During March 2025, Canadian hunters Tom Lewis, Jeff Lewis, Kim Lewis and John Thompson joined us for a hunt at Big Water Safaris.
Professional hunters: Dewald Kearns and Thinus Steyn.
John Thompson with his springbok ram. Springbok are prolific at Big Water Safaris. The Laohu Valley Reserve is home to between two- and three thousand of the beautiful and energetic antelope. Being on the menu of just about every predator on the reserve, they rarely stay still for a long time and are always on the alert, making them a challenging quarry.Tom Lewis with a blesbuck ram, hunted just before sunset. Blesbuck are, after springbok, the most numerous antelope on Laohu Valley Reserve. Jeff Lewis with a beautiful black impala ram.Jeff and Kim Lewis, with an ostrich each. Jeff’s is a male and the one hunted by Kim is a female. Ostriches are the world’s largest bird and while they are flightless, they can reach a top speed of 70km/h (43mph) making it the fastest land animal on two legs. They are challenging to hunt, good to eat and their skins make lovely leather products.Kim Lewis with the kudu bull he hunted with Big Water Safaris. A mature kudu bull is probably the most challenging animal to hunt; known as the grey ghost they have a knack for disappearing just when you are sure that you have them. Unlike the plains animals that will run at the first sign of danger, kudu will attempt to hide, something they are extremely good at.Jeff Lewis with his red lechwe ram. A relative of the, larger, waterbuck lechwe love water. Lechwe are not native to South Africa but introduced populations thrive in this area. Jeff and Kim Lewis hunting at Big Water Safaris with the Orange River in the background. Laohu Valley Reserve borders on the Orange River (the largest river in South Africa and on the Vanderkloof dam, which is fed by the Orange River.John Thompson with a young blue wildebeest (brindled gnu) bull, hunted to feed the endangered tigers at South China tiger project at Laohu Valley Reserve. Blue wildebeest are the most numerous of the large antelope at Laohu Valley Reserve.Tom Lewis with a young (non-trophy) blue wildebeest bull, hunted with Big Water Safaris.Kim Lewis with his waterbuck bull. A ruggedly handsome animal, waterbuck is one of the most underrated trophies that Big Water Safaris has available for hunting.Jeff Lewis with his white blesbuck ram.
