Family Affair

Youth hunters score big on South African safari

Azarian Foght is a nine-year-old fourth grader at Sam Houston Elementary School in Bryan who is a crackerjack shot with a centerfire file. So is his big sister, Dominique, a petite 11-year-old who will enter sixth grade this fall.

The Foght kids' shooting prowess is a by-product of repitition. Lots of it. Their father, Jim, made sure the youths spent plenty of time at the local shooting range before introducing them to the sport of big game hunting on the wild plains of South Africa.

Courtesy Photo (enlarge photo) Eleven-year-old Dominque Foght collected a trio of trophies, including this warthog. Courtesy Photo (enlarge photo) Nine-year-old Azarian Foght (far right) of Bryan/College Station brought down this blue wildebeest with a single shot while hunting with Sadaka Safaris in South Africa. The youngster was accompanied on the 10-day adventure by his dad, Jim (left), 11-year old sister, Dominique (center) and mother, Julie.

"I took them to the gun range at least once a week for a couple of months before we made the trip," Foght said. "I wanted to be sure they were ready. I wanted them to develop some accuracy and be confident about their shooting abilities."

Foght is a 49-year-old Bryan businessman with nearly a half dozen safaris under his belt. He has hunted in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia and in South Africa. He made his first trip to the bush back in 1987 and fell in love with the people, the country, the scenery and most of all, the thrill of hunting in a big game mecca that represents just about everything wild.

Foght has taken a wide variety of African big game animals over the years, including a half dozen cape buffalo, considered by many to be the most dangerous to hunters of all the plains game animals.

A mature cape buffalo bull, which can weigh upwards of 1,800 pounds, is sometimes called "black death." Most attacks occur when stalking bulls that have been wounded, but they have been known to attack without provocation. The Cape kills by goring with its massive horns.

Foght said the decision to turn his most recent hunting excursion into a family affair fulfilled a dream he has been pondering for several years now.

"I didn't want to go back by myself again," he said. "On previous trips, I would come home with all these neat stories to tell. All I heard from my kids was 'when are you going to take us?' Plus, when I was over there, I was wishing my family was there to experience it with me. I decided the next time I went, my wife, Julie, and my kids were going with me."

Foght booked the trip last January after attending the Houston Safari Club International banquet. He met with several different outfits, but settled on Sadaka Safaris owned by Ewert and Karen Vorster.

The operation is based in the malaria-free Thabazimbi district, roughly two hours from Johannesburg. The base camp offers all sorts of neat amenities, but it was it was the family appeal of the Sadaka set-up that helped Foght make up his mind.

"They told us they were a family-oriented operation and it really showed once we got there," he said. "They bent over backwards for us. The outfitters as well as the professional hunters worked extremely well with the kids. That was what this trip was all about. I wanted them to experience what I'd been talking about for so long."

Foght said adventure spanned 10-days and produced a lifetime of memories.

"It couldn't have gone any better," he said. "The camp was top notch, the food was great and we were able were able to sit out by the campfire with a cool drink every night in the wilds of South Africa. It was really a neat experience."

The youths collected a number of trophies during their stay from Sadaka's 20,000 acres of private ranch land. Azarian Foght made a perfect 80-yard shot on blue wildebeest on the first day. The horns measured 27 inches from tip to tip. The youngster also made a 100-yard shot on a warthog, dropping it in its tracks.

"Both of them were determined to shoot a warthog and nothing else," Foght said. "That's all they talked about before the trip, but once we got out there they really took an interest, especially my daughter."

In addition to a warthog, Dominique Foght shot an impala and a blesbuck.

"She was sort of intimidated by it all at first, but after about three days she really took to it," Foght said. "It was really neat watching them out there. They got to experience spot and stalk hunting, they hunted from blinds and they loved every minute of it. Now all am hearing is 'when are we going back.'"