Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/554642
Ivory By Gayne C. Young s P o r t I n G C L A s s I C s 1 2 2 John Dugmore made his name in ivory back in post World War II Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. His knowledge and skills in the field garnered him work on such early cinematic safari classics as Hatari! staring John Wayne and William Holden's The Lion. His clients included such luminaries as Ronald Reagan's Chief of Staff Jim Baker (twice), His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, and Prince Johann "Hansi" Georg von Hohenzollern of Germany. Johan Calitz was in his late teens when he began accompanying his father, clients, and friends afield in Rhodesia under the mentorship of some of the most well- known professional hunters of that time. Today, almost 40 years later, he is internationally recognized not only for his steadfast style of elephant hunting, but also for his pioneering work in the hunting DVD market and his participation in the popular TV show Under Wild Skies, now in its 19th season. ivan Carter, formerly the host of Tracks Across Africa, was only 18 when he first guided elephant hunters in his Rhodesian homeland. Similar to Dugmore and Calitz, Carter has embraced today's media and technology to expand his clientele and to share his passion for conservation through hunting. It is this passion that has made him one of the most recognized PHs in Africa. J ohn Dugmore's introduction to professional hunting began in 1947 in Kenya. Eighteen at the time, he worked as the logging manager at a sawmill, but during weekends he would head into the forest after buffalo and occasionally for leopard and rhino with Bill Ryan, his guide, friend, and mentor. Those early experiences proved invaluable when he joined the well- established hunting company of Ker and Downey Safaris. "My first year with them I worked in the company store The fraternity of professional hunters who specialize in elephants is an ever-shrinking group, the result of habitat loss, poaching, and governmental politics that have brought about closure after closure of Africa's prime elephant-hunting areas. Within this most exclusive of clubs are three PHs whose combined experience spans more than 140 years and whose notoriety has earned them glowing accolades from clients and revered admiration from their peers. I was privileged to sit with these gentlemen while on safari in Botswana. the