quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
While Pete may have come across a little "strong" and I may have put across my view in a different way the nuts and bolts of it is that he is 100% true.

When the "national Parks" quotas came out several years ago on a "bidding basis" we successfuly got 5 non trophy elephant. There was a strict format to follow been non trophy bulls or cows and there was alot of emphasis on the scientific research on animals shot. We went and did 4 and was so disgusted as to what was happening that we pulled out before completing our "quota". Having collected the overies and filled in all the nessesary data on the ele cows we shot I handed it in to the warden and he said we were the very first to do that and proceeded to bin it!

I also saw MANY trophy ele bulls that were shot and can assure you were exported. I bought this to the attention of our hunting association as well as the Hide which is a photographic camp close to the area we were "allocated". I also saw several trophy buff that were shot. Every trophy ele/buff I saw shot there had a South African involved with an equaly unpleasent Zimbabwean PH all in it for a quick $!

I have to say as honest as our intentions were it was wrong to hunt in a park and I am afraid with the present situation in Parks , the influx of the worst of the worst South African fellows accompanied by corrupt unethical PHs from Zim the system will get abused. Stay away from Parks hunts- they are unethical and 99% of those involved are peole you certainly do not want to do buisness with.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
In principle I agree with them, however I do not believe that Parks will be able to control and manage the " management quota" effieciently and more importanatly keep them from been corrupt free.

They attempted selling mamagement hunts in the past in Wankie and I have seen with my own eyes gross misconduct for finacial gain been perpetrated under the guise of "management hunts" including a "non trophy bull" of over 100 lbs been shot. Non of these culprits have been bought to book and as far as I hear the hunting in the park has continued unabated.

I feel that no management hunts should be conducted until parks complete a full airial survey to determine exactly how many eles we actually have and get on top of the rampant poaching.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
...On a similar note a "hunter" from the States with a South African "PH" who arrived in Wankie for a ration hunt was turned away the other day as they were told that there will be no more hunting in the Park!! All steps in the right directions!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
Whoever you are, your are barking up the wrong tree. This "Cable" and the related quote from Sally Brown is from 2008, and has nothing to do with the SAVE in 2012. By the way, who are you? Why would you not post your real identity?

quote:

Make no mistake, this report from the US Embassy in Harare must be taken very seriously as it contains solid facts.
We would like to thank Sally Bown, head representative of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe for naming some of these Professional Hunters of ill repute involved in Illegal hunting and poaching operations in Zimbabwe.
We are shocked that this information supplied by Sally Bown was not published earlier!
Charlton McCallum Safaris was very much involved in these numerous illegal poaching/ hunting activities . We were shocked to hear that CM Safaris was not taken down during these illegal hunts ? We have countless individuals on the ground who would be willing to give additional evidence against CM Safaris and their associates Headman Sibanda, Evans Makanza ( all involved with Illegal invasions in the Gwayi conservancies ) if need be.
We are requesting an immediate statement direct from Charlton McCallum Safaris and the other Professional Hunters involved as to why these illegal activities were carried out. We are also waiting on a statement from Sally Bown as to why these illegal poachers , Professional Hunters were not publicly revealed??

What is shocking is that CM Safaris is a member of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association and SOAZ. We all want to hear from the ZPHGA representatives on why this illegal poaching/ hunting has been swept under the carpet?
This is just the beginning and I am sure that the hunting fraternity is waiting on a statement from Sally Bown of the ZPHGA. lacey act violations ??

~Ann

quote:

We would like to thank Sally Bown, head representative of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe for naming some of these Professional Hunters of ill repute involved in Illegal hunting and poaching operations in Zimbabwe.
We are shocked that this information supplied by Sally Bown was not published earlier!
Charlton McCallum Safaris was very much involved in these numerous illegal poaching/ hunting activities . We were shocked to hear that CM Safaris was not taken down during these illegal hunts ? We have countless individuals on the ground who would be willing to give additional evidence against CM Safaris and their associates Headman Sibanda, Evans Makanza ( all involved with Illegal invasions in the Gwayi conservancies ) if need be.
We are requesting an immediate statement direct from Charlton McCallum Safaris and the other Professional Hunters involved as to why these illegal activities were carried out. We are also waiting on a statement from Sally Bown as to why these illegal poachers , Professional Hunters were not publicly revealed??

quote:

CM SAFARIS STATEMENT:

Hi everyone.

I want to breakdown this report in to two parts:

1. The actual article from October 2012. Insofar as it relates to us (CM SAF) it is all total BS. It comes on the fourth anniversary of the leaked cable you have all seen and has simply been twisted to suit 2012 by some twit reporter. This type of reporting certainly out here is commonplace. There is simply zero accountability. Interpret it as you will.

2. The actual leaked cable from October 2008. I am fairly certain that we were included in this elite group of individuals because in October 2008 WE DID shoot 4 elephants in Hwange Park (three old cows and a young bull). I do believe Buzz has dealt with this on AR some time ago.

Anyhow to refresh everyone’s memory - Back in 2008 (probably Zim’s darkest year ever) National Parks made it quite clear that they were totally broke and needed assistance. This is when commercial ration hunting started.

We DID donate $4000 worth of diesel and six new tires for Land Cruisers to the Park;

We DID receive a permit to shoot five elephants with the option to take another five -– all legal;

We DID NOT sell or advertise “hunts” in the park, we DID NOT profit from this;

We DID NOT shoot trophies (far from it); and

We DID at the time believe we were helping, but when we arrived and actually witnessed what was going on pulled out.

It is also worth noting that at around the SAME time SOAZ made FORMAL applications to Parks that they administer the ration hunting to (1) generate money for Parks as well as more importantly (2) to regularize the entire operation.

The basic idea being that hunting operators would administer ration quotas in their own concessions and photographic operators the quotas in their Parks. Sadly this was turned down by Parks.

In hindsight yes we do have regrets, there is no excuse for hunting in a Park. At the time though we did think we were actually helping and did have exactly the same goals as SOAZ.

Cheers

Myles

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
Welcome to Accurate Reloading.
Interesting first post.

quote:

Originally posted by ngwenyasekuru:
Make no mistake, this report from the US Embassy in Harare must be taken very seriously as it contains solid facts.
We would like to thank Sally Bown, head representative of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe for naming some of these Professional Hunters of ill repute involved in Illegal hunting and poaching operations in Zimbabwe.
We are shocked that this information supplied by Sally Bown was not published earlier!
Charlton McCallum Safaris was very much involved in these numerous illegal poaching/ hunting activities . We were shocked to hear that CM Safaris was not taken down during these illegal hunts ? We have countless individuals on the ground who would be willing to give additional evidence against CM Safaris and their associates Headman Sibanda, Evans Makanza ( all involved with Illegal invasions in the Gwayi conservancies ) if need be.
We are requesting an immediate statement direct from Charlton McCallum Safaris and the other Professional Hunters involved as to why these illegal activities were carried out. We are also waiting on a statement from Sally Bown as to why these illegal poachers , Professional Hunters were not publicly revealed??

What is shocking is that CM Safaris is a member of the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association and SOAZ. We all want to hear from the ZPHGA representatives on why this illegal poaching/ hunting has been swept under the carpet?
This is just the beginning and I am sure that the hunting fraternity is waiting on a statement from Sally Bown of the ZPHGA. lacey act violations ??



CIO chief among ZANU PF officials linked to illegal hunting in Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com/2...egal-hunting-in-zim/

Zimbabwe’s head of the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), and other key ZANU PF officials, have been linked to years of illegal hunting in the country’s conservancies, which is said to have been a key source of revenue for the party.

CIO Director Happyton Bonyongwe was named in a confidential diplomatic cable, created in 2008 by then US Ambassador James McGee, who warned that hunting “has long been a source of ill-gotten revenue for members of the ZANU PF elite, and given the ongoing resource grab, it is not surprising that new hunting schemes have developed to supply the elites with forex.”

The cable, released by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks, claimed that the government was indiscriminately issuing hunting licences in the country’s national parks, with a devastating impact on Zimbabwe’s protected wildlife species. At the time the illicit parcelling out of hunting licences was linked to ZANU PF’s plans to secure as much of a grip on resources as possible before it faced the MDC in elections.

A small group of hunters and safari operators were allegedly consistently involved in the illegal hunting practices. The diplomatic cable named professional hunters like Guy Whitall, Tim Schultz of African Dream Safaris, Headman Sibanda and Wayne Grant of Nyala Safaris, Evans Makanza, Alan Shearing, Buzz Charlton and James Macullam of Charlton Macullum Safaris, A.J. Van Heerden of Shashe Safaris, Barry Van Heerden of Big Game Safaris, and Lawrence Boha.

According to the US embassy, numerous conservationists had suggested that the Van Heerden brothers were involved in suspicious hunting and land deals with the CIO’s Bonyongwe.

McGee warned in the cable that, “this ongoing struggle over greed, ill-gotten forex, and natural resource management is just one more result of the continued political impasse in Zimbabwe.”

The cable was a warning of things to come and illegal hunting practices have since been ‘normalised’ through the ZANU PF led indigenisation campaign. National Parks in August this year issued hunting permits to 25 so-called indigenous ‘farmers’ who were given land in the wildlife-rich Save Valley Conservancy in the Lowveld. National Parks director general Vitalis Chadenga, said this was part of the government’s ‘wildlife based land reform’ exercise, saying beneficiaries have been allocated 25-year land leases in conservancies throughout Masvingo province.

Included in the list of beneficiaries are top ZANU PF officials and loyalists, such as Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke, former Gutu South legislator Shuvai Mahofa and the late Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge.

The Masvingo Governor and other key MPs have since last year been spearheading a ZANU PF led campaign of ‘indigenisation’ in the province, dubbed the ‘Masvingo Initiative’, with the intention of grabbing land. Former governor Josiah Hungwe, former MP Enock Porusingazi, army boss Engelbert Rugeje, and former MP and war vet Shuvai Mahofa, were last year also fingered by whistleblower website WikiLeaks as being part of the Masvingo land grab.

The Save Valley Conservancy has called the handover of the new hunting licenses a ‘criminal act’ that has nothing to do with genuine indigenisation efforts. Johnny Rodrigues, the head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the licences need to be revoked.

“Actually, we believe that hunting needs to be suspended for three years to do a proper audit and to put some controls in place. Otherwise, we are heading towards doom,” Rodrigues warned.

He added that a senior government official is believed to have quietly stepped in to stop the ongoing takeover of the conservancies, “so we will see what will happen in the next few weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by ngwenyasekuru:THE BULL SHIT SALESMAN! BLA,BLA BLA!

....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1
DRSS Charter member
"If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982

Hands of Old Elmer Keith

quote:

Originally posted by sevenmagltd.:
This may not be the correct place for this post but it does concern some questionable outfitter. I just received an "alert" from the Austin, Texas SCI chapter that Arnold Payne of Impala Safaris is "once again" donating a hunt in Zim. Isn't this the same guy that was conducting "illegal" hunts on confiscated lands?? Maybe I have my outfitters confused and if so I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

quote:

ngwenyasekuru

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Martinez:
Boy it stinks when men of good reputation must defend themselves lest they be branded by men without scruples. It is a lie cast out, Once scattered it is as difficult to retrieve as the feathers of a pillow cast into the wind. The lie must be ended quickly and the feathers collected back.
I met both Miles and Buzz way back in 2004 when I first began researching my first Safari. They both shined with the love of All Things Africa and more importantly shared their love of the hunt with everyone who wanted to know more. I the ensuing years there has never been a hint of any impropriety about their operations.
I hunted with Evans Makanza and Headman Sibanda in 2008 and can say firsthand, they were both adamantly aware of boundaries for their concession. We went into the park for supplies and all rifles were emptied and put into cases before crossing the railway tracks. While I was there they refused two hunting groups who came into camp wanting to borrow guides and trackers for hunts into Hawange Park. Remember when those supposed "Legal" hunts were being touted. Headman has been working for ethical hunts far into the past. My Friend Bill McBride, Owner of Professional Hunters Supply worked with Headman as far back as the 70's while doing control work and has repeatedly let me know that Headman has been fighting an uphill battle to run a professional and honest business in Zimbabwe, and succeeding.
These unfounded claims are distasteful to read about and I only hope the government quickly clears the rumors and actively announces the honest professionalism these men embody.
Frank