WELCOME TO THE CHACMA FAMILY

This is our first edition newsletter and we hope you enjoy it with us.  The Chacma newsletter will aim at providing you with as much information as possible on hunting in Africa, any new trends, and other interesting information in general.  We will use the newsletter and the Chacma website to launch regular specials and promotions, and keep you up to date on what to expect on your visit to our great country.

Winter has come and gone for 2008, and spring is just starting to show in South Africa.  This is definitely one of the most beautiful times of the year.  The winter for 2008 was not as cold as we expected; to the relief of a lot of South Africans.

A hunting safari in Africa is sure to be a thrilling experience.  Whether you are interested in the Big Five or in plains game hunting, we at Chacma Safaris have the experience and infrastructure to make your African hunting safari a memorable one. 

Chacma Safaris is having a great and exciting 2008 so far, and we are only halfway through the year.  The hunting safaris that has been done this year, has all been huge successes and the clients had the times of their lives with the trophies to show for it.

We invite you to come and experience a hunting adventure that you will cherish for the rest of your life.  Our safaris are conducted in the warm fashion South Africans are famous for.  We offer hunting safaris in various concession areas in Africa.

The Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA) cooperates closely with Nature Conservation, and adopted a policy of tightening up on controls in order to induce higher standards to the hunting industry.

PHASA acts as watchdog of potential transgressions of members as well as non-registered hunters.  Nature Conservation Departments of the various provinces, police compliance to the requirements of the hunting laws.  In essence, the legislation around hunting by foreigners is similar in all provinces, and summarizes roughly as follows:

* The Foreign hunter has to be accompanied by a Professional Hunter, certified for that province.

* Said foreign hunter may only be recruited by somebody with an outfitters permit for that province.

* To qualify as PH, the person needs to be a SA citizen over the age of 21, attend a hunting school (accredited by Nature Conservation) for at least 10 days, and pass the test criteria of that school.  This is followed by an examination set and marked by the Department of Nature Conservation for that province. Membership of PHASA is recommended, and records of active hunting and guiding needs to be kept.

* Most provinces have lately adopted a policy of not issuing the newly qualified PH with an outfitters permit unless he is a land owner, or has actively guided hunters for at least 3 years.  Advocates of this policy argue that it is all for the benefit of SA hunting industry.  These measures are meant to curtail the fly-by-night syndrome, hence securing high standards of service and professionalism, and a positive international image for the benefit of all.

* There is currently further thinking in some provinces to introduce a 3 years apprenticeship under an experienced PH (after attendance of hunting school) before certification as PH will be granted.

* On application for an outfitters permit, Nature Conservation scrutinizes the PHs qualification and his base camp facilities.  These are the physical necessities such as marketing material, vehicles, rifles, decent accommodation, skinning, trophy handling and cold storage.  Approval results in an outfitter’s permit.

Chacma Safaris was also very privileged to attend the TEXAS Trophy Hunters Extravaganza – San Antonio and Texas Hunters & Sportsman’s Expo - McAllen in July this year.  Both the shows were great successes and we met a lot of people, and made good contacts.  We are sure that very few people know what passion hunting is to the American people. 

We will be attending shows in 2009 in the States as well - hope to see you there. We will post more information on this on our website.

Please make sure to check the show announcements for 2009, and come and visit us at our stall.

Congratulations to our raffle winners!

Chacma Safaris’ main camp in the Limpopo Province is in the process of going through a few facelifts, and we will keep you posted on the new and exciting additions to the camp.  We promise that your stay with us will be a memorable one, and that you will definitely want to come back. 

Our travel packages and tours for the clients who are interested in spending extra time sightseeing South Africa and surrounding countries are also being upgraded.  Keep an eye on the Chacma website for the fabulous packages we will have on offer.

REMEMBER CHACMA SAFARIS WHEN YOU BOOK YOUR NEXT HUNTING SAFARI IN AFRICA!!  OUR PRICES ARE GREAT, AND OUR SERVICE EVEN BETTER!!

Hunting an elephant requires a certain amount of knowledge and skill to successfully hunt your trophy.

We concentrate on rifle hunting as bow hunting an elephant is prohibited in South Africa.

Tracks The front feet have a round shape where the hind feet have a pointed shape. This can help to determine the direction of the animals’ movements. The length of the front foot is about 500 mm and of the hind foot about 520mm. The shoulder height of an elephant can be determined by taking the circumference of the front foot and multiplying it by 2,5. Elephants walk into their own footsteps.

The hunter has 3 options for shotplacement:

Brain shot from the front, or from the side or a heart/lung shot.
From the side aiming for the brain – hand width before the ear hole. From the front the distance from the elephant determines the placement

The way the elephant holds his head will have an influence on the shot.

See more details on our website: www.chacmasafari.co.za/elephanthunting.html. To subscribe to our mailing list please complete the subscription on our homepage. Next time an article on shot placement on Impala and some more info to make your hunt to Africa a worthwhile experience and if you haven’t booked with us yet you’ll feel the need to contact us immediately. It’s time to own the adventure! Both father and son pay only $600 per day Father hunt from the pricelist, and for every corresponding species hunted by the son, the son gets 25% discount.   A viable period will be a minimum of 10 days. Four and more hunters - $350 per hunter per day. 10% discount on listed species. Please see list on our website.

For more information on our hunting packages and prices, please visit our website at www.chacmasafari.co.za or e-mail us at info@chacmasafari.co.za.

Hope you have enjoyed our first edition of the Chacma newsletter, and we are looking forward to sending you great and exciting news in our second newsletter later in the year. Our warmest regards