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A much loved uncle called and explained that he attended a local fundraiser.................and purchased a package deal for plains game in Africa!
I am headed to Africa for a plains game hunt between now and the end of 2017. Please indulge me as I ask questions and pick the brains of the pros here.
First is simply where to start???????? I never dreamed that Africa would be in my future but has always been on my when I hit the lottery list.
There is just sooooooooooooooooooo much and I don't want to screw up what will be for me a truly once in a lifetime opportunity.
Thanks in advance for any ideas and suggestions.
JS

Good for you! Use the rifle that you're most comfortable with, good bullets, practice shooting off the sticks and have fun!

Money.....and a lot of it

Nothing about your trip will be cheap and even free will cost you something

Let's start a list of things to do:

- get the requirements for traveling with, and importing your rifles. I'd recommend a meet and greet service in RSA

- get the outfitters brochure and particulars on the hunt. RSA hunting is a la carte. You pay a daily fee and then a trophy fee for each animal taken of wounded. Make a budget.

- fly direct from US without stopovers in Europe if you can avoid it. Too many gun hassles and chances to lose your stuff.

- have a good pair of binos.

- take 1/2 the clothes and gear you think you need.

- bring twice the money. You may never get back, Africa might close hunting or restrict it. It happens.

- Practice, practice with your rifle off of shooting sticks. No bench rest in the field.


Start with that list. Enjoy the lead up!

Plus...you are sure to see something not on your 'list' and will be asking what the trophy fee on that is...


Take half the clothes and gear you think you need, and twice the money.

Read the other thread.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth.../1/advice_for_first_time_Africa_h#UNREAD

Thanks for all the good advice so far and trust me if it says anything about Africa in the title then I have been reading it!!!! It is a lot to digest but half the fun is in the planning.

Agree 100%. Make sure your travel arrangements are rock-solid. Gracey Travel. Say no more.

In terms of riflery, I'd say this:

1) Choose your African rifle(s) as soon as you can. A year in advance isn't too soon. You might find with repetitive shooting that your chosen rifle isn't as good as you thought it was, so you want to have time enough to switch to another.

2) Once your rifle is zero'd off the bench, stick with field positions. I took ingwe's advice and did 50% of my practice in the offhand position, 40% off sticks, and 10% kneeling/sitting. There is nothing like shooting offhand to weld your muscle memory in place, and if you're using a big bruiser of a rifle, it's also the position that allows you to roll with the recoil best, thereby reducing the wear and tear on your old bones and muscles.

3) Make sure you have an ample supply of practice ammo. You should shoot a minimum of 300 rounds in each rifle you're bringing. For your "big" rifle, practice loads should be either (a) reduced recoil, or (b) full power with a cheap bullet to avoid wear and tear on your body and your wallet. In my preparations last year, I loaded about 60% of my practice ammo with AA5744 powder under cheap Sierra GK 300 gr bullets at about 2000 fps, and the remainder was full-power ammo (2500 fps) using the same bullets. I would shoot 30-60 rounds of reduced-recoil ammo in each session, and then 10-30 rounds of heavies to finish up. I started out shooting 50 lights and 10 heavies, and by the time I was ready to go I was shooting 10 lights and 30-40 heavies in each session.

4) Don't take anything that you haven't thoroughly tested/broken-in at home. This means boots, socks, rifle slings, ammo cases, cameras, binos, everything. Especially boots. I bought my Courtenays 8 weeks before I went, and put a good 200 miles on them walking, and wore them to work every day.

Save all the money you can for the trip

Do not go out and buy anything special.

Steve Turner of "Travel with Guns" for your travel arrangements

African Sky Guesthouse if you overnight in Johannesburg or would like an airport walk through with your gun permits

Get anything with a,serial number put on your customs form

Use the best hard case you can get your hands on and take a soft case also

Think real hard about taxidermy. I really like mine, but for the price I could have shot a lot more animals. Consider really nice pictures, blown up and framed on the wall to capture the memories. I could have shot another Kudu, a few impalas, a zebra, a gemsbok, and so on for what it take to get the 5 animals back and mounted. If mounts are important, by all means do it, just give it a thought.

Very solid advice on shooting practice above. For me, getting to a place to shoot field positions was a challenge. Instead, I built some sticks, and loaded three practice blanks. I then printed silhouette targets of various animas at various angles, and placed them across my basement and 'shot' them ~15 times a night from various positions, primarily offhand and off sticks. It also got me into a good habit of cycling the bolt quickly for follow on shots.

Oh, and aim to hit right between the front legs, not behind.

Thoughts on using PH's rifle and not taking your own?
As for mounts only bring back the "special" one?
Save money for more animals?
I am thinking April of 2017?
Having hunted Elk, mule deer, Aoudad, free range exotics etc all over the west and southwest I am comfortable with sticks and recoil but don't own any big boomers.
Never felt the need hunting in the US.
If I do take a rifle I have several that I have and shoot regularly.
Should I go with my 300 Win Mag, 6.5-284, 308, or 30-06? More questions to come!

.30-06

30-06 with 150 grain Accubonds was what my wife and I used in 2014 to take eleven different species of plains game near Komga South Africa.

I suggest late June and early July

Take lots of pictures

You're doing the right thing by asking lots of questions, and this is a great place to get it figured out. You'll be right at home in Africa, being you're a Carlsbad guy.

Planning your first trip is loads of fun. Enjoy it all!

Thanks to all and JG I'm guessing that the "raider" is a Tech thing?

I have been three times and have never taken a rifle. My primary hunting rifle is a stainless / plastic stock Savage in 30-06 because I normally hunt in muddy river bottoms. So I did not have a burning desire to take it with me, plus I connect through London traveling on airline miles. The outfitter / PH has loaners and I have used his .243, 30-06, and .375 H&H. Talk to your outfitter and see what is available. On the other hand if you have a rifle that you will regret not taking then by all means you should take yours.

A 30-06 is a great caliber for most plains game.

Guns up!

Charles is right about the rifle thing too. I've used the outfitter's rifle once (30-06/180 partitions), and taken mine twice. Taking your own can be a major PITA depending on which mullet you talk to at checkin, TSA dudes, which airport, SAPS, etc. If you do, use one of the SAPS permit contractors. Best $100 bucks you'll spend IMO.

Africa Sky is the cream of the crop IMO.

If you're planning to hunt nothing bigger than kudu, you will be fine with any of those calibers, and my preference would be .30-06 with 180 grain bullets. If you need more rifle than a .30-06 for eland or dangerous game, you might as well move on up to a .375. And if you're going to hunt with a .375, then you'd best practice with one here so you're used to the recoil and blast.

I wouldn't hesitate a second to kill any Eland with a 30-06