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A buddy of mine stopped by the house to show me his photos from Botswana yesterday. Looked like he had a great time but didn't have good things to say about Cabelas. Apparently, they neglected to send his rifle paperwork to Botswana and he had no permit come hunting time. Neither he nor his buddy were able to take their own rifles. The PH had two loaners and he ended using a Brno 375 for the hunt and his buddy a 30-06. He said that they also screwed up their flights and had a major snafu in London. I would have been really pizzed if I had to leave my rifle home because someone, who was being well paid, forgot to do my gun permit!

He is already planning a return trip but says that the safari company will make all his arrangements themselves.

A few years ago, Cabelas failed to submit their applications to Arizona for the elk draw by several hours and all applications were rejected. This caused all who applied to lose their loyalty point for 5 years and bumped them down the bonus point ladder a rung or two.

Seems like a huge company like this could get the small things right but seems this is not so.

Anyone else had good or bad experiences with their booking services?


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I've used Gracy Travel, and I've used Steve Turner at Travel With Guns in San Antonio. Both went well, but TWG earned my business by going the extra mile, saving me on a late flight cancellation. Either one will handle your rifle permit, but I let Africa Sky handle it this year. BTW, Africa Sky is fantastic.


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I have heard there are some good ones, seems like this one just relies on the name it made in the retail business to carry over in the outfitting business!


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A few years ago, I booked a Spain hunt for Beceite Ibex thru Cabelas. Thankfully, I made travel arrangements myself, although they tried mightily hard to do so for me.

Cabelas was totally unaware of regulations regarding firearms- even though I was not going to take a rifle, Spanish rules required paperwork as though I were bringing a firearm. None of this was done, until I discovered the situation 2 weeks before departure. Fortunately, the outfitter was able to grease some palms, and get the necessary paperwork done for me.

I was also told that Barcelona was going to be our point of arrival, so we made plans to stay in Barcelona for a few days before our hunt. Also, a few weeks before departure, Cabelas contacted me with arrangements to be met in- Madrid! At this point, I was ready to cancel the entire trip. After much haggling, it was arranged for us to be picked up in Barcelona, as we were originally told, which was much closer to our hunt area anyway.

Bottom line, is this: I wouldn't use Cabelas to book a rabbit hunt!
Several months after the hunt, I related this story to a former Cabelas manager. He just shook his head, then said that in more recent times, Cabela's quality control and personnel had really gone downhill.


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I've used Cabelas twice. Tried booking an antelope hint to Wyoming perhaps 7-8 years ago which totally fizzled when I didn't dray a tag. Second was 2014 on a Mule Deer hunt to Montana. Everything went smoothly and I collected a nice mule deer buck. This year I'm on a DIY mule deer hunt in Montana. I've got the tag and arrangements with the ranch have been made.


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]I've never used Cabela's, but I have heard enough discouraging reports on other websites to make me want to look elsewhere.
If you stop and think about it, Cabela's is a catalog company "dabbling" in out of state/overseas hunts. I think I would rather deal with some company that specializes in booking hunting trips, esp, when it comes to overseas travel and firearm permits, taxidermy permits, etc. are the norm.

Last edited by 16gauge; 07/18/15.

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Friend of mine used Cabelas on several trips to Africa.
He had no problems with their performance.


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I've not used them but did speak with six references before my first safari in 2001. Let's just say the reviews were very mixed. Enough so that I chose not to use them.

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Cabela's has no interest in those who got them to where they are.


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Love Cabelas, just wouldn't use them to book hunts or travel. I find their CS second to none, although some have had issues.


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I've used Cabelas for two hunts, a plains-game hunt in South Africa and an antelope hunt in WY. Both hunts went as smooth as snot on a glass doorknob. In fact, the WY antelope hunt was one of the most enjoyable hunts I ever had.

Based on my personal experience, I'd certainly consider using Cabelas to book another hunt in the future.

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You don't hear these horror stories with a big company that specializes in such endeavors.


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A friend of mine and I used African Odyssey for a recent trip to RSA They made plane reservations, room reservations in JBerg, had a meet and greet set up at J berg and had our gun permits issued without any hassle at all. I will use them again and will recommend them. They also promptly returned all phone calls and e-mails when I had questions.


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Wasn't it Cabela's that screwed the pooch and failed to get a mess of hunt applications in to AZDGF on time several years ago, then peddled a dog-at-my-homework story that blamed FedEx? Or do I remember wrongly?


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I recall that the applications were being delayed at the Denver airport, so Cabelas chartered a plane to Phoenix Sky Harbor and showed up about 2 hours past deadline to the G&F office. The people at the main office would not accept them. Cabelas petitioned the commission to no avail. I wonder if they had flown into Deer Valley if they would have made it to G&F on time.

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I hope Cabelas takes note, but am pessimistic about them overall since they went public with their stock. The push for bottom line has increased, they have cut staff (especially in gun libraries), clear the push for higher near term profit is driving the company. I suspect some of the shortcomings noted here stem from this.


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