The Bowker family arrived in South Africa with the British Settlers in 1820 and settled at Thorn Kloof (our primary hunting area) in the 1840s. Some of the accommodations are situated in the original homestead which has been renovated to include en suite bathrooms. The love of hunting and conservation has been inherited by the present generation, Frank, Meyrick and Denham Bowker, your professional hunters as well as the skinners and trackers were all raised on Thorn Kloof therefore having an excellent knowledge of the animal habits and hunting area.

May 1970 saw the first safari in the Eastern Cape by an American hunter. Since then we have hosted hunters from 6 continents, including several Weatherby Award winners as well as those enthusiastic and dedicated hunters going for their Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper awards.

Many families have safaried with us, with the children often experiencing hunting for the first time while hunting their very first animal here. When hunting with Bowker Safaris, most of the time is spent hunting not travelling long distances, as most species occur within 1 hour of camp, some within 20 minutes.We own our own land and have access to vast concessions.

Hunting is conducted all year round, the optimum period being April through October.
The very sharp horns render the Bushbuck very dangerous when wounded. A close relative of the Kudu and the Nyala. The rams are very elegant in appearance, sporting dark greyish-brown fur, with white spots on the flanks and prominent white socks. In height they are 700mm at the shoulders, and have a maximum mass of 54 Kg's. Ewes are smaller and adult ewes are lighter in colour than rams, with more pronounced white spots and stripes.

The Springbuck known as South Africa's National animal. It is characterized by the dark red-brown band along its flanks which separates the fawn-brown upperparts from the white underparts. Both sexes have horns, those of rams are thicker and longer. When danger looms, springbok have the habit of repeatedly springing up to seven feet in the air (hence their name). This is known as pronking and is a technique used to distract predators, such as cheetahs or lions. They are active during the cooler daylight hours and also partly at night.

Kudu are spiral horned antelopes. The horns on males can grow up to 6 feet (181 cm) and are used to wrestle with other bulls. Enemies are the lion, cape hunting dog, leopard and cheetah. Weight: Male, 495-787 lbs. (225-315 kg), Female, 396-517 lbs. (180-235)