The remains of legendary Theunis Botha  who died tragically in a freak hunting accident on Mei 19 was returned to his family.

Theunis was accompanying a small group of clients when the accident happened.

The 51 year old Theunis was born and lived in Tzaneen his entire life. He attended Tzaneen SAVF Nursery School, Tzaneen Primary School and Ben Voster High School, where he matriculated in 1983.

He is survived by his wife, Carike, four daughters and a son, who shared their hero’s many attributes and passions with the Letaba Herald.

On Friday May 19, the group went for a walk when they were confronted by a breeding herd of elephant cows. Theunis had a multiplicity of experience with similar situations. The elephants charged, shots were fired and one elephant collapsed on top of Theunis.

Theunis was a highly regarded houndsman, respected and admired Professional Hunter across the world. Beautiful messages of condolence from friends and clients from Russia, Europe and Australia to America have been streaming in since hours after the accident happened. His passion for his hounds and family were unparalleled.

He loved being in the wild, and breathed nature. He was world  renowned for pioneering the traditional European hunting style with hounds, in South Africa.

His hounds were part of the family, he trained and cared for them, and even developed his own breed of hounds over the past 30 years that are specifically adapted for African  hunting conditions.

In recent years the business has expanded to include the breeding and training of hounds specifically for tracking Rhino poachers.

Theunis is described as ”a well-read and educated man who not only followed the world economy with serious interest but could talk about any possible topic you were interested in”, said one of his close friends.

”He knew a lot…” said one of his proud daughters; ”…from world history to 3rd year Chemistry.”

He was also an avid philosopher enriching the lives of those around him. Theunis was passionate about his family and nothing mattered more to him. He was happiest around a campfire surrounded by those he loved.

Theunis became a legend during his lifetime. Very few people in the district haven’t heard tales about him, his fearlessness, passion for life, caring heart and his incredible love for his family.

Theunis leaves behind his wife Carike, daughters Marike, Liza, Carmen and Yvonne along with his only son, Theunis jnr.

Theunis Botha loved the life he lived.

He was taken too soon and will be sorely missed by many.

Like Theunis always used to say to his children :” It is not how you start that matters, but how you finished.”