Mention the name Johan Calitz in safari circles and one image immediately springs to mind— elephants. Rightfully so, of course, as Johan is recognized as one of the most accomplished elephant hunters alive today. How many trophy tuskers to which he and his team have guided visiting hunters is a bit of a mystery, but suffice it to say, it’s many. In 2013 alone, the last year before the Botswana government temporarily closed hunting, they took 122. So I was brimming with anticipation and enthusiasm when Johan invited AHG publisher Richard Lendrum and me to visit his northern Botswana hunting camp.
We wouldn’t be hunting elephant, mind you, as the season had closed before we arrived in mid-October. Our objective was to learn about elephants and the challenges the elephant hunting
