By Ben Payton

This South African Safari was actually planned by me as a way to honor my twin brother Jerry Payton who died in March 1995 of cancer. As young boys and grown men my brother and I shared many, many hunting and fishing trips and the memories of those trips and the good times we had have been a blessing to me as I remember this great man.
My twin brother was one of the best hunters/fisherman that I have ever known. He was the type of individual who would stick it out to the end of a fishing or hunting trip no matter how cold, how hot, or how miserable the conditions became, never complaining and always with great spirit and fun. He was the kind of companion everyone wishes they had as a hunting partner and friend.
I envisioned myself as taking my brother's place as I took his two sons-in-law, Mr. Scott Napier of Darien, Connecticut and Mr. Kenny Bounds of Birmingham on this 10 day South African Safari for plains game. I knew it would be a great time to talk to Scott (who never got to meet my brother) and Kenny about my brother and his great love for the outdoors, and to make some wonderful hunting memories we all could share for a lifetime.
The hunt was booked with Frontier Safari of South Africa in January with the hunt to take place from June 27th through July 6th, with the departure date from Birmingham being June 25th. The location of the hunt was to be in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, approximately a one hour and thirty minute drive from Port Elizabeth.
In planning for this adventure, the first major difficulty to overcome was that Scott had been hunting only a few times and did not own a rifle. To overcome this problem I put Scott in touch with my friend Will Burke at Marks Outdoor. Will Burke proved to be an excellent source of information to Scott answering all his questions about rifles and hunting equipment. Eventually, Scott decided to have Will order him a 300 Weatherby Accumark with a Zeiss 2.5-10 50 mm Scope. When Scott's gun finally arrived at Marks, I was so impressed that I had Will order me the same Weatherby Rifle but with a Zeiss 3-12 56 mm scope . Kenny was able to talk my older brother Howard out of his 300 Weatherby Mark V rifle scoped with a Kahles 3-12 56mm scope which Will Burke had ordered for him years earlier.
With all of our guns, binoculars, clothing and equipment in order, we were ready to set out on our journey on the 25th of June, however as happens, Scott could not leave as scheduled and would have to be delayed two days, departing the 27th. This delay also affected Kenny as he was traveling with Scott on a companion airline ticket. So on the 25th of June I departed Atlanta by myself and after a 15 hours flight to Johannesburg and a 1/2 hour flight to Port Elizabeth I was met by my Professional Hunter (PH) Andri Fox for the drive to Masada Lodge.
Masada Lodge at Frontier Safari turned out to be a super facility with four bungalows divided into 8 rooms constructed of local stone with thatched roofs built on the edge of a 400 foot cliff. Each room was very comfortable with its own bathroom and shower, double bed, clothes closet, with a desk and chair. The room I had provided a spectacular view of the valley below that ran for 10 miles through this hunting area of approximately 50,000 acres. The main lodge located adjacent to the separate sleeping bungalows, would accommodate at least 30 for meals and included a large patio enclosure for outdoor cooking and celebrating a good day's hunt.
The terrain wasn't exactly what I had expected to see being mostly a strange mixture of flats, mountainous regions with some very high elevations, covered with rocks and large stones, large aloe plants-tall palm like trees with broad leaves on top with bright red flower like protrusions growing up from the center and native brush.
During the first two days of my hunt prior to Scott and Kenny arriving I was fortunate enough to take four trophy animals, a wonderful Springbuck, Red Hartebeest,
A huge Blesbuck and a very nice Bushbuck. All these animals were taken off the tops of mountains through spot and stalk, some being very long stalks, which made for very exciting hunting. With these animals taken prior to Scott and Kenny's arrival the pressure was off me as I had collected 4 of the 8 plains game animals that I come to Africa to hunt.
On the 29th of June, Scott and Kenny arrived at Masada Lodge in the afternoon very excited and ready for the hunt. The next morning, which was the first day of the hunt for Scott and Kenny was cold, very overcast with light rain, as contrasted to the two very beautiful days I had upon my arrival. In spite of the weather Kenny was successful in taking a Warthog, a huge Impala and a very nice Blesbuck. Scott was also successful in taking a very impressive Impala and a very good Springbuck. I also had a good day and was successful in harvesting a Black Wildebeest and Mountain Reedbuck.
On any given morning, we would either hunt the areas surrounding the lodge or travel to one of the many neighboring concessions normally an hour to an hour and a half away with a few being slightly farther. This gave all of us the opportunity to target areas that held the highest numbers and best quality animals we were after. It also gave us the chance to see more of the African towns and villages along the way and better understand how they lived. This eye-opening experience made Scott, Kenny and I as American's more thankful for what we have in the United States.
After each days hunt we gathered with the other hunters and their PH's around the fire at night to eat a variety of traditionally prepared game dishes and to discuss the events of the day and to hear about the big animals taken and those that got away. It was a wonderful time of relaxation and fellowship.
Day six was the only day that all three of us hunted together with our PH's in the same area. On that day Kenny and I were hunting Kudu and Scott was hunting Warthog. This hunting day turned out to be exceptional for all of us as Scott took a very nice warthog and Kenny and I took identical 47 inch Kudu. "What a day".
During the 10 days I hunted and the 8 days that Scott and Kenny hunted we saw Kudu, Gemsbuck, Impala, Warthog, Black/Blue Wildebeest, Reedbuck, Blesbuck, Duiker, Steenbuck, Eland, Waterbuck, Giraffe, Zebra and most of all the plains game of the East African Cape. The sight of these magnificent animals in their natural habitat is beyond me to describe.
As Scott, Kenny and I prepared to leave Africa we had taken 36 animals during our hunt with Frontier Safari, representing 13 different species, of which almost all met the SCI record book requirement. Special animals that we took included a 30 inch Blue Wildebeest, 18 inch Blesbuck, 47 inch East Cape Kudu, 15 inch Cape Bushbuck, 26 inch Impala, 6 7/8 inch Mt. Reedbuck and a 5 1/8 inch Duiker.
Knowing that the hunt was over, I couldn't help but look out at my last African Sunset and think about my twin brother, and how much he would have loved this African hunt with his sons-in-law.