Prerequisite to qualify as a Dedicated Hunter

To register as a Dedicated Hunter under the new Firearms Control Act, you have to comply with the following four prerequisites :

1. You have to be a paid-up member of an accredited hunters association

2. You have to apply on the prescribed application form and pay the prescribed application fee. (If you can prove that you comply with prerequisite 3 below, you can download the application form in PDF format at the bottom of this page, fill it out, and hand it, with R200 application fees, in at your branch secretary so that it can be approved at your branch’s next committee meeting)

3. You must have passed both the theoretical and practical parts of the CHASA proficiency exam.

4. You have to participate in at least 3 activities of an accredited hunters association (eg. BHA or other CHASA affiliated hunters association) annually. If you have done three hunts in a year though, it will also count as activities, provided that you submit verifiable documents to your branch secretary. Please note that the onus rests on you, as Dedicated Hunter, to submit prove of your activities and to verify that it is indeed updated on your record. Normally every BHA activity that you participate in will automatically be entered into your database record from the attendance register.There are Activity Log books available from Marius or your branch secretary – buy one now and enter every activity or hunt you attend into that and let the responsible person (eg. Range Officer or game farm owner) sign next to it – it will then be easy to just make a copy in say early December and hand it in at your branch secretary in order for him/her to update your database record. Your branch chairman can then verify that you are indeed an active member of the association as the new Firearms Control Act stipulates. The Act holds the chairman responsible for this verification – if you cannot prove you are an active member, your chairman cannot verify this and you might lose your status – it will then be very difficult to acquire this status again.

Advantages of being a Dedicated Hunter

1. You ought to (when the present relicensing phase of the Act is finished) get any further licences you apply for, faster and less problematically processed at the SAPS.

2. You will be entitled to more than four firearms under the Act

3. You will be entitled to more than 200 rounds of ammunition per licensed firearm

4. Your hunting firearm licences need only be renewed every 10 years where people without this status will have to renew every 5 years (CHASA negotiated with the authorities that this rule will also apply to Occasional Hunters)

5. You are entitled to apply for a semi-automatic shotgun license.