Meat hunt

"No, I'm not a good shot, but I shoot often."
Teddy Roosevelt

Meat hunting in Namibia happens during June and July. Trophy hunting can occur virtually throughout the rest of the year, and each season is limited by quotas established for specific farms. But, the general population in Namibia can hunt animals for meat for two months during the winter.

We had a desire to stock the freezer with a bit of 'our own' meat, so I made arrangements with a local farmer to visit his farm and harvest a hartebeest. It was a fun hunt, and successful. Hartebeest are about the same size as white-tailed deer, and we ended up with about 65 pounds of meat. Meat hunting rates are significantly less than trophy hunting rates, and Kelly calculates that our hartebeest meat cost about US$3.50/pound. Still more than venison back home, where a hunting license costs about US$25 and public hunting areas do not charge for access. No such thing in Namibia, so paying a farmer for an animal is the only option.

The farmer went out with Tristan and I to help find the animal, and he led the stalking. When we came back with the hartebeest, the farm workers skinned and quartered it. I've decided this would be nice to have this service back in Nebraska after a tiring day of deer hunting!

Then, Kelly and Tristan and I spent the next morning boning and chopping up the meat into roasts and such. Family togetherness. It was a good experience to have, and it's nice to have a full freezer of local meat.

Because it was a meat hunt, and because we were successful at about dusk, we didn't take the traditional photo. Hartebeests are not a well-known animal and are a bit odd-looking. Tristan thinks they look like they were pieced together by Dr. Frankenstein. The photo here is one of Kelly's photos of hartebeest in Etosha.