My wife has given me a Buff hunt as a present, on one condition that I hunt Zim (she is originally from Zimbabwe), and it looks like the arrangements are being made with Ivan Carter!

Anyone know him and/or hunted with him?

Any comments appreciated.

Hi Dave,
Ivan is possibly one of the best safari guides/PH's that I have ever met...I dont want to build up your expectations, but whatever they might be I find it highly unlikely that you will be disappointed - he was trained by John Stevens, who is arguably one of the top Guides/PH's in Zimbabwe and has been for a long time...Although I have not personally hunted with him Ivan is well spoken of and highly respected wherever people have had experience with him.

I have heard nothing but good things about Ivan. Met him at S.C.I., H.H.K.'s booth, very personable.

He is PH John Hulme's brother-in-law. John hunts the Save Valley and operates Zambezi Hunters.

I have hunted with Ivan Carter for both Cape Buffalo and Leopard. I actually spent 4 weeks with him in Sept of 2002. He even let me shoot my leopard 3 times! You are in very good hands and I wish we all had a wife like yours! Email me privately if you wish more information and I will send you my home phone number.

This is all I know and have heard about Ivan:

I met him one time in passing thru Matetsi 1(?), when he was hunting with a Spaniard that has hunted with him for 21(?) eles previously. He remembered me 2 or three years later when we crossed path at a camp when I had no recollection of him at all. I was pretty impressed. Also he impressed me as always being "up."

He shoots a Heym 500 NE givwn to him by the same Spanish client, and it is really cool, with an elephant's head on the lever. (I forget the man's name from Spain but was really into big bores and was a nice guy).

The rumor is that he likes to stop elephant charges and the prediction is he is going to get squished someday.

He seems very experienced and would be a great PH is you like the guys that operate in overdrive all the time, though I have never hunted with him.

He had a photo safari client pulled out of their tent and et one night a few years back. So he can't be all bad

Lawndart

This is the what I pulled off of the internet. The young man that was eaten was a family friend volunteering with Ivan Carter Safaris. He took a year off after finishing high school and before starting at the University. I fail to see why you said

"That is the happiest thought I've had all week"

What does this have to do with hunting with Ivan Carter?



Ron L

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Safari Company Not to Blame Says Lion Victim�s Mother, August 8 1999

The mother of David Pleydell-Bouverie, the 19-year-old Briton killed by a group of marauding lions in Matusadona National Park last week, has exonerated the safari company, Ivan Carter Safaris, and the safari guide, Bradley Fouche, of any blame for her son�s death. "This dreadful freak accident was an act of fate that could not have been prevented, and I feel neither Brad nor the company are to blame in any way," said the victim�s mother, Victoria Pleydell-Bouverie in a statement. She said she regarded the standard of guiding in Zimbabwe as "the highest in Africa, and Ivan�s standards are higher still. I know Brad adhered to those incredibly high standards of safety, caution, and knowledge."

Victoria Pleydell-Bouverie, who visited Zimbabwe herself in May and went on safari with Ivan Carter Safaris, said she intends to visit the country again once she has recovered from the trauma of her son�s death, and when she does, "it will only be on a trip organized, run and guided by Ivan Carter Safaris." She said she had "total confidence in their skills, knowledge and concern for safety." Pleydell-Bouverie said that her son "knew as I did that Africa was not without risk but I was always entirely confident that he was in the best possible hands and feared less for his safety here than almost anywhere else."

David Pleydell-Bouverie, who was the nephew of the Earl of Radnor and son of the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, was in Zimbabwe while on an extended trip around Southern Africa. He had previously been involved in voluntary work at Tashinga Rhino program, and had moved to Matusadona to join a photographic safari just a week before the lion attack. The teenager was on a safari with safari guide Bradley Fouche and a family of four other Britons at the time of the tragedy, which occurred during the early hours of Sunday morning last week.

Following the incident, the family wrote to Fouche on 2 August expressing their gratitude to the guide for having ensured their safety. "We still cannot thank you enough that our family are still all here today. We owe this to our good fortune that you were our guide," reads the letter. In their letter the family commend the safari guide for his "tremendous personal bravery" and "clear thinking". The letter continues: "To have got all of us out of the camp so safely was a brilliant achievement and something you should be proud of for life."

In a sworn affidavit, the safari operator and owner of the safari company, Ivan Murray Carter, said: " ... I have never experienced an event like this or even close to this, and while our greatest emphasis is on the safety aspect of the safari, we believe this to be a totally freak encounter." In his testimony, Carter said that Fouche had been guiding walking safaris for various operators in the area for six years. His position, prior to joining Carter�s safari company, was head guide for Chikwenya Safari Camp. In his affidavit, the operator said: "It must be understood that in order to qualify as a walking guide in Zimbabwe, one must pass a set of exams, renowned as the most difficult guide exams in the world."

The department of national parks has launched an investigation into the tragedy, which is reported to be focusing on Fouche�s conduct during the incident.

I was under the impression that it was a photo safari client. Most photo safari types that I have met have been delusional tree hugging, fern feeler types. They are not as cost effective or as environmentally sensible as the hunters. A hunter generally drops as much money as how many photo types, three? four? five? Let's suppose it is four. So for the same amount of money on the ground in Africa four times as much jet fuel is burned going over, four times as much food is eaten, and four times as much impact to the environment occurs. Also, the animals are worth four times less per visitor.
No, it doesn't break my heart when a Sierra Clubber gets munched. As soon as I can find a can of "Eau de Elk Calf" I will surreptitiously spray it onto the back packs of every Teva sandaled nature nut that walks into the Idaho Wolf Nurseries, 'er Wilderness Areas.
Knowing now that this was a family friend I feel bad. Knowing that he was young makes me feel worse. Old crabasses like myself can die no big whup, but it is shitty when a kid has to go.
Even in the context of Will's post I have to revise my post above. That was the second happiest thought this week. The happiest is that the Fallujah terrorist body count was 1,200 instead of 1,000.
JCN