I spent part of this last North American Summer in South Africa and Botswana at my camps, and with my staff. I did bring a firearm even though I had no intention of hunting. I just don't go there without my rifle any longer. My team visited quite a few new locations and old friends as well.
Traveling with my own rifle is a good way to assess the various firearm processes first hand. It's one thing to make assumptions, or to pass on second hand what this is like as an outfitter. However it's another thing entirely to go through the process every year and see exactly how this goes first hand.
I fly delta only now, at least until further notice and based on some really big changes to the way SAA operates their flights and provides customer service. SAA might be an option in the future, but for the last 4-5 years I will not fly them.
Delta was flawless with the two checked bags free, ( this is often a problem with SAA and domestic connections.) They want to charge you for the domestic portions of the flights. Checking all the way through to RSA from Salt Lake City, with my ammo in an MTM ammo case in with the rifle. No problems here. There was a question about my gun being legal to bring into RSA by the Delta agent in SLC. She wanted to see my gun permit showing that RSA was permitting me to bring the rifle into the country.
In the future I will have photo copies of my Air2000 paperwork so I can overwhelm the gate agent. This is absolutely not needed legally. However if you want to cover the potential delay and just blow through the process have something to provide a gate agent showing the permits are done. I used my 4457 to prove I had the permits which was in itself a joke. It's not proof of much. Certainly not an RSA permit, and absolutely no proof you own the gun. Regardless the gate agent nodded Okay and off we went. This is why if you have the dozen sheets of the RSA paperwork with the 4457, passport copy, invitation letter, etc, they will be overwhelmed with goodness! letting you zip zip zip your way through this stressful part of the trip.
Arriving in RSA with Air2000 support is a dream. Air 2000 needs to open a office for returning Americans to the USA! I'm usually out of the airport with my rifle faster then a fella with only a carry on bag! They whisk you through the dignitary-celebrity immigration line collect your bags and put you in the front of the SAP line to get through the process instantly. There were other " Permit companies" in the SAP office at the same time, they moved aside and air2000 folks were put in line first. They must have some kind of unspoken seniority in that office, or pay the right people to achieve this. As far as I'm concerned there is no other option for this service. Just being greeted and getting through that immigration process without any line is worth the price alone! I'll also add they are the only company that can clear your rifles for you and hold or deliver them to you in camp. Should they arrive late or some other mishap occur. Other companies may claim this, but they will require outside support. Air2000 is self sufficient in this.
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Botswana will resume hunting shortly. This is not a guess, or personal opinion. It's coming!
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There are some regulations changing in all of RSA. Natural game and the movement and transfer of species between provinces, export permits, and even the PH standards for the country rather then each province are all under scrutiny now (still). More on this to follow. The paperwork to export species will change. This may be invisible to the client hunter, but the level of tracking what animal was shot, where, by who, and where it's getting shipped to will involve more National paperwork that is only/ mostly province dependent today.
It seems there are folks that ship species from Provinces they were not shot in and this is causing some heartburn for nature conservation. Some more deliberate tracking of the movement of trophies is looming. We will see where this goes. It may have originated from the so called " canned lion hunting" which is being scrutinized around the world today. Comparisons to PG are being made and this is stirring the pot.
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Game prices are spooky, not even sure how this kind of price level will allow future hunting in any of Africa. I was at auctions, and have in hand the documents for auctions showing the current prices for live trophy breeding species. 50" cow buffalo going for 1m rand, 45" hard boss bull buffalo selling for 1.5m rand, 45" sable 3 years old selling for 100,000 USD! 65" Kudu selling for 75,000 USD.
The cost of bigger then average trophies of most species alive for breeding is driving the cost of bigger then average trophies through the roof. In meeting with more then a dozen landowners and outfitters they are all getting to the point of prices based on size now. Rather then just a trophy fee for whatever you shoot. ( I have fought this for 20 plus years) this however seems to be a coming attraction! I was culling Kudu from a property with the land manager. He was telling me which to shoot based on the future trophy potential of that animal. We culled 2-3 year old bulls from the property that had shallow curls or smaller then expected growth for their age. He is absolutely fixed on developing this super population of giant bulls. The strategy is very similar to the whitetail management in Texas. He took me to a location on the property one evening where we sat til dark.
In the last hour of light I saw 25 bulls over 55" and a few well over 60". One he said was darted and measured at 65" and 7 years old. He was called and asked for a 68" plus bull at 75,000 USD. He darted this one to see if he could sell it for that price. Those smaller were young with crazy deep curls which will all be well into the upper 50" range at 7-8 years old. We were in a ground blind close to them at a small water point which is used by this land owner to assess his population, and dart and sell the monsters he is developing. This is not a unique situation. When a landowner can sell a single big bull for breeding to another landowners population for improved genetics, he makes more money in "profit" for this single bull then he will make for a whole season of taking clients hunting! and no effort or stress with lodging, vehicles, PH's, and other staff!
This same management strategy is happening with Sable, Buffalo, waterbuck, nyala, etc etc. This however pales in comparison to the next new wave of interesting game management projects.
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Game color variations.
Black impala, several new Wildebeest, " king wildebeest" "golden wildebeest" saddle back blesbok, black blesbok, white blesbok, saddle back impala, springbok are the same variants of color as well. Then we have the Cross breeding of species. The color variations are crazy popular now. Of all the species I have seen that have been bred and developed for color the red brindled wildebeest are the one that is most striking to me.
There have always been melenistic and albino colors in nature. In the wildebeest there have also been the odd reddish color that was quite striking. These rare naturally occurring oddities have been captured and bred in captivity to increase the percentage of desired colors. Today some of these black impala are selling for 15,000 USD or more. Those Black impala with 27" horns can fetch 25,000 USD. Same with a big brindled red color Blue Wildebeest, they are fetching 50-100,000 USD per animal. I visited a single property with 50 black impala and at least that many red and " king" wildebeest.
It will be interesting to see where the color variations go. This is amusing, to me although much less interesting as an actual trophy. I'm still old school and prefer the natural colors we are most used to seeing. With possibly the red Wildebeest being the exception for my taste. I've seen them in the wild 25 or 30 years ago, which has stuck in my mind a long time.
The less desirable and maybe even silly cross breeding species like Red Hartebeest and Blesbok, or Blue and black wildebeest. There are others as well, but this is a far less interesting and for me even a revolting situation right now. Not sure what is going to come of this, but I don't see it as a valued future by creating totally new species of cross bred game.
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Next, The mining companies which are buying up land in the Northern Province will forever change the hunting industry in much of the territory. The RR tracks and power lines criss crossing the landscape, and the complete leveling of millions of acres of prime hunting land for coal is so much bigger then anyone could have ever imagined. The capture of game going on in many of these areas to relocate these animals is so drastic and astonishing that anything I would write here would seem as if I were embellishing and creating some crazy made up story. I met with many land owners that have already been paid for the land and are still hunting to for two more years by leasing it back. These properties will be hunted out for trophies with no further investment in lodging or upkeep. Then they will be hunted for biltong until everything is killed off or captured and moved.
The coal business is so huge and overwhelming right now that there is no way to describe the massive operations to strip the bush right now unless you could see it in person. This is going to consolidate much of the hunting to other locations in the coming years. Between the land claims of the late 1990's thru the mid 2000's and now the millions of acres of hunting locations being taken by mining. The reduction of properties will make those remaining much stronger. Yet very likely with typical supply and demand more expensive to hunt.
I know one landowner personally that sold his property this year. He had 8,000 acres, sold for just shy of 20m USD. His coal is 56 meters deep, and only 2-3 meters under the surface. Then there is 10 meters of water below that coal, and then another 30 meters of what they described as Prime clean coal. The Chinese have been buying every kilo of coal they can get from RSA. This land owner had a brilliant hunting location and beautiful lodge in the deep bush along the Botswana border for a section of the property. It will be leveled and stripped of coal now.
None of the property along the Limpopo river can be mined. However it will not be much of a hunting location when you are surrounded by RR, power lines and heavy equipment with dynamite explosions frequently during your exciting safari adventure! Things have changed quite a bit in some of this region. Yet other areas are just as wild and beautiful as you could imagine. Some of the hunting locations further away will definitely improve with additional hunters and security for the future.
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Okay, the return with the rifle to the USA in Atlanta.
First, Atlanta might be the biggest influx of firearms from international travel of any USA airport. The travel to RSA for the last 15 plus years with SAA and Delta has been very high to and from here. These folks are not shook up seeing a rifle or gun. It's just about a daily occurrence. When I arrived back in Atlanta at 6am we were in the immigration line for 20 minutes. This was after the new new Fancy Schmancy self immigrate passprt scan and photo session with the machine. Then to baggage claim, and off to the gun office to import the rifle case. There were 20 people in this line, each going through one at a time. I was in this line for an hour including collecting the bags from the luggage carousel. From here we had to go recheck our bags.......... wait........... gotta wash our shoes, and now go through customs for a bag check to gut the bags in search of contraband. This line was almost 2 hours long! Some folks passed through and some had to have the bags opened for a peek! From here we had to get back in the line to go through the Xray to get into the secure area of the airport. That line was about another 20 minutes. Odd to me, we were in a secure US Customs area, and had to go through security to get to the secure area of the airport. I'm all for the security to fly safe, but this seemed redundant, and crazy! What a bizarre thought that we would be able to somehow get our hands on some type of illegal item within US Customs secured property? So to get back into the USA it was over 3 hours and we had a 4 hour connection. I would not in the future plan a less then 4 hour and preferably 5 hour layover. I was getting paranoid watching the clock. Funny..... We had four hours at the start and I was as relaxed as an old cat. However that time clicked by faster and faster until we were at the gate just as boarding had started! Funny, I can enter another country with a gun in 30 minutes, but I cannot get back into my own county in over 3 hours.
I'm contemplating a flight from Joburg to Tijuana and then just walking across with the illegals who have no such hurdles to get into the USA, not the least of which is washing our shoes to enter our own country!
There are more things I learned and will share as I get time to post. Over all RSA is still the greatest hunting location on earth. In this region of RSA there are 28 natural wild indigenous big game species that offer exceptional hunting challenges nearly year round. It's without question the most affordable and well organized big game hunting location you can get to on earth today.
