Hunt Western Cape
Western Cape Hunting
Our accommodations are typical for the safari industry.
Bushman's Quiver Facilities
Book your stay in one of our amazing venues. Relax and enjoy the Western Cape Safari in all its beauty.
The Dangerous Seven
Dangerous Game
Note that not all species of dangerous game that we offer on safari are available in all provinces in which we hunt. Rather, the availability of dangerous game is province-specific. Therefore, please contact us regarding your dangerous game preferences and associated lead times and we will discuss all possibilities with you in detail.
On the African sub-continent, there are 7 species of game that are generally classified as “Dangerous Game.” This includes the traditional “Big 5”, consisting of Cape buffalo, lion, elephant, leopard, and rhinoceros plus the addition of hippo and crocodile. We hunt all 7 species across a wide range of biomes.
Dangerous game, and especially the Big 5, receive worldwide scrutiny from a game management perspective. This is to say that, for the most part, the population numbers of these species, as well as the breadth of their natural range, have been declining over the past few decades. Primarily, this is due to shrinking habitat (humankind has a tendency to take all the best land for its own purposes), disease, poaching (illegal hunting), human/animal conflict in a domestic setting, and (for predators) a decline in the number of prey animals. Controlled lawful sport hunting as a conservation management tool has never been linked to declining population numbers. In fact, as individual animals mature and then decline they die of some natural cause irrespective of the role of the hunter. So, it is this naturally occurring surplus that hunters tend to harvest. In addition, the license fees hunters pay for the privilege of harvesting this surplus are the financial backbone of the game conservation effort.
CAPE BUFFALO (Syncerus caffer)
The Cape Buffalo is a large African bovine, black in color and carrying a heavy-set pair of horns. Actually, the underlying skin is gray in color, but the short thin growth or black hair covering the skin gives the appearance of being black.
AFRICAN LION (Panthera leo)
The African lion is a large carnivorous feline typically having a short tawny coat, tufted tail, and (in the male) a heavy mane of longer hair around the head, neck and shoulders. However, recently some female lions living in Botswana have been discovered to sport manes. The presence, absence, color, and size of the mane is associated with genetic precondition, sexual maturity, climate, and testosterone production.
ELEPHANT (Loxodonta africana)
The African bush elephant (as opposed to the African forest elephant – Loxodonta cyclotis) stands 10-13 feet tall at the shoulder and can weigh 10,360 – 13,330 pounds. It is the largest living terrestrial animal. Despite its enormous size it can be very difficult to spot an elephant in its natural habitat, and hunting them can be very difficult. This can be attributed to two factors. First, elephants can cover a lot of ground in their daily movements.
HIPPOPOTAMUS (Hippopotamus amphibius)
The common hippopotamus, or “hippo” as it is called, comes from the ancient Greek for “river horse.” After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippo is the third-largest type of land mammal. Adult bull hippos average 3310 pounds, and a truly large bull may reach 4400 pounds, and since male hippos continue to grow throughout their lives, an exceptionally large bull may reach a ponderous 7050 pounds!
LEOPARD (Panthera pardus)
The leopard is distinguished by its well-camouflaged coat, opportunistic hunting tactics, wide-ranging diet, and its blazing speed. For its size, it is also an extremely strong cat evidenced by its ability to carry heavy carcasses considerable distances into tree canopies. It also is extremely adaptable, living in habitats as diverse as rainforest, grasslands, as well as arid and montane areas.
NILE CROCODILE (Crocodylus niloticus)
The Nile crocodile is the largest freshwater predator in Africa and may be considered the second largest extant reptile in the world after the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The Nile crocodile is widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa occupying rivers, lakes, and marshlands. Any body of water in South Africa (except possibly the most southern reaches) is likely to be inhabited by this dangerous predator, thus no natural body of water is safe for swimming. Although capable of living in saline environments this species is rarely found in saltwater, but occasionally will be found in brackish water.
WHITE RHINOCEROUS (Ceratotherium simum)
Population numbers of black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) are critically depleted across all of Africa. We do not hunt them. Ironically, just as the black rhinoceros is not really “black”, neither is the white rhinoceros anywhere near “white”. The white rhinoceros consists of two sub-species, the northern white rhinoceros, whose population numbers are also low, and the southern white rhinoceros whose population numbers in the wild are believed to be about 19,600 to 21,000. It is the southern white rhino species that we hunt, and we are able to do so, once again, because of the importance of fee-based sport hunting to rhino conservation.
BQ HANDBOOK
The purpose of the Bushmans Quiver Quality African Safaris Handbook is to provide a body of information, appearing all in one place, that will guide the client through the safari planning process from initial conception to completion. The process is laid out on a declining time line basis assuming a six-month planning window from initial concept to departure from the client’s home base en route to the safari destination.
To download the Bushmans Quiver Handbook, click on the PDF download icon below.