Pest Control in South Africa

I am Phillip Badenhorst, and I reside in Central South Africa, in the Northern Cape.

For years, our farmers have been plagued by predators that catch our livestock and poultry all night and all day. This significantly impacts our farmers' livelihoods and affects meat prices in South Africa.

The most common predators are Red Jackals, Caracals, Brown Hyenas, and Leopards.

Anyone who wants to hunt these animals must obtain the appropriate permit, and the method of obtaining a permit varies from province to province. Permits can be picked up at your nearest Wildlife Conservation office. If you're hunting as a profession, all you need is a license.

There are many methods of predator control in South Africa namely:

Poison: It is effective but so many innocent animals are harmed by it.

Helicopter hunting: Very effective and very expensive.

Trapping: This is very cruel, because the animal will continue to suffer for a while until the farmer finds him.

Dogs: There are various ways to successfully use dogs. Wind dogs and Anatolian Shepherd Dogs stay permanently among the farmer's sheep and guard them.

Metal shot: This method is applied where the predator is frightened and chased all the way to a corner of a camp.

Trap Cages: Effective for Caracals.

Call and Shoot: This is the most ethical method and does not result in the death of the animal at all if applied correctly and professionally using the correct equipment.

"Call and Shoot method is my business."

Calling means we have a Caller device that we place in the field that plays certain sounds to attract the predator's attention. There is, of course, a list of approaches to do it quietly, and it must be managed judiciously.

I myself have been experimenting with calling hunting sounds for a few years and make my own sounds that have been very successful for me. I have released my Safari-Hunt Volume 1 CD/Bundle sounds on the market, and many predator hunters use them successfully.

For years we only had whitelights (flash) to see and control the predators at night, and successfully completed 30 – 40 targets a year.

The problem is Predators get used to the light and don't get any closer to the caller.

Then Infrared(IR) & Night Vision Telescopes appeared on the market. Although my numbers go up to 80 predators per year with IR, the problem with IR Night vision is if you don't  the aim at animal's eye, you won't see it at all in the tall grass.

I have missed many predators.

In late 2021, I was recommended to use HIKMICRO Thermal Scopes and Monoculars. The price point was attractive and affordable to invest in.

Our first LYNX LH19 Monocular made a big difference in my number of predators. I located them clearly during the day and even better on cooler nights.

It changed my whole perspective of night hunting.

From there I upgraded to HIKMICRO THUNDER TH35. I use a 22- 250 brake which is a nice fast gun with a flat trajectory. The result is I can handle an average of 250 to 350 predators per year. This product is like a stone in the dark, they can't see me at all, but even in the long grass the predators are very conspicuous in the lens.

Next, I invest in a PQ50L – High resolution 640×512 with built-in Laser Range Finder (LRF) and a Ballistic calculation option in.

The Ballistic calculation helps me tremendously to fire those 300m plus shots comfortably. The PQ50L 2.0 with its Sub 20mk gives you a fantastic clear image. Definitely the best 640 sensor I've ever used. For identification of an animal, the PQ50L 2.0 is unbeatable. I can clearly see the difference between a Red Jackals and a Black-eared Jackal, or between a Caracals and a Serval.

HIKMICRO's thermal technology has placed me in a next 'bracket'.

If you think carefully it is difficult to shoot a fox during the day at 300m, let alone in the pitch dark night.