By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- A honeymoon in South Africa?
For Dr. Doug Huggett, D.O., a Niles cardiologist, and his wife April, a two-week trip which included hunting and sightseeing was the trip of a lifetime.
The Huggetts travelled to South Africa near the Botswana border last August for a honeymoon that included a week of hunting on the South African plains in the first-ever Kudu Challenge.
Doug paid a $3,000 entry fee, as did nine other hunters, to take part in the Challenge.
The hunters were outfitted with new bows, arrows and other equipment and sent out on the plains with a guide for a week.
With each guide toting a camera and accompanied by Tom Miranda, host of television show Advantage Adventures which airs on ESPN2 Saturday mornings, Doug and April set out to find and collect as many Kudu and other African animals as they could.
A Kudu is similar to an Elk, but with spiral antlers.
The guides and their cameras proved anything but cumbersome to the hunters. In fact, Doug's guide helped him land the winning Kudu bull.
On the final day of the Kudu Challenge, Doug was near a water hole where six Kudu bulls were jousting with each other. He and his guide both noticed one Kudu bull away from the pack that seemed reluctant to join the others.
Finally, after about 45 minutes of waiting for the loner to join his cohorts, Doug got the chance he was waiting for.
Holding the title of Kudu Challenge champion and the opportunity to hunt in South Africa for a week is not the only benefit for Doug.
Advantage Adventures with Tom Miranda will feature the Kudu Challenge on ESPN2 this Saturday at 8 a.m.
He also has been invited to return to South Africa on Aug. 16-23, to defend his title.
Doug is thrilled to see himself on ESPN2 this weekend, but has no illusions about his 15 minutes of fame.
Since his trip to Africa, Doug has continued bow hunting here in the United States. He has hunted White Tail Deer and Turkey locally and went to Texas to hunt Havalina and Texas Doll Rams.
The trophy heads from the Kudu Challenge, including two Kudu, two warthogs and one Bleesbuck, which April shot, are all being loaded on a ship today and being transported to New York City. From there, they will be flown to a local airport for Doug and April to claim.