The beauty of the hunt
2007-08-30
Lise Beyers
BASIE MAARTENS is alive and well and living in Paarl! Although the doyen of professional hunting in South Africa enjoys life on the foothills of Paarl Mountain with its spectacular views, he still yearns for the wide open spaces of the savannah.
For 40 years Maartens travelled the length and breadth of Southern Africa as a renowned professional hunter.
“My father owned a gun-shop in Windhoek and when I left school I started working there and did a lot of social hunting.
“Professional hunting fell into my lap when the late Elgin Gates, one of the most respected international hunters, came looking for a guide whilst on safari.
“This put me on track and the rest is history.”
Maartens and his wife, Sandra, made Paarl their home in 1979 when they fell in love with the Cape Winelands.
They first established the guest-house on the farm Mountain Shadows, before moving to central Paarl.
Although Maartens is no longer an active hunter after he was hampered by a stroke, he still keeps a watchful eye on his safari business, while Sandra and their professional hunter son, Craig, continue with his legacy.
And while the phone endlessly rings with foreign clients already making bookings for next year’s hunt, Maartens has been quietly penning his thoughts and experiences to paper.
He has literally one-handedly been writing his autobiography, The Last Safari, which will soon be going to print. His other hand is paralysed.
“I have always had a natural love for the bush and I feel that I have been blessed to be able to have made the open plains my occupation.
“There is nothing more exciting than being in the veld and sharing it with good people.
“It has also taken me into the darkest forests and the driest deserts, to the nightlights of Las Vegas and New York.
“I feel that professional hunting is a calling, more than a career.”
Maartens fervently protects the professional hunter, saying that they are a fine breed who respect the animals they hunt and are passionate about conservation.
“Game ranching has flourished in South Africa and has contributed to saving many species from extinction.
“It also brings in a huge, and much needed, amount of foreign currency into the country.
“The ultimate challenge we as hunters face, is to create a culture of hunting, respect for the animal and a spirituality which takes us to a higher level than a mere trophy on the wall or venison on the table.
“This culture must be our philosophy and must be written in our hearts and not on slates of stone which can be broken.”
Maartens also slams the ugly face of canned hunting which emerges every now and then.
“When game ranching and breeding become a money-making racket, all the morality has gone out of it.
"When a client shoots a canned animal, he is a murderer, and not a hunter.
“It is not a matter of whether it is legal or not, it is a matter of morality.”
“A true hunter will only shoot what he needs and will savour the outdoor experience.
“Often he will also be used in the process of culling.
“Unfortunately in a modern world this has become a necessity to balance our ecology.”
This addresses the problem of overgrazing such as manifested by the destruction of their natural habitat by the exceedingly large elephant population in the Kruger National Park.
“Regardless of what the anti-hunting fraternity may think, hunting is conservation in its purest form.”
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