Darrell Holland, owner of Holland Shooter Supply is an accomplished gunsmith, instructor and hunter. Darrell has been bringing students from his long range hunting/shooting school to Big Water Safaris for several years. Darrell builds long range hunting rifles and markets his own line of hunting scopes, both rifles and scopes have proven themselves, out here in the real world.
The group for 2023 consisted of Darrell himself, Todd Fisher, Gene Kelly, Jacob Kelly, Cliff Neuse, Ron Puhl, Bart Lewellyn and Alex Lewellyn. With the exception of Alex Lewellyn everyone had hunted with Big Water Safaris before. It was like having old friends over for a hunt. While every member of the group is an experienced hunter there was still new lessons learned by both hunters and PH’s. Hunting is not an exact science, maybe that is what keeps us hunting. As always, a lot of fun was had. Hunting when done properly is about much more than killing animals.
Professional Hunters: Bennie Breytenbach, Dewald Kearns, Heinrich Funck, Mielie du Toit and Thinus Steyn. MF Scheun visited to spend some time with old friends and George Funck worked his butt off as general assistant.
The man himself. Although Darrel spent most of his time helping and advising his students in the more practical aspects of hunting he did take a bit of time to hunt too.As a first time hunter in Africa Alex Lewellyn did not let grass grow under his feet. A beautiful sable bull.
Bart Lewellyn, Alex’s father and veteran African hunter with a zebra hunted at Laohu Valley Reserve. While zebra are mainly hunted for their hides and for tiger food, their meat is excellent and it is hard to beat a zebra tender loin cooked on a sweet thorn wood fire.Veteran hunter Cliff Neuse with a blue wildebeest cow hunted for the South China tiger project at Laohu Valley Reserve.Gene Kelly, founder and president of American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI), with his zebra. The rifle built on a Remington 700 action and chambered for the .308 win cartridge was built by Darrell Holland many moons ago. Jacob Kelly, son of Gene Kelly and marketing director at AGI, with a magnificent kudu bull. He hunted this specific bull for several days before Jacob bagged it with a single well aimed shot. His rifle of choice is a Darrel Holland built .308 win. While the .308 Winchester is often overlooked in this day and age of bigger and faster calibers it remains an excellent choice for hunting.Ron Puhl from Oregon with his black impala. This was Ron’s second hunt with Big Water Safaris. Not only is he an excellent hunter and shot, he is also a raconteur of note.Holland’s Game-Getter scope with a blesbuck hunted for the South China tiger project. Photo: Bennie Breytenbach.Bart Lewellyn with his sable bull. This was a challenging hunt in tough terrain.Cliff Neuse from St. Louis, Missouri with an ostrich. Cliff has hunted all over the world and has an enviable collection of trophies. Due to its excellent eyesight and its perpetual state of paranoia ostrich are an extremely challenging quarry. Gene and Jacob Kelly with the Vanderkloof lake in the background.Oregon hunter Bart Lewellyn with an excellent red hartebeest. Alex Lewellyn with his kudu, an ancient bull.Gene Kelly from California with a blue wildebeest.Idaho hunter Jacob Kelly with a blue wildebeest hunted at Laohu Valley Reserve.Oregon farmer, Ron Puhl with a beautiful red lechwe.Hunting is a state of mind. Whether you are stalking buffalo with a big bore or rabbits with a rimfire, the basics stay the same. Here Darrell Holland is hunting the rabbit sized African rock hyrax (the closest living relative to African Elephant) with a .22lr. MF Scheun is spotting for him.
