About LowVeld Hunters
Lowveld Hunters is run by Stephen Meyer and currently operates in Matetsi and the area surrounding the Gonarezhou National Park. He also conducts occasional buffalo hunts on Eaglemont Ranch in the lowveld area of Zimbabwe.
Stephen was licensed as a professional hunter in 2000 and includes in his hobbies; hunting, fishing and spear fishing. You are in good hands with this experienced PH who has a love and respect of the wild animals and the African bush that has been nurtured since a young boy.
Lowveld Hunters offers professional and exciting hunting opportunities in several areas that abound with both big game and plains game.
History of LowVeld Hunters Zimbabwe
George Meyer
It all started in the 1960’s, when George Meyer bought 47000 acres of land in the Lowveld, a region becoming popular at the time for sugar cane and citrus production, as well as cattle ranching. It was a piece of land deemed worthless, as there was no permanent water supply. Undaunted, he drilled boreholes, built small dams and began cattle and sheep farming.
Seeing the prolific wildlife as a threat to crops and livestock, the prevailing rule of the day was to shoot as much of it as possible. But George’s son, Jannie, had other ideas. In the 1970’s, when he announced his intention to begin game ranching, and operate hunting safaris in Zimbabwe. it seemed a ludicrous proposal.
Jannie Meyer
Jannie was one of the entrepreneurs in farming game instead of obliterating it, and one of the first to establish safari hunting as a viable industry. Over the years, he restocked Eaglemont Ranch with wildlife, buying buffalo, sable and giraffe from other areas to establish good gene pools, and allowing the existing remnants of wildlife to multiply.
The result was a flourishing eco-system where the game thrived. And so began Lowveld Hunters, one of the first safari hunting companies to be established in Zimbabwe.
Initially operating only on Eaglemont Ranch and run solely by Jannie and his wife Beulah, Lowveld Hunters expanded to include various business partners and other hunting areas during the course of time. These included Mukwichi on the Angwa River, bordering Chewore safari area and Mana Pools National Park, Muzarabani on the Mozambique border north of Harare, and concessions around Gonarezhou National Park.
Jannie and Beulah managed the expansion of the company by expanding their family. Both their sons, Jannie jnr. and Stephen, qualified as professional hunters, and their daughter, Moyra now works for Mavros safaris which is primarily photographic.
The decline of Eaglemont Ranch began in the year 2000, during the Land Redistribution Program. Following endless poaching activities, the once rich game populations soon dwindled to where the property was no longer a viable enterprise.
Left with only a fraction of the original ranch, Jannie Sr. contained his prized buffalo herd in this area, and concentrated on elephant hunting in the concessions near Gonarezhou. Jannie Jr. went on to create his own hunting company.
Jannie Sr. passed away in May 2017. He is fondly remembered for his love of people, whom he enthralled for hours with hunting tales and stories of days gone by.
He had this way about him – people who arrived as clients often left as life-long friends. Like Jan Hawkins from Louisianna, who arrived for a 7 day hunt and left 7 years later. And Irishman Kevin Clarke, who came for a short hunt and ended up staying for 3 years.
Stephen Meyer and Lowveld Hunters
Stephen has since taken Lowveld Hunters into the Matetsi area, and has good relationships with Nuanetsi, Maitengwe and other regions.
He has also established a Lowveld Hunters Bulawayo office.