Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Ignorant African PH Question

I've never been to Africa, and understand that most every type of vegetation down there sticks and pricks you. With that in mind, why do you see these African PH's wearing shorts all the time?

Scratches heal, rasping noise from long drawers chase game that is gone for good.

With all the walking you do (hopefully), and the heat, it really is much more comfortable to just wear shorts. the scratches aren't that bad.....

Yes to the above, but I'm 59 1/2 yrs. old, and white chicken legs, scare game, too

maddog

Shorts are the way to go. After a day or two you learn how to weave through the bush a little. It's important to wear gaiters so you don't get scratchy seeds in your socks and the bush doesn't snag and untie your laces.

Fortunes of buffalo hunting; worth every scratch. Long trousers suck in the bush, they are hot and noisy. jorge

I guess I am in the minority here but have not found cotton pants to be a negative. Muchly a positive. Must be the RIGHT cotton pants, though and not noisy (think blue jeans or nylon materials) or bright in color. Olive, dark khaki, medium brown etc. Most of the trackers and game scouts I have worked with were wearing olive colored coveralls. They can move pretty quietly with those. Then there is the SUN whilst out and about in an open safaricar.

Thinking back on the two Safaris I've taken..... I don't recall any of the black Africans wearing shorts.

As a matter of fact, come to think of it, I don't even recall seeing any of them wearing shorts in the hunting reports photo's posted here and on AR over the years....

I am so glad to hear some support for wearing pants. I doubt that I will ever get to Africa, but if I should, shorts would probably not be an option. I just never have felt ready to take on anything with my legs exposed. On the exceptionally hot days when school started too soon or ended too late, the teachers were allowed to wear tasteful (whatever that means) shorts. I never did. Tiring of the endless questions as to why not, I eventually had to break down and explain that i would dangle out of the bottom of the shorts.

yeah, I know what you mean. It is a real problem for me too.

I have seen trackers strip off their coveralls and hunt in shorts in the heat in October and November in Zimbabwe. And damn it was hot too. Still a bit suprising, since ussually the trackers are bundled up like I would be duck hunting in January when I'm wearing shorts and a fleece, comfortable in coveralls when I'm down to pushing my gaiters down to maximize exposed skin for evaporation and where the next item removed calls for an X rating.

Shorts are the way to go in my book. The scratches go unoticed after a day, but the weight, dampness, clinging and binding of long pants last from the first to the last.

JPK

one thing I should point out that those who have not lived there or spent considerable time should understand. The blacks are cold when the temps are under about 85-90f

They will bundle up with a stocking cap and a coat waiting for the bus when it's 75-80 deg f outside. They wear a winter coat and boots with long pants in the mornings when it's 65 deg f.

Cold is relative to all people it seems. I remember working in Kuparik Alaska for 2 months one winter where it was -30 for a low temp and never got above -10 the whole time. When I made the connection in Fairbanks on my way back to the states it was +15 when we walked down the stairs and across the tarmac. It felt wonderful to have such warm temps.

Yet if I were to wake up to +15f in the Wa. State where I live now, I would be stunned from the severe cold. So the blacks with long pants have grown up with normal warm sunny weather and do not get along with anything cold. I tease them all the time about how much they bundle up and wear when we hunt.

I'm with safariman. Never wore shorts during the month I was there, hunting or otherwise. Neither did my PH, and we never had an issue from lack of nekkid legs. If you want to wear shorts, I don't care...but there is utterly no reason to. I guarantee you I can be quieter in the brush in my long pants than you can be with your leg skins showing... .

Dennis

I guess then it is a battle between what is quieter. A soft swoosh of cotton against a branch or the OOWWWWWWEEEE! from a tender legged newbie!

BTW, on my one Lion hunt in October in Zim when the temps were up to 120, I for one was really glad to have the sun OFF of my legs and arms as well as to have the thorns and such away from me. BUT... that is just me, others may prefer the other trade off.

Your post reminded me of seeing a group of camp staff at the Northern Zimbabwe elephant camp I was hunting from in August one year. Shivering in the dark over a large fire whilst wearing stocking caps and coats and gloves and all. Couldn't blame them, the pre dawn temp was down to nearly 60 after all...

Jorge take notice ... lol



Chuck

Depends on the time of the year for me. I hunted Namibia in June 08 and it was too cold for me to wear shorts in the mornings and evenings. In fact, the water heater froze on our last night in camp. I hunted northern Zimbabwe last November and wore shorts the whole time. In fact, the coolest temp that I saw was 90. It got up to 118 several days. My footwear was a bit unusual on this trip too. I took Russell PH boots and teva dozier sandals. I wore the tevas the whole time- they were amazing in the hilly terrain and you could remove any debris by shaking your foot. Buzz Charlton wore crocs during the entire hunt.

I wear well laundered BDU's. often ripstop weave. I tried the shorts thing, but found out on a late season hunt that when you crawl on your hands and knees over the stubble of burned grass and rocks, that knees hurt and bleed. Noise has never really been an issue. Tsetse flies can be!

Don't gauge appropriate footwear by what Buzz wears!

We were elephant hunting and Buzz had along one pair of what we would call flip flops or thongs and another pair of sandals with the single strap over the top. Some days he wore two of a kind, some days he had one of each. Drove me nuts following him and seeing the mix and match.

I have worn sandals when elephant hunting, and it is a treat compared to wearing boots, especially when it is really hot. But the terrain must be right, my ankles can't take it in the hills or on rocky broken ground.

JPK

Looks like the leopard got you, and not the other Jorge.