Hunting safaris in Africa or Switzerland?

Lately there seems to have been some confusion, especially from people who think I organise hunting trips in Africa.

Even though I am an enthusiastic hunter, and about 7 years ago some of my Swiss hunting buddies joined me for a hunting trip on our family’s farm in South Africa, I don’t organise hunting safaris of any kind in any country. According to the trade register, I have permission to organise such trips, but I don’t. We spend so much time energy on our core business, that the idea of organising hunting trips in Africa never realised. It never became a realistic option.

After our friendly hunting trip all those years ago, I made an online post that we could organise such trips for others. It felt like a good idea at the time. The post has since been removed, seeing as we never organised such hunting trips at all. One hunting trip with some friends does not amount to a hunting safari business. And by the way, one of my buddies thought to hunt a buffalo (which counts as big 5 in African), but decided against it, seeing as it was so expensive :-D

Our core business is and has always been producing high quality meat products, mostly from animals harvested here in Switzerland. For two of our many products, we currently still have meat from Austria, Germany or France, which will change soon. Our aim is to have venison and wild boar products that are 100% harvested from the hunt in Swiss fields and forests.

I grew up with hunting, do it ethically and am very open for a respectful conversation on this topic. I know and am friendly with some professional hunters in South Africa. There are many of them, as a quick google search will show. Seeing as I am not an organiser of hunting safaris, others will be able to give more professional opinions on matters concerning organised hunts in South Africa or any other country. My business is not organising hunts, but producing and selling high quality Swiss-made meat products.

I personally like to go to the forest to harvest meat for myself, my private guests and family. Getting meat this way is not for everyone, but I love it. As an outdoor guy, I also enjoy foraging for wild mushrooms and herbs that we consume privately (for teas, sauces, tinctures, etc.).

As a non-professional hunter, my experience is that there is a lack of understanding on how hunting works or what hunters do, be it here in Switzerland or in my country of birth, South Africa. Most hunters are happy to talk about what they do, if they are approached respectfully. By the way, part of what a good hunter is trained to do, is to treat God’s creation (including people) with respect.

In our industrialised age, being closer to the food we consume is something I believe is really healthy and I plan to keep doing it. I do not plan to ever organise a hunting safari in Africa, even though I am allowed to do so. But if any of my friends will ever again join me for a hunting trip in South Africa or Switzerland, the meat from the animals will be eaten (pretty much from “nose to tail”), the animals and people will be treated respectfully and a combination of trophies and private photos will help us honour God’s good creation and preserve beautiful memories, just like we regularly do it here in Switzerland.

I hope this little bit of info is helpful for you. For a true experience of what our business does, check out some of our products here.