Here at The Hunting Report, we are getting increasingly uneasy trying to make this call. Clearly, it is getting risky to try and hunt on private property in Zimbabwe. Witness what happened last month to a Hunting Report subscriber on a hunt with Peter Johnstone's Rosslyn Safaris. He asked that his name not be used for fear that he would become marked in some way as a critic of Zimbabwe and thus unable to return.
Suffice it to say, the subscriber was still shaken by what he experienced on the tenth day of a planned 13-day safari. Seems more than once he was surrounded by angry "war vets" armed with clubs, knives and sickle-like farm implements, who yelled at him that he was unwelcome and should leave the area immediately. "I thought they were going to kill me," the subscriber said. "I'm happy to be home."
On hearing of this incident, we immediately called ZATSO's (Zimbabwe Association of Tour and Safari Operators) George Pangetti, who said he was familiar with the incident and that he and Ed Kadzombe, Chairman of the Wildlife and Tourism Advisory Committee, had personally intervened. He began to describe what happened and it was soon clear that he was referring to another scary incident involving an American hunter, one that we did not even know about.
"Mr. Pangetti, is it truly still safe for hunters to come to your country," I asked. "Yes," came the reply. "Please tell your subscribers to come to Zimbabwe. We need hunters. It is official government policy to welcome hunters."........(continued)
