Hello from the North Slope

[AKSloper71]

Hi All,

Just a quick intro... My name is Scott and I live and have hunted and fly fished all over Alaska, now I'm planning my African hunt for 2016 (My Alive at 45 hunt)... Anyway, still in the research stage and will probably pull the trigger on securing a plains game hunt for my first go around in February when I go down the the SCI convention. My plan is to take a 7-10 day South Africa plains game hunt with a Kudu being the focus. I am taking with me my 9.3x74R and .416 Rigby, both in the Ruger No.1.

I joined up here to get some good info from other people like myself that love to hunt and those that have done the African hunts.

Scott

 

[Royal27]

Welcome!

You'll find plenty of great outfitters here and they can hook you up on big Kudu For sure!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Welcome to AH.
You have found a great resource.
Good luck with your research.

 

[CAustin]

AKSloper71 , Scott, welcome ."......there are lots of posts to look at here. You will learn a lot about an African Safari. Your detailed planning now will assure a great hunt in 2016. I've been on two so far and planning my next one now. If I can be of any assistance let me know. Be sure to get references from any outfitter that you can talk to voice to voice before booking. Lots of fly by night folks that will sell you a hunt but not deliver what they promised.

 

[buchnerl]

Welcome to AfricaHunting.com Scott! Alaska is a place that tickles my fancy and would love to get there myself one day!

There are a number of great outfits on here and as mentioned you will be hooked up in no time at all. Good luck with all the planning and waiting.

 

[enysse]

Welcome to AH, Scott !

 

[Velo Dog]

Welcome AKSloper71,

I too worked The Slope for several years but, these days I'm back to being a City Slicker (Anchorage).

Your choice in rifles and calibers is spot on but for non-dangerous game, the 9.3 is plenty by itself (however, in Africa nobody will look twice at you in the event you decide to hunt non-dangerous game with a .416, it is commonly done there every day).

In this forum you will find excellent safari companies and excellent PHs.

CAustin and others are correct, make sure you speak with references of whomever you begin to focus on.

One other thing I will suggest is to avoid any outfit that guarantees you will shoot specific size record book animals, because those tend to be small plots of land with pre-measured animals being trucked in as needed, as per your "trophy list" (AKA "canned hunts").

Along those same lines, don't fall for the notion that your PH must actually own the land he guides you on.

Just like anywhere, in Africa one must be filthy rich to own hundreds of thousands of acres and most PHs are just very hard working folk, not multi-millionares.

Regards,
Velo Dog (real name is Paul)

 

[Red Leg]

Good comments by all. Even just Southern Africa is a huge region with a lot of very different hunting options. I would underline particularly what Paul says. The RSA has some wonderful destinations, but it also has a lot of relatively small, high fenced operations which, except for the accents, are little different from a Texas exotics ranch. A high-fence hunt can be fine so long as it is a large enough area that the game does not realize it is essentially in a pen. There is a huge difference between hunting behind 50K or 5K of fenced hunting area. Another option is Namibia and parts of the RSA which offer hunting on low-fence cattle ranches or conservancies. Nick Nolte is an example of that sort of operation (and one I can highly recommend http://www.nicknoltesafaris.com/ https://www.facebook.com/nicknolte.huntingsafaris/photos ) who will have access to many tens of thousands of acres of free range country. There are others. One last thought - I found a hunting consultant a huge help in booking my first safari and use him to this day for new areas. I can personally endorse Jack Atcheson Jr http://www.atcheson.com/ . His services won't cost you a penny more, and his job is to build a hunt around your desires, and most importantly, your budget.

 

[AKSloper71]

Thanks to everyone for the comments... Lots of good info thus far and I'm filing it away in my safari folder to look at more in depth when I get home.

I look forward to sharing my hunts with everyone down the road.

Scott

 

[accipiter]

Welcome to the forum Scott!

A few years ago my wife and I took a full tour of Alaska and our first leg was the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. We saw quite a few Caribou, lots of Musk Ox, one Brown Bear, and one Wolf. We also came across a nice herd of Mountain Sheep in the Brooks Range. In my opinion that is the most unique and untouched piece of land in America.

Have fun planning your trip and feel free to post questions.

 

[Bobpuckett]

Welcome to AH AKSloper71! I too have hunted a lot of Alaska as a 22 yr resident until 2001 when I landed a job with the USACE headed back that way soon retirement is just around the corner. Been to Africa 4 times now and one quick word of advice make it 10 days 7 is never enough even if you've taken all your animals on your list your not going to want to leave. if you have any questions feel free to ask. enjoy the research.

 

[Jfet]

Welcome!
Welcome!
Welcome!

 

[peras]

Welcome! Good luck with your planning, feel free to ask questions!

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Welcome to AH Scott! You'll fit right in...

 

[James.Grage]

Hi Scott

Welcome to AH.

What part of Alaska are you from? I appears that you could be a bush pilot, crazy lot if you ask.

When check on your future African hunt, do your date checking for prime time for a Kudu.

I would look at a May slot For South Africa or Namibia for a best chance for a big Kudu.

Then try and match up a few other Game animals to fit into your safari.

If you take your 416 along will you be looking for a Cape Buffalo to add to your package. If not then the 9.3 will more than address everything on a safari package and it would work for Cape Buffalo also.

 

[Nyati]

Welcome to AH, Scott !

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Hi All,

Just a quick intro... My name is Scott and I live and have hunted and fly fished all over Alaska, now I'm planning my African hunt for 2016 (My Alive at 45 hunt)... Anyway, still in the research stage and will probably pull the trigger on securing a plains game hunt for my first go around in February when I go down the the SCI convention. My plan is to take a 7-10 day South Africa plains game hunt with a Kudu being the focus. I am taking with me my 9.3x74R and .416 Rigby, both in the Ruger No.1.

I joined up here to get some good info from other people like myself that love to hunt and those that have done the African hunts.

Scott

Welcome to AH from a one time fly fisherman, do I ever miss that! HartzView Safaris as well as a number of other members from AH will be at SCI. Please stop by the HartzView booth to say hello.

I'd really like to talk fly fishing in Alaska with you. Prior to Phoenix I lived in southeast Idaho and was an avid fly guy.

 

[JamesJ]

Welcome to the forums.

 

[bluey]

alive at 45 hunt , that's cool
welcome to AH scott ,enjoy the site
good place to iron out ant of your questions ,whilst planning your African adventure