Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Hunting Cheats and Tactics Used to Dupe Clients.

A few recent topics got me thinking about the many ways and practises are used to dupe clients when hunting Africa into getting their 'trophys'. Here are a few I have heard about.

Hand raised animals without human fear being released the day/morning you arrive.
Caged and sedated predators (small and large) released only minutes before 'contact'.
Small transitor radios hidden at waterholes to disturb game and push them to the only waterhole without a hidden radio.
Feed stations used to draw in animals.
I expect every PH and his staff to have a very good working knowledge of the area and the animals that inhabit the area they hunt. The one that gets me is the last minute kill in the last hour on the last day just to make it all seem like a success and to end on a high. That really sucks.

What can you add ?

Small, high fenced pastures advertised as real hunting.

Yeah, this is big one to me. Very recently saw a so-called "Special" package in RSA for four species which included Nyala - $2,100, all in!!! After recovering from the quoted price, I saw that the hunting area was 2,600 acres, all high-fenced . In my mind, there's no way that qualifies as "hunting".

At $2100, 4 animals, daily rates and a nyala included? Something is very, very wrong. You sure a hunt like that is on the advertisers land and not the neighbor-who-is-not-there's land?

Tophet1, the thing chasing animals away from waterholes is a new one. As with most everything else (animals like Pavlov's dog) are conditioned over time. So a transistor radio will later not have an affect I think.

Feeding animals in South Africa is common practice during the winter months. Same as in the US where feeders are put up to attract free-roaming animals to a central point(s). Feeding animals is very common when bow hunting. As far as I know there are many high fence areas just outside San Antonio in the hill country where deer, elk and other exotic animals are not only fed, but fed with supplements to increase the antler size over time.

Sedated predators: an old one. I am unsure whether this still takes place because the laws regarding this practice are rather tight now.

Last minute last day. Has happened twice to me and there was no fowl play involved. We hunted the same property the whole day and when we found the gemsbuck it was not being herded by a goat keeper.

I also heard about New Zealanders hand raising deer in 2 acre pens and hunters shooting them from the back door of the main house with a pistol (when they came in to feed) to claim SCI status. I recently heard... and so the urban myths continue

What you have mentioned in your post is not only limited to Africa (specifically South Africa) but also happens all over the world.

Very interesting topic. Have to say that the waterhole one is the new one to me.
The drugged animal, well, I'm sure you have seen the unfortunate latest Lion Bow hunt video that has been doing the rounds.
Put and take, there has been plenty of discussions about.
Not so sure about the last hour of the last day topic being a "scam". I fully agree with Pieter. If I'm still an animal shy at the last hour or last couple of minutes during the hunt, you can bet your house that I'll be out hunting during that time. You can't shoot anything sitting in the lodge, can you? Its also the best time of the entire day, so automatically your odds are very good in succeeding in this quest. It is a nice end to a hunt report though, which you cant deny.
I think the biggest scam by some outfitters, is not specifying what's included and what's not included, leaving a client with a nasty surprize at the end of his trip. Luckily, it seems that hunters are getting wise to this, since I can clearly see a pattern of clients I have booked for this year asking me to explain certain sections in my contract.

Great topic. I think if we can air all of these stunts pulled by some outfitters, it will just make it so much more difficult for these guys to con clients.

Best Regards
Marius Goosen

All said there is absolutely no reason to get "stuck" with such a hunt given all of the straight folks offering hunts there. Many being here and on some forums of repute.

Not having the outfitter or PH be straight up with the client about the species in the area being natural or introduced.

It's such a sad situation to hear the excited hunter headed to Africa for a general bag plains game hunt. Only to hear him state the location and know that most or all the game he will hunt was never there naturally.

It would be the same as a hunter from Europe on a North American big game hunt, going home to tell of his amazing hunt in America. Where he took Moose, Antelope, elk, and a big horn sheep. But he hunted on huge game reserve in Florida. Sure the animals are all indigenous to the continent but nowhere near where he shot them.

To me this is shameful and immoral. Outfitters should be clear with the client that the animals he offers are natural in the region, or have been stocked, farmed, or introduced.

I add a couple more of which I know first hand:
1)A cebra shot through both lungs, Plenty of blood trail that is latter lost in the middle of the herd tracks, "We�ll track it tomorrow". Next day it doesn't appear, not the next ones.
Result: you pay one animal and then hunt another one. I presume the cebra was found and the skin sold.
2)A gemsbok shot the last day. No blood found at all. A week latter you receive aphone call "We found your gemsbok!Do you want the trophy (skull and horns)? If you do deposit $xxx"
When the "trophy" arrived it was only a pair of horns...They said the skull was destroyed by the jackals...
My impression is that they did not find anything and sent a pair of horns taht hey found layin around.
All this in a 3500 hectares high fence enclosure...
MY advice: demand a search with blood dogs and never pay for anything you don't see on the ground.
V.

I should probably explain the last minute hunt thing.

I have heard of PH's knowing exactly where the last trophy is, delaying the clients arrval till the last minute and then assuring success. This leaves the client with a sense of euphoria and relief at getting what they wanted. Increased emotional response = bigger tips and better reference.

The other dupe I have had told to me by friends living in Zim is the Trophy Buff success, paid for with 'obscene' (their words not mine) trophy fees. (This is the reason I would rather hunt and wait out a Klippie for days and days than pay for Buff).

The night before the hunt the farm workers move the local buff herd down to a river. The next morning the rich overweight client turns up with PH after spending a week in a shot-out conservancy or farm whilst paying high day rates. They head off from the farm house and soon come across tracks from the night before. The PH says " Yar, I know this track, he is a big old fellow. Many have tried for him and failed." They get to the river and ... Bang, dead Buff trophy. Happy client. Win, win which I suppose is fine as long as the client doesn't find out.

JJHack, I understand your point about introduced species. However, aoudad sheep were introduced here in West Texas from, as you well know, Africa. These are free range sheep, and as wild as any creature on the planet. Just because they aren't native doesn't mean squat in this case. If they're in a small enclosure I would agree. Same would be true in Africa IMO. Surely you're not suggesting that a non native animal that naturally reproduces in the area after being there for 40 years, is the same as a put and take animal are you?

Agreed.

+2

Same old song...

Well all agree this is fine when the client knows. I never suggested otherwise.

However, if you are going to spend the money for the trip all the way to Africa for the experience of hunting in Africa for African game, why settle for less then what you want when the hunting for natural game is available in the same country.

There is good reason why this is not promoted by the outfitter. The unsuspecting hunter would not choose this when he could simply choose to hunt the same country and hunt for naturally occurring wild game that is natural to the habitat.

I hunt Pheasants here all season long in the USA, they are from China. I have no issue at all doing this. I know this going in. I was not duped with the belief that they are actually natural wild game where I'm hunting them. Same with WIld hogs in Texas. There is simply nothing I enjoy more then bow hunting those pigs. But I know they are not natural. No one sold the idea that I'm traveling 1/2 way around the world for an African hunting experience, only to come home and find out that the game I hunted does not live within 100's of miles of where I was at.

Simply put, that's a heartbreak for many returning hunters that never knew what they were sold.

In this day and age where it is so easy to perform due diligence on any safari operator and PH prior to hunting with them, there is little need to worry about getting a bad hunt, unless you simply don't do your homework. This website is a good resource, but if you spend some time over on Accurate Reloading and ask questions of the gang who frequent that site, you'll quickly find out if an operator and PH are worth hunting with, or not.

JJHack, let me get this straight. In regards to our aoudad hunts in my example, you're telling me it makes it less challenging, or a mental letdown to the hunter if the game is non-native having been there naturally reproducing 40 years, in spite of the wariness and challenge of these animals? You've cut and pasted your answers many times here and other forums. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

As I said before, in a small low fence situation you're argument has validity. In an open range, truly fair chase scenario it has none IMO. No offense intended.

In my 10 years guiding aoudad sheep hunters, most of them having hunted all over the world or at least North America, they all say the same thing. It is a true wild sheep hunt and likely you'll have to work your butt off for a good one. Being "imported" makes a difference? I don't get it.

think you missed his intent.....its only an issue if its sold to the client as the real thing.....hunting aoudad in Texas aint "the real thing" like chasing them in their natural range......its still real hunting....think JJ is leaning on the half way decitful way some PH insinuate that taking all the critters on some ranches in South Africa is "real" African hunting.....it is "hunting in Africa" but your not chasing the animals where they actually occur.....i think JJ is getting at so long as everything was upfront as such its not a big deal....the illusion created is what is bad....

What makes you think so, just because it's Texas and not Africa? The free range hunts in W TX can be very physical, but that's not the point. It can be very much more than the real thing of hunting Milk River whitetails, know what I mean? It's a ridiculous argument IMO.

just keeps going over your head......i said its real hunting didnt i?

my guess is JJ has a problem when outfitters pass off the all inclusive South African hunts as "genuine Robert Ruark Africa".....no problem with it if yah call it what it is....the problem comes from passing it off as something it aint....

hunting Auodad in Texas is quite often real difficult hunting but you know going in your are hunting animals outside their original range, least anyone with half a brain knows this....unlike some outfitters in Africa whic are trying to fool clients in thinking they are hunting Africa like the old days.....the hunting maybe difficult, the hunting may be real....but the outfitter is feeding the client a line of bullchit and thats the problem....

As long as they don't have collars or names.

No, I think you miss the point. If it's fair chase, the animals have been there for 40+ years, etc then who gives a rats azz? That's my point. He has many posts on the subject on many different threads so I'm not necessarily commenting on just this one. You'd probably be better off letting JJ speak for himself.