South African Safari!

Ltsheets

Ltsheets

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This past Saturday I attended my first RMEF banquet in Clovis. My buddy proposed we get a group of 4 and put in 1k each towards bidding on the South African safari they were auctioning off. Sounded like a good deal if we could get it for 4k or less total. This hunt has gone for up to 8k in the past and we ended up winning it at $2500!!! Needless to say we were in shock that we got it for that price. I just wanted to see who all on here has been before and hear about the experiences you had. I'm going to have a hard time choosing which animals to choose on top of the included springbok and blessbok. Hearing stories about how each hunt went for different animals might help me decide. I look forward to hearing about your trips!
 
That price included the springbok and blessbok. The rest is add on based on the listed trophy fees.
 
Oh I know but when you consider that I'm paying less than the cost of lodging and im getting 2 animals free, that's a good way to start.
 
My wife and I went last June with another couple. The cost at the auction was dirt cheap. However the hunt ended up Very very expensive. You will be tempted to harvest many animals. Be careful on the pressure to shoot. You will encounter unbelievable cost for shipping the animals back. We decided to have our taxi deal with 9 animals. The cost to dip and ship was 2.4K. The cost to ship was 1.6K. The cost to receive at Coppersmith was $800. I think I have one last round of bills coming will be from the taxi and it will be in the $4500-5000 range. Our cost with flights will be close to $40K by the time we get done. Mind you, my wife wanted a sable and it was $8,500. We took 2 kudu, an eland, a impala, a nyala, a blesbuck, a zebra, a blue wildebeast, and the sable. Was a bucketlist thing. I don't want to go back..... those guys are good at sucking your $'s....BEST SAVE UP!
 
Wow sounds like you had a great trip! You definitely took more animals that in planning on taking and though I'd really like a sable or Cape buffalo, they are more pricey at this safari than I've seen elsewhere so I'm hoping to go back in the future for them maybe. I'm looking at 5-6 total animals with 2 already paid for. I'm definitely adding a kudu and Impala. Beyond those 2, I'm really torn. I was lucky enough to get an oryx this yr here in NM so that one might get a pass. Others I'm considering are wildebeest, zebra, or maybe an Eland though that's a little more than I really want to spend for one animal. Any inputs from how each animals hunt was would be appreciated.
 
I don't think that's a good deal. It's been 10 years since I have been there but the outfitter I went with is offering hunts for 2016 at

7-day, 1 on 1, 6 larger animals, $4,490

5-day, 1 on 1, 7 smaller animals, $3,690

And a great outfitter also, pick you up and drop you off at the airport, treat you like royalty.

South African Outfitters are going through some tough times, world economy in the tank and their currency has dropped since I was there $1 US dollar equaling 6 Rand to $1 US dollar equaling 15 Rand.

Some of these donated hunts are scams, they will jack the trophy fees up to get the money back. You need to look if they are comparable to other outfitters.

US outfitters usually won't negotiate price , many times SA outfitters will.

If you do go I would second everything JFWRC said. Look at the price list before you start shooting.

Also like JFWRC I enjoyed the trip, it was a great experience, but I don't have any desire to go back.
 
The terrain in South Africa is different depending on where you are. I was in the Eastern Cape which had mountains, flat open plains and Acacia thickets. A friend of mine hunted near Kruger and it was Bushveld, flat and thickets.

Some of the animals liked the thickets, kudu, impala, blue wildebeest, impala, mountain reedbuck, bushbuck and some others. You would probably like hunting these the best because you have to get off the truck and hunt these.

Some liked the open grassland more, gemsbuck, zebra, springbuck, blesbuck and some others. You just rode around and shot these off the top of the truck.
 
JFWRC--sorry to highjack this thread, but when you say "dip and ship", what does that mean?

I really only have two on my bucket list and that would be the kudu and sable--based on your experience, what you anticipate the overall cost for those would be?
 
I don't see how you think this isn't a good deal...

I'm paying $625 for a 10 day trip with 8 days of hunting out of the lodge. Food, room, and open bar are included along with transportation to and from the airport. Everything that is included is worth $1580 so I'm paying less than half of that and then adding whatever I want on top of it. If I also took Kudu, Impala, Wildebeest, and Zebra as well, my total before tips would be $4225 for 6 animals. How is that not a good deal?

>I don't think that's a good
>deal. It's been 10 years
>since I have been there
>but the outfitter I went
>with is offering hunts for
>2016 at
>
>7-day, 1 on 1, 6 larger
>animals, $4,490
>
>5-day, 1 on 1, 7 smaller
>animals, $3,690
>
>And a great outfitter also, pick
>you up and drop you
>off at the airport, treat
>you like royalty.
>
>South African Outfitters are going through
>some tough times, world economy
>in the tank and their
>currency has dropped since I
>was there $1 US dollar
>equaling 6 Rand to $1
>US dollar equaling 15 Rand.
>
>
>Some of these donated hunts are
>scams, they will jack the
>trophy fees up to get
>the money back. You need
>to look if they are
>comparable to other outfitters.
>
>US outfitters usually won't negotiate price
>, many times SA outfitters
>will.
>
>If you do go I would
>second everything JFWRC said. Look
>at the price list before
>you start shooting.
>
>Also like JFWRC I enjoyed the
>trip, it was a great
>experience, but I don't have
>any desire to go back.
>
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-23-16 AT 10:57AM (MST)[p]No worries mozey. I want to see any and all info people have on hunting Africa.
 
Thanks for breaking up some of the animals that like brush vs plains. You're spot on that did enjoy hunting the thicker stuff more. Where do eland like to frequent?

>The terrain in South Africa is
>different depending on where you
>are. I was in the
>Eastern Cape which had mountains,
>flat open plains and Acacia
>thickets. A friend of mine
>hunted near Kruger and it
>was Bushveld, flat and thickets.
>
>
>Some of the animals liked the
>thickets, kudu, impala, blue wildebeest,
>impala, mountain reedbuck, bushbuck and
>some others. You would probably
>like hunting these the best
>because you have to get
>off the truck and hunt
>these.
>
>Some liked the open grassland more,
>gemsbuck, zebra, springbuck, blesbuck and
>some others. You just rode
>around and shot these off
>the top of the truck.
>
 
Many African Safaris available at fundraising banquets, not all are the best deal.... The one you are explaining isn't bad, but I do believe you over paid just a tad. Last weekend at the Roswell SFW-NM banquet, a 10 Day African Safari sold for only $1000.00. Here is what it included. They had more available and will be selling more at the rest of their banquets this and next month..... (they do phone bids)


http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos3/1712201603231520311.jpg
 
I disagree due to trophy fees. Due to the fact that you have to take 6 animals in order for the discount to work, that's not as good a deal as it seems. Those seem inflated compared to my hunt. For example, I can take a blessbuck for 300 where it's 1000 there and while I can kill an eland for 1800, it's 3500 there. I can also take a cape kudu (I know it's smaller than a greater) for 1500 rather than a <54" greater kudu for 3000.

Not trying to start an argument. It's hard to tell true value of these safaris.
 
The one must-have I would recommend for you would be to try to take an East Cape bushbuck. They are beautiful, and you should try to get several others in you safari travels in the future. I have a Chobe and a Limpopo, and would love to go back to the East Cape for another.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll take a look.

>The one must-have I would recommend
>for you would be to
>try to take an East
>Cape bushbuck. They are beautiful,
>and you should try to
>get several others in you
>safari travels in the future.
>I have a Chobe and
>a Limpopo, and would love
>to go back to the
>East Cape for another.
 
If you can get six animals including Kudu, Wildebeest and Zebra for $4,225 then that isn't a bad deal. Many of the auction hunts are like the one NMBugleJunkie posted . Very high trophy fees really increasing the price.

One of the hunts I was talking about included Blue Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Kudu,, Blesbuck and Impala for $4,495. And that's before you start negotiating, If you had four hunters I think they would come off those prices some.

Dip, pack and ship means they clean the skull plate, flesh the cape and dip it in a preservative, don't know what the preservative is, probably mostly salt and put it in a crate and ship it.

I had my taxidermy done there, on a scale of 1 to 10 the work was probably a 6 or 7. I had 5 heads and a zebra rug that cost about $2,000 for the taxidermy and another $1,200 to ship it home, it was ocean freight but you can do air freight. Larger animals like kudu and gemsbuck were shipped with removable horns. You have to pay an importer to receive the heads for you. So my heads went on a truck from the taxidermist to the ocean vessel to New York where the importer received them, took them through fish and wildlife and customs and put them on a truck to me.
 
I am going on a hunt in June in KwaZulu Natal. I will let you know how it goes. Target species are Kudu and Nyala as well as a few others.

The hunt can get real expensive real fast. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and kill more animals than you were planning on. That is how the outfitter makes money off of the donated hunts. African hunting for the most part is much easier than North American hunting.
I would recommend Eland. They are usually a more difficult hunt than standard African game. Bushbuck are fun to hunt. Warthogs are really cool looking animals and I would recommend them as well.

Do not get your animals mounted in Africa. The quality of the work is downright awful. If someone rates it as a 6-7/10 in quality that just means they have never seen good taxidermy before. There are plenty of bad taxidermists over here but the good ones are far, far better than the best African taxidermy that I have seen.
 
Awesome. Definitely let me know how it goes. I think my two main target animals on top of he included blessbuck and springbuck, are going to be kudu and eland. I'm just not sure what I want to add past that. Probably 2 more of hartebeest, Impala, wildebeest and reedbuck.

>I am going on a hunt
>in June in KwaZulu Natal.
> I will let you
>know how it goes.
>Target species are Kudu and
>Nyala as well as a
>few others.
>
>The hunt can get real expensive
>real fast. It is
>easy to get caught up
>in the moment and kill
>more animals than you were
>planning on. That is
>how the outfitter makes money
>off of the donated hunts.
>African hunting for the most
>part is much easier than
>North American hunting.
>I would recommend Eland. They
>are usually a more difficult
>hunt than standard African game.
> Bushbuck are fun to
>hunt. Warthogs are really
>cool looking animals and I
>would recommend them as well.
>
>
>Do not get your animals mounted
>in Africa. The quality
>of the work is downright
>awful. If someone rates
>it as a 6-7/10 in
>quality that just means they
>have never seen good taxidermy
>before. There are plenty
>of bad taxidermists over here
>but the good ones are
>far, far better than the
>best African taxidermy that I
>have seen.
 
Thanks for all the inputs so far guys. What do u think is the best month to go between June, July, and Oct? I'm leaning July right now.
 
June-July-Aug is high season, and typically when the majority of the hunting occurs. It is winter, and the temps are cold nights and warm days. The vast majority of snakes are asleep too, if that matters to you. Animals will be haired up good, and the capes and hides will be in prime shape.

Oct will be getting really warm, but the costs for airfare will be significantly lower and hunting is tapering off. A lot of the better trophies may have been taken on the property you are hunting, and might have an effect on success.
 
We decided on mid July! Can't wait! Now time to start really thinking about the hitlist

>June-July-Aug is high season, and typically
>when the majority of the
>hunting occurs. It is winter,
>and the temps are cold
>nights and warm days. The
>vast majority of snakes are
>asleep too, if that matters
>to you. Animals will be
>haired up good, and the
>capes and hides will be
>in prime shape.
>
>Oct will be getting really warm,
>but the costs for airfare
>will be significantly lower and
>hunting is tapering off. A
>lot of the better trophies
>may have been taken on
>the property you are hunting,
>and might have an effect
>on success.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-16 AT 08:42PM (MST)[p]We went in June. We were also in the Limpopo. Beginning of winter. Mornings and evenings can get down right cold. SA folks don't know what a damn heater is. Stood close to the fire a lot! If the wind blows during the day....best have a good coat. I took winter silks as well, worked ok. Most mornings were low 30's.

Jim
 
Don't get caught up in that is a book animal deal and you just up the price for ypur hunt with a animal that might not be on your list or even make book. Just saying stay with your list.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 
Your biggest challenge will be deciding to not pull the trigger. You will see lots of different animals and you never know what you're going to run into. Once you run into something you will have to decide very quickly if you want to shoot or not before the animal is gone. I didn't intend to shoot some animals but when they are right there in front you it's tough to let them go. So know the value of the animals and stay within your budget as your hunt progresses.

As stated above I wouldn't recommend using a taxidermist in Africa. That being said there are only 2 ways to get your skins back to the US. The 1st is pack n dip. If you go this route the shipping is a little more because of the weight and your skins can only be shipped to a certified/licensed Taxidermist in the US. Work this out in advance. The other way is to have an African taxidermist tan the skins. The cost for tanning is very comparable to prices in the US. The advantage to this is the shipping will be less than pack n dip and they will ship it directly to you and you can take it to any taxidermist of your choosing.
 
Thanks for the advice!

I'm planning on using a taxidermy broker from my taxidermist in Sante Fe. I trust those guys at Imperial.

>Your biggest challenge will be deciding
>to not pull the trigger.
> You will see lots
>of different animals and you
>never know what you're going
>to run into. Once
>you run into something you
>will have to decide very
>quickly if you want to
>shoot or not before the
>animal is gone. I
>didn't intend to shoot some
>animals but when they are
>right there in front you
>it's tough to let them
>go. So know the
>value of the animals and
>stay within your budget as
>your hunt progresses.
>
>As stated above I wouldn't recommend
>using a taxidermist in Africa.
> That being said there
>are only 2 ways to
>get your skins back to
>the US. The 1st
>is pack n dip.
>If you go this route
>the shipping is a little
>more because of the weight
>and your skins can only
>be shipped to a certified/licensed
>Taxidermist in the US.
>Work this out in advance.
> The other way is
>to have an African taxidermist
>tan the skins. The
>cost for tanning is very
>comparable to prices in the
>US. The advantage to
>this is the shipping will
>be less than pack n
>dip and they will ship
>it directly to you and
>you can take it to
>any taxidermist of your choosing.
>
 

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