With a substantial backlog in the renewal of existing firearms licences, the SA Police Service (SAPS) is taking up to two years to process applications – too long for most eager aspiring hunters, many of whom are now opting for compound bows and arrows as hunting weapons.
While a good compound bow costs about as much as a hunting rifle, the bow can be bought over the counter without a licence, as it’s too cumbersome and bulky to conceal for criminal use or self defence, requires too much physical strength for children to use and can’t be carried “loaded”. These attributes have made bows increasingly popular with hunters.
The few dedicated sportspeople who used them a few years ago have grown into the South African Bowhunters Association (SABA), which today has over 1 000 registered members. A new breed of hunter Many game farmers wishing to cash in on this growing sector find themselves at a loose end, not knowing how to deal with this new breed of hunter. Many have allowed bowhunting on their farms and some have burned their fingers.
While a practised ear can tell if a rifle shot hit something from quite a distance, the bow is silent and a disingenuous hunter can keep quiet about bad shots, avoiding follow-up or paying for wounded animals. SABA president JC Botha, however, says this can be controlled, and once a game farmer has all the necessary checks and balances in place, every arrow can be monitored.
But farmers need to make a mental shift in the way they manage their hunting business. First, JC says, most bowhunters are more intent on the experience of being out in nature and taking their meat in their chosen manner than on shooting as many animals as possible. For the game farmer this may translate into a lower take-off rate, and thus less income from a single bowhunter than from a rifle hunter. However, the area available determines the number of rifle hunters that can safely hunt simultaneously on a farm.
Topography and game numbers allowing, JC notes significantly more bowhunters might be accommodated, as each hunter’s range is limited to about 40m around a hide. Managing a bowhunting farm Strategically setting up hides and controlling activities around them, he says, is key to successfully managing a bowhunting farm. “Farmers have to acquaint themselves with the movement of animals on their farms and set up hides where there’s enough daily animal traffic to afford hunters reasonable shooting opportunities,” he explains.
Once farmers have identified all the potential “hotspots”, they must start paying attention to the finer details, such as general wind direction, to keep the hide down-wind of the animals, and the kind of hide they want to erect, such as a tree stand, elevated hide or pit blind. JC notes that while the terrain dictates the location of a hide at a watering hole, feeding troughs and licks can be used to manipulate the shooting distances at other hides. For most hunters, he says, a pit blind offers optimal shooting conditions.
A pit blind is usually a covered excavation of between 0,8m and 1,2m deep, from which the hunter can shoot in an upright position. “This enables the hunter to shoot at a natural angle, parallel to the ground, with the animals’ vitals well exposed,” JC explains. Experienced hunters, however, will compensate for the downward angle when shooting from elevated hides or tree stands. JC recommends the materials used for a hide blend in with the environment. For example, pit or ground-level blinds should resemble termite mounds.
Once hides are in place, farmers can concentrate on the hunters. First, ensure the equipment a hunter intends to use is adequate. JC cautions against only focusing on the bows’ draw weight ratings. “Today’s bows are much faster than 10 years ago,” he explains. “A modern bow with a 50lb draw weight achieves similar velocities to some old 70lb bows.” He says farmers should ensure their visitors’ bows have enough kinetic energy and momentum for the quarry they intend to hunt (see Table 1). It might be a good idea to communicate these requirements when visitors book their hunts, to allow them time to ensure their equipment complies.
Assessing hunters’ ability On their arrival, it’s important to assess hunters’ ability to shoot their bows accurately. “Place a target 16cm in diameter against a suitable backstop from which arrows can be retrieved,” suggests JC. “Let each hunter shoot five arrows at it from 5m. If they hit the target with all five arrows, let them move back 5m and repeat the exercise. Keep moving back in 5m increments to the maximum shooting distance your hides facilitate.
If a hunter misses the target at say, 25m, his maximum shooting distance should be 20m, where he still managed to hit the target with all five arrows.” JC notes that this is a rough test and personally feels a golf-ball-sized grouping would be ideal. Place hunters in hides that accommodate their shooting abilities. Feeding troughs or licks can be positioned to lure animals to within the hunters’ range, according to their ability.
Monitoring ethics When dropping off hunters at hides, JC says a farmer should inventory the number of arrows they take with them. “Leave the hunter with clear instructions not to leave the hide and to radio or phone the homestead once they’ve shot something and wait for you,” he says. Whoever makes the drop-off should sweep away footprints surrounding the hide before leaving. This way hunters can be left without supervision and farmers will know whether they stayed in the hide and how many arrows they fired there.
The blades, or bleeders, on broadhead-tipped arrows usually leave a clear blood trail to follow once an animal has been shot. JC recommends hunters and game farmers allow at least half an hour between shooting and following up on an animal shot in the heart/lung area, to give it time to die without the stress of being chased. For shots that missed the vitals, he recommends hunters give animals up to three hours before following up.
JC concludes bowhunters can be lucrative guests for game farmers as long as the operation and hunters are managed correctly, so that game do not see them. If animals shot from hides don’t associate people with danger, ecotourism operations can be run concurrently with hunting safaris, giving farmers an extra revenue stream to make up for a potentially lower take-off rate than they might get from rifle hunters. Contact JC Botha on (014) 763 1357 or 082 448 5723, or e-mail [email protected]. |fw
About SABA
The South African Bowhunters Association (SABA) was established in 1994 to motivate all bowhunters to know and experience bowhunting in its truest form, by promoting ethical bowhunting through ongoing education and protecting members’ interests and the right to bowhunt. The organisation presents regular archery and ethical bowhunting training in accordance with the SA Qualifications Authority standards. Spanning three to five days the training includes theoretical and practical sessions. The practical aspects test, among other things, participants’ ability to shoot from a variety of hunting positions to improve their arrow placement. On successful completion of this course, with a mark of 80%, the participant will receive a proficiency certificate. Farmers can trust that bowhunters who’ve completed this course will be competent archers able to hunt effectively and ethically, says SABA president JC Botha.
A game farmer’s perspective
Jan Kleynhans of Tusker Safaris in Limpopo’s Steenbokpan area says he only allows bowhunting on his farm, as he also operates an photographic safari venture. “Bowhunting is quiet and because archers shoot from hides, game don’t associate people with death or danger, so we can have photographic game drives without animals fleeing, as becomes the case with rifle hunting,” he says. Jan adds that bowhunters are generally better prepared for a hunt than the majority of rifle hunters he catered to in the past.
He also likes the fact that many bowhunters make a hunting trip a family outing. “Because bows aren’t as dangerous as rifles and there’s no risk of stray bullets flying about, people feel comfortable bringing their spouses and children with them.” Finally Jan says a flesh wound on a bow-shot animal tends to heal because hunting arrows cut cleanly. In contrast, rifle wounds almost inevitably get infected, subjecting animals to slow, painful deaths in the veld.
