We asked Matt to schedule a low key hunt for a colleague of mine and his son and my nephew. Our wives would also accompany us on this 22 day hunt and tour of South Africa. This was a hunt for a couple of animals we both needed for our collection of African game and a chance for my nephew to experience hunting for the first time. My principal goal was a good vaal rhebok and although my friend had taken one, he wanted a better trophy if possible and a suni. Matt said that he would check out areas in the East Cape and Natal for both animals and also arrange for my nephew to hunt kudu in Mpumalanga.

Matt wrote that he had arranged for us to hunt with him, at Chappie Scott's facility and where Chappie had contracted hunting rights on a number of ranches. The lack of vaal rhebok trophy quality on these ranches is another story. My complaint and concern is the taking of a springbuck by my nephew and Chappie Scott's reaction when I attempted to score it for the SCI Record Book.

My nephew Peter, heard there were some springbuck in the area and expressed an interest in taking one. We all thought this was a great idea as we had not seem any shootable "vaalies" during the past two days and this would give Peter a chance to go with Chappie on his own and hopefully make that all important first kill as a hunter.

We were delighted when we returned after the third day empty-handed to find Peter took his first trophy. While the group was having a few drinks, the head was set on the bar of the tap-room. Although not a monstrous head, it certainly was an excellent trophy and would certainly make SCI minimums easily. As a SCI master measurer, I thought, what a nice way to give Peter, his birthday gift a few days early. I would give him a SCI membership and send along the score form for his first entry.

When I pulled out my tape measure and attempted to score the springbuck, a red faced Chappie Scott pulled the head away from me yelling "we don't measure animals here". To say I was shocked is an understatement. Here was a man who derives a good part of his income from hunters, making derogatory statements about trophy hunting. It certainly destroyed what had been a happy occasion for a young man and his proud aunt and uncle.

What brought this about? I'm not sure. They had been drinking since the hunt was completed at noon. Chappie certainly was far from sober, but what could have triggered such a display of rudeness and anti-trophy hunting sentiment? Could it have been our refusal to shoot the small "vaalies" on his leased ranches? Whatever the reason, I feel this information should be available to subscribers of The Hunting Report that may be considering a hunt with Scott. There are too many knowledgeable, stable professional hunters in South Africa who want the hunter that is selective in his choice of trophies.

I'm 72 years of age and have taken at least one guided hunt annually since 1955 throughout many parts of the world. We have run the gamut from great to pretty poor guides, foresters, and PH's. However, this was the first time in all those years I was subjected to such an offensive and shocking act from a member of the hunting fraternity.

On the positive side Matt did arranged for me to hunt with PH Roy Guthrie in Mpumalanga, where I did take my 8 1/4 inch vaal rhebok, that would score 19th in the current SCI book. So thankfully the trip ended on a more positive note.

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To: The Hunting Report From: Chappie Scott Date: October 13, 1998 Re: John R. Norman's Report

Thank you for your fax message of the 12 October and for giving me the chance to tell you my side of the story concerning the John Norman fiasco.

This is the first time, to my knowledge, in 22 years of hunting that someone has judged me to be "unstable" "unknowledgeable" or to have "anti-trophy hunting sentiments" which would, naturally, be totally counterproductive as far as my business is concerned.

Firstly, to address the issue of the vaal rhebok when Matthew Greeff booked this safari with me, he wrote the following concerning John Norman and Glenn Svoboda:

"Both men in not too good condition - overweight and hip problems..... Wish they were younger so we could run those mountains for vaalies but hope you can set up something for the old folks"

As you know, and as most clients will tell, vaal rhebok hunting is one of the most exciting and challenging hunts to experience and it is virtually impossible in our mountainous area at an altitude of 5000 - 7000 feet to drive up to a vaal rhebok and shoot it from the vehicle. The reason these men were unable to get a good vaal rhebok was not their unavailability but the physical constraints of the gentlemen concerned. If you check the SCI record book you will see the number of vaal rhebok that have been taken by me and my professional hunters while I was in partnership with Frank Bowker as "Bowker and Scott Safaris" and more recently as "Scott of Africa".

Here follows a list of hunters who have taken vaal rhebok this year and their phone numbers. If you would like to check with any or all of them regarding their vaal rhebok hunts, I would be happy for you to do so:

Clark (Corky) Ullom (770) 850-8072 Bob Karbowski (218) 665-2555 Don Wenner (505) 625-0116 John Burson (505) 623-2265 Joe and Robin Fiske (345) 945-4151 John Pettus (970) 259-2264

Secondly, and more importantly, with regard to Peter Latour's hunt:

After three days it had become very obvious that John Norman was not about to give up one second of his hunting time so that his nephew could take a trophy so I offered at no cost to any of them whatsoever (I was not the professional hunter on this hunt) to take Peter out to shoot a springbok. I pointed out my reservations to my wife in this regard as I realized that John and Arlene Norman could very well be upset should their nephew get a trophy and therefore the glory that was due to them.

Peter had a fantastic hunt and stalk. I let him practice dry firing a few times until I was sure he would be confident enough to shoot the animal and we then spent over three hours walking and stalking. He then made a magnificent shot at about 350 yards dropping the springbok first go. We did all the traditional things - the blooding, eating the liver raw, and toasting the trophy. An experience which should have left a lifetime impression was it not for the arrogant and egotistical behavior of his uncle. When he wanted to measure the trophy in the bar I didn't think that this was the appropriate time as Peter was still savoring the success of his hunt and did not need to be compared with anyone else. Although his trophy would be high on the list of East Cape springbok and I enjoy seeing my name in the record book as much as anyone else, I do feel that if the only way of determining the success and quality of a hunting experience is to see how it ranks in the record book, it really is a sorry state of affairs.

The story of giving Peter SCI membership and an entry in the record book as a birthday gift was not mentioned until an hour or two later! As I said initially, John Norman had no intention of letting his nephew shoot an animal before he had one and had I not offered, he would not have got a trophy at all! The destroying of the happy occasion was definitely done by Uncle John and not by me! (I have subsequently received a letter and photographs from Peter thanking me for the experience.)

In closing I would like to know exactly what my crime was. The "offensive and shocking act" of not measuring the trophy at the exact time he wished me to do this? Celebrating the kill with Peter after the hunt at my expense and on my donated time? "Yelling"? I do probably speak louder than the average person due to a certain deafness from my many years of hunting. I leave you to judge.

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To: The Hunting Report From: Richard Ponterio Date: September 19, 1999 Re: Controversy between John R. Norman and Chappie Scott

I ordered and read the controversy between John R. Norman and Chappie Scott.

In past years, I have been on two hunts with Chappie Scott including hunting vaal rhebok.

I must say that Mr. Norman's letter is totally out of context to what I experienced with Chappie Scott. My hunts were very enjoyable and pleasant and everything was conducted very professionally.

Also, as I remember, Chappie Scott is an SCI Master Measurer and he is still listed as one as of the May/June 1999 issue of Safari magazine. Also, on both hunts with Chappie Scott, he insisted on measuring all of my trophies. I entered the trophies from my first hunt, but I never got around to entering the trophies from my second hunt, but I still have the score sheets.

I remember that when we hunted vaal rhebok, we did quite a bit of hill climbing and it was quite a bit of work. Similar to hunting mule deer on the Snake River breaks.

If I get around to hunting South Africa again, I would not hesitate to book a hunt with Chappie Scott.

The man's name is Jeff Ford and he can be booked through Chappie Scott of Scott of Africa. Address: Swallow Krantz, Spring Valley, P. O. Box 80, Tarkastad 5370 Republic of South Africa. Phone # 011-27-145-8580-007.

If further information is desired, feel free to contact me.