Return to Maasai land and Ngorongoro Crater 2010

In October 2010 Professional Hunter & Videographer Rayno Egner travelled to Maasailand to document a Maasai species hunt with Christy Bass of Dallas, Texas.

Rayno Egner writes…

Just south of the border between Kenya and Tanzania and west of Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro lies the Rift Valley. Here from the dusty plains that lie on the foundations of the Ngorongoro Crater, between Lake Manyara and Lake Natron, to the top of the misty dew moistened forests of Mount Losimingori is the game controlled hunting area of MtoWaMbu.

It has been several years since I filmed a safari in Tanzania. It has been several years since I last was in Maasai land and several years since I last visited the Crater and MtoWaMbu. When the opportunity arose to film Christy’s hunt it was an easy decision to make. It would be a great opportunity to re-visit an area and country that in the past shared many of my travels and experiences. It was destined to be a memorable hunt and it turned out to be exactly that!

Travelling from Joburg to Nairobi then hopping across the border on an early evening flight thru the “Gates” of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru myself and PH Hans Vermaak met up with Christy as she landed on the late evening flight inbound from Europe on KLM.

We settled in camp the next evening after a 3 hour drive from Arusha and watched the sun setting over the Crater rim.

It was an early start the next morning as we checked the rifles and prepared for 12 days of hunting. In the first few days Christy took some magnificent trophies including a Dik Dik, Grants Gazelle and a Lesser Kudu which tested the skills of the trackers and quick shooting from Christy. We then focused on Gerenuk and Fringe-eared Oryx. Following a report from one of the other hunting vehicles we tried to get onto an Oryx with huge lion wounds down its back but it managed to evade us. We passed many Gerenuk females each day until on the 7th a fine ram gave us a good hunt and went down with a single “on the walk” shot from the 300 win mag. It was then time to focus entirely on the Oryx. With the next day being a day off to visit the Crater we worked hard and at last light we found the same “lion scratched” Oryx as earlier in the Hunt. He took only one shot and went down as the light faded.

The Visit to the Ngorongoro crater was superb with 4 of the Big 5 sited in just 2 and half hours! It also gave us a chance to recharge before continuing the safari back in Mtowambu. The last few days saw us checking leopard baits and taking on the thick steep undergrowth of Losimingori Mountain and coming off second, ultimately turning around and admitting defeat. Christy also secured herself other trophies such as a Thompsons Gazelle and White Bearded Gnu.

With the hunt complete and successful it was time to head back to Arusha and check out the local wares and Tanzanite before heading home. As we headed out on the early bird precision air flight towards Nairobi and the Sun poked its orange head over the white face of Kilimanjaro I realized that my return to this beautiful and diverse country could not have come any sooner!

Alaska Spring Bear Hunt

Videographer Rayno Egner joined one of our most loyal clients in the harsh wild lands of Alaska for a spring bear hunt with Katmai Guide Services.

Rayno Egner writes:

Alaska has always been on my travel destination wishlist. In May of 2010 I was privileged enough to travel to this true wilderness to film a bear hunt with Christy Bass from Dallas, Texas.

It was a very late spring, so there was not much bear movement around in the Meshik valley. Hunting with guide James Kephart out of Jurassic Camp in the Aniakchak National Preserve, we endured the poor weather conditions and were fortunate enough on the fourth day to take a respectable brown bear.

We first spotted the bear on the second day where it was holed up on a mountain about 2 miles from us. After watching it for two days, we decided to approach it with the intention of getting a better look. We endured an epic 4.5 hour hike in wet conditions, and as we approached the area where we last spotted the bear, it poked its head above a stand of elders and Christy had to make a quick shot from the sticks. She did considerably well, especially considering the difficult climb and terrain we had just traversed. With more bad weather coming in, we decided to try and get back to King Salmon and onward to our homeward flights.

The Alaskan wilderness is quite unlike the African bush. The feeling of solitude is far greater and conditions can change so quickly that the unprepared could find themselves in a precarious situation. However, it has a rugged beauty that I have simply not seen anywhere else. Thank you to Christy Bass for allowing me to accompany her and experience this truly amazing experience.

Mongolia 2008

DCVP cameraman, Rayno Egner, was privileged to accompany Dean Heintzelman for an unforgettable quest to the mountains and forests of Mongolia. In taking an excellent Hangai Argali ram, Dean completed his Ovis World Slam and subsequently his Triple Slam. Congratulations Dean!

Videographer Rayno Egner writes:

After a 10 hour drive south of the capital Ulaambaatar, we arrived at our camp of traditional Mongolian Gers in the Oshgig mountain range. We were hunting Hangai Argali with operator Battulga Tumurdash of Look Mongolia Tours. The landscape was treeless and dramatic and lent itself to breathtaking footage.

Luck was on Dean’s side and after some hiking through the mountains on day one, the guides spotted a shooter. Dean made an excellent one-shot-kill at 300 yards and was rewarded with a fine trophy ram of over 10 years of age.

With 9 days left to spare, Dean decided to hunt a Mongolian Wolf. We travelled north of the capital to an area near the Russian border. The topography was quite a contrast from the Oshgig mountains, and comprised scenic forests and rolling grasslands. Wolves are problematic in these parts and regularly prey on the local’s livestock. As a result, we had many local people helping us to locate the wolves and to drive them out to us. On a driven hunt, Dean made an exceptional 400 yard shot in heavy crosswinds. It was a clean kill and the wolf dropped where he stood.

In addition to the excellent hunting, it was also great to capture some of the sights, arts and cultures of Mongolia on film. It is a trip that will not be forgotten and I feel honoured to produce a documentary of Dean’s adventure.

Click here to see what Dean Heintzelman had to say about having his hunt filmed.