Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Hunting in Africa

Advice from someone who has a lot of experience in hunting any area is valuable, to be sure.
Advice on hunting on the African continent comes from folks who have never been, to those with many trips under their belt, and everything in between, at least as far as we can judge from Internet communication.

The other side of the coin is advice from PH's and outfitters who are active, or say they are, in African hunting. Go to a sport show in a major city, where there are dozens of outfitters touting their hunts and services, and leave with your head spinning with a confusing mix of BS, spin, and hopefully, some truth.

My favorite, and by far most reliable, source of recommendations comes from friends and acquaintences whom I trust, and are going to give me the straight scoop without a lot of BS and hype.

RNG, welcome to the campfire. I am heading on my 9th plains game hunt.(had another in Zim for buffalo) Namibia is a great place to hunt plains game, large properties, lots of free range, mostly reasonable trophy fees. After a couple times of hunting it though you have hunted everything there is as the number of native species is somewhat limited.

South Africa has a wonderful diversity of game and habitats, which can make many hunts unique even if for similar game. There are many different species available to hunt as well. The properties tend to be smaller in RSA (generally) but there are many expections also.

So my recommendation would for this first time, connect yourself onto either an experienced outfitter or friend who can help guide you in your decision. There are many good hunts to be had, and don't forget to check references.

I recommend Limpopo Province in South Africa for a first hunt because the hunting areas are within a 4 or 5 hour drive of the Johannesburg airport, thus avoiding another flight. The PH will pick you up at the airport. Hunts are within high-fenced areas but they are very large and the game breeds there and runs wild in them. My PH owned or had access to 70,000 acres and we managed to shoot 8 animals in 7 days of hunting.

Later I hunted in Zimbabwe. While there is plains game there, the lure of Zimbabwe is dangerous game. My first trip there, for 15 days, I took elephant, buffalo, hippo, and croc. We didn't see any plains game. On my second trip I took elephant, buffalo, hippo, lion, zebra, and three impala. We saw some other plains game (kudu, waterbuck, warthog) but did not pursue them.

I'm retired, so I could do this.
I knew I'd only get to hunt Africa once, so I started researching countries and outfitters in Spring of 2011.
In August 2012 I Settled on Namibia and Omujeve Safaris, purchased airline tickets and booked my hunt.
Arrived in Windhoek, Namibia last week of May 2013 and hunted with Omujeve Safaris for a week. Hunted 2 areas, each over 150,000 acres and took 7 Plains Game trophies.
Great hunt, great trophies and great outfit.
Flight was on Delta from Atlanta non-stop to Johannesburg. Spent the night at Africa Sky and had them do all the Gun paper work. Next morning it was South African Air to Windhoek.
I also found a lot of information on accuraterealoading.com
I'd recommend Omujeve Safaries (www.omujevesafaris.com) and Africa Sky Guest House in Johannesburg.

Lugerman

P.S. And my wife went with me as an observer.

Just depends on how much you want to spend.

I would highly recommend the Save with Zambezi Hunters in Zimbabwe, but its not going to be cheap. I hunted Buf in 2012 with them and my father went for Sable and Plains game. Much different then South Africa, as you don't see fences, but you are also paying double what you would be paying in South Africa.

I have hunted South Africa, it was a great time, and I would highly recommend it for a first trip, but you are technically hunting on larger or smaller ranches. Some area are very open where others seem a bit smaller. Its just your opinion on fences and such. That being said, we tried to cull a blesbok out of a smaller game farm, and they were damn smart. I could never get a shot at them.

I haven't been to Namibia, but I heard that is good. I am going back to South Africa in 2016 to hunt as I got a heck of a deal, but would have preferred to go to Namibia. I have only heard good things about hunting there.

Didn't they try to blow you up there? Talk about a glutton for punishment!!!

I think he's giving them another chance.

They've had five more chances since then! They haven't gotten it done yet!