Hello Everyone,

My name is Jonathan. I am a 28 year old young man from the Los Angeles area in Southern California, USA and I have been on the path to becoming an apprentice PH for several months now.

I just recently connected up with a PH at the SCI Reno convention they agreed to take me on as an apprentice at his base camp in Natal, South Africa. I am flying out May 9th to begin this great journey and experience.

I have been to Africa once before (Namibia for a plains game safari with Jaco Van Der Merwe previously of African Twilight Safaris & Cape Town for touring in SA) and I absolutely fell in love. And reading several Capstick and Robert Ruark books certainly didn't help! Haha!

Something that was a huge help in all of this was reading Steve Robinson's "How to Become a Professional Hunter in Africa" . He broke down so many of the details of what being a PH in Africa is all about, and I couldn't find this level of detail anywhere else. This book helped to prepare me mentally for what I was attempting to get myself into. Many, many thanks to Steve Robinson for taking the time to write this great book.

The purpose of this post is for two reasons. One, I wanted to FINALLY introduce myself on these awesome forums and the awesome community of people within them. Up until now I have only been a reader, not a member. And two, I wanted to humbly present my website so that I could share my story with you all. I haven't had it for very long but I am doing my best to keep good content flowing within it regularly. More importantly I am hoping to have a constant flow of great videos, pictures and written content that tells my story while I am out in Africa starting my new life. I am bringing several cameras including a GoPro Hero 3, that hopefully will be mounted over my shoulder for much of my hunts/walks. (this is of course going to be up to my PH and particular client if they are ok with me recording)

I will be working under Izak Kirsten with Wow Africa for a scheduled 4 months (May - September 2013). I am hoping that I can extend my stay out there one way or another but we shall see what happens. I do love the outdoors and just about anything with firearms but I am smart enough to realize that this is a HUGE change in lifestyle for me and that there is a chance I will not like it or worse, maybe I will not be good enough. I don't focus on the negatives but just acknowledge that they are there, and one way or another I am going to do my very best out there.

I hope to bring my friends, family and anyone else who is interested an unadulterated "documentary" or account of my experiences on this great journey.

If you are interested in hearing more details about this please join me on my website (I hope it is ok to post it here) at: www.JonnyAfrica.com

I look forward to continuing to be a part of this great forum and community.
Thank you all.

Cheers!

-The Jonny

I hope it works out for you. Good luck and congratulations of having the balls to try it in the first place.

I'd like a cold beer please and could you pass the ground nuts?

quote:

Originally posted by GunsCore:
I hope it works out for you. Good luck and congratulations of having the balls to try it in the first place.

You know what the queen said about balls?

"If I had them I'd be king."

Best of luck. It's hard work - stick with it.

I read your blogs on your website and you are a quite good writer. Especially noteworthy are your thoughts on the clean African air...I have noticed that myself.

good luck Jonny

Best of luck to you. Wish I was younger and not tied down and that would also be attractive to me.

Best of luck to you. I sometimes wish I had taken this course in life but I have no regrets. Hang in there when the going gets tough. Nothing worthwhile is easy, but I'm sure you already know that by now.

Good luck, choose your shoes wisely, and they will be your friend.

Good luck, Johnny. I did a yr apprenticeship there in Limpopo back when I was 22 & fresh out of school. This was in 2000 and 2001.
Also did 9 months in New Zealand immediately thereafter.
I wouldn't trade those 2 yrs for anything.

Jonny

Good luck & have fun.

I know from your attitude & website that you have the ability to succeed in your ambition!

Jonny.

Good for you in your commitment to a dream.

How many of us here on AR did not know of the opportunities that Africa and other destinations of adventure offered so many years ago.

Communications technology and excellent reading such as Steve's great resource book were not available years ago and many of us had no idea as to how to pursue the venture. And the dream was too far and seemed unobtainable. Not so now.

There a lot of good people out there and Jason Morton is one of them.
I would say commitment and never lose sight of your dream....

Churchill :
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

What a wonderful opportunity for you to what we did not do.. you are cheered on by those of us who will experience vicariously your experience.

Keep us posted and keep your own daily log.

Best of life.

Jonny, you will be faced with many obstacles and challenges, have helped a few on this path, eventually always found a way around, good luck and most importntly have a blast!

You go for it young man. One thing is for sure, it sure beats sitting in an office!!

to any naysayer- look at how well Peter Capstick did( and please don't jump down my throat, you Capstick haters!!!!). good luck, mate- and no matter what happens, you are in for the ride of your life.

Hi Johnny
Good luck there and I hope we cross paths some time soon.
I am also based in KZN. Which area will you be in and who are you doing your apprenticeship through.

If you need to blood that 458 of yours then come on down to Kokstad and lets kill some pigs over my hounds.

Good luck, Ian

I cannot thank you all enough for all your kind and encouraging words! Some of the comments had me laughing too! It all only helps to inspire me even more
Who knows, maybe some of us will get to go on a hunt together sometime out there. That would be pretty cool!

Just a quick update:

I went down to customs at LAX today to get my 4457 for my rifles for the trip. Everything went very smoothly other than the line. I actually saw another guy there with a big tall case that looked like it was for 2 firearms as well. So I took a chance and walked over and asked him if he was there for a 4457 also. Sure enough he was. Apparently he was a big-time wing shooter and liked to go down to Argentina often. Nice guy, and the conversation helped to pass the time.

After all that pretty much I'm just packing my arse off haha! Everything is coming down to the wire but I think I will be ready for my flight this Thursday.

If you would like to keep up with me please frequent my website. I will do my best out there to keep it up to date and interesting. Really a part of me feels like I am doing this for all those who cannot or could not. So here's to you all as well!

Cheers!

-The Jonny

www.JonnyAfrica.com

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting the Box H:
Hi Johnny
Good luck there and I hope we cross paths some time soon.
I am also based in KZN. Which area will you be in and who are you doing your apprenticeship through.

If you need to blood that 458 of yours then come on down to Kokstad and lets kill some pigs over my hounds.

Good luck, Ian

Hey Ian!

That's awesome that you are in that area too. Being that I have only been to Africa once before, I'm running a lil short in the friends department over there so it would be nice to start making some new ones for sure! Doing some pig hunting out there sounds fun.

I am a bit below Swaziland on the map and about 50 miles inland from the coast. I have to look up which city that is again but it is with Izak Kirsten of Wow Africa. www.WowAfrica.com

Do you know him?

-The Jonny

Jonny

If you're just below Swaziland and 50 miles from the sea I'd guess you won't be too far from the town of Pongola?

Jonny,
I have some very bad news for you....Africa is the biggest addiction you can imagine.

Enjoy every moment of it, you have the right attitude

Johnny, you are about 7 hours from me but in SA terms that is not all that far.

We will make a plan to catch up when I hunt up Northern KZN way again. As Steve mentioned Pongola is not far from you and I hunt up that way quite often.

Should be running a Buffalo hunt there late in the season, you can get some DG time under your belt if you come along.

PM me with your local cell number once you get here and lets keep in touch.
My cell is 083 414 2446 or email me on hunt@bushpighunt.co.za

Have you started polishing that CZ bolt yet? You need to spend some time on it getting it slick.
I suggest you pick up a few packs of North Fork 450 GR solids before you come too. Some hornady cases wont be a bad idea either.

If you cant get the North Forks I suggest we arrange some GS customs for you when you get here.

Good advice and a couple of VERY kind offers from Ian there.

Which just goes to prove the current generation of PHs has some really great guys amongst 'em!

And also wise words from Jaco.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting the Box H:
Johnny, you are about 7 hours from me but in SA terms that is not all that far.

We will make a plan to catch up when I hunt up Northern KZN way again. As Steve mentioned Pongola is not far from you and I hunt up that way quite often.

Should be running a Buffalo hunt there late in the season, you can get some DG time under your belt if you come along.

PM me with your local cell number once you get here and lets keep in touch.
My cell is 083 414 2446 or email me on hunt@bushpighunt.co.za

Have you started polishing that CZ bolt yet? You need to spend some time on it getting it slick.
I suggest you pick up a few packs of North Fork 450 GR solids before you come too. Some hornady cases wont be a bad idea either.

If you cant get the North Forks I suggest we arrange some GS customs for you when you get here.

Thanks Ian! That all sounds great! We'll see if we can make it happen for sure.

Ok, I will attempt to send you my information once I am there, but I am not certain I will have a cell phone out there. I'll talk to my PH about getting one. You might just have to use whatever number is for the hunting camp or maybe I can borrow my PH's cell for a minute here and there.

I am planning on bringing 30-40 rounds of loaded 458 Lott with 450 grain Barnes TSX bullets. All depends on how much I can squeeze into the 11 lb limitation. I also have to save some weight for my 300 Win Mag ammo.

I have only had the CZ for about four days so no I haven't had time other than to put 7 rounds through it last Saturday. I can bring some extra empty Hornady brass casings if you think I should as well but someone would have to let me use their loading equipment.

Best way to reach me until I know for sure about a phone in SA will be through my website email:

TheJonny@JonnyAfrica.com

Thank You!

-The Jonny

www.JonnyAfrica.com

quote:

Originally posted by Jaco Human:
Jonny,
I have some very bad news for you....Africa is the biggest addiction you can imagine.

Enjoy every moment of it, you have the right attitude

Hahaha! I actually gulped when I first started reading your post! LOL!

Yes, I am learning very quickly how much my soul yearns for the great outdoors and simple living that Africa has to offer. It's pretty awesome out there

Congrats on making the big leap!!

I'm looking forward to following along on your website!

Do yourself a favour and ask Izak what network coverage he has in his area. i.e does he use Vodacom or MTN.
Then when you get to the airport get a R100 throw away phone and a sim card and load R200 in airtime on it. That way you are able to at least get hold of people if you get in trouble and can receive calls as often as you like from friends and family etc.

Have you got an international drivers license yet? If not go and do it before you get to SA, much easier than the other way round and you will be able to use the vehicles whilst being covered by their policy in case of an accident.

Depending on how long you are going to be there I would suggest you bring along a set of 458 lott dies. Your 40 cases should last a while. Then contact frontier bullets and buy 300 of their cheap jacketed lead tips to use as practice ammo.
If Izak doesnt have reloading equipment, there is bound to be someone near you that does. If you come unstuck, hop on the bus and come down my way, you can use mine and shoot till your shoulder is blue or your nose starts to bleed

Do rapid fire drills with 300gr JHP's using reduced loads to get used to cycling the rifle.

Forget about your 300, you dont need it. Load the 458 with 300gr TSX or 315 Gr GS HV and you have all the rifle you will ever need in SA. Your DG load will be for close range and should be a 450 or 500gr taht you can shoot accurately to 100 yards and rapidly at 10 yards. If you cant cycle that bold and shoot 3 aimed shots in 6 seconds then the rifle needs work or you need to get to know it.

Remember you are going to become a PH, as a PH you are not going hunting. YOu are cleaning up the mess when it happens and hopefully moving up to taking on DG with confidence. Get used to your full length action ASAP and dont use the 300 that will end up having you short stroke the lott when you dont need it to happen. Muscle memory is what saves your life when the shit happens. So carry the rifle and shoot the rifle that you want to rely on.

Good luck
Ian

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting the Box H:
Do yourself a favour and ask Izak what network coverage he has in his area. i.e does he use Vodacom or MTN.
Then when you get to the airport get a R100 throw away phone and a sim card and load R200 in airtime on it. That way you are able to at least get hold of people if you get in trouble and can receive calls as often as you like from friends and family etc.

Have you got an international drivers license yet? If not go and do it before you get to SA, much easier than the other way round and you will be able to use the vehicles whilst being covered by their policy in case of an accident.

Depending on how long you are going to be there I would suggest you bring along a set of 458 lott dies. Your 40 cases should last a while. Then contact frontier bullets and buy 300 of their cheap jacketed lead tips to use as practice ammo.
If Izak doesnt have reloading equipment, there is bound to be someone near you that does. If you come unstuck, hop on the bus and come down my way, you can use mine and shoot till your shoulder is blue or your nose starts to bleed

Do rapid fire drills with 300gr JHP's using reduced loads to get used to cycling the rifle.

Forget about your 300, you dont need it. Load the 458 with 300gr TSX or 315 Gr GS HV and you have all the rifle you will ever need in SA. Your DG load will be for close range and should be a 450 or 500gr taht you can shoot accurately to 100 yards and rapidly at 10 yards. If you cant cycle that bold and shoot 3 aimed shots in 6 seconds then the rifle needs work or you need to get to know it.

Remember you are going to become a PH, as a PH you are not going hunting. YOu are cleaning up the mess when it happens and hopefully moving up to taking on DG with confidence. Get used to your full length action ASAP and dont use the 300 that will end up having you short stroke the lott when you dont need it to happen. Muscle memory is what saves your life when the shit happens. So carry the rifle and shoot the rifle that you want to rely on.

Good luck
Ian

Awesome advice man. It's 10:20pm and I just got back from taking another load to storage. I still have so much to do and tomorrow is my only full day left so I wont be able to do everything you suggest but I'll do what I can. Thank you very much for the help!

...back to work.

-The Jonny

www.JonnyAfrica.com

Hunting the Box H:

quote:

My cell is 083 414 2446

..... unless you get a thrill in taking crank calls from friends of JLB.

quote:

unless you get a thrill in taking crank calls from friends of JLB

Who is JLB?

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting the Box H:

quote:

unless you get a thrill in taking crank calls from friends of JLB

Who is JLB?

You should rather PM such details, or you might just start receiving crank calls from rabid greenies, other assorted twats and nut jobs!!

quote:

Originally posted by Scriptus:

quote:

Originally posted by Hunting the Box H:

quote:

unless you get a thrill in taking crank calls from friends of JLB

Who is JLB?

You should rather PM such details, or you might just start receiving crank calls from rabid greenies, other assorted twats and nut jobs!!

True, but I doubt greenies would spend the money to make an international call. Oh, greenies are everywhere.

The greenies can go vlieg in their moer.
Good luck to the bastard that calls me.

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
Congrats on making the big leap!!

I'm looking forward to following along on your website!

Awesome, glad to hear that cjfoster!
I hope not to dissapoint!!!

I just landed about 5 hours ago. There was a bit of a mix-up with my arrival date but everything is working out just fine and I am staying in Pretoria for tonight. Our first clients come in one week from tomorrow so they have been telling me there is MUCH to be done before they get here. I am hoping to have a new post up on my website by tonight sometime.


Cheers everyone!

www.JonnyAfrica.com

-The Jonny

GOOD LUCK!

Good Luck!!! I'm sure it will be a blast!!

quote:

Originally posted by The Jonny:

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
Congrats on making the big leap!!

I'm looking forward to following along on your website!

Awesome, glad to hear that cjfoster!
I hope not to dissapoint!!!

I just landed about 5 hours ago. There was a bit of a mix-up with my arrival date but everything is working out just fine and I am staying in Pretoria for tonight. Our first clients come in one week from tomorrow so they have been telling me there is MUCH to be done before they get here. I am hoping to have a new post up on my website by tonight sometime.


Cheers everyone!

www.JonnyAfrica.com

-The Jonny

Where in Pretoria are you staying and till when?

Jonny...

Wishing you all the BEST!!!

Go for it!!!

I'll be checking in on your website!!!

Good Luck!

Jonny, I commend you for following your dream. You will find Africa to be the most addictive drug of your life. On my first trip I was told that the red dirt gets in your blood and draws you back. I believe it and have been there again and again.
Your Cz550 will serve you well. Good luck and safe travels.