Advice appreciated!!

UKHunter

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Hi everyone,

I have only just joined the forum with the hope to pick your brains.

I am off on my first African adventure to South Africa in September and would appreciate any advice you may have from travelling there, during the hunt, tipping, etc.

Cheers, Tom

P.S. if you have any queries about hunting in England, I would be glad to help!
 
Hi Tom

Welcome to the forum from another Brit. (Albeit an expat one)

Where in SA are you going & what are you hunting?
 
Welcome,, as a Newbie my self I know you will get comfortable real quick Tons of info here
 
I am going to the east coast, about an hour north of Port Elizabeth.

I am hunting for a trophy springbok, impala and warthog then a cull warthog and X2 cull Blesbok and some lamping for jackel.

Tom
 
Welcome UKHunter!

There is an excellent Sticky Post on tipping in this category.....You can also find a multitude of answers to just about any of your specific questions if you do a forum search on the topic....Not much on here that hasn't been asked and answered...

And if you still can't find the answers, there are a great many folks on here eager to share their experience and knowledge as you will see....
 
Tom

It sounds like a fairly standard area and time so you should find most of the answers you need using the search function but I'd suggest you especially look for subjects such as weather and ticks....... especially ticks because tick bite fever will make you feel like you've been hit by a train and knowing how to deal with them correctly is a big help.

You're going to a beautiful area and you'll have a great hunt though. :)
 
Welcome to the forum, UKHunter. I joined last October, in the same position you are now in. My son and I just completed our first safari to the Kwa-zulu Natal province of South Africa. It was a plains game safari and we took 10 trophies between us. I learned a great deal on this forum and left the US feeling like I was really prepared. Some things you will have to consider:

1. Are you taking your own rifles? If so, you will need to secure import permits from the South African police. There are services that will obtain these for you and I would recommend that you use them. Search the "before and after the hunt" forum for more information.
2. If you are travelling through or from a yellow fever endemic area, the RSA will not admit you unless you have been immunized against it. Other vaccinations may be recommended and, depending on where you are going, malaria prophalactics may be recommended. Your travel physician can help with this.
3. I don't know how things work in the UK, but in the US a customs broker is recommended to help with importing your trophies. You will also want to consider whether you have your taxidermy done in the RSA or in the UK. Again, search the "before and after the hunt" forum - lots of threads on this topic.

Lots of other things to consider, but those are some of the biggies.
 
Welcome to the forum, UKHunter. I joined last October, in the same position you are now in. My son and I just completed our first safari to the Kwa-zulu Natal province of South Africa. It was a plains game safari and we took 10 trophies between us. I learned a great deal on this forum and left the US feeling like I was really prepared. Some things you will have to consider:

1. Are you taking your own rifles? If so, you will need to secure import permits from the South African police. There are services that will obtain these for you and I would recommend that you use them. Search the "before and after the hunt" forum for more information.
2. If you are travelling through or from a yellow fever endemic area, the RSA will not admit you unless you have been immunized against it. Other vaccinations may be recommended and, depending on where you are going, malaria prophalactics may be recommended. Your travel physician can help with this.
3. I don't know how things work in the UK, but in the US a customs broker is recommended to help with importing your trophies. You will also want to consider whether you have your taxidermy done in the RSA or in the UK. Again, search the "before and after the hunt" forum - lots of threads on this topic.

Lots of other things to consider, but those are some of the biggies.

Engrave this on your heart. Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances ship raw/salted trophies to the UK.

Veterinary inspectors in the UK are total and absolute swines and will reject raw trophies at the drop of the hat and once they do, you have the option of having them incinerate the trophies or have them returned to country of origin and then reshipped at YOUR expense.
 
Engrave this on your heart. Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances ship raw/salted trophies to the UK.

Veterinary inspectors in the UK are total and absolute swines and will reject raw trophies at the drop of the hat and once they do, you have the option of having them incinerate the trophies or have them returned to country of origin and then reshipped at YOUR expense.

Canada CFIA finds bugs or does not like the shipment you will get the exact same treatment.
Oh, they add another option. Fumigation, shipping and all extra costs all on you.
 
Thanks all! As i am a student so on a budget, the trophy sprongbok and impala will be skull mounted and all transported back with me in my luggage along with the warthog tusks.

I am told by the outfitter i should be all ok to do this!??
 
Thanks all! As i am a student so on a budget, the trophy sprongbok and impala will be skull mounted and all transported back with me in my luggage along with the warthog tusks.

I am told by the outfitter i should be all ok to do this!??

No mate..... it's not OK/legal to do it. Firstly you technically need vet clearance & probably export certificates from RSA then you need vet clearance etc for the UK......... Those UK vet inspectors are paranoid about foot & mouth etc.

If you do, do it, you certainly don't want to discuss it on a public forum.
 
I agree with shakari, don't do it. It could be HUGE problem.
 
No mate..... it's not OK/legal to do it. Firstly you technically need vet clearance & probably export certificates from RSA then you need vet clearance etc for the UK......... Those UK vet inspectors are paranoid about foot & mouth etc.

If you do, do it, you certainly don't want to discuss it on a public forum.

or even start looking up what the fines you can expect are!!!!
 
I would also be worried about using an outfitter that told me I could...just saying!
 
Ask the Outfitter for a deposit on your legal fees. Its only fair.

In the UK:

Top 10 Seized Wildlife Products

The following is the top ten of wildlife products illegally imported into the UK by tourists, based on the number of HM Customs seizures in UK ports and airports between 2006 and 2007.

Traditional Chinese medicine (containing endangered species including tiger, rhino, seahorse, deer musk)
Snake and Lizard products*
Alligator / crocodile products*
Plants (including orchids, cycads and cacti)
Live reptiles (including snakes, lizards, chameleons, iguanas, tortoises and terrapins)*
Caviar (amounts over 250g)
Coral*
Elephant ivory and skin products
Queen conch shells*
Animal skin products or stuffed animals

What happens if I don't have the right documents?
If you do not have the required permits, your wildlife souvenir will be likely to be confiscated at the customs You may have to pay a fine, ......... this fine may be as high as Euro 65 000.
You may be subjected to a penal prosecution. In some cases, you also risk being arrested.

In the EU, most of the seizures relating to wildlife concern tourists bringing home wildlife without permits!
 
Perhaps i should clear this up a bit! There will be no animals SKINS being transported, Just skulls that will have been cleaned and bleached and attached to a shield.

I have recieved an email from the AHIT when I asked that question.

This was there answer

If the skull is on a shield and it is your personal property and being imported as such as long as it complies with the information below it is OK
If this product is for display purposes, is mounted and has undergone a full process of cleaning so it requires no further processing it will be considered a finished product and as such there would be no Animal Health requirements.

Tom
 
Tom

The trophies won't have undergone the correct full process of cleaning and will only have been boiled out. It won't have been treated with insecticide and/or irradiated and so won't have vet clearance from RSA.

Also export permits probably won't have been issued by the game dept.

Also, if it comes in with your normal baggage it won't undergo vet inspection or irradiation in the UK and so could possibly be infected with F&M etc.

I REALLY wouldn't recommend you do bring them with you and as I said previously, it's not a good idea to discuss doing so on a public forum because all public forums are at least occasionally monitored by a variety of organisations and you just might find customs wanting to shine a torch up your bum when you return to the UK. LOL!

You also need to appreciate that every time a hunter commits what might be a dubious act it risks further legislation that might make things harder to import legally because some idiot politician wants to remove more of our freedoms.
 
Perhaps i should clear this up a bit! There will be no animals SKINS being transported, Just skulls that will have been cleaned and bleached and attached to a shield.

I have recieved an email from the AHIT when I asked that question.

This was there answer

If the skull is on a shield and it is your personal property and being imported as such as long as it complies with the information below it is OK
If this product is for display purposes, is mounted and has undergone a full process of cleaning so it requires no further processing it will be considered a finished product and as such there would be no Animal Health requirements.

Tom

Skulls and skins are really in the same category as far as animal products are concerned.

I would love to take my trophies home on the same plane with me.

It is the cleaning and drying process that takes the time. Oh yeah, those pesky permits being processed can take a day or two as well.

What does "undergone a full process of cleaning" mean under the Animal health requirements in the UK?
 

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