Various versions of this article regarding the One Shot Hunt Club South Africa have been published in the African Sporting Gazette and SCI chapter newsletters.

One Shot Hunt Club South Africa

The One Shot Hunt Club South Africa began in the year 2000 when several veterans of the One Shot Hunt Club of Wyoming decided that they wanted to start a similar club in South Africa. The Wyoming club has been in existence for over 60 years and it has become famous among hunters worldwide for its one shot pronghorn hunt.

These sportsmen’s planning came to fruition in May of 2001, when the One Shot Hunt Club South Africa (OSHC SA) held its first event at the Wintershoek game farm near Kimberly. Ten teams of two shooters each competed in the event which included shooting competition, bushman dancers, banquets and an awards ceremony. The animal hunted by the teams was the springbok; an animal which is similar in both size and difficulty to hunt to the North American pronghorn.

Scores for each team were based on the number of one shot kills and the time taken by the team to complete its shots. The winning team was the one which had two one shot kills in the shortest period of time. Not surprising, the winning team for this first event was a pair of very experienced pronghorn hunters.

Since the first year’s event, additional competitions during the event have been added and the attendees now compete in sling shot, shotgun, air rifle, and timed target shooting as well as spear throwing and the one shot hunt itself. A practice hunt is now offered before the actual one shot hunt for those who either haven’t hunted African animals or who wish to update their hunting skills. For the 2005 event, a one shot bow hunt is being added as a separate competition.

After the first year’s event, many of the OSHC SA’s past shooters expressed an interest in participating in future events so a competition, with somewhat different rules was added, for which only past shooters are eligible. The competition for past shooters is conducted on the same day as the new shooters one shot competition.

The challenge for past shooters is that only those shots at springbok which are 100 yards or greater distant from the shooter are counted for score. Misses, shots which only wound animals, follow-up shots at wounded animals and shots not taken are not counted for score. PHs use laser range finders to accurately measure the distance at which the hunters’ shots are taken.

Each past shooter team’s score is determined by total of the yardage at which it’s killing or mortally wounding shots were taken. In the event of a tie score, the winning team is selected based on the minimum time required for it to fire its six shots and to kill 4 animals.

Following the successful staging of the first OSHC SA event, several officers of the club had the occasion to visit a few community grade schools in the Kimberly area. The needs of the school children and the shortage of resources available for them were dramatically obvious. Even though it was South Africa’s winter, many of the school children were without shoes and many came to school hungry because their families couldn’t afford to provide them with breakfast.

Believing that they would like to return something to the country which had provided them with so many hunting opportunities over the years, the club’s members began a program to collect tennis shoes and funds for maize meal which could be distributed to needy South African school children during the next year’s event. Conversations with school and government officials during the 2002 event indicated that most of the school systems had very few working computers available for teaching, text books were usually shared among several students and students didn’t have enough money themselves to purchase such basic school supplies as pencils and paper.

The virtual non-existence of computers available for teaching students was seen as a major impediment for the schools. The frustration felt by both the teachers and school officials caused by the lack of teaching computers was very evident.

Identification of the seriousness of these needs resulted in the club substantially increasing its programs to support the schools during the next year. Providing support for needy South African school children was adopted as the primary mission of the club. Efforts were initiated to encourage the donations of computers and school supplies which could be given to the school systems.

Before the 2003 event in South Africa a number of organizations in the United States provided very generous donations of computers, software, text books and school supplies which required 20 full pallets to ship. One of the club’s officers approached FedEx who volunteered to air freight to the pallets to Johannesburg at FedEx’s own expense. Since then, officers of the club have been working in conjunction with the Educational Ministry of the Free State to maximize the utilization of the computers, text books and school supplies within the school system. For the 2004 event, blankets and first aid supplies were added to the mealy, computers, text books and school supplies distributed.

This program for supporting the needy South African schools generated so much interest that the club has incorporated a non-profit foundation in the US. This foundation provides a corporation to which U.S. based individuals and organizations can donate funds or other appropriate items which can be used to support the South African schools. The foundation has no paid employees and all of its officers and directors contribute both their time and travel expenses without being paid or reimbursed.

The 2005 one shot hunt event is scheduled from June 19^th through June 22nd. It will be held at the Adventura Resort Tshipise near Pietersburg. Anyone who is interested in participating in the activities of the club is invited to contact either of the U.S. officers of the club. Further information; including a detailed schedule of 2005’s activities, a listing of current members, pictures from past events and a printable registration form are available on the club’s website www.oneshot-huntclubsa.com.