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I firstly would like to thank each and every one of you guys that had Reinhard in your prayers and that thought and supported us through this very unfortunate event. I am so grateful to have been able to help Reinhard in such a situation and I know if it was me on the ground with the lion on top of me, Reinhard would have done exactly the same for me. The dear Lord saved a life that day and he kept us all in His hands.

The story has been told on the thread and I certainly do not want to stretch it out any further but I would like to make a quick point. I have hunted many lion in my life and professional hunting career. It is my way of making a living and I am really passionate about hunting lion the ethical and correct way. That being said I want to come to the point here quickly for some of the guys that had doubt on what happened and why the lion got through to us that quickly.

From my experience with lion over the last 10 years hunting on a average 30 to 40 cats a year I have never seen a lion do what this one did! This cat never even gave me the slightest hint that he would charge us.... Usually a lion that is agitated or getting ready to fight will show some signs. Some of them show their teeth first and then growl with their tails twitching. Some will run away while growling a couple of times before charging or even attempt to charge. When lion do this you as the PH in the lead automatically know to be more careful in not coming on to the lion's too aggressively or fast and also not to enter their comfort zone or push him any harder at all.

Well let me tell you this lion did absolutely NOTHING of any sort. We bumped him where he was sleeping while tracking buffalo, he stood up looked at us for a while and then turned and walked away slowly. We were all ready and armed and I instructed everybody to be ready as I knew these lion in the area where more aggressive than the usual lion we hunt (no one knows why?) as they tended to charge trucks etc. I wanted the lion to move off before we started moving as we will then have the advantage. The cat then turned walked in behind a bush and I then just saw his tail flick a millimetre. I saw him turn through the brush and immediately shouted to everyone that he is coming!

He did not present any of us especially Reinhard and the client a clear shot as he was coming from behind some brush and trees. I only shot the lion when he was about 5 yards from me as I was a little more to the right and in front of the party as I was with the trackers when we bumped the lion. As I hit the lion square in the chest, because of my angle there was no way I could have hit the lion in the head. I knew I needed to turn the cat away from us or break the neck. My shot was a little lower than expected and the lion just stumbled a bit but carried on, my shot broke the right front leg that is why he stumbled a bit. I guess everybody else shot but unfortunately we could not get the lion down before he got on top of Reinhard. The little tree behind Reinhard saved his life in my opinion, if that tree was not there that lion would have had him on the ground and immediately broke his neck.

Well when they went to ground the lion were looking straight at me... Felt like he looked right through me with those yellow eyes and small black pupils. I knew I had to get the lion of my friend as soon as I can otherwise he will be killed. I then ran towards the lion shouting at it, he left Reinhard and wanted to charge me as that is what I wanted him to do... As soon as he left Reinhard and his head was high enough of Reinhard for me to shoot safely I shot and my bullet hit the mark and he went down.

I immediately moved my attention to Reinhard and called my hunting truck in to where we were to start firs aid on Reinhard as I needed to stop the bleeding. I take my hat off to Reinhard as he took the pain like a beast and kept calm throughout the whole ordeal with all the shock and pain. I am glad I could help my fellow hunter and very close friend so he could that today he can go back to his family to provide for them.

My point here is that with any dangerous game safari, does not matter how much experience you as a guide or hunter have, the unexpected can happen at any given moment so as a PH and client always be prepared and have your rifle with you at all times when hunting in a area with any dangerous game.

I truly hope that this unfortunate event opens up a couple of eyes in the hunting industry... A lot of people including outfitters and PH's take our South African lion hunts lightly and more of a joke. These lion are dangerous and will kill you, they are not pets out of a petting zoo! Handle and hunt every single lion with respect, if you don't you will pay for it one day maybe sooner than you think.....

I once again thank each and every person that sent a prayer up for our very dear friend! I am very happy to report that he is doing well as I just spoke with him a little while ago. He will be heading in to the theatre again tomorrow and hopefully will be going home later this week.

We all truly appreciate you guys a lot! Thank you again our AH community and friends!

Best regards,

Jacques

Il y a également une vidéo de 25 secondes de la charge à cette page http://www.africahunting.com/threads/professional-hunter-mauled-by-lion.21202/page-5

Hi Jerome, j'espère que tu me pardonnes si j'utilise le clip qu'a fourni Aaron N
Merci
JB

lion charge + mauling, merci Jerome

Edited by larcher (09/07/15 12:09 AM)