In order to celebrate our 10th anniversary and my 50th birthday, my wife Jennifer and I journeyed to South Africa to hunt a variety of species just a few weeks after the Progressive Bassmater Elite Series season concluded.
I haven’t taken many vacations over the past 20 years. I’ve always justified that by saying there’s plenty to see here in the United States. Also, I’ve spent two decades focused on bass fishing, and while I hunted around here in Texas, I didn’t necessarily have the bandwidth to expand out further. The furthest from home I’d been was Alaska, and the only times I’d been out of the country was visiting Canadian or Mexican waters by boat during tournaments.
Once we booked the trip a year and a half ago, I couldn’t think about much else. I was all-in on the process. The crew at Game 4 Africa Safaris was amazing. They thought of everything, had the best of the best equipment and put us in a position to succeed. It didn’t hurt that they’re on the ground every day from March to October. It was everything that a hunting lodge should be.
While we targeted and eventually shot a number of species — both of us had the Eastern Cape Kudu as our number one goal. They’re very wary and very big — as much as 500 to 600 pounds apiece. Here in Texas, we hunt a lot from a stand or a blind, but there we were actively pursuing them and nothing was easy. Variables including swirling winds, thick brush and other animals in the way created challenges in closing the deal. We hunted for long hours and covered lots of miles.
The shots were also longer range than we’re used to. Fortunately, we had spent some time preparing so that when the opportunities ultimately materialized, we could get the job done.
We hunted three different properties under Game 4 Africa’s control, the smallest of which was about 8,000 to 9,000 acres. They were all full of game, but that didn’t mean it was easy. When Jennifer was hunting her kudu, we probably saw 30 different bulls but couldn’t close the gap on any of them until late in the day.
The experience was made more authentic by the fact that we were eating the same animals we were hunting — with meals like steak and burgers from eland and kudu, and you haven’t lived until you’ve tried wildebeest lasagna.
In other words, we were immersed in the culture, the land and the people for the entirety of our stay. I don’t think there’s been a day in my adult lifetime when I went more than 30 minutes without thinking about fishing. That’s just how I’m wired. I’ve been so focused on my job the last 20 years that I have trouble winding down, but in Africa I was able to disconnect in a healthy way. I didn’t call anyone, text anyone or really think about anything other than the opportunities in front of me.
While I was able to separate myself from my fishing job over there, it wasn’t lost on me that bass fishing can be quite good in southern Africa. They have a lot of good lakes and some tournaments and have produced a few Bassmaster Classic contenders. One of my guide’s friends came over to the U.S. a few years back to enter some bigger events. If I go back — or rather, when I go back — I’ll try to work some fishing into the experience as well.
I’m not quite sure when my next trip to Africa will happen. I’d like for it to be an every-year occurrence, but the finances of it mean we’ll probably have to wait until 2028 or later. Even though harvesting animals through Game 4 Africa costs far less than it would cost to shoot similar exotics at home, getting there and the other associated expenses add up quickly. Even though we will have to wait a bit, I’m committed to making it happen. By the time we’d finished our first day of hunting, we were already talking about when we’d return. It was that enjoyable and that life-changing.
As a guide, I had a lot of respect for the way our guides and trackers conducted themselves, and as a sportsman, I was amazed by how different everything over there seemed. It was an eye-opening adventure and the perfect way to wind down for a bit before starting prep for the 2027 Elite season.
