The following is an e-mail that Bushmen Safaris received from Marvin Isles, who visited our facility from his home state of Alaska. Thank you Marvin.

I have bow hunted in South Africa before so I have a basis for making a comparison on the quality of the hunting. For my son Scott, this was his first bow hunting trip although he has toured parts of Africa in the past. This hunt came less than a week after I returned from a successful moose hunt in my home state of Alaska and in the same year that I made a bow hunting trip to Argentina in the spring.

What I can say without question is that the quality of the game that we saw on this trip was truly exceptional. I saw more big trophy animals on this trip to Bushmen Safaris than I saw on my last two bow hunting trips to Africa. Because there was plenty of game, I was able to be patient in my hunting and waited for the big trophy animals. As a result, each of the 6 animals I took will likely score in the SCI record book. The first criteria of any great hunt is having a chance at trophy animals, on this Bushmen Safaris ranks at the top.

Scott also took a couple of trophy animals, a kudu and a gemsbok. What a great experience for a first time bow hunter to Africa. Scott was able to see more good animals on this hunt than all of his previous bow hunting combined. He gained invaluable hunting experience and left Africa as a much more seasoned hunter than when he arrived. I greatly appreciate Shannon working with Scott to harvest the trophy kudu he was after.

After the quality of the game, in my view the second most important criteria to a great hunt is the people you hunt with. Scott and I had a great time hunting with the PH’s at Bushmen Safaris, Shannon Van Zyl and his father Nick. Shannon’s passion is bow hunting and there are few people that can match Nick’s vast hunting experience in Africa. We had a great time in the field with them as well as being enthralled with Nick’s hunting stories at breakfast and dinner. Shannon was very helpful in ensuring that the bows were in good shooting condition before heading out to the blind and we found him very knowledgeable about bows and bow hunting in general.

Next in importance, would be the hunting facilities. Starting with the practice range at the lodge, we found the facilities to be first rate. Each day that I hunted, I used a different blind. Every blind I hunted from, ground or elevated, was well built, roomy and comfortable. The blinds were all well planned relative to the water holes. The longest shot I took during my hunt was less than 40 yards. With the exception of one windy day in an elevated blind, the animals had no idea they were being hunted.

And finally a word about the accommodations and the food. We found the accommodations to be very comfortable and the setting of the lodge to be appropriately exotic for a safaris to Africa. The food was always very good and we enjoyed having an opportunity to taste different game at dinner during the hunt. Thanks again to Nick’s wife Lydia for the enjoyable meals.

All in all, this was the best bow hunt of my life! It is rare that everything comes out right: the availability of trophy animals, the shots that are made, the people you hunt with, the hunting facilities, the accommodations and the food. But everything did come out right, including my son getting the trophies he was after.  I wouldn’t change a thing. Having hunted in different parts of the world and having hunted with a variety of outfitters, I believe that there is no greater value than a bow hunting safari to Africa and that the best of the best is Bushmen Safaris.