on the fire. the rest of the night are a closed book but it is safe to say that the local law enforcers who partied with us did not make it in time for the next days shift.
if i am not mistaken mark and son come over to hunt 8 heads of game and left having taken 26, most of which are of the best specimens i have ever seen.
mark used a 325 wsm and i went along when he shot the eland. by this time it was obvious that mark and his son were experienced hunters and good rifleman. he took the eland with a difficult shot( at least i thought it was difficult). neither mark nor the 325 struggled with the eland.
i have a couple of pictures and will try to post a few.
in the first picture it is from left to right:Mark jnr; myself; Mark and Benton the ph. marks bday party on the banks of the Vaalrivier.
in june of 08 i received a private message on the Firing Line forum. this happened after i made a post on a topic and Mark from the USA saw i was from S-Africa. he simply asked in the private message if there was hunting opportunities in my region. we sent a couple of messages back and forth.
eventually we started sending each other hunting pictures of the latest hunts.
mark asked me to get him a quote on a local hunt(this was now early 2009). i revered him to a website of a local hunting lodge and ph, that caters for usa hunters. he received the quote and mailed it to me. the pricing on this quote was ridiculous.
mark asked if a know anybody else. i talked to a local ph and gave him some back ground on the situation as it stands. the ph said i should ask mark what kind of a safari mark wants. for example what he wants to shoot and where and at what time of the year. mark replied promptly and Benton(the ph) started to put together a quote that was in line with what mark wanted.
it seemed that as soon as i mailed back Benton's quote mark replied and said he was in. Benton's pricing made it possible for mark to bring along his son(mark jnr) to hunt as well.
from here on things started happening very fast. as soon as the ph had a quote ready for mark jnr i received a mail from mark saying he bought the tickets for the flight to S-Africa. to say i was stunned is a understatement.
i phoned the ph and he came to my office where i showed him the e-mail about the plane tickets, and i wanted to know in no uncertain words how fast he would be able to arrange what still needs to be finalised. he simply smiled and said that everything was already arranged.
at this time everything was still a pie in the sky feeling. i mean here i meet somebody on the net and now i am going to meet him? it seemed unreal.
by this time mark and i spoke on the phone about three times and so did the ph.
mark asked me in a mail if he could bring me something from the states. there was only one thing i wanted: a copy of the latest Guns and Ammo magazine. i thought this appropriate since mark and me met on the firing line forums which belong to Guns and Ammo. i am proud to say that i have in my possession the june 2009 copy with the Stag Arms 7 in 6.8 SPC on the front page. mark also gave me a lot of other gifts that i will use on my next hunt.
mark arrived on the 1 june but i only met him a week or so later, by that time mark his son and the ph were well acquainted and the pictures they had showed of a the trip that was already a success.
i took mark wart-hog hunting on the spots i usually hunt myself and of which i have mailed mark some pictures of wart-hogs. we saw about 15 hogs but got no opportunity to shoot. all of this was however only to keep mark busy as the ph was organising a hell of a party seeing as this was marks birthday.
we had a good party and about 20 people in all attended and Benton(the ph) presented mark with a framed picture of the trophy gemsbok that mark shot. we had a full sized lamb(sheep) on the fire. the rest of the night are a closed book but it is safe to say that the local law enforcers who partied with us did not make it in time for the next days shift.
if i am not mistaken mark and son come over to hunt 8 heads of game and left having taken 26, most of which are of the best specimens i have ever seen.
mark used a 325 wsm and i went along when he shot the eland. by this time it was obvious that mark and his son were experienced hunters and good rifleman. he took the eland with a difficult shot( at least i thought it was difficult). neither mark nor the 325 struggled with the eland.
i have a couple of pictures and will try to post a few.
in the first picture it is from left to right:Mark jnr; myself; Mark and Benton the ph. marks bday party on the banks of the Vaalrivier.
Attachments
Last edited:
