quote:

Originally posted by Adam Clements:
Guys, why do you continue to want to put your nose into a situation where you are actually doing more harm than good with this whole situation? It is very disturbing to see how the hunting community is always fighting and always looking to turn things into a bigger negative. AR has turned into a more negative place than what I remember it ever being, and it appears that certain posters thrive on drama and misfortune of others. If I was a non-hunter or bystander, I would think that the hunting community is not only a soap box, but a bunch of people who rarely stand together. It seems to me that with this continued approach, being so judgmental and quick to jump into others business, that you will self destruct. I don’t see the anti-hunters arguing amongst themselves or looking for ways to destruct one of their own! The more you continue to do what you are doing on this site, the more you are going to endanger the hunting community.

Yes, every outfitter, agent, and hunter has, or will have, a problem or make a mistake in one way or the other. That is life in any business. It is NOT up to you to judge those involved, and push for dirty laundry to be shared on the internet for simple enjoyment. It would be more respectful to listen to any problem and let the parties involved work out a solution. Then, after a solution is made, you can make your own assumptions and agree or disagree. To continue to make already bad situations into a worse situation, is not the way we should be if we are on the same team! You may not like me for one reason or another and that is fine, and I respect your decision to not like me, but a wise man is one who listens. For some of you, you have no time for listening because your mouth is always open. I do appreciate all of the publicity and never knew that my name would cause such attention.

I am not placing blame on Richard for this situation, and as I stated previously, I feel terrible for how the safari turned out for him. I am also not hiding as some of you accuse, I simply do not think the internet is a place to discuss things about clients, nor do I think it is the place to sort my business with clients, be it good or bad situations. Unfortunately, I have been forced to do so now. I also see that Richard is continuing to play to the public attention and keep making statements that are not true. Some of you, including Richard, are accusing me of placing the blame on Richard, which I am not. Richard is the one who decided to bring all of this and his accusations to the public. You then ask for my response and my side of the story, but when it is not what you want to hear, I become the bad guy. I was (am) simply trying to put the pieces together, pieces that I had after the safari, and I am trying to help Richard with what has happened. I simply asked Richard questions so I would know what cards I had to deal. I stated what happened, based on what I got from all parties. It is all hearsay to me, as I was not there. I have to try and take both sides of the story and then work toward a solution. I have to trust all my outfitters and PH’s anytime I book a client. For me to be able to fully help a client with any situation, I need to know the whole truth and not just bits and pieces, as in this case. I did not have the whole truth and it damaged my influence when negotiating. You can believe what you want, but I went to bat for Richard and gave everything I had. I was in his corner on this issue, which is why I ended up putting more on the table personally and actually took 100% of the blame with everything I gave and offered Richard. Maybe that is why Richard stated to me last week that he would not have a problem at all booking another hunt with me in the future!
To those of you that are my greatest fan haters, do not take such offense when some of my friends and clients say something about me or on my behalf. Again, if you don’t like me that is fine, but stay out of my business. It is very easy to attack someone behind your computer and play quarterback.

My goal is for 100% of my clients and safaris to go hassle free, unfortunately, it is just unrealistic when I have to trust others. I am thankful that the overwhelming majority of my clients have successful safaris, without misfortune! That is really why some of you don’t like me in the first place is because of my success and you are loyal to other agents or outfitters, and that is great. I am blessed with a great, loyal clientele, who support me and continue to be repeat clients every year!

Let me break down the entire situation for you, which I hope will answer some of your questions:

Why did I book Richard with Jimba safaris?
Jimba Safaris has produced good safaris for my clients in the past two years and I have enough references and e-mails from past clients stating they had good safaris with good trophies. Yes, there were a few (3 to be exact) that returned, and although shot great trophies, told me they did not like Tim. At this point I made it clear that only Wayne was to hunt my clients, or that one of my TZ PH’s was to hunt my clients, if they were not hunting in TZ hunting. This area also provided very affordable hunting and matched Richard’s budget. I gave Richard several other options to choose from like Mokore, Zambezi Hunters , but all of these outfitters were double the price for what Richard wanted. I also e-mailed Richard pictures of the area, and explained what he could expect from the area including elephant, so he would have a good idea of what to look for when there. I also gave Richard 12 references who had hunted the area with Jimba, which he said he called all of them. Therefore, I do not think I made any mistake in booking Richard on this safari. Wayne took a great 75 pound elephant for another client of mine earlier this year and took several good elephants last year.

Why did I not tell Richard about Tim?
Why would I need to tell Richard about Tim when there was no intention or thought of him hunting with Tim? I booked the hunt with Wayne and was assured Wayne would do the hunt. I never even considered or thought that Wayne would not do the hunt. I still don’t understand why Richard or Wayne never let me know before the hunt of the change? Wayne should have told me first of all and that was his big mistake, but Richard should have also checked with me as soon as he knew of the change to get my thoughts as he did with everything else. I know there are other agents here who have outfitters they use who also have certain PHs who they do not want to hunt there clients and doubt seriously they tell their clients ahead of time who they are. You have to trust the outfitter will do as promised.

After the Safari what happened?
The very first phone call I got from Richard after his safari, about a week later, he expressed that his greatest concern was to make sure his trophies were handled correctly and would be shipped. His exact comment to me was that he had a great safari and enjoyed the experience. He then said that he was not sure, but thought that maybe his elephant was on the small side. I asked him to send me pictures for me to see, which he did a day later. As stated earlier, I was furious at the elephant that I saw in the picture and immediately tried to call Wayne. When I did not get him, I sent him an e-mail, with many choice words, demanding an explanation, told him to call me asap, and expressed that he better fire Tim. I told Richard that his elephant was small, that I was very upset about it, and that I was already in the process of trying to get in touch with Wayne. More importantly, I asked him to be patient while I figured things out. He never once mentioned or asked me about any refund at all at this time and was only interested in his trophies. So, while I was waiting to hear back from Wayne, my office and myself, got to work on making sure all his trophies were at the taxidermist and being taken care of. I talked to Wayne a few days later and went over everything with him, and at that point got his side of the story. He was not happy with the elephant either and told me he did fire Tim. I asked him what he would be willing to do for Richard, as this was not a trophy elephant and he needed to consider refunding something. Richard only mentioned to me, about 2 weeks later, if maybe it would be possible to get half of the trophy fee back. I told him I was still working on this with Wayne and thought I could get a refund for him, but I needed him to be patient. I did tell him that I was dealing with another side to the story, and of course, that they were saying that if the client pulls the trigger and decides he wants the animal or not type stuff. I again assured him that I was working through it with Wayne and was still trying to come up with something for him. I also told him that I would refund my commission as well.

I then got a call from Wayne, who seemed very agitated, and he then told me about the buffalo. He told me that Richard had wounded and lost a buffalo, bribed the game scout, and that the buffalo was found dead after the hunt. He explained that this put him in a very bad position, and said that Richard was very dishonest and was not man enough to tell us of what happened. He felt that Richard wanted to make him look bad and smear his name and company instead of telling the whole story. Wayne agreed that the elephant should not have been shot and why he was thinking about working with me on some type of refund for Richard, but now that he found out about hiding the Buffalo and that Richard was not honest also disgusted him. My hands at that time were tied!

I then called Richard and asked about the buffalo, again as I have already stated all of this earlier.

What about all the questions about the money?
Very simple again! This hunt that Richard booked was a 14-day package hunt that included elephant, leopard and buffalo all included in the package. I book a lot of package hunts to Namibia, South Africa, North America etc., and ALL package hunts that are booked with a client, the entire money for the package gets sent to the outfitter before the hunt. You do not hold back trophy fees which are included in a package hunt. This was a package hunt and all money for the package hunt was sent prior to the hunt, as we do with any other outfitters we book package hunts for. The only money we had of Richard’s, after his safari was the $10,000 he had on credit for any other trophy fees, baiting and any extra expenses. Note, to Richard’s favor, one of the stipulations to his package hunt and included in his contract, I had Wayne agree to refund the trophy fees to any animals that were not taken in the package. Again, because Richard’s main concern upon his return was his trophies, my accounting office sent Wayne the trophies fees for his bushbuck, kudu, impala, bait female kudu, bait impala, day tour at Falls etc. Of course, we sent the money for the extra animals and expenses in order to make sure all bills were paid and there was no hold up on his trophies. It was after we had paid the final bill that Richard then asked me why I sent the elephant trophy fee to Wayne. I told Richard that because his trophies were the main concern, that I did not even think to ask my office NOT to send anymore money to cover the final bill as we were doing our job to ensure that his trophies were handled and completed correctly. He then turns it around and accuses me of saying I forgot to tell my office not to send the ele trophy fee. That is not true at all and a perfect example of Richard trying to misquote me and make me look bad. To make it clear, after Richard’s hunt not only did I not send any trophy fee money specifically for the elephant, I likewise did not send a dime for the excellent leopard he killed. That money was in Wayne’s hands before the hunt started as any package hunt would work.

Richard keeps claiming that I am not taking blame for anything, which again is not true! If you look at everything I have managed to do and return to Richard, despite all of the lies and accusations, you see that I have stepped up to the plate. I have given Richard back half the trophy fee in cash, as well as the other half in the form of $5,000 credit for a hunt in TZ if so wishes. If you guys don’t see or get that I have taken most of the brunt of everything myself, for events that happened without my knowledge, then I don’t know what else to say.

Now, I see that Richard has again tried to twist my words around to make me look bad stating I told him that Wayne offered different tusks. Richard again has twisted this. I told Richard in a phone conversation that I had talked to Wayne and Wayne was not happy that Richard had not responded to Wayne’s e-mail or phone message, so he could talk in person and see what the two of them could work out. Wayne made a wise crack to me on the phone, saying that if Richard does not want to talk to him about the situation, “What does Richard want me to do? Give him different tusks? I Can’t do that, so tell him to respond to my phone message and let me talk to him in person.” Richard only took one portion of Wayne’s comment to make it look worse, but it was a wise crack from Wayne and nothing more. Wayne has wanted to talk to Richard in person now.

Richard stated that he knew it was bull elephant, and now you are questioning if it is female or not? Why have you not questioned all of his other incorrect statements and accusations? If you guys are as smart as you say you would clearly see all of the different statements Richard has made sometime contradicting himself and realize there is a credibility issue. Yet I still act civil and still continue to take the heat, personal attacks and still willing to help Richard!

I do find it interesting that Richard gets majority of his money back for the ele and then claims to you all that he is not interested in the trophy yet he is selling some of its skin and again not telling you all of the details. Now after the comments on the ele he shoots off another quick e-mail today in a panic to the taxidermists and us asking if the elephant is legal or if it was a cow and if so he does not want it! I thought he clearly stated in one of his posts before he shot it that he “knew it was a bull.” Now he claims he does not know. Does he know anything really except how to question his own ethics and how to try to put all the blame on me for things I never knew about? Yup, I am the bad guy for trying to work through and sort out the clients mess!

I have answered all of the main questions that I am being accused of. I am sure that my “fans” will continue to chalk everything up as me not doing my job and turning things around on the client. If you want to go to the internet and start smearing and making accusations, then expect for all the truth to come out, and when it turns on the client, then I am the bad one. I have done everything I can and have stepped up to the table with Richard even after his personal attacks on me. Even as of today, we are still working with Richard on his trophies and he likes to be nice when he wants something and then turns around and personally attacks me and my company on the internet.

Richard was not to blame for the elephant and 100% the fault of the PH, which we all agree on! The PH has been fired according to Wayne. But, in his pursuit of public approval he has turned a bad situation into a worse situation for all involved including a bruise on Zimbabwe.

I really wish I could post all of the credibility issues and statements that Richard has clearly put on AR and between this post and his hunting report, there are many statements to prove that Richard is simply making up some of his stories to make him look good when in fact they actually question his credibility and personal ethics! It is very clear now with some of his latest statements that he has turned even his own posting into sleezy name calling and offers of charity. This is the kind of guy that all of you believe word for word?

There are no winners here as the cheering crowd has forced this into an internet frenzy. Sorry to disappoint some of you, but I have not lawyered up, and have not paid for any legal help as there is no reason to! I have not done anything illegal, nor have I not conducted my business professionally. I believe it is Richard stating how he has done so much illegal stuff and then acting like he is clueless of basic ethics and attemps to blame me for his lost principles. Those of you who attack my friend and client DawnRoar for not buying into this fiasco, just shows that you only want to see a one way street and don’t like it when someone questions things on here. Name calling really proves your intentions and your lack or common sense.

Again, I thank you all for the publicity as most people on the sidelines can see through all of this and see that I did step up to the plate and did help Richard out. Many e-mails from people who can’t believe the children’s play on AR and some of you make AR look worse than what you try to me make me look. So, great job to all of you for showing how the hunting community loves to attack each other.

quote:

I could tell it was a bull

quote:

Originally posted by Adam Clements:
November 11th 2011 from your hunting report.

quote:

I could tell it was a bull

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
505 Gibbs

You cannot position an ele for pics!

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
All Gone

An interesting post to say the least. I am not going to go into the whole debacle on the buff/agent/money back etc but what I can say is, the ele apart, you had a very good hunt.

Your leopard is a monster, great bushbuck impala and I personaly like your old Kudu and for better or for worse you had an oppertunity on a buff.

The elephant on the other hand is a shame. What only 1 other person has asked needs to be cleared- are you sure that it is a bull. I do not bring this point up to "heap more wood on the fire" as such but from what I see from the pictures I would say that that is a cow and if that is the case you will never get that ivory as as and when it get gets officialy weighed Parks will clearly see that it is not a bull.

To clarify that point a little-it is harder to say by a picture whether the ivory is cow or a small bull but when you have the tusks infront of you you will clearly see as in a bull, and in particular a very small bull the section of the tusk that is inside the scull has a much wider circumference then the exposed part of the tusk and there is a large amount of tappering right to the end.

From the pictures of the ivory when it has been drawn it looks like it has no tappering and is uniform from start to end=cow tusks.

Unfortunately the way your ele died you would not have been able to see between its legs- did you see it when it was been recovered or were you not present?

quote:

They could have positioned this one easily enough

quote:

If I was a non-hunter or bystander, I would think that the hunting community is not only a soap box, but a bunch of people who rarely stand together.

quote:

I don’t see the anti-hunters arguing amongst themselves or looking for ways to destruct one of their own!

quote:

The more you continue to do what you are doing on this site, the more you are going to endanger the hunting community.

quote:

Originally posted by drummondlindsey:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I have given up on listening to people talking about "ethics" on the Internet.

I had a first hand experience with an individual who sounded like the most ethical person one cold wish for.

In the field, though, he was the most UNETHICAL idiot I had the misfortune to ever meet!

Mike Tyson said everybody had a plan until they got punched in the mouth. I think it pertains to hunting as well. A lot of guys are "ethical" hunters until a trophy steps out. I've seen big antlers make grown men stupid in a matter of seconds

quote:

Originally posted by 375 fanatic:
how do you hunt sititunga with out a boat?

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:

BTW ... is there a draft contract that someone would share on AR?

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:

quote:

Originally posted by 375 fanatic:
how do you hunt sititunga with out a boat?

From a machan!!! Boat not required

quote:

Originally posted by JCHB:
I agree with those commentators who see the whole thing as a train wreck with both sides not looking pretty. I just can't get it out of my head that the hunt was booked (and paid) as a trophy bull elephant hunt and the professional hunter (professional by definition) was being paid to guide his client to such a trophy. The clients responsibility was to (when instructed to do so) shoot the animal so that it succumbed as swiftly as possible. Mr Clements, in business not everything is always fair and this is a classic case where it would have been better to settle up front with your client and fight the battle with your untrustworthy outfitter later. Why complicate it with discounts off another hunt,etc? Just refund the man. I can't see you wanting to share a camp fire with All Gone at any point in the future, and nor he with you.
Also, it does you no benefit to make snide comments about the "internet mob" as on any other day you rely on the interest of the AR membership to react to the hunts offered by your business. You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds!
JCHB

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Huffaker:

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:

quote:

Originally posted by 375 fanatic:
how do you hunt sititunga with out a boat?

From a machan!!! Boat not required

With Richard Bellcross!

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Saeed has summed it up well, and has been quoted and elaborated on well by members here.

I just want to vent some spleen.

Re: Wayne Dietrechsen & Tim Lamprecht of Jimba Safaris

Tim L. ("L" is for "Loser") has serious psychiatric issues and criminal acts galore, judging only by what is reported here, and not denied by multiple parties on either side of this fiasco.
Tim L. is not qualified to be a PH, nor even to carry a loaded firearm, for his own safety as well as the safety of the innocent.
Hopefully ZPHA takes care of this soon.

Wayne D.: "D" for ... dishonorable, delinquent, dereliction of duty, dumbass?
This entire fiasco started with Wayne D.'s failures, if we are to believe Adam C.'s recounting here.

Understandable that Wayne and Tim cohabit in their den of theivery and dishonesty, but why would Adam C. have any dealings with them, infamous as they are?

Richard, AG, if Adam C. sent you more than 9K USD refund of your payments to him, that is probably the end of it.
Good luck with getting anymore satisfaction out of this FIASCO.
Don't let punks and criminals corrupt you any further.
Move on.

Ron The Unforgiven

quote:

Originally posted by All Gone:
I absalutly did send an e-mail to the taxidermy co. today asking them not to send the tusks because what i am hearing from people who know that it is indeed a female.

quote:

Originally posted by All Gone:
I couldn't see it's nut sack....