Booking hunt and doing your homework

A friend just informed me of a hunt opportunity that sounded too good to be true in Zambia. Seven day Buff hunt for 7,000 including trophy fee. An individual with a named booking outfitter listed on this website had contacted him about an opportunity in Zim and then about the hunt in Zambia. My friend is very interested in following up on the Zambia trip.
I was interested also until I looked at another website that has many thousand reports from hunters about their trips worldwide and found that the booking company since 2007 has had only 2 favorable results and 5 unfavorable results. Their prior history prior to 2007 wasn't a whole lot better. They are registered at the SCI show this year.
As you can imagine I am very hesitant to follow up on this hunt. Where this is this much smoke there must be fire! Also seems to prove the old adage if is to good to be true it probably isn't.
The moral of the story is to really do your homework, follow up on references and utilize this website as well as others for assistance and advice! Sorry I can't tell you who the consultant is, libel and slander laws being what they are and with our litigious society.

buckcurtin... you are spot-on with your concerns. Always be weary of exceptionally cheap deals, dubious special offers and guarantees. When you encounter these, you need to ask the questions, seek advise and follow-up references. There are some great deals out there, but they especially do not apply to truly wild concessions and established outfitters. You can shave off a few dollars here and there, but to slice costs in half or even more sometimes, is a sign of things not being in the right place. When you have a game farm and own the wildlife and property, this is very possible and understandable, but when on free range concessions and operating with fixed overheads and year-round logistics, it just does not make sense to run a charity - the wildlife and habitat is what ultimately suffers from cut-backs on conservation measures, then maintenance and sustainability go down the drain. Outfitters should be ready to justify a special deal and clients have the right to question it.