Hunting on the southern slopes of the Magaliesberg

At this guest house on a game farm in North West, visitors are provided with a comfortable stay and plenty of things to see and do, including hunting exotic game species, says Riaan Hattingh.

- Riaan Hattingh.

Kareekloof Game Farm lies less than 140km from Johannesburg, close to the small town of Derby in North West.

According to the owners, Leon and Annalize Prinsloo, they fell in love with the farm at first sight in 2001, and signed the offer to purchase on the spot.

“We expanded the property a few times since then and it now covers 1 400ha of this rugged, mountainous terrain on the southern slopes of the Magaliesberg,” says Leon.

“We extended and fixed the small and dilapidated house we found here when we bought the farm, and added several buildings so that we could accommodate hunters and their families,” adds Annalize. “We opened our doors for overnight guests in 2007.”

Leon says that they began breeding game from the moment the game fences were up. “In the current economic climate, one has to diversify, and it is without a doubt that agritourism, and game breeding and hunting are in a comfortable ‘marriage’,” he says.

GAME BREEDING AND HUNTING

“We breed a variety of game, such as sable antelope, but our niche is the more exotic species, for example white blesbok, golden wildebeest and black impala,” says Leon.

“We keep some game for breeding, some for trophy hunting, some for meat hunting, and the rest we sell. Because of the terrain and thick bush, bow hunting from hides works best for us. We have eight hides in total, comprising towers and pits, spread over the farm.