Planning first bow safari for 2013

My dad and I are beginning to plan our first safari for plains game in South Africa 2013. We just visited the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show in Pennsylvania and visited 30 or more outfitters. To say the least, we are overwhelmed. We would like to focus on bow only outfitters or those that set aside areas for bow hunting with permanent hides.

From the show, we like Moselesele Bow Hunting Safaris and Warthog safaris, both in Limpopo region. We had received recommendations for Limcroma Safaris previously.

Can anyone else suggest any bow hunt only outfitters in the Limpopo region?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Brian

Moselesele and African arrow are the only two bow hunting only outfitters on the show, there is very little to diffrentiate the two and you will have an awesome experince with both these exclusive bowhunting outfitters.....

I'll put my name on it!
My best always.

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Originally Posted by Jaco Strauss

Moselesele and African arrow are the only two bow hunting only outfitters on the show, there is very little to diffrentiate the two and you will have an awesome experince with both these exclusive bowhunting outfitters.....

I'll put my name on it!
My best always.

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Very good advice, always try and go with an EXCLUSIVELY bow only outfitter, I have found that they understand your needs better and are generally better geared toward bowhunters in regards to blinds, treestands and the like.

Great suggestion from the above 2 posts. I can highly recommend African Arrow Safaris. 2 of us hunted with them in 2008 and brought back 15 animals. We took 2 first timers back in 2010 and brought back 28 animals. Harry takes small groups, 4 to 6 hunters, and he does not like to mix groups in camp. He only takes 25 ot 30 hunters per year and he manages his concessions for not only quantity but quality. His minimum on Kudu is 50" and has has a ton of Kudu. We are booked again for this Sept with all 4 from 2010 going back. When I go to Africa to hunt it will be with African Arrow Safaris. His trophy fees may be higher than most, and that is fine if you want to shoot smaller animals, but if you want very good quality trophies, Harry is the one. he is a bowhunter, his brother Bronte is a bowhunter as all all his PH's. All his concessions are for bowhunters, nothing else. His hunts are 10 days with a PH with you at all times from the time he picks you up in J'oberg to the time he drops you off at the airport. Everything about African Arrow Safaris is 5 star and I will put his trophy quality of animals up against any outfit over there. If you would like pics of all our animals, just shoot me a PM with your email. To top his 2011 hunts off, his hunters killed 5 Sable, ALL over 40"!

Absolutely nothing wrong with going for bow only. There are many outfitters who have established bow hunting areas. The only thing I may suggest is don't limit yourself to only bow hunting, especially if this is your first trip over. Typically for bow hunting you will be sitting in a blind or "hide" maybe for long hours and you may not get to experience the sights and sounds that you can encounter while on foot spotting and stalking with a rifle. Just something to think about.

thanks for the suggestions.

You can do spot and stalk hunting with a bow also. All depends on what time of the year you go when the spot and stalk is best. I will say it again and i do not mean to step on anyones toes, going on a bowhunt with an outfitter that is both a rifle and bow outfitter can sometimes lead to problems. I have had freinds that did this and when they got to the hide, the shots with a bow were 80+ yards! This is when the PH pushed the rifle at them to get them to shoot an animal. Not syaing this is true but for a small number of outfitters, but it can happen. Just be careful when you plan your trip and make sure to check with the outfitter on his bow set ups and it might be a good idea to get it in writing. this is a Nyala I took on a spot and stalk in late Sept so it can be done.

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I am going to an outfitter that is offering both.
And for the first 7 days of my hunt, I am going to spot and stalk with a bow in a bow only area.
The last 5 days I will be hunting in an area where a gun can be used as well and even if I still will be focusing on using my bow, I will have the option to use a gun if I want.
I will still focus on spot and stalk for the last 5 days, but I have the option to sit in a blind if I feel to lazy to walk one day:p

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Originally Posted by Norwegianwoods

I am going to an outfitter that is offering both.
And for the first 7 days of my hunt, I am going to spot and stalk with a bow in a bow only area.
The last 5 days I will be hunting in an area where a gun can be used as well and even if I still will be focusing on using my bow, I will have the option to use a gun if I want.
I will still focus on spot and stalk for the last 5 days, but I have the option to sit in a blind if I feel to lazy to walk one day:p

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Sounds like you have a great game plan! Best of luck and enjoy every minute! We approach many clients with these same options, in the end we cater to fulfill the expectations of the client to make their safari a success.

Brian,I went in July 2011,last summer with Tiene and Ananja of Warthog Safaris.I only brought my bow and shot 9 trophy animals.I passed on a lot too.The bow only area is set up with mostly pit blinds and they are set up great.All shots are going to be within 20 yds,if you wait for them to come in.I hunted with Tiene and his dad Ben and had a great time.I'm going back,I just don't know when yet.If you want to rifle hunt they will be more than happy to let you do that too.If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them.Check out my hunt report under South Africa reports/warthog safaris it's only half done, been busy.Rick

Brian, I too am an Africa virgin planning my 1st archery Safari in Africa. I have only been a member of AH for a short time but I have learned a bunch from these guys. They have great advice, are experience and they mean well. I have booked with an outfitter that takes both gun and bow-hunters with no intent of shooting an animal with the gun. They have 250,000 acres total with over 30,000 acres set aside for "bow only" with 50+ hides. The really good outfitters should attempt to cater to your needs and give you a reasonable chance to shoot animals with the weapon of your choosing. Good communication is the key. It is good to check with a few outfitters to see what is best for you. To me a successful hunt is more than just bringing home animals. This is why I chose to be a bow-hunter.
Stay calm and shoot straight my friend.

Lots of operations have excelent bow hunting reputations. I can recommend Dries visser safaris and Ken Moody safaris.
Ask lots of questions here and to any outfitter you talk too. To be frank i killed some fantastic animals and the days in the hide were far from boring. But going to the limpopo is a bit like going to texas. Its brush country and you usually cant see very far at all. RSA is also very modern, our guides were texting each other all day long on there cell phones. Not exactly the africa of ole.

I would also recommend Dries Visser Safaris for archery only places. I went with them in July 2010 and had a blast. Search for "ndbwhnter is back" on AH here and you can read my hunt report.

nd