Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa safari vets, I need guidance

Take a journey and write down each day's events. There are so many things you want to drink in on your first trip that wonderful as they are you will forget the little things. You will enjoy reading them at a later date.

OGB, trust me, I understand what you're saying here. The reason I understand is I had just about an identical response to the suggestion that I attend one of these conventions when it was suggested to me before my first trip. I couldn't see myself spending the money or the time just on an information gathering trip. After I went on my African hunt, where I basically got ripped off by a so called "reputable" outfitter, I realized that I really hadn't done a good job of checking out the various companies and/or double checking their track record. When I came back, I decided I had to go to the convention just to see what I had missed. The convention really opened my eyes to how much I had missed and how little I really knew about the business side of things. I realized that if I had spent the money up front on attending the convention, I would have been money ahead.

Personally, if I was going to Zim, where things seem to constantly be changing, I'd want to know how successful people have been in recent years for my targeted animals, what was the hunting like for plains game, how long did it take to have a chance at a mature bull, has their hunting area changed for the worse or the better or have they recently changed concessions, who owns the concession now, how many others might be hunting on that concession when I'm there, what PH would I be hunting with, and what is his experience level, and what the local poaching situation may be? By talking to multiple companies in the surrounding area, and not just the one you want to hunt with, you'll get a better feel for what is actually going on and what it might be like when you plan on being there.

It's hunting and nothing is assured, but with this much money involved, you want to make doubly sure that you have a handle on the things that you can control and that you aren't just relying on what the people you'll be hunting with tell you. By talking with other hunters that you will encounter at the convention, you'll get a lot more info/feedback on these types of things that you wouldn't otherwise ever have access to. I'd also want to know what their bull buffalo quota is each year and how many buffalo hunters they take each year. That will give you an idea of how hard the buffalo in their concession are pushed.

Just some more bits of info to chew on...

Atchesons in Butte Montana is a sound reference. Jack (who has unfortunately passed on) pioneered this business and they've been doing it for 56 years that I know of.

OGB - "a day's drive" can be a bit subjective but, there are a couple of "Big Shows" in PA that are somewhere around a 9-10 drive from SC.

http://tristateoutdoorexpo.com/

https://nepaoutdoorshow.com/

https://www.greatamericanoutdoorshow.org/

I've personally never attended any of them but, have read numerous online reports from people who have.

I have not personally hunted in ZIM but, from all the online info, that is most likely the least expensive buff hunting combined with the most wild/free range experience available. Only negative side to ZIM is there are still a number of current/former Mugabe linked govt officials who are still on the US govt list of people banned from doing business with. A number of them have been involved in the white farmer expulsions/farm takeovers. There is a least some limited potential to a US hunter possibly unwittingly getting jammed up if hunting on one of these properties or the PH doing business with them by taking unwitting clients hunting on those properties. Low probability but, it still hangs in the air.

Strongly encourage you to do some pretty diligent online digging on the outfitter/PH and be sure to ask what properties/concessions you'd be hunting on there. Even using a US based booking agent is still no guarantee they have done their due diligence either. Not saying don't go to ZIM, just saying be cautious and ask a lot of questions. Lots of guys go and have zero issues and have GREAT trips.

And his sons have been doing an equally good job.

Don’t let anyone discourage you from hunting buffalo on your first African trip. It’s very feasible. Zimbabwe is likely your best bet as there are a number of excellent PH’s there, travel is easy and costs lower than other destinations. Personally, I’d avoid any high fenced hunt, so that excludes South Africa. The agents mentioned are all very good. I know all 3, have done business with two of them and would not hesitate to use any of them to book you on a quality hunt.

Give extra consideration to some of the big conservancies in Zimbabwe, Save Valley, Bubye Vally & Nuanetsi. All have excellent buffalo hunting as well as the other plains game you mentioned. The conservancies are surrounded by fences, but each is anywhere from 750,000 to over 1,000,000 unfenced acres inside. I don’t consider that high fence hunting.

Theres a lot of good advice on this thread and I cant improve upon it, only reiterate some points.
Book with a reputable outfitter like Atchesons..though there are many more.
GET a meet and greet service if you are going through Jo-berg
Make your travel arrangements with someone in the business like Steve with Travel with Guns....it costs no more and is invaluable.
Lastly a point I will make : This will not lessen your drive for deer, or squirrels, or whatever.....but a proper buffalo hunt will change your perspective....scoring a 160 class whitetail, or 340 class elk no longer seems very important....still fun but as Ruark said, once you have hunted buffalo you are dissatisfied with anything else.
GO. Enjoy it. Soak in every moment. You will never be sorry.

I had a wise man tell me two things before my first safari and it has held true for all five of my trips over.

#1 - Take half the clothes you think you need.

#2 - Take twice the money you think you'll spend.

Remember this and have the time of your life! Good luck!!

If you’ve had covid get a PCR test now and make sure you test negative. I had covid a few months before my last trip over was planned to leave. I tested positive on my PCR test the day before my departure and was unable to be granted permission into the countries I was planning to travel to. To say it was a disappointment is an understatement. I do not know how long I will continue to test positive and I’m not sure anyone else does either. That was two years in a row C19 jinxed my buff hunt.

Good luck and good hunting! Africa is amazing. I hope this is the first of many hunts there for you.

It is true that a lot, probably most, buffalo hunting in South Africa is on game farms. These areas, though some may be quite large, are nonetheless fenced. But is also possible to hunt buffalo on government owned nature reserves. The government auctions these hunts and outfitters can provide hunts for clients.

If you want to hunt buffalo and you can afford it, go do it. You can hunt plains game a lot of places. We’ve been to Africa twice. First trip was to Namibia. Namibia was high fence, but over 50,000 acres, very similar to free range. Animals were wild and it was hunting.

Second time was South Africa. If you are going plains game hunting in South Africa you may as well save the trouble and go to South Texas. Cost in south Texas will be similar and hunting may be more realistic. Our experience in South Africa was small high fence places, by small I mean 1000- 2000 acres, with game recently purchased at auction.

If you decide on South Africa, I agree with an earlier post, use a service to meet you. They will help with guns through customs, and travel to the accommodations. We used Africa Sky ( I think that was the name it’s been a couple years). Accommodations were excellent, food was great, place was safe, and they stored our guns and luggage 3 days while we went up to Victoria Falls at little to no charge - only part of South Africa that we received a good value for the expense.

As was stated earlier, expect to spend twice what your hunting costs with travel, shipping, and taxidermy. We have only shoulder mounted a couple, the rest are European. Taxidermist in San Antonio does great work.

Whatever you do, don’t buy a hunt at auction. You pay twice and get half the value. Once you narrow your choices, post up the names and get some reviews by folks on here. I’m ready to go back, but can’t imagine going to South Africa. I’m sure there are some quality places and people, but what we saw was similar to the place we hunted.

I did this on our photo safari to Sarengeti, etc a few weeks ago.

Very good advice - things tend to mush together.....

+1

Having no desire to hunt Africa, I have never gone, yet I have many friends that really enjoy it, for many of them they now plan their trips with friends or associates that have previous experiences dealing with and planning excursions. This seems to work well for them, as first timers seem to be targets for the less than scrupulous vendors via for your dollars.

Good luck and have the time of your life.