In 2000, Peter Thormählen started hunting professionally in South Africa guiding primarily plains game and some dangerous game after serving an apprenticeship with John Calitz. With seventeen seasons behind him, Thormählen has built one of the most successful operations on the African continent, operating in South Africa, Namibia and, formerly, Bostwana.

Despite his commercial success, he considers the greatest honor of his professional career as being the first professional hunter to guide the first black rhino hunts in many years. Thormählen was operating on a huge reserve in Mpumalanga that had one of the biggest privately-owned herds of southern black rhino when the owner informed him that he had gotten a tag for a black rhino trophy hunt in 2005. Thormählen sold the tag almost immediately, and guided the hunter on the first legal black rhino trophy hunt since the 1970s.

Just thirty-two days later, he guided the first-ever darted black rhino hunt, and later guided the first darted black rhino hunts with a crossbow, dart handgun, and a black powder dart gun. To date, Thormählen & Cochran have guided fourteen black rhino hunts.

Thormählen runs his company with his wife, Anso, who heads the South African operations. They have supported hunting and conservation by supporting SCI, DSC, HSC and forty-four SCI chapters with countless donated safaris. They also support the Bushmen of Namibia with game meat, clothing, financial contributions and a program to stop the illegal taking of Bushman land.

Thormählen believes professional hunters are obliged to leave something behind for the next generation and to contribute to conservation. He believes that any operator who strives only to make money and fails to provide for the future has failed as a professional hunter. As he says, “We need to ensure that the next generation of hunters will also have the privilege of walking up on an elephant, buffalo, rhino or kudu with a rifle over their shoulder.”

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to hunting in Africa now and in the future,  SCI has honored Thormählen with its International Professional Hunter of the Year award.

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About the SCI Hunters’ Convention:

Safari Club expects upwards of 24,000 international hunters to visit

Las Vegas, January 31-February 3, 2018.  The SCI Hunters’ Convention represents the largest and most successful event to raise money for advocacy to protect hunters’ rights. The 2018 Hunters’ Convention will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center with over a million square feet of exhibits and almost 1,000 exhibiting companies.

Book rooms at http://www.showsci.org/hotels/

Becoming an SCI Member:

Joining Safari Club International is the best way to be an advocate for continuing our hunting heritage and supporting worldwide sustainable use conservation, wildlife education and humanitarian services.

JOIN NOW:  https://www.safariclub.org/join-and-participate/join-now

Safari Club International – First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI has approximately 200 Chapters worldwide and its members represent all 50 of the United States as well as 106 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call 520-620-1220 for more information.