They don’t call the Cape Buffalo “Black Death” for nothing.
Art by John Seerey-Lester.
On August 3, a Texas man died on a Cape Buffalo hunt in South Africa when he was charged at close range by an unwounded buff. Multiple media reports state that he was gored, but it is not clear to me that he was not simply run over. Getting hit by a Cape Buffalo at speed would be like getting hit by a car.
Asher Watkins, 52, who dealt in major Texas ranch properties, was tracking a Cape Buffalo bull in the 50,000-acre Bambisana concession with Coenraad Vermaak Safaris. The safari company issued a statement:
Watkins was a passionate international hunter, and did not shy from proclaiming it on social media. He was also wealthy, which formed a significant part of the media narrative:
“Millionaire trophy hunter killed…”
Predictably, his demise occasioned a mass outpouring of schadenfreude, which I always find profoundly distasteful. The ugliest of human emotions.
Watkins’ hunting was legal, legitimate, expensive, and had conservation value. It was also dangerous, and the cards turned against him as they have done to hunters in Africa for generations. You can’t kick about that.
Matthew says
I agree about schadenfreude. I don’t like it for any reason. There are certain times you may not want to feel anything for a person. I am talking about really toxic people. But you should never enjoy the suffering of others.
John M. says
May God comfort his family and those involved.
“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” – Hemingway, who was no stranger to African hunting
JimC says
Man, that’s on point.
Quixotic Mainer says
This made me think of the conversation between Pea and Gus regarding the various risks and rewards, physical and esoteric, of chasing Buffalo . It started tactical but turned philosophical. The threat is all too real, but therein lies the reward.
It’s sad any time the world loses an adventurer in this plastic wrapped and sanitized age, doubly so for his family.
JimC says
Thanks for that. It’s one of those things so brilliantly encapsulated in the classic Harley Davidson commercial from WAY back: If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.
David Wrolson says
We were in Limpopo in 2023 and I asked a PH to confirm something I had read about Cape Buffalo in South Africa which tend to be hunted on large fenced properties as in this case (50,000 acres) VS the real wild cape buffalo further north in places like Zambia and such.
It seems that Cape Buffalo in South Africa tend to be meaner and more prone to charging because they are just around humans and vehicles more and such with attendant hunting pressure.
While strictly anecdotal. a couple of buffalo that we saw in Limpopo while driving by didn’t look at us with a “fare thee well, fellow neighbor” type of look.
One could even say that they were having a sense of humour failure.
JimC says
Right?
Clyde says
The last time I hunted was over 20 years ago in Northern New Mexico. I had decided that hunting should involve some element of danger for the hunter. I had a bear license and had tracked a large cinnamon bear about 3 miles through the mountains. When I actually got within range of it I saw that it was casually turning over logs and eating grubs. I sat down on a ledge, got out my flask of single malt and toasted the bear. That was my last hunt and I cherish the memory as much as if I had taken the shot. Now at my advancing age and declining health the only “hunting” I do is for my glasses or the remote but the memories…ahh the memories.
JimC says
From The Rut by Turnpike Troubadours…
The bull had come in tight and he was screamin’ in dark timber
I could see his brown eyes movin’, hear him breathin’ as he wheeled
But tomorrow full of promise, I just lived there in the moment
Hunted back door camp for enough grouse to make a meal
You were fortunate to have that moment — all of the moments.