Suggestions for best American-based company that hunts in southern Africa

traderjoe

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Anybody have any good suggestions for a truly American-based and operated company that offers quality hunting experiences in southern Africa, especially Namibia? Information much appreciated.
 
Are you referring to booking agents?

If not there are plenty of friendly and honest RSA and Namibia outfitters on AH. Just ask what kind of hunt you are looking for, we are here to help plan a trip.
 
American owned and operated hunting companies that have extensive experience in Namibia. I have nothing against South African owned companies, but our group is just interested in giving our business to an American company who had the hunting tender in that particular area. Looking for somebody who can handle group of 5-7 hunters. Game = lion, leopard, oryx, springbok, giraffe, zebra.
 
It's a very tall order to ask, let's see what AH comes up with for you.
 
It is not Namibia but it is Southern Africa.

Rann Safaris - Hunting outfitters in Botswana specializing in Lions, Leopards, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino and Plains Game

Jeff is not cheap, he is hunting Botswana this year not sure about next year. He fits your criteria and runs a very good operation.

Although it is in East Africa, Adam Clements has areas in Tanzania. He is based out of San Antonio. He was born in Tanzania and is licensed to hunt there. Top notch, I used him on my first safari.

I am sure there are others but there is a big difference between somebody buying/selling from the US and somebody who truly has his own areas. These two guys are the real deal, there are many posers out there.
 
Thank you very much. I will look into these guys.
 
Doesnt jeff rann also now own the 777 ranch in texas? His website states as much.
 
Doesnt jeff rann also now own the 777 ranch in texas? His website states as much.

Yes he does. He is also starting up in Tanzania now that Botswana is closing.
 
Do you happen to know when and why his Botswana operations are closing?

Everyone will be joining him shortly. Government is putting is impeding hunting as a new policy.
 
Everyone will be joining him shortly. Government is putting is impeding hunting as a new policy.

Thanks for the information. I'm obviously a bit naive on the situation in Botswana. I've been focused on Namibia for various reasons. As far as I know, the situation is fine in Namibia but if you know something I do not, please let me know.
 
Thanks for the information. I'm obviously a bit naive on the situation in Botswana. I've been focused on Namibia for various reasons. As far as I know, the situation is fine in Namibia but if you know something I do not, please let me know.

Namibia is stable and welcomes hunters. The more the merrier.

Heading there in June.
 
I think our group is quickly realizing that we need to balance our preference for an American-owned and operated company with all the great things we are hearing about hunting Namibia. I'll keep on the lookout for companies that fit all of our criteria, which I admit are a tall order, but otherwise we really have Namibia on the brain.

We're hearing some good things about hunting in the communal conservancies there so will check that option out as well. Theoretically it seems like a good model.
 
Trader Joe,

I was reading your thread with interest. I think I have something for you that doesn't match your specifications exactly but it's very close, especially if you're interested in hunting the communal conservancy areas to the west of Etosha, which I highly recommend if you want the challenge of hunting free roaming, unfenced wilderness. Myself, I think it's more like the real deal. And I like the conservancy model too, especially the fact that the communities benefit from hunting in terms of money and jobs. From everything I saw, it actually works like it's supposed to.

We went with Savannah Safari's, who have the hunting contract with Torra Conservancy. Henk Fourie was our main guide. He's Namibian and a good guy. He definitely knows his stuff. They also just recently rebuilt their hunting camp and it's absolutely first rate without being over the top. Hunting Torra is an amazing experience all around.

The American side of it as actually a funny story. We had been driving south and west one morning from Henk's camp for about 4-5 hours. Henk's camp is already in a pretty remote spot, so we were out there. There were no people, no villages, nothing we had left the dirt track long ago and were somewhere near the Huab River close to the border with Skeleton Coast. It was just open range driving. I don't think I've ever been in a more remote spot in my life. There were plenty of springbok, oryx, and kudu, which is what we were after.

Anyway, we were at the furthest point that we could go and were getting ready to turn back. Even Henk looked a little nervous about being that far out. Just then, some guy strolls over the ridge ahead of us and kind of waves casually, like he's walking to the corner grocery store. Henk gets his binocs out and shakes his head and just laughs. Then he asks us if all Yanks are as crazy as this guy. The guy turns out to be American. He's just whistling as he walks up to us, wearing a big cowboy hat, torn shorts, and a Seattle Seahawks T-shirt. Henk knows him and does the introductions. Then the guy turns to our local guides, who also obviously know him because they can't stop laughing, and he begins speaking fluent Herero to them. We were wondering who the hell is this guy.

Turns out the guy had been working on some kind of ecological survey of the entire Kunene region for 7 years, and he pulls out these beautiful GIS maps of northwestern Namibia that detail all of the core wildlife areas and general movement patterns, all of the cattle grazing patterns for every village in the region (which can be important on an open range hunt like that), and every single borehole, spring, water collection point in northwestern Nambia also obviously important. His knowledge of the area and the wildlife was so detailed that even Henk and the local guides were asking him a slew of questions. I guess he supplied the conservancies and the Namibian government with all of this information because everything he had was far superior to their own. Turns out he is some kind of anthropologist/biologist, married to a Himba woman, and knows every traditional and community leader in the region. He was from Alaska and had hunted all his life but never in Africa ironically. But he knew everything a good hunter needs to know, gave that knowledge freely, and turned out to be our impromptu guide for the rest of our stay. It made the experience go from being very good to out of this world. He took us to some places that I doubt very few people know about. That's the beauty of hunting those conservancy areas with the right person.

And after all that I am sorry to admit I forgot the guy's last name. But his first name is Chris. If you go with Savannah Safari's, ask Henk if he can hook up with the guy for your trip. Maybe other hunters in those conservancy areas know about him too but I'm not sure because it sounded like he didn't really interact with hunting outfits it was really just a chance encounter. But he's one of those characters that you're lucky to meet on a hunting trip like that. And like I say it the made trip go from about a 7 out of 10 to an easy 10 for all of us, and we're a pretty discerning group.

I'll try to dig up his last name...
 
Very interesting story and thanks for sharing that. Some of our group have talked with other hunters in the conservancy areas, and they know this guy as well but again are confronted with the mysterious last name issue. There are a few characters in the Kunene who keep coming up. This guy is one of them. Let me know if you get his last name, as I would be interested in picking his brain at the very least. I wouldn't mind getting some of those maps too! Cheers.
 
...........

We're hearing some good things about hunting in the communal conservancies there so will check that option out as well. Theoretically it seems like a good model.

It is the only model that is going to save Wildlife in those areas. If the community can not gain from wildlife they have no motivation.
Intrinsic value does not seem to taste to good. :)

Case in point are the recent killings of Wild dogs in a recent news report:

MANY farmers in the Kavango Region still believe wild dogs are vermin that should be killed on sight because they might kill their livestock. They are regarded as merciless and cruel killers and have a bad reputation, therefore they are frequently killed by humans, especially farmers.

According to a booklet on wild dogs distributed by the Namibia Nature Foundation, human persecution kills more than 50 wild dogs a year in Namibia.

"On Monday night two wild dogs, one male and one female of around three years of age, were deliberately run over on the road by two Kavango farmers known to us and the Ju/'hoansi of the Nhoma area," said a source.

The population of African wild dogs has declined drastically, mainly because they are killed by farmers who consider them a nuisance, with an estimated 250 to 300 left in Namibia.

They mainly hunt antelopes and sometimes prey on domestic small stock.

"I wish the Ministry of Environment and Tourism could just make the people aware of the wild dogs so that the endangered animals are not just killed," said Estelle Oosthuysen from the Nhoma Safari Camp.

According to Oosthuysen, "The Ministry of Environment and Tourism was informed of the latest incidents going on in the Kavango Region but they have not done anything about it".

Wild dogs are a protected species and it is illegal to kill them.

"There is an organisation that can capture and remove these wild dogs from farms," Oosthuysen said.

An official at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said they were not aware of the latest wild dog killings in Kavango.

"Nothing has been reported to us," the ministry's chief control warden said.
 
Very interesting story and thanks for sharing that. Some of our group have talked with other hunters in the conservancy areas, and they know this guy as well but again are confronted with the mysterious last name issue. There are a few characters in the Kunene who keep coming up. This guy is one of them. Let me know if you get his last name, as I would be interested in picking his brain at the very least. I wouldn't mind getting some of those maps too! Cheers.

Traderjoe: I know the man of which you speak. He is indeed worth contacting if you hunt in the conservancy areas of Northwestern Namibia. You will not regret it. He is a native Alaskan (as in half Native American), an avid hunter with a lot of big game experience, and is in fact married to a woman from Namibia and spends half his life there. The information and contacts he has in those conservancy areas is gold. I guess he's in high demand by the celebs who like to go to Namibia too (the Paul Allen/Brad Pitt crowd), but he's truly a good guy if you want to pick his brain or what have you. I'm new here so I'll figure out how to get you his contact details - or just shoot me a message to my inbox.
 
Guys, Henk Fourie is dead by suicide. He killed himself a couple of weeks ago. I am an American and, as far as I know, am the only American that owns a safari company in Africa that still lives here in the US. I've been in the hunting business 21 years and while we are based in South Africa we do hunt in Namibia around Outjo. I will be very happy to discuss hunting with us.

Ken Moody
 
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........... I am an American and, as far as I know, am the only American that owns a safari company in Africa that still lives here in the US. .........

There was someone on here a few weeks back asking about an outfit. After doing some research I found that a lady in Arizona owned the outfit. So, you are not alone.
 

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