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HUTCHISON FAMILY VALUES

BY DAVID HULME

Professional hunter Thierry Labat greets the Hutchison family of Atlanta, Georgia at the Humani airstrip in mid-July 2006. The Hutchisons are Bennett and Gayle, and their two sons, Ben (28) and Scott (26), and they have travelled to Zimbabwe’s lowveld to embark upon a two week buffalo/plainsgame safari with Roger Whittall Safaris. Other members of the RWS welcoming committee include PH Labat’s trusty trackers, Isaac Bangai and Mudhini Mudhini, and yours truly, the journalist.
Thierry Labat is a young hunter but experienced for his age. Through seven years of hunting professionally, he has gained something of a reputation for procuring good trophies at pace. Thierry begins living up to his reputation early the following morning – the first official hunting day. With his Cruiser brimming with Hutchisons and rifles, trusty trackers and the journalist, our PH drives us about 12 kilometres from Turgwe Camp, to a well known hunting area known as Jurus. The plan is to get the hunt off to a flyer and keep the momentum up, and there is no better area to begin than Jurus. Typically open savannah grassland, dotted about with flat-topped acacia trees and atypical to most of Humani’s bush, Jurus is home to an abundance of plainsgame and is the ideal place to kick off proceedings.
The hunt does get off to a flyer, with both Ben and Scott dispatching good wildebeest bulls and impala rams on the first morning. Scott is the first to draw blood, knocking over a wildebeest bull and impala ram in quick succession, after short stalking sessions. Ben is next, making a great shot on a wildebeest bull that doesn’t require another. One thing that the morning proves without doubt, is that these Hutchisons can shoot.

Loaded down with people and carcasses we make our way back to camp, drop off the wildebeest trophies and head out again immediately. This time we drive further afield – to broken mopani country dominated by jumbled kopjes and wending sand rivers, close to Humani’s southern boundary. This is Gumbane and it is kudu country. Midmorning becomes midday and then early afternoon as we scout about the area, looking for just about anything really, and getting a feel for the land. We disembark from the vehicle at a couple of river crossings and walk the sand, seeking out spoor and adjudging game on the ground. The plentiful fresh sign discovered is encouraging.
The day is over before it has even begun, as hunting days tend to be. We are a weary but satisfied lot as we trundle slowly through the Gumbane Hills late that afternoon. Along the way, Thierry and Bennett leave us on the roadside and disappear into some kopjes, where the eagle-eyed Mudhini (razor) has spotted a klipspringer. In time, a shot booms out, echoing off the rocks. The first day of the Hutchison safari has ended on a high note. Actually, there were high notes ringing out all day long.

The next couple of days are spent hunting buffalo. Though we strike out a couple of times, Ben and Scott add to their plainsgame tallies with a zebra stallion and waterbuck apiece.

Buffalo hunting is exhilarating and there are few places where is it more exhilarating than on Bedford Block. Bedford is pristine lowveld wilderness: a 30 000 acre section of Humani bounded on one flank by the picturesque Turgwe River. The bush is prevalently dense on Bedford, comprising constrictive riverine and tapering off to mopani woodland the further one moves from the river. Add sections of open mapari grassland and fever tree forests, and one has the ultimate in vegetative diversity. And the ultimate in hunting terrain.
It is the fourth day and we are in heavy mopani, away from the river, and we are onto a small herd of buffalo. Sixty yards onto and they have no clue. The wind is good and the follow-up has been textbook. Is there such a thing as a textbook follow-up? Is anything to do with hunting textbook? It is barely past 8 a.m. and the buffalo are resting up. Resting up at 8 a.m.? You see, there is no such thing as a hunting textbook.
Some of the buffalo are standing off in the trees cud-chewing, and others are lying down closer to us, cud-chewing as well. Thierry glues binos to face for long minutes, finally finding what he is looking for. Amongst the ten or so animals lying down, he spots two bulls, one of them a decent specimen. Scott has drawn the long straw this time and he is standing at Thierry’s shoulder, breathlessly expectant one would assume. Thierry points out the focus of his attention and the shooting sticks are up, Scott fast readied for action. And then the waiting begins. The two bulls are partially obscured by scrub and Thierry does not feel comfortable enough to give Scott the go ahead, no matter how good a rifle shot he is. Buffalo command the utmost respect and with good reason.
And so the hunters wait, and wait and wait, the fierce lowveld sun climbing higher into the heavens as one hour becomes two, and then three. And I kid you not. And do you suppose anyone is bored? For even a second? Not likely – not one second of buffalo hunting is boring. Buffalo hunting is a constant high, from lengthy tracking sessions to stealthy, drawn-out approaches and, yes, even waiting for hours on end with the sun burning your ears ruby red. Buffalo hunting is a constant high because there is always the promise of split second explosive action and heavy impact. And, in the back of every buffalo hunter’s mind is the knowledge of his adversary’s reputation.
The wind shifts eventually, and the buffalo break without warning. There is no time for Scott to even think of taking a shot, for the bull is on its feet in a thrice, wheeling around and joining its bovine buddies as they bulldoze their way through the mopani. We talk and laugh a great deal as we make our way back to the vehicle. We talk of buffalo and about the morning’s experience, about the afternoon’s gameplan and that of the following day. There is good camaraderie here and that is how it should be.

Bedford Block provides much buffalo action during the next few days, including a couple of heart-thumping close-calls. Although we hunt hard from early morning till last light, suitable opportunity fails to present itself. One afternoon, we walk a small tributary of the Turgwe and visit several pans that line its course, hoping to chance upon dagga boys wallowing in the mud. Still we luck out. Until the sixth day, that is.
We rise well before dawn, as always. Blinking sleepy eyes and slurping scalding coffee faster than usual, we head out earlier than ever. The disappointments of the last few days have done nothing but up the tempo. Those Bedford buffalo are in for a surprise today. Riding the rig are Thierry, Isaac, Mudhini, Bennett, Scott and myself, and we are a purposeful bunch. That purpose
only intensifies once we ford the Turgwe Drift and cross dagga boy tracks, on the river road, at sunrise. Spoor indicates a big group of bachelor bulls – seven or eight strong. The trail is super fresh and no time is wasted as jackets are discarded, rifles hoisted and bootlaces fastened. The air is bracing in shirtsleeves, but it is not the cold that powers our legs as we move off into the bush.
We are onto the buffalo in an hour, maybe less. There are eight bulls and we spot them as we surmount a low, rock strewn rise. The bulls are grazing and trudging about obliviously, in light mopani below. We hit the rocky deck as one, and Thierry’s ever present binos simultaneously hit his face. This is exciting stuff – the closest buffalo are no more than forty yards away and one is walking directly towards us. The terrain enables good visibility for a change, and it is only seconds before Thierry points out a bull to Scott. The two hunters are seated together on the ground, Thierry to the right and slightly in front. With shooting sticks useless, Scott uses his PH’s shoulder to rest his .375 Dakota. Lining himself up on the bull’s shoulder, Scott’s finger cradles the trigger and his thumb begins to slide the safety…..
‘Wait, wait!’ hisses Thierry.
Another bull has broken cover, a better bull. Less spread but more boss, and that is a better bull. Emphasis is shifted slightly and the .375 roars.
The obligatory ten minutes feels longer, and then the follow-up begins. Soon we are moving cautiously on a generous blood trail – Scott, Bennett and Thierry with rifles at the ready, the journalist with camera poised, and Mudhini with fleet feet itching….We see the bull and it is mortally wounded, standing beneath trees a hundred yards off. Close at hand are the rest of the dagga boy group, watching us come and looking displeased. Scott pumps another well-placed round into the bull, and then another. The other bulls move off reluctantly and Scott’s bull stands
on. Another shot. God, how phenomenally tough did you make this animal? These are well placed shots people. This guy would give Wyatt Earp a run for his money and each heavy round is tearing this beast’s vitals to shreds. Still it stands. After the fifth shot, however, even this mighty animal finds that it can no longer live, and so it sinks to its knees and dies. The shooting is not over and Scott needs to administer the coup de grace before anyone gets too close. Respect – with these animals that is what it is all about. Scott has taken a great bull with heavy Humani bosses, and needless to say we are pumped. Now it is Ben’s turn.
Ben’s turn comes the very next day and in the same area, but his bull is taken from a herd. Ben’s bull comes after a two hour tracking session and one of those long waiting sessions – waiting for the bull to move and present itself better. After about two hours, frustration pushes the envelope and Thierry and Ben crawl in closer, rifles held off the ground and posteriors held aloft, in true commando style. The new position is not much better, but Thierry is now most confident with the shooting ability of the Hutchison brothers and he asks Ben if he can make the shot. ‘Sniper’ Ben does not hesitate and he makes the second best shot of the hunt, with the bull lying down and facing away. The bull is up and off with the rest of the herd and Ben hits it once more on the run. Minutes later we hear the distinctive death bellow and we know that the bull is dead. But there are no handshakes just yet. First the respect – cautious approach and insurance shot. And then there is a lot of noise in the tiny clearing where the bull fell.

Ben makes the best shot of the hunt a couple of days after making the second best shot, when he shoots a sprinting warthog at extreme range on the Juru’s plain. It truly is an unbelievable shot. Ask me, I was there. The marksmanship on this hunt has been quite brilliant.

The first week has passed, and with the big stuff out of the way the focus reverts to plainsgame. Each day the scorecard is added to as we track down and account for trophies wanted. By the time the hunt draws to a close, the tally is impressive: buffalo x 2, klipspringer x 1, impala x 2, zebra x 2, wildebeeste x 2, kudu x 2, bushbuck x 2, duiker x 2, waterbuck x 3, warthog x 2, nyala, eland…….

The penultimate day of the Hutchison hunt is the highlight, of that there is no doubt. It is a story on its very own and that story has been written, fear not. I shall just briefly summarize events here. Ben takes a bushbuck at 6 a.m. and Scott takes a nyala at 9 a.m., then Ben takes a kudu bull at midday and Scott places a very sweet cherry on proceedings with an eland bull at sunset. What better way to round off a highly successful hunting safari than with a spiral horned grand slam on the second last day? I don’t believe this has ever happened before. Can anyone prove otherwise? One thing I don’t need to ask is whether it has been done by two brothers – I have no doubt that it hasn’t. All Zimbabwe’s spiral horned antelope in the course of one day – an achievement that will certainly be difficult to match.

The Hutchison family safari has come to an end and we drive that fine family back to the Humani airstrip, for their flight to Harare and ultimately Atlanta, Georgia. Although the hunt has been a huge success in terms of results, its greatest success has been the friendships formed. These are wonderful people and very worthy hunters who, though they came to Humani with high aspirations, never brought the slightest pressure to bear on anyone. The Hutchison family arrived without pressure, only pleasure, and that is probably the reason for the outstanding success of their hunt. And, speaking on behalf of all at Roger Whittall Safaris and Humani, it has been nothing but an absolute pleasure. Thank you Bennett, Gayle, Ben and Scott, for a most enjoyable hunting experience, I know that we shall hunt together again someday. I hope that day comes about soon.