An African adventure and the memories of a mate

A while back my hunting mate Matt Norton had been going through a tough time. To help take his mind off things I invited him on a trip to South Africa with our mutual friend, Newell Lock, for a mostly plains game hunt.

Newell and I had been over on safari before and made great friends with the Raubenheimer family who operate Bitouwsfontein, an 8000-acre game ranch situated 200km north of Port Elizabeth in the Winterberg mountains in the middle of the Eastern Cape. Once Matt understood the relative low cost of hunting in South Africa he jumped at the opportunity. After that first trip, he was so blown away by the quality of the animals and the challenges of hunting in this unique mountainous semi-desert terrain covered in thorn bush, spekboom trees and loose shaley rocks that he decided to return with us again.

Bitouwsfontein is in the middle of the famous Karoo, however in the mountains in what they term the ‘Succulent Karoo’ because of the abundance of spekboom. This means that, in addition to the karoo bush, ground covers and native grasses, there is plenty of feed for the browsing animals – in particular, the grey ghost that is the greater (southern) kudu. At about the same latitude as Sydney and with their rainy season occurring in summer, hunting in winter at Bitouws is usually pleasant and sunny, with chilly mornings.

Hunting kudu in this environment is challenging, similar to hunting sambar deer in the Victorian High Country, a passion for Matt and his four brothers. I should explain that Matt was a good, albeit sometimes unorthodox, sambar hunter. He derived great pleasure in telling everyone of taking a 29“ sambar while out hunting with his trusty hound – the family’s pet French bulldog.

Apparently, the tale goes that one winter’s morning the feisty Frenchie bailed a big ol’ stag on the opposite side of a gully and the stag was so intent on stomping on the pesky little intruder that he was oblivious to Matt lining him up from 180yds on the other side. A solid shot, animal down, with the pesky agitator now trying to rip the dead stag’s ears off, and the rest is history. After that Matt reckoned his diminutive family pet could match it with the best hunting dogs out there.

On both his African trips, Matt took his trusty Mauser deer hunting rifle in .300 Win Mag topped with a Nightforce 20x scope. A bit over-scoped but otherwise perfect for the mostly large African plains game available. Ammo, in our preferred Barnes or equivalent projectiles, was sourced over there by our hosts to save us the hassle (and additional weight) of travelling with it.

On that first trip, Matt harvested a kudu, gemsbok, zebra, waterbuck, blue wildebeest, warthog and impala. On his second trip he added the common, black and copper springbok, a red hartebeest, bushbuck, eland, sable, another cracking kudu (with 2“ of ivory at the tips) and a huge warthog.

Matt’s first kudu was a particular highlight as, being caught on a tight angle on the edge of a ‘kloof’, he earned a decent ‘Weatherby eyebrow’ in the process. When he enquired of PH Cookie after the shot if he got him, all Cookie could say was, “well there’s blood!” – referring of course not to the animal, which had dropped on the spot, but rather to the stream of red ink now flowing down Matt’s face.

Matt’s 2018 warthog taken at 428yds was also special because he was shooting off sticks, a particular challenge for those not used to them. Matt’s infectious smile couldn’t be wiped from his face for days.

In June 2019, Matt hunted predominantly with Francois as his PH. Francois is property owner John Raubenheimer’s nephew and a farmer in the Free State. When he’s not busy on the farm or as a PH, Francois is a professional jackal hunter who Matt had the pleasure of going out a few nights with, taking several wily black-backed jackals.

I was privileged to share one particularly memorable hunt with Matt during our trip in 2019. I had arranged to hunt a buffalo, and in the same area there were several good sables – a sought-after trophy for Matt. As a result, we paired up and along with Rian and Francois (our PHs), a registered ‘dangerous game PH’ (required for my buff hunt), the ranch owner, a camera man engaged to video the hunt and a tracker, we set off early one morning into the bushveld to share the adventure.

Matt had his trusty .300WM, I had a Blaser R8 in .375 H&H (the minimum calibre allowed for hunting the ‘black death’) and each of the PHs with even bigger medicine ranging from a .416 Rigby up to the lethal .500 Nitro Express that kills on both ends. Over-gunned you say – they didn’t seem to think so!

Armed with all this firepower, and with the knowledge that a young 24-year-old rugby lock had been killed by a buffalo in the same area only weeks before, we nervously set off. My anxiety was elevated further when after confirming with the DG-PH where to place my shot (on the shoulder), I then asked how, if I wounded the animal, would we go about tracking him down? His response, “don’t worry about it, he’ll find you!”

Matt got a decent sable early on that morning, and then the whole entourage focused on my buffalo. Two old ‘dagga boys’ (buffaloes) were sighted along a dry riverbed and a plan was made. With thick bush each side this was an area about 600m wide by 2km long and we traversed it for over four hours, bumping the two bulls at close quarters no less than four times without them presenting a shot. On the fifth occasion they were 20ft in front of me behind thick thorn and acacia bushes, but I could only see one black hoof.

Beside me was the DG-PH, behind him Rian, Francois and the ranch owner, then about 10ft further back came Matt and then the camera man behind him. With guns at the ready the DG-PH motioned me to the left to try and get a shot through the bushes that the two bulls were standing behind. I moved just as the buffaloes realised we were on them and all hell broke loose. With a crashing of trees, the thundering of hooves, and a huge cloud of dust, one animal broke to the left and the other to the right like a pair of departing freight trains, without me getting a shot.

This was not however before Matt, thinking black death was coming straight through the thornbushes at him, unceremoniously lifted the much smaller cameraman and placed him like a human shield between himself and the commotion in front, and then back peddled as fast as he could. Discretion being the better part of valour.

Given we couldn’t get those two bulls to shift from the thick stuff, when my DG-PH said if we go in there again, they will charge us, we left them and moved to another part of the property. We eventually found another five good bulls out in the open and I took down a nice 42“ dagga boy with thick bosses, and at a safer distance.

Despite the realisation of a trophy of a lifetime, the highlight of my hunt was not the adrenalin rush or the taking of a great animal, but rather Matt’s spontaneous attempt at self-preservation, which entertained the whole crew around the braai each evening for the rest of the trip.

Matt was not only a good hunter, but a great bloke. An unassuming gentleman, genuine, no pretence, and a guy who enjoyed his kids, his family and the great outdoors. In Africa, he was enamoured by the animals, the terrain, the people and the simple joy of the hunt. We had a ball together and all who shared these adventures appreciated his company and his friendship.

Unfortunately, in late June 2021 Matt was diagnosed with cancer after going to the doctor because he thought he had broken a couple of ribs playing footy. He was determined to beat the disease for his kids, but alas Matt died in September 2021 after a short but ferocious battle and not seeing his beloved Demons win the flag a couple of days later. All that knew him miss him awfully and I will always cherish the absolute privilege of sharing his African hunting adventures. He was just 39.

In June 2023, Newell and I again travelled to South Africa and Bitouwsfontein to fulfill a promise we had made. While there we were joined by John, Rian, Francois and Thomie, all of whom had hunted with Matt a few years earlier, and we took the time to hold a memorial for our mate Matt. As requested during his last days, we erected a ‘Norton’ road sign kindly provided by the family at the site where he shot his best kudu and from where he also scored his amazing shot on the warthog. A sign to mark the African hunting exploits of a great mate.

For Saachi and Diesel – RIP Matt.

For Bitouwsfontein hunting, contact Rian at [email protected]