An Old PH Meets the Future
HALF A LIFETIME ago, a single sheet of paper changed my life. In my hands I held a certificate from the Department of Nat Conservatiion hat proclaimed me to be what I had alw ys wanted to b a professional hunter.
Earning this honour had not come easily. Although I con-side ed myself an e experrienced hunter, my first step towards bec ng a PH wa to serve a one-year apprenticeship with a safari company – this being East Cape and Karoo Safaris owned and run by outfitter Lud DeBruijn. As an appie, I learned more about hunting and wildlife than I had during my lifetime. This was because for the first time, I was hunting animals such as impala, gemsbuck, black wildebeest, red hartebeest, lechwe and waterbuck. I also learned the correct manner in which a professional hunter should conduct himself, and discovered that a PH should also be a firearms expert, a motor mechanic, handyman, head waiter, barman and psychologist, as
