Total cost ?

I have been curious what the bottom line total cost would be on a African hunt . I understand there is different trophy fees involved depending on what animals a person takes so that would be a factor .

I don't need exact numbers , just ballpark ideas for airfare , hunt , etc .

THIS IS KINDA BASIC, BUT MY BUDDY PAID 6 GRAND FOR HIS PLAINS GAME HUNT (TOOK 11 ANIMALS).....FLIGHT WAS $25 HUNDRED...INSURANCE INCLUDED, PLUS HE HAD A COST OF DIPPING & PREP OF TROPHYS. OTHERS COULD COME CLOSER ON TOTAL COST......YD.

9 grand is kind of what I had in my head , but with the trophy shipping back home the price could be higher . 11 animals sounds like a good hunt . Just thinking out loud , but if I could do it , I would want the first hunt a good one with a wide variety of animals harvested .

There is a guy from work that has hunted over there a bunch of times , and he keeps telling me I could do it for about 8 grand with a the airfare . The only thing is he doesn't bring any trophies home , he harvests , takes pictures and then leaves the heads/capes over there .

I don't understand that whole deal , and would want to bring every thing I could afford home .

quest you are going to wear out your dot button . Next thing you know there will be restrictions on dots , they will be like high capicity magazines , and I'll have the market cornered ..................................................................................................Don't worry though I'll make you a good deal on dots ......

Figure a minimum of 10k in my mind. You will think you will only shoot X animals when you go but trust me you will shoot more. No way I thought I would shoot 16 but it happened and I am fortunate and would do it again in a heart beat. You can never have to much saved for that trip.

I guess I was having to much fun foundation. I'll slow down now. :-(

quest lol

I was there in 2005. The hunt was about $6,000 for 10 animals, airfare was $3,500 for me and the wife but will be more now(probably $2,000 to $2,500 each depending on where you are coming from). Taxidermy was $2,000 for six heads and a zebra skin rug plus $1,200 shipping. (To just dip&pack and ship would have been a thousand).

So if you go by yourself probably $10,000, if the wife goes $12,000. If you offer to take her it may improve your chances of getting to go.

If you are satisfied with South African taxidermy it's less expensive to have it done there.I wouldn't call mine "A" grade taxidermy but it's OK for me. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it a 6 or 7.

Before I talk about costs, I want to respond to something wvhunter just said. He mentioned getting your taxidermy done overseas. That works for some, and I've had 4 animals mounted over there, so I speak from a little experience. What many people don't realize until it is too late is that you can bring all of your trophies home duty free, ONLY IF YOU BRING THEM UNMOUNTED. If you bring home mounted trophies, you have to pay customs duty on the price of the taxidermy. Plus, if you have very much mounted, your freight charges will be higher. It's something to consider. I don't think I'll ever have another animal mounted in Africa, but that's mainly because I can get much better taxidermy done here at home. Actually, I don't anticipate mounting much of what I shoot in the future, except for some animals I've never taken or certain big five animals like more lions or leopards.

As to taking just pictures and leaving your animals over there, I expect to do that in the future for at least a portion of the animals I take in future safaris. I'll still ship some of the special stuff home, but don't plan on bringing everything back in the future.

Ok, this has been a bit long, so I'll comment on costs in a seperate post to follow momentarily.

With regard to costs, you really can spend what you want on a safari, but remember it is very easy to spend a lot of money if you aren't careful.

You can easily do a hunt in South Africa or Namibia for $10,000, and less if you try. Daily rates in both countries are very reasonable, you can easily find a good hunt with daily rates around $350-400. The safair operators make their money not by charging a daily rate, but through the trophy fees they charge. If you want to keep your trophy fees relatively low, you'll shoot game like impala, warthog, springbok, blesbok, burchells zebra, bushbuck, kudu, gemsbuck and wildebeest. The animals that cost a lot in trophy fee are generally eland, nuyala, sable, roan, lechwe and especially dangerous game. Trophy fees for lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo are much higher than for plains game.

With the wide variety of countries, safari operators and animals you can choose from, you can find anything you want in Africa, ranging from a low of about $7,000 up to well over $100,000 for a single safari. If you have the money to spend, a 30 day safari in Tanzania with one of the top operators like Tanzania Game Trackers or Robin Hurt Safaris and a full bag including elephant from Masailand can easily go way over $100,000. If you don't have big money to spend, you can do a quality shorter hunt of 7-10 days for under $10,000.

My last hunt was with Spear Safaris in South Africa's Limpopo province, and we shot a kudu, nyala, impala and warthog in 5 days, on the end of a family vacation. Spear was excellent and I'd recommend them without hesitation. On the other end, I've done long tent camp safaris in Zimbabwe and Botswana and those are fantastic too, but you can go on 3-5 trips to South Africa or Namibia for what one of those hunts cost today.

I highly recommend any of you considering Africa to check out Spear Safaris. They do it right.

Ditto on Spear Safaris, Ive hunted with them twice. They have a website.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"

Those asking the "cost" question are usually asking about budget trips, so I'll answer with this in mind.

From most decent size cities, you can get air fare from about $2K - $2.5K on average. Best I've ever personally paid was $1200 per person on a Delta special. That is a tough deal to find most of the time.

If you restrict your hunts to South Africa (RSA) or Namibia, you can do a 10 day trip with a good mix of animals (~6) for about $5-6K. It is quite possible to add more animals and bring this total easily into the $8K range if you want. All in, most people hunting alone should figure on $7-10K for there first plains game hunt. Like anything in life, you can spend a lot more, but it gets pretty hard to go much cheaper. You get what you pay for.

Compare this to a guided elk hunt in the US. It is pretty easy to see elk trips from $5-10K and up. Super premium hunts have there price. In Africa, you can have a great plains game hunt in the range I suggested. Obviously it will cost more to bring the wife and kids, but most of this cost is airfare. If you have enough airline miles, you can easily reduce your budget accordingly.

As to taxidermy, I strongly suggest you have it done in the US. The budget here is hard to pin down. The most important thing to remember, however, is you don't have to pay this cost immediately at the conclusion of the hunt. It will likely take 4-12 months to get your hides ready for shipment. Depending on the number of animals shot, expect $1-2K for shipping costs. Yes, it is expensive. You can then have your trophies mounted all at once if you have the money, or do one every year or so as you save up. It really helps many people to spread out this expense.
I do find it interesting that guys get hung up on the taxidermy cost. You don't have to mount anything. But when was the last time a guy booking an elk hunt worried about the taxidermy cost? If only all elk hunters were so lucky! Deal with the taxidermy after your trip. It isn't part of the hunt by itself.

Bill

Other costs to consider when talking to your outfitter before booking a trip-

1. Transportation-pick you up and drop off at airport for free, or is a charge incurred. Some distant locations require all-day drive or air charter, which can be expensive.
2. VAT taxes-Typically 15% on the daily rate, included in your daily rate or extra on top?
3. Alcoholic beverages-Some lodges furnish all the soft drinks, but charge extra for wine, beer, and liquor.
4. Sightseeing trips/activities-something for the wife to do if they don't go hunting. Sometimes side tours are arranged, but extra cost incurred.
5. Firearms-If your rifle doesn't arrive, is a rental available or one to use if ammo is purchased.
6. Licenses-Included in your daily rate(most are), or special charges for rarer or more exotic game.
7. Get the dip/pack fees in writing, if you can. Amazing how "estimates" can double or triple after you leave.

Many more options to think about when you are arranging your trip, such as helo rides, horsebacking, surf fishing on the coast, trip to Etosha.

Go to www.huntnamibia.com.na for information on everything in Namibia.

The bad thing with Africa is that you will continue to see animals you want to shoot and they each cost $$$$. Hard to say I only have this amount of money and if you are done with those animals at day 5 of a 10 day hunt and then what. Great problem to have but can be tough at the same time. I didn't plan on this animal or that animal but 16 animals later I was going wow and I cannot wait to go back either.

In AK you go on a moose hunt and usually for only a moose or maybe a black bear or caribou by chance. Where I was at in Africa there was a legitimate chance to see 20+ different species each and every day.

Well, a leopard in namibia will run ya bout $10,000, in the CAR its $40,000. white rhino $100,000 down to about $60,000. Elephant anywhere from $25,000 to $150,000 with tusks and about $10,000 for tuskless. plains game 10 day hunts should go around $10,000 for one person for a lot of animals with big animals in the package. dangerous game runs about $1,500/day just for daily rates which is guides, lodging, meals, etc plus trophy fees. then you can do economy packages for about $3500 and kill a lot of small plains game. Guess what I'm saying is that you can hunt africa no matter who you are. Just depends on what you wanna kill. My first safari cost me $13,00 for 4 people for 7 days. We killed about 16 animals. My second safari cost me $18 grand total and I killed 3 kudu, 1 giraffe, waterbuck, gemsbuck, impala, 3 warthogs, blue wildebeast, springbuck, puff adder, lots of blesbuck, monkeys, baboons etc.

My last safari i took 3 kids, myself and my wife. Hunted zambia and south africa. Airfare alone was $16,000. Then we hunted a solid month. kids were free. I was charged $350/day as was my wife. we shot about 20 animals that weighed over 200 lbs and lots and lots of small animals plus a leopard. Lets just say it was a little too much to spend.

hope this helps.