The hunting gods must be smiling upon me.

After the devastating passing of Owain Lewis (to a wounded Buff) who was to be my PH in Chewore South in early August, I have just received word from Paul Smith that Chifuti has been able to contract with Al Shearing of CMS to be our PH. Seems Buzz had a late and unavoidable cancellation which made Al available and when Buzz spoke with Paul the deal was done.

I couldn't be happier. I admit I was quite worried about a replacement PH on such short notice. As everyone on AR knows, the last 6 weeks have been very tough on hunting staff in the Zambezi Valley. If I recall correctly, Al had an incident very similar to Owains back in late 2009 which resulted in a serious goring and some hospital time. Yeah, dangerous game is not a misnomer.

5 weeks to go and it's onto Emirates and off to the dark continent for another Ele & Buff. Starting to get excited now.

Alan is top notch and an outstanding person. Glad everything worked out.

Hey Mike-

Is 8/10 your first hunting day with Buzz? I'm not sure yet what camp we'll be at but perhaps we can get Buzz & Al to make a plan to meet in the field for lunch or at camp for a sundowner. I charter in on 8/5 and hunt through 8/15.

Good luck!

Hope you have a fun hunt! Haven't heard anything bad around here about Mr. Shearing. You are going to have a heck of a time.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Alan is top notch and an outstanding person. Glad everything worked out.

What he said.

I will be hutning with Alan next year for Double Tuskless with my dad and brother. Have heard great things about him.

Mike

Alan is a really nice fellow and a very good P.H.

Hunting with Alan Shearing is on my "to do" list. I have never heard anything but high praise for him.

Alan's great. He will hunt hard for you, include you as part of the team, and always be amicable and professional. Every time I think back to our hunt last November I can't help but to smile.

PS: A bottle of Jack and some nice chocolates won't hurt any!

True. Alan is an outstanding person. To hunt With him is a privilege. Good luck.

All-

Thanks for the encouraging words. Having issues with an injured foot and some optics mounting issues with my B&M rifle. But everything will work out and I'll be GTG on August 2. I am still amazed at how lucky I am with Alan as my "replacement" PH. It could have been so troublesome.

Shot a 55 pounder with Al in March. He is the real deal. Don't let anything happen to him or you will have to deal with me and no sane man wants that.