Craig Boddington’s new book fetches record sale price at auction.

On January 3, 2018, the world’s most exclusive band of international big-game hunters gathered in Dallas for the 61^st Annual Weatherby Award dinner to honor one of their own, Craig Boddington.  This year’s recipient is, arguably, also one of the hunting world’s best-known gun writers, and Craig’s latest work, From the Cape to Kasserine, was one of the night’s sixteen auction items, donated to help replenish the coffers of the Weatherby Foundation.

Usually auctions at hunting banquets are yawn-worthy.  The pace for the first thirteen auction items followed the standard scenario of nearly reaching the estimated value. Some excitement but no frenzy. Then From the Cape to Kasserine came on the block. What did the audience know about this book that would cause them to bid in such a radical departure from the standard?  Here’s what the auction program detailed: From the Cape to Kasserine was donated by Safari Press and Craig Boddington, was handmade from the skin of a water buffalo, had extensive gilt and debossing on its cover, and had a retail value of $975.*

Out of print Safari Press books are well known for garnering very high prices with collectors at auctions, but even these top out at $5,000 to $7,000 for the rarest.

As the donators of this book held their collective breath, From the Cape to Kasserine immediately surpassed its established retail value of $975.  The donators let out a sigh of relief, hoping against hope that the book would double its stated value.  It did that . . . and more.  Two thousand dollars, three thousand dollars, and suddenly, the auctioneer hurtled into double-digit figures.  Did someone actually bid, “Ten thousand dollars”?  Electricity surged through the room. Who would pay ten thousand dollars for a new book? The attendees strained to see who was bidding.

Craig Boddington with the Weatherby Trophy.

Then Alain Smith, the evening’s emcee, interrupted the frenzy to give an enthusiastic and detailed description of the book and to make an announcement. The tumult halted momentarily as he told the audience that Ludo Wurfbain, Safari Press’s publisher had asked the twelve living Weatherby Award winners in attendance that evening to sign the book.  Obviously that helped.

Smith handed the floor back to the auctioneer, and from various parts of the banquet hall the four hunters still bidding against each other resumed their battle.  When the bid reached twenty thousand dollars, one of our bold bidders dropped out.  When From the Cape to Kasserine reached twenty-seven-and-a-half-thousand dollars, the third bidder dropped out, and when it reached thirty thousand dollars, it was finally over.  Yes, you read that correctly: From the Cape to Kasserine sold for the remarkable price of $30,000.

Usually auctions at hunting banquets are sedate affairs.  Not this auction.  Not for this book.  The crowd broke out in a thunderous applause amid calls of jubilation, joy, and encouragement, for the book was a 100-percent donation for the Weatherby Foundation. The money garnered in the auction that night will be used to educate American youth to the values of hunting and conservation.  A worthwhile enterprise to spring from a remarkable evening.

The editors of Safari Press believe this to be the highest price ever paid for an in-print hunting book.  A new world record.

Note: This is an extremely limited edition—just twenty-six, full-leather copies were made.  Handmade of dark brown buffalo hide, From the Cape to Kasserine features a debossed map of Africa on the front cover and two contrasting red leather stars that place Kasserine and the Cape on the map. Matte gilt lettering and artwork adorn the cover of the book. Inside the book are brown and red marbled French endpapers. The book is housed in clamshell box covered in high-quality wax-impregnated cloth and lined with the same brown and red marbled French endpapers found in the book.  It is limited to 26 lettered copies A-Z and it was copy W that sold during that evening.  This leather edition is now sold out.  The limited edition of 500 cloth-bound signed, numbered and slipcased copies is still available. Please click here for more information. 

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Hypothermia is a serious condition, and it doesn’t just happen in frigid temperatures.

The first of several important misconceptions about hypothermia is that it means “freezing to death.” That’s not accurate. Hypothermia is the loss of core body heat to a level that impairs normal muscular and mental functioning, endangering life. If not treated and reversed, hypothermia can worsen until the victim, no longer able to generate internal warmth, becomes semiconscious or unconscious, is extremely vulnerable to cardiac fibrillation, and eventually dies from heart stoppage.

You can begin having the signs and symptoms of mild hypothermia with a core-temperature drop of only a couple of degrees–and it doesn’t take much to fall to that mark in conducive circumstances. This leads to another common misunderstanding: that hypothermia is mainly an extreme-cold, frigid-weather issue. Of course heat loss is a danger in the deep cold, but it can be as much or more of a problem in less obvious conditions. When various factors combine–such as moisture, comparatively cool temperatures and/or wind–a person can become hypothermic virtually any month of the year, and in a surprising array of locations. For instance, in a recent study of 428 cases of accidental hypothermia, 69 of them occurred in Florida, not a place most people associate with cold.

It’s also important to understand that hypothermia is not just about getting too cold at the core and dying from the lack of necessary heat. That can happen;, but the more frequent way people die from hypothermia is by perishing from its side effects or symptoms. Even when one is mildly hypothermic, coordination and cognition are impaired. Clumsiness, stumbling, falling, thinking unclearly, making poor decisions–these are all by-products of core heat loss. Many deaths seemingly caused by “accidents” and bad choices are actually a result of the victim’s addled, hypothermic state.

Dangerous heat loss occurs in stages, with varying signs and symptoms. Mild hypothermia begins with a small drop in core temperature, usually signaled by the sensation of feeling cold and shivering, which is the body’s way of generating internal heat. At about 96 or 95 degrees F, shivering becomes more constant and involuntary. The person might have goose bumps, numb hands, and be unable to perform complex or fine-skill manual tasks.

The transition or drop to moderate hypothermia usually occurs as core temperature lowers to about 90 degrees F. At this stage shivering is intense, coordination is obviously impaired, the person may stumble, act confused, move in a slow, labored way, have difficulty speaking and show signs of amnesia, apathy, or withdrawal. At approximately 88 degrees shivering stops, so internal heat can no longer be generated. Muscle coordination is poor, the person may no longer be able to walk and will be confused, possibly incoherent and irrational. Victims at this stage are past being able to save themselves or act appropriately on their own behalf, and will most likely die if not rescued and treated to reverse their condition.

Severe-stage hypothermia starts when core temperature lowers to about 82 degrees F, involving much-decreased heart and respiratory rates, muscle rigidity, loss of awareness, and semiconsciousness or unconsciousness. The heart becomes dangerously “irritable” (easily stimulated into ventricular fibrillation). From here through profound-stage hypothermia, the details are medically technical and all bad news. If untreated the result is cardiac failure and death.

One of the best ways to avoid these grim states is to detect the signs and symptoms of core heat loss as early as possible. First responders and rescue workers are taught to watch for the “umbles:” stumbles, mumbles, fumbles, and grumbles that indicate a decrease in motor coordination, cognition, and consciousness. At an early enough stage, you can even detect these in yourself, especially if you also feel very cold and are shivering. In what might be called “hypothermic conditions” it’s always a good idea for partners or groups to agree to periodically monitor each other for umbles, shivering, and other clues that hypothermia may be occurring. If a person can’t easily count backward from fifty and/or walk a straight heel-to-toe line for thirty feet, it’s time to suspect the onset of dangerous heat loss.

What are “hypothermic conditions”? As noted, extreme cold and moderately frigid air temperatures are pretty obvious environments, but hypothermia can occur whenever the body is losing more heat than it can replace. This usually involves one or more of the following elements: moisture, moderately cool to cold air temperatures, and wind–coupled with clothing inadequate for the conditions. If it’s 50 degrees and you get soaked in a rain and the wind is blowing, and all you have is a light, sodden jacket for insulation, you’re in hypothermia territory. A hunter damp from rain, snow, or sweat who becomes stranded overnight in moderately chilly temperatures is at a high risk for hypothermia, if unable to stop continual heat loss.

Briefly, there are four main ways we lose heat: radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation. Radiation is direct heat loss from a warm body to a cooler environment. In cold weather you can radiate a lot of heat from your exposed head and neck. A warm hat that covers your ears and a neck gaiter or scarf can mean the difference between heat maintenance and hypothermia. Conduction is heat loss through direct contact with a colder surface. Avoiding such contact when possible or placing insulation between yourself and colder surfaces are the obvious solutions. Water conducts heat away from the body 25 times faster than air. Thus the great danger of getting wet in a cool to cold environment, and justification for the survival slogan: “Stay dry to stay alive.” Convection is heat loss caused by air moving around you. This can be a breeze or wind, amounting to the well-known wind-chill factor; or it can be a “wind” effect created by your movement, as in a boat or other vehicle. The antidote for convective heat loss is shelter found or made, including the “personal shelter” of appropriate outer shell clothing. Carrying two or more heavy-duty, yard-size garbage bags in your survival kit can also be lifesaving in this regard. Even if your clothing is wet and cannot be dried, encasing yourself in the plastic bags (using them as a “vapor barrier,” one for the lower body, one with eye and mouth holes for over your head and upper body) will help you dry out while keeping convective and conductive heat loss to a minimum. Evaporation of sweat or water on your skin has a cooling effect and pulls heat from your core. This is another reason to stay dry, not only from external causes, but also from sweat buildup. In very cold air another seldom-recognized cause of evaporative heat loss occurs during basic respiration, especially when heightened by strenuous physical effort. A simple way to reduce this type of lost heat is to breathe through a face mask or scarf.

Obviously, having proper clothing for the conditions is a basic way to prevent hypothermia. For example, a good rainsuit or outer shell, moisture-resistant pants (no denims), adequate gloves and footwear, a middle layer of fleece, a warm shirt, and wick-dry polypro undergarments. If hypothermia conditions exist or could occur, it’s wise to carry extra undergarments and socks, so that you can replace wet clothing with dry if necessary.
Other advance prep should include fire-making gear, two or three commercial hand warmers, the aforementioned garbage bags, a balaclava or face mask in very cold conditions, and a few energy bars, high in sugar, for quick-burst metabolic fuel that will help heat your core more quickly and effectively if you do begin to get shiveringly cold.

How do you proceed if you or a partner appears hypothermic?

Treatments and responses vary depending on the stage of the problem. Contrary to popular belief, for mild to early-moderate hypothermia, one should not attempt to rewarm the victim with external heat application (in the form of chemical heat packs, hot water bottles, heated rocks, another person’s warm body, etc.). Here’s why: your sense of being cold or warm is more a result of skin temperature than core temperature. Cold skin cues the brain to signal a shiver response, generating inner heat. If you warm a shivering hypothermic person’s skin, the person will stop shivering (and stop generating necessary heat at the core), while actually losing additional heat because of dilated blood vessels near the heated skin. So the attempt at external rewarming actually leads to becoming more hypothermic, not less. The general field rule is: no direct external warming unless the person has stopped shivering (can no longer shiver) in an advanced-moderate to severe stage of hypothermia.

To treat mild to moderate hypothermia, first reduce heat loss. This can mean adding layers of clothing, changing wet clothing for dry, bundling the victim in an insulating wrap, finding or making shelter and warming the immediate area with a fire. Next, add fluids and fuel. Warm to hot (not scalding) liquids help reheat the inner core, and also add fuel calories if the liquid contains sugar or other nutrients. No alcohol, however, since it’s a vasodilator that will only increase heat loss. Also avoid caffeine, a diuretic that furthers dehydration, which worsens hypothermia. Eating a candy or energy bar, spoonfuls of peanut butter, gorp–whatever you have for survival food–will provide calories for rewarming. If water can be boiled by fire or stove, breathing in warm steam can bring additional heat to the core.

For more advanced, severe and profound hypothermia, the situation is much more serious and delicate. Insulate as well and fully as possible in clothing and wraps, making sure the person is dry. Don’t try to give fluids or food to anyone who is badly altered mentally, or who is semiconscious or unconscious. For those who have stopped shivering, external heat can be applied, especially to the major arteries. Chemical heat packs, hot water bottles, or hot towels can be placed at the neck for the carotid, in the armpits for the brachial and in the groin for the femoral arteries. Handle the victim carefully, since rough handling can trigger heart disfunction and failure. Evacuation and hospital rewarming are vital at this stage. Because the “irritable” heart is so easily disturbed, do not attempt CPR on a hypothermic person who appears dead unless you are certain there is no pulse or respiration. These may be hard to detect because of the severely reduced heart and breathing rates. Again, evacuation is usually the best remaining option. As wilderness medical expert, Dr. Eric Weiss advises: “Never assume a profoundly hypothermic victim is dead until the body has been warmed and there are still no signs of life. Rarely, a victim who is without detectable signs of life, and presumed to be dead, will recover when rewarmed.”

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DSC’s Frontline Foundation supports people injured or killed in the war against poaching.

Illegal wildlife trafficking is conservatively estimated to be worth a minimum of $10 billion per year, globally. More moderate estimates place the figure at closer to twice that amount. Either way, illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products is, today, one of the largest black markets in the world, ranking alongside illegal drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. Every day, scores of animals, some endangered, are illegally killed by poachers, often for a single body part–a tusk or a bone–that can be illegally sold for a huge amount of money. The scale and reach of this criminal enterprise should not be underestimated or misunderstood. There are fewer and fewer lone gunmen hiding in the shadows. These have been replaced by transnational organized crime syndicates operating across international boundaries and killing animals en masse to the global detriment of wildlife, nature, and society.

The system is complex and well organized. Small-scale and regional-level syndicates manage poaching and trafficking operations on the ground and pay poachers and couriers to acquire and deliver animals and animal parts. These syndicates create and support trafficking networks, and usually also distribute weapons to poachers, as well as bribes to local law enforcement. Reports of locals being coerced into service as wildlife poachers or ivory couriers by regional syndicates, even by such extreme means as kidnapping, are not uncommon. International wildlife traffickers lead the larger enterprise; they typically support regional criminal groups, supply weapons and money, and bribe government officials. They obtain illicit wildlife products from the regional groups and smuggle them to major departure points or receive shipments from abroad and smuggle them to destination markets. The money feeds corruption at all levels. Often, it is the same group trafficking in drugs, arms, humans, and illegal wildlife.

These illegal markets are threatening many wildlife species, but consequences are especially severe in Africa, home to many of the world’s most iconic animals and host to much of the world’s organized commercial poaching. Many African wildlife populations have already been decimated, threatened with extinction or, as in the recent case of the Western Black black rRhino, wiped from the face of the Earthout. On average, three3 African rhinos are killed by poachers every day. But it is not just the charismatic mammals that fall prey to poaching and illegal trafficking. Nearly 20 tons of pangolin scales were seized from illegal shipments originating from Africa between 2013 and 2016, and in 2016, more than 5,300 kilograms of illegal ivory and rhino horn, and more than 16,000 trafficked reptiles, were seized at airports, either in passenger baggage or cargo shipments. Many species simply cannot withstand this slaughter. The lion has been extirpated from seven African countries, the total population of Grevy’s zZebra stands at just about 2,000 individuals, and fewer than 900 mountain gorillas remain in the wild; yet poaching threatens all of them.

How has this problem become so widespread and destructive in Africa and elsewhere, despite advances in international laws and policies, as well as anti-poaching technologies? Weak governance is almost always a factor and is exacerbated by regional poverty, high unemployment, and lack of state funding for wildlife management and protection activities. Currently, about 90 percent of African protected areas are unable to finance themselves and, in most cases, little government money is available to assist in anti-poaching efforts, including the employment of well-trained, well-equipped, and properly supported enforcement officers. It’s one thing to ban or limit trade in a particular species, but another to effectively enforce this, especially in countries where training and funds for enforcement are lacking. At the national and regional level, effective law enforcement to reduce and prevent poaching is now a critical need. Without effective “boots on the ground,” there can be no success in combating illegal wildlife use internationally. As President Lincoln once affirmed, laws without enforcement are just good advice. Well, dDisappearing wildlife does not need advice or even just purposeful laws; it needs action, swift and sure.

Professional hunters (P.H.s) conduct sport-hunting safaris, most often in Africa, and are typically required to accompany foreign hunters. They, like game rangers and scouts, frequently work in remote wilderness areas under dangerous conditions, usually where communication is a serious challenge and resource support is not easily accessible. Africa’s professional hunters regularly participate, often as volunteers, in anti-poaching patrols alongside game rangers and scouts, facing off against threats ranging from masked gunmen on the ground to so-called “heli-poachers,” armed with automatic weapons and firing indiscriminately from the air. The rangers, P.HH.s, and their assistants commonly choose to disregard their own personal well-being for the greater good, understanding fully that the conservation of Africa’s wildlife is meaningful to much more than their own livelihoods. These individuals make tremendous sacrifices, regularly placing their lives at risk to ensure a global heritage– – the conservation of Africa’s wildlife and protected areas.

Those on the front lines of African wildlife conservation are waging a war that is relentless and unforgiving, and that it is taking a physical and emotional toll. There are injuries and there are fatalities. Globally, the estimated number of individuals killed while engaged in anti-poaching activities has climbed past 1,000 in the last decade. That’s an average of 2of two people per week, every week, dying on the front lines of conservation. It illustrates just how devastating the losses due to poaching can be, not just to threatened wildlife populations or the success of sustainable wildlife programs, but also in terms of human fatalities and impacts on families and communities. In the event of serious injury or death of a primary breadwinner, the hardships placed on family, especially in regions where individuals are unlikely to have health insurance, life insurance, or disability coverage, can be disastrous.

In 2014, Dallas Safari Club identified this humanitarian issue as a critical need for the international hunting community to address. The Club moved swiftly and introduced the DSC Frontline Foundation, a Texas-based, non-profit organization founded in the spirit of St. Hubert, the Patron Saint of Hunters. The Foundation stands in support of those men and women who put themselves in danger, or expose themselves to significant risk, for the direct benefit of wildlife and those who value it. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided financial assistance to eligible professional hunters, guides, and outfitters (and members of their staffs) who have been seriously injured while providing professional hunting and guiding services. In 2015, its mission was expanded to encompass P.H.s and their staffs, as well as government game rangers and scouts, who are injured while participating in anti-poaching efforts.

And the DSC Frontline Foundation didn’t stop there. It also created a separate fund to assist surviving family members lies of P.H.s, game rangers, and scouts who are killed while performing anti-poaching duties, a humanitarian gesture that acknowledges our shared struggle for wildlife conservation and demonstrates a deep appreciation and respect for the victims and their families. Embodying its motto and putting words into action, the DSC Frontline Foundation truly does “Stand up for those who stand in front.”

The international hunting community owes a debt to the men, women, and families who have suffered so directly in conservation’s cause. Indeed, we all do,; whether we hunt or not. Wildlife is a legacy for all of humanity. A well-supported field force is essential if our efforts to curb poaching and conserve African wildlife is to succeed. We can’t all fight on the front lines. However, by helping support the DSC Frontline Foundation, we can stand beside those who do.

For more about the DSC Frontline Foundation and how to help, see www.dscfrontlinefoundation.org.

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Robin Hurt and James Mellon will host a special safari to benefit APHA.

The African Professional Hunters Association’s mission is to contribute to the conservation of African wildlife and habitat by continuing the critical role played by ethical, responsible, and sustainable hunting, for the benefit of generations to come.

In order for APHA to make a real impact in support of this mission and to counter the onslaught of negative press generated by the anti-hunting lobbyists, APHA needs funding. One of our founding members, Mr. Robin Hurt, has donated a hunt on his private hunting ranch in Namibia, which he will guide personally and in addition the hunt will be co-hosted by the legendary James Mellon, who authored the wonderful book “African Hunter.”

The hunt will be auctioned at the 2018 SCI show. For details about the hunt and auction, click here.

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Former PHASA members form new organization for hunting operators.

A group of concerned professional hunters who rejected the hunting of captive-bred predators and the recent constitution adopted by the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA) met on 6 December 2017 in Johannesburg and founded a new professional hunting association to be known as Custodians of Professional Hunting and Conservation South Africa (CPHCSA).

The CPHCSA mission statement:

1. To promote ethical and responsible professional hunting.
2. To demonstrate and enhance conservation and ecologically sustainable development through the responsible use of natural resources in order to ensure that South Africa’s biodiversity and conservation heritage is protected for the benefit of present and future generations.
3. To enhance and promote professional hunting’s contribution to the livelihoods and socio-economic development of all South Africans.

A new constitution was agreed upon and will be released shortly. Membership applications and relevant details will be made public in due course.

A committee was duly elected, consisting of Chairman Stewart Dorrington; Johan van den Berg, Paul Stones, Hans Vermaak, Matthew Greeff, Howard Knott, Mark de Wet, and Hermann Meyeridricks.

The launch of Custodians of Professional Hunting and Conservation South Africa (CPHCSA) breathes new life into professional hunting and conservation in South Africa.

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Sports Afield, the world’s premier hunting adventure magazine, has long been a supporter of, and donor to, the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA). We are extremely disappointed by PHASA’s recent decision condoning hunts for captive-bred lions—a reversal of its previous position—and in light of this, we will be ending our support of the organization effective immediately.

As a strong advocate for fair-chase, ethical hunting that contributes to the conservation of species worldwide, Sports Afield cannot support an organization that promotes a practice we believe is contrary to the concept of fair chase and detrimental to the future of hunting.