Jamy Traut’s career as a professional hunter seemed predestined. He was raised in Namibia in a family of hunters and channeled his interest into a biology degree to stay close to the animals and the land. During his higher education in both Namibia and Norway, Traut’s colleagues, fellow students and professors wanted to hunt, and taking them afield was the spark that ignited his PH career.
Traut has been licensed PH exclusively in Namibia for the past 25 years and is one of the few PH’s there licensed for dangerous game. He also hunts plains game. In addition to Traut’s private property home base of 200,000 acres called Panorama, Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris has exclusive hunting rights to Kwandu and Mayuni conservancies on the Kwandu River in the Caprivi Strip, three Kaokoland conservancies northwest of Etosha spanning 1.5 million acres, one in the Kalahari consisting of 100,000 acres bordering Kalahari Gemsbok Park and the superb Waterberg Plateau Park beginning in 2019.
Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris has a dual focus on family safaris and trophy hunts for specific species. Hunting is in the traditional manner with dedication to personal service and providing unique safari experiences specified by the client. For Traut, quality is everything, so the number of clients hosted each year is determined by his ability to guarantee that every one of them will have the safari of a lifetime, resulting in 70 percent of clients returning.
A Krieghoff double rifle in .500 Nitro Express is Traut’s preferred gun for elephant and buffalo. “For sorting out lion and leopard, along with backing on plains game, a Winchester Model 70 in .458 Winchester Magnum and a classic Mauser in 9.3×62,” he adds. The double is carried for both speed and sheer stopping power and Traut calls the bolt rifles part of him; extensions that perform without conscious effort.
Decades afield involve hunts that are difficult, challenging, heart stopping and etched in his memory — an extended safari in western Bushmanland that resulted in a grand old elephant bull, a recent problem lion and elephant hunt that ended successfully on all counts, an extended hunt for a big kudu bull in the desert mountains bordering Namib Park are just some. Every bit as memorable are many of the family hunts where Traut managed their African dreams.
Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris supports various local programs with money, time and staff and provides full time income for 35 people who in turn support their families and become stewards spreading a positive message of hunting within their communities. Traut also supports anti-poaching efforts in the Caprivi Strip and non-profit rhino relocation to private land. He is currently working to found a conservation program that educates, funds and compensates landowners for elephant-related crop and property damage.
Jamy Traut Hunting Safaris is a long-time SCI Member, exhibitor and donor. Traut will be hosting a leopard hunt with Craig Boddington that will be auctioned at the 2019 SCI Convention in Reno. Various non-hunting activities are available including fishing on the Skeleton Coast, photo safaris over the length and breadth of Namibia and to Victoria Falls, Swakopmund, Etosha and Fish River Canyon, rhino tracking, game drives and walks in the hunting areas.
