Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Preparing for Africa rifle/scope

One rifle cannot do everything for every hunting situation, much like a fishing rods or golf clubs ( so Iv'e been told?)

I think some of the folks here are reading the very strong concern over an outstanding 1200.00 rifle scope combination. Then wondering how you pull of a $10,000 two country hunt with airfare and trophy shipping trophy fees, daily fees, taxidermy, and all that little stuff that adds up to a couple thousand more bucks. Like for instance the several hundred bucks for a quality air travel case, and the pre-issued permit fees, field glasses, cameras, boots and the plethora of additional "nickel and dime items that come up. Unfortunately there are not many "nickel and dime" items when going to Africa. They turn out to be 50-100 dollar items!

It's certainly possible you have managed this trip to the penny and you have a budget to manage for the gun. That's cool, but it does tend to sound like a fella buying a Bugatti and trying to make a deal on new tires for it. There is no real difference in the best options for a big game rifle in North America, and the rifle scope combo needed in Southern Africa for Plains game.

If you in fact have the 10K plus for this two country trip, and can fund the rifle scope combo for another 1200.00 why worry beyond this? The cartridge is a perfectly functional choice, and so is that scope. You're not hunting DG with it.

Of the 400 plus hunters I have had in my career, the most popular cartridge by far has been the 300 mag of one flavor or another. Of those using it, I would guess that 9 out of 10 used a 3-10 0r 3-9 or something right in that magnification range. Not a single one has ever needed more or less. Although some had scopes of lower quality that lost shooting light well before they should have. The magnification range was just fine.