Running A Small Hunting Operation

Johann Erwee of Kuduwane Game Lodge provided Gerhard Uys with insights into what it takes to keep a small hunting operation economically sustainable, and its environment ecologically sound.

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Electrical engineer Johann Erwee runs a small hunting operation near Bela-Bela, Limpopo. As a part-time operation that he runs in parallel with his engineering business, it requires sound time and resource management to remain sustainable.

Johann explains that ever since he hunted his first kudu at the age of 12, he had wanted to run a farm. Initially, he had a Brahman stud on a farm near Bela-Bela, but the property’s layout made it difficult to manage and he later sold it. He then bought Kareefontein, where Kuduwane Lodge is now situated. The previous owner had had a game camp that covered nearly a third of the farm’s 800ha, and this led Johann to sell his stud and begin a hunting operation in 1995.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Johann’s first task was to install appropriate infrastructure. At the top of his list was adequate fencing, and enclosing 800ha was costly. In addition, fencing has to be approved by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, which issues an exemption permit after inspecting the fencing. This is valid for three years and allows the owner to keep game and run legal hunts on the property. It also allows the owner to give hunters consent to convey the carcasses from the farm to their homes. Anyone stopped at a roadblock without such a consent permit is treated as a poacher by authorities.

Hunters have certain expectations of a game farm, explains Johann. For one, they want the animals they hunt to be removed from where they fall, slaughtered professionally, and the meat stocked in a cold room as soon as possible.

“I established the infrastructure gradually. Proper cold room facilities are a must from the start. Hunters also want a hot shower when they return from a hunt, a braai area, and somewhere to cool their drinks,” he says.