Sightseeing before or after the hunt, what do you do with firearms?

When I go to Africa I would like to take a tour of a National Park or Victoria Falls. What do you do with your firearm(s) and ammo during this time? And would you recommend such a tour before or after the hunt?

Hey,

I always recommend a tour like this to my clients. It is a great way to relax and sleep in a little after 7 or 10 days of hunting. I would recommend the Vic Falls. You will see a lot of animals while you hunt and in my opinion going to the falls is something unique. You can arrange with the people that you use as meet and greet to store your gun and ammo for you while you are at the falls. They will then meet you with the rifle and ammo before you fly out of South Africa again. ( You have to fly out of JHB again).

If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail.

Best regards,

personally, i like to tour first, as this helps to get rid of the jet lag. and believe me, jet lag is huge. as far as the rifle goes, i rent. i will tour for 2 weeks this june in namibia before my hunt. best wishes and good luck.

Thanks for the replies guys. Kuduman you make a great point that it helps wear off the jet lag.

i find that touring at the beginning of your trip will help in the case of missing baggage. if you want to hunt first, and your luggage doesnt show, well good luck.

Originally Posted by kuduman

i find that touring at the beginning of your trip will help in the case of missing baggage. if you want to hunt first, and your luggage doesnt show, well good luck.

I agree with kuduman.

there is also a point that i failed to mention. for every first time safari, you have to spend time beforehand studying and being able to identify african game. especially if you are bowhunting in a blind by yourself. knowing each animal and being able to judge trophy quality. a immature nyala may look like a bushbuck e.t.c. touring before hand helped me tremendously with this. i toured kruger park for 4 days and gained a lot of knowledge on the animals

Thats a good suggestion kuduman. Africa's been a dream of mine since i was about four years old so I don't think that species identification will be much of an issue (except a couple of the smaller antelopes) but it would be a good way to get over the shell shock for judging trophy quality.

Most outfitters have facilities like a safe to store your rifles. In that way it may be better to go on a tour after the hunt and you can leave your rifle with the outfitter.

If your flying into Jo'berg I would reccomend the Afton House, great people and they can store you guns and ammo if you are touring first.