Travis, Costs will vary greatly, depending on what you want/expect. Put and take operations around Capetown can offer you a good selection of animals at very low prices but in a more "canned" type hunt. (MY opinion based on what I have seen and heard from folks who have hunted there) Operations in the Limpopo and other Northern regions of South Africa cost more. But IMHO they are worth a lot more. On average, they hunt much larger areas. (on my just completed safari we were hunting tracks that averaged around 35000 acres) Also, the game is a little wilder (again in my opinion) as it normally does not get hunted quite as hard and in many cases was born on the property or has been there several years. On some of the put and take operations the game may have only been placed there a few weeks before and comes from a ranch devoted to raising them. Trucks to that type animal mean food, so they are not quite as wary as those that have lived in a much larger area for a while.
NOTE: I am not aware of any totally unfenced operations in South Africa, although I am sure a few exist. The question is how big a fenced area is big enough for the animals behave as close as possible to truly wild animals. ? Only you can answer what is big enough for your tastes.
These factors greatly affect the cost of your hunt. To me, larger areas and wilder game are worth the extra couple of thousand it costs. If getting the heads on the wall is your biggest/only concern, the smaller put and take type organizations would seem to be the way to go.
Just my humble opinion, based on 4 hunts. Your milage may vary. TM
