Bishopstone Safaris, Anyone have experience with them?
I am looking at a buffalo hunt with them and would appreciate any information.

My first hunt to Africa in 2004 wss with Bishopstone. It was a package plains game hunt. I did not realize it at the time but, the area we were hunting was about 30,000 or so acres of high fence and then another 20,000 acres adjacent to thant.. I did not have a real problem with that in that the grass was very high, and the game was very difficult to find. I took a nice blue wildebeast, eland, steenbuck, two zebra, an so so impala, a civit and a kudu. I had a traditional tented camp.bath, etc. and the food was truly outstanding, much better than my most recent trip to Zambia. My PH was a young man by the name of Terry Anders. I have not heard from him in some time. The hunting ooperation was run by Rodie Tourle and his wife Sharon. I hear from Rodie from time to time. I do not know where their buffalo hunting takes place. When I was there they had a few buffalo on the property but were not hunting them at that time.

If I can be of further help or you would like to speak direcly to me, send me a PM with you phone number and I will give you a call.

H Kittle

I just came back from a hunt at the Bishopstone Ranch. I booked the hunt through Adventures Unlimited, John Barth + Merrona Warner.I hunted with Georgia Safaris the PH was John Hunt it was a plains game hunt. My brother in law and another hunter one Joe Van Handle were with me. Joe hunted buffalo + leopard the ranch has a fenced area of 40,000 acres also lots of open unfenced land, they have campfire lands too. While hunting I went into the fence every day helping to check leopard baits and it took about five days before I saw the buffalo. The area inside the fence was thick brush and sections along the rivers was very thick and lots of tall trees very nice property. I think they said that theres over one hundred buffalo inside the fenced area. Joe hunted his buffalo in a differant area not in the fenced part a few hours drive away. I found it hard hunting in the fenced area because of thick brush and the animals were very skittish but lots of game seen. The ranch is infested with bushbuck and eland my brother in law shot a 17.5 inch bushbuck and I had a chance at a legitamite 18 incher hunting with the ranch PH Rodon but blew it. All the game taken on the trip was almost all from the outside of the fenced area. The ranch has two hunting camps, one modern and the other a tent camp. The ranch hosts are great Art + Janet were top noch and I felt like I was hunting with old friends the ranch owner Brenden Park did a couple of big favors for me that I will never forget. If you get the chance to hunt there you will have a great time.

Dr.C,

You have a private message.

Rodie Tourle is one of the best and In addition to Bishopstone hunts the campfire areas of the same name. He also hunts the area along the river from Kruger for ele. and buffalo. I would love to do that hunt with Rodie. He also offers hunts in New Zealand and maybe Oz. Enjoy.

I hunted Bishopstone in 2003 before they developed the tented camp. At the time, Rodie and Sharon were in residence as camp manager and PH. I had a great time.

Facilities, organizaton and equipment were all in good order. Owner Brendon Park was very accomodating and allowed some cull animals at no cost.

I shot a monster bushbuck, a true 18" buck, a very good eland, and some other very nice PG.

Bishopstone has a booth at SCI each year. If you're going, stop by and visit. Good people.

The owner of BISHOPSTONE Brendon Park has a pretty poor reputation when it comes to integrity and honesty...i would not hunt with him ...go at your own risk
Daniel

Daniel,
Sorry, but I have to strongly disagree with you, and I wonder what you base your opinion on......I would like to hear it.

I hunted at Bishopstone in August for 15 days and I have nothing but great things to say about the whole experience. Brendan visited our camp almost nightly, and he was an absolute pleasure to be with. One of his Leopard clients MISSED! a huge Tom and took it really badly. Brendon felt really sorry for poor guy, so he let him shoot a $900 Giraffe for free.

On the same trip, my brother-in-law came down with a severe allergic reaction to something, which appeared to be life threatening, so on a sunday morning, Brendan personally drove us from camp, across the border...how he did it I don't know...what a mess!! to a clinic in South Africa where Anthony recieved the medical treatment which probably saved his life. To top it all off, Brendan paid for Anthony's doctors visit along with the medicine he needed....it couldn't have been cheap! Brendan REFUSED to accept money from us. Also,keep in mind we traveled 2 hours each way and got a nice lunch out of him too!

Daniel, you made a pretty general negative statement about Brendon, which from my experience is hard to believe.

I can't wait to hunt with Brendon again.

WOLFGAR
Your more than welcome to disagree with me , and i guess your comments are based on your own experience with Brendon, which they should be
My comments are based what i heard first hand from my PH , and the letters i read from clients which had been through his camp....he refused to pay my PH for thirty days of work because he did not agree with brendon to lie to his hunters RE pre baiting for leopards ...i just wish i could have had a copy of the letters i read from the two American clients which went through his camp......in fact if you really want i will try to get the names of the two American hunters who hunted there and you can talk to them first hand , and get it straight from the horses mounth so to speak
i have no bones to pick in this i just hate blatent dishonesty.....
if i could i would use the scum for leopard bait.
Feel free to post this to Brendon and see what he has to say....in his own defence ...if im wrong i will publicly opoligize
but at the same time he is going to have to answer some pretty pointed questions from two pretty high profile hunters that went through his camp which wrote a pretty damning report, which reflected more on the type of person Brendon is and thats my my concern , if he did it to one group of hunters , he will do it again to another hunter or hunters
Daniel

M98,

I will post this to Brendan to get his side of the story first hand....Your honesty is appreciated, I just cannot see him doing this.

He pre-baited his Leopard hunter prior to his arrival, and had 10 baits out when he arrived.

Lets wait for his response.

Take Care

WOLFGAR
i just wish i had a copy of the letters from the two clients but i will try to get there names
Daniel

If Brendon replies, please share his response.

Dr.C,

I will soon as I hear from him.

Hello Fellas,
I spoke to Brendon today and informed him of this post. Yes, he knew exactly who the 2 hunters and his PH were. Brendon told me that his former PH is a "male prostitute" who does all he can to wring a heavy tip out of his hunters, and obviously, he no longer works at Bishopstone. Brendon also related that he had paid this PH in full a long time ago.

Fellas, I formed my opinion of Brendon, based on my relationship with him, and the character I see in him. I cannot speak for anone else, but I fully trust him, his integrity, and I can't see him ever screwing a client.

Also, since Brendon owns the largest orange plantations in Zimbabwe and has a huge income from that, I don't think that he has to worry about making or scamming a few thousand dollars from a client.

I know Rodie well and he is absolutely a stand up guy. Rodie says Brendon is a good man and treats everyone well including the native people which explains why he still has his farm.

Good point Adrian and I totally agree.
I have also seen how some of the natives have been treated and it was refreshing to see how good Brendon is to his staff.
One day in the bush, we ran into a small group of native boys hunting birds with slingshots. There was one lone white kid in the group, and at that point I was introduced to Brendons son Vincent. It was so nice to see them all together as friends, without class or race coming into play like it does with us "adults".

Just another opinion. I hunted there in 2005 with a PH named Steven Boshof. My hunt was for Leopard on their property and the Campfire lands. My PH was (in my opinion) not experienced in hunting the "ranch cats" but had hunted the Leopards in the northern bush which are not so smart as the ranch cats. I spent nine days and only two nights in a blind. He even stated these cats are too smart to be brought to bait. I hold the operator responsible for hiring this type of PH. As to the owner he stopped by one evening making what I would call a "necessary" stop for goodwill with the hunters.

I stayed at the main property and the accomidations were very nice as it appeared the river camp (Permant temted) was on my visits there.

They tried to sell me a buffalo hunt there but one could drive up to the bufffalo (which we did on several occasions) and take some nice pictures. I said no I want to hunt them in the Omay which I did with Steven and was sucessful on the last afternoon and took a nice hard bossed 38" buffalo.

I doubt I would hunt with them again.

The managers (when I hunted there) were the Ribrenawitz (sp), the wife Debbie was the camp manager and her husband is a PH.

Just my experience.

Die Out,

When I was there in Aug. '06 the camp managers were Art and Janet and my PH was John Hunt.

Wolfgar, Die Out?

Wolgar: Didn't you recently hunt there in August '08 with John Hunt, rather than in '06?

Die Ou,
Sorry, I didn't mean "Die Out"! I read your name quickly!

Use Enough Gun,
I stand corrected! I did hunt with John Hunt at Bishopstone in 2008.....I also hunted with John in 2006 but in West Nicholson. Sorry for the mix-up.

Frank

My one and only hunt with my hunting partner was at Bishopstone in 2004. Our guides were fine gentleman Terry Anders and Wayne Bartlet and the manager at the time was Rodon and Sharon Tourle. Brendon Park was a gracious host and we lacked for nothing including great guides, fine conversation, and excellent accomadations. We took a 40" Buffalo and a 36" heavy bossed buffalo along with 13 plains game. As it was my first trip I would only add that we had no complaints and we were treated with extrordanry accomadations, fine food and all of the personell were fun to be around. A good hunt is what you make of it and in order to be able to look back upon it with a smile you must appreciate every moment, after all some of us have waited 50 years to experience Africa. Take care and best regards.

Rick L. Webb

quote:

Originally posted by Wolfgar:
Hello Fellas, Brendon told me that his former PH is a "male prostitute"

Holly shit!
That's hard core
Now tell us what you really think.

RLWC, Wanye was in the river camp and I sure wish he would have been my PH from what I gained by sharing sundowners with him. Interestingly enough his nephew was the camp manager this past Oct in the Binga area while I was hunting from the Sengwa Camp. This was Russ Brooms concession.

Hey guys, sorry for not picking up on this thread earlier, I have been hanging out on the gunsmith forum lately. I spent three weeks hunting Bishopstone with Rodie back in 2003 taking 40 or so head of game. This was an excellent safari, well ran. I hunted with Roden since I was the only person in camp most of the time but in times past I have hunted with John Hunt and Brian VanBlerk, two of Bishopstones “on call” Phi’s I also hunted with Terry and spent some time with Wayne. All good guys. Brendens brother is one of the best (all on hearsay!) leopard guys in south Zim.
I can easily see how a person could think of Brenden Park as a bit of a jerk. He is not, but he is full of energy and can switch his ideas on a dime. Too a lot of people this type of dynamic is a turn off. One day he said (we were in the second year of a drought) that he needed to preserve his Zebra since they were dying nightly from starvation (no grass). The next mourning he told me to shoot a few if I wanted since they were dying anyway. I came back with four in the truck at lunch time and he asked me why I only shot four. Told him that’s all that would fit in the truck. When he seen a 250 A.I. Round I had brought with me he asked me what I was going to do with a round like that. I just said “baboons”. He got a huge smile then had some of his workers dump several hundred pounds of oranges “bait” in the river bed just north of camp. At lunch every day I would sneak up and whack a few of the babo’s that came out to eat. One day he stopped by and said there were a bunch at the bait so I handed him my quarter bore and watched him shoot four in rapid succession from behind a dirt mound. Brenden is a very congenial man but he also has a lot of energy and is very, very set on his ideas, unless he changes his mind.
His buffalo at Bishopstone are half tame and you can drive up to them. He brought them in to start a heard that was certified hoof and mouth disease free and has the paperwork to prove it. It will take a few more generations before these critters are wild again. At the time he was hunting buff in the Chirisa area and plains game at his ranch and another just north. I got to check out the spot for the tent camp before it was erected and it is a nice spot.
The year I was there he had already had 9 cat hunters take 10 cats and he offered me the opportunity to take one if I wanted. I declined since I had already taken a cat with John Hunt and am kicking myself now for not hunting them. I did shoot a couple of bait animals just to hang in cat trees to keep them feeding but there were no hunters booked for months since it was the end of the season and we never checked any of them. I have taken several safaris between Gwanda and Beit Bridge and this area is full of leopards. When I scrounge up the cash I will go back there for another cat, either with Rodie or John.
Bishopstone has eland and bushbuck out the wazoo and great giraffe, wildebeest and zebra as well. The croc’s are small and cheetahs are non-importable to the U.S. but they are there.
If you have the inclination I would seriously suggest you ask Brenden to throw in a couple non-trophy baboons.

Big Earl: Here is the cat that I took with John Hunt at Jonsyl Farm earlier this year in July. The big tom had killed a female leopard early that morning and we found his tracks and drag and shot him off of her carcass later that evening.

I would definitely say so. And so did Wayne Grant, author of "Into The Thorns" when we ran into him in Victoria Falls at the end of the hunt.

Big Earl.

Rodie and Sharon have now moved to New Zealand. Not sure if or when he will be returning to Zim as a ph.

He is great guy.

H Kittle

Use enough gun,
That is one fine cat!!! WOW!!! Thanks for sharing. I need to get back to Zim something bad. It will be either with John or Rodie and it will include a cat. Here is my leopard from way back in 1997, taken with John Hunt and Brian VanBlerk. I’m big so the cat looks rather small but he went 7 foot and John had my ugly mug on the cover of some of his brochures for a number of years with this cat.

quote:

Originally posted by Die Ou Jagter:
RLWC, Wanye was in the river camp and I sure wish he would have been my PH from what I gained by sharing sundowners with him. Interestingly enough his nephew was the camp manager this past Oct in the Binga area while I was hunting from the Sengwa Camp. This was Russ Brooms concession.

Die Ou Jagter:

Glad you were able to meet Wayne besides being a great PH he can also handle his Scotch. After killing my buffalo we returned to camp and consumed nearly a bottle of 18 year old McCallum. We paid dearly the next day while observing my hunting partner take his buffalo. Take care and best wishes for the New Year.

RLWC

Big Earl: Great cat! Ok, now I know where I've seen that pretty face (the cat's) I've seen that familiar pose in John's album at his home in Bulawayo. By the way, that cat of mine weighed 170 pounds, had a 17 2/16 inch skull, was an honest 8 feet long, and had a 23 inch neck. John is good on cats. I will be seeing him in about three weeks. Are you going to the SCI convention?

quote:

Big Earl: Here is the cat that I took with John Hunt

John Hunt? Georgia Safaris? I took my wife and four sons to hunt with him in early 2001. If it is the same John Hunt, I am glad to hear he is still in the business. He was an Olympic quality shooter for Rhodesia I was told. He had an FN-FAL that he could drive tacks with. Great person!

H Kiddle: Shame Rodie moved to New Zeland. He had been there twice before and mentioned it was a great family place, possible Sharon has one in the oven?
Kudu56: Yes, from what I know John is still in business. I hunted with him last in 1997 but have shared a couple of camps with him since. Sent him two letters that he didn’t respond to but I might have had the addy wrong.
Use enough gun: never weighed my cat or took any measurements except length and it was a fluke that we had a tape measure with us at the time. We stopped in Gwanda and celebrated at a local bar quite a bit and by the time we woke the next mourning for pictures the cat was half skinned! We draped the hide over the carcass for a few pictures but could only take them from one side with the cat lying down. I took a mountain lion that I did weight and it went 143 pounds and looked about the same size. Mine was nice but yours is HUGE! Mine was the first cat Brian VanBlerk took as a P.H. and from what I hear he has become one of the best. There is a lot of great guys running around in South Zim, one of the reasons I want to go back.
Typical Bishopstone pig:

John Hunt, Georgia Safaris it is. I didn't know about John's Olympic qualfiying status, but I did know about his FN-FAL. Here's another picture of John, me and the Leopard:

Yup that's him! I took a leopard with him also. Thank you for replying!

BIG EARL
Rodie is in New ZEALAND he was my ph for a few days before Wayne took over in july when i was there, i some how doubt that he will be going back to Zimbabwae with the continuing downward spiral with the economy and quality of trophy animals
Daniel

Hey Fellas,
It was great hearing your comments regarding Bishopstone, John, and Rhodie.
I am personal friends with all of them, and also one of their booking agents. I am with Adventure Unlimited.
Earl, you are right about Rhodie. He moved his family to NZ due to the situation in Zimbabwe, but he might still hunt for Brendon if things work out. John Hunt is doing well and will be doing some hunts this year at Bishopstone....I already booked him a Leopard and plainsgame hunt for August 09. This client, a great guy with an awesome attitude, missed a huge tom last year at Bishopstone.

Use Enough Gun,
Your cat is beautiful, and I saw all of John's pictures of it past august. He also told me the whole story, and what an experience you had! I saw your cat's huge tracks in 2006, but John could not get him on bait for me.

Anyway, John will be at the Adventure Unlimited booth in Dallas and Reno if anyone can come by and saw hello. I'll be in Reno only.

Take Care!

Frank

Hey Big Earl,
Forgot to tell you that your cat looks alot like mine...which property did you take him from? Mine was from Tamba and he was also about 140lbs.

Frank

Top TOM UEG...and what an experience. Never heard of them be cannabilistic, but it does not surprise me. I have found them to kill anything they fancy, and ussualy eat their fill from that kill.

Frank: I'll be in Reno. John and Debbie are supposed to spend a day or two with us in Vegas before going up to Reno. Karol(my better half) will be spending some time with you at the booth on Saturday as I have to spend the first half of the day in a legal CLE and then a luncheon with Justice Anton Scalia. She's a great salesperson! I'll catch you on Thursday and Friday for sure. Charl: I had never heard of them being cannibalistic either, and neither had John or Wayne Grant("Into The Thorns"). I figured that it was definitely a once in a lifetime cat and once in a lifetime story for sure.