Wingshooting for Kenya local resident

Hello All,

I am an avid wingshooter who has recently moved to Nairobi, Kenya from South Africa.

In South Africa, I spent over 30 days a year in the field wingshooting with my wingshooting group (Wingshooters.co.za). Given my six year assignment to Kenya and my reletively modest means, I am primarily seeking weekend locations where I can drive to shoot with locals for sport and companionship as opposed to an all inclusive wingshooting safari experience geared toward pre-booked groups of foreign hunters. I appreciate that my failure to fit into the "fly-in" wingshooting safari market creates some challenges.

Once, I secure my license, my primary desire is to identify local shooting companions with access to concessions. This process will probably take some time and require a great deal of leg work on my part. However, given my passion for shooting, I am keen to find a path back into the field as soon as possible.

I am looking for any information that might assist me in finding local wingshooting opportunities. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Prof. Brian Robinson
saprof1968@gmail.com

saprof, you may want to connect with someone at Bateleur Safaris... www.bateleursafaris.com


Here is some info from their website:

Editor's Note
East Africa is not the first place most wingshooters think of for an African bird safari, but Senior Correspondent Gary Kramer says Kenya is a good alternative to the shooting destinations further south. He recently traveled there to check out the hunting opportunity. Here痴 what Kramer found.

Bird Hunting in Kenya
by Gary Kramer

For many years, Africa has been the domain of the big game hunter, but not so any longer. In recent years the increasing demand for wingshooting has lead more and more African operators to offer stand-alone bird shooting safaris. As reported in past issues, most of these operators are located in southern Africa, particularly South Africa and Botswana. Less well known are the bird shooting operators in East Africa, specifically Kenya. In the case of Kenya, many people know that big game hunting is closed and mistakenly assume that bird shooting is unavailable as well. While big game hunting was closed in this country in1977, game birds and waterfowl remain legal quarry.

I recently returned from a 10-day bird shooting and game viewing safari in Kenya where I hunted with Bateleur Safaris (PO Box 42562, Nairobi, Kenya; tel. 011-252-2-4890454; e-mail: bateleursafaris@swiftkenya.com ; web site: www.bateleursafaris.com), owned and operated by Michael Cheffings. Cheffings is a second-generation professional hunter whose father, Joe Cheffings, was a well-known PH during the hey day of big game hunting in Kenya. For the past seven years, Cheffings has offered bird shooting safaris in two regions. The first is the area we hunted - the Olgulalui region of Masailand about 100 miles south of Nairobi on the boundary of Amboseli National Park.

The trips are conducted in the grand African style with Mt. Kilimanjaro as your backdrop and the sights and sounds of Africa just outside your tent. The beaters and helpers are all Masai who still wear the traditional dress. The weather during September and October is dry and can be hot during the day but cools off at night due to the 3,500-foot elevation of the camp. In addition to bird shooting, the proximity of the camp to Amboseli makes it an ideal venue to enjoy some world-class game viewing less than an hour away.

Our base of operations was a mobile tent camp set up under the shade of umbrella acacia trees. The camp itself is a study in logistics and ingenuity. The entire camp can be set up or moved in a day. The food was incredible, considering it was cooked over an open fire or in a Dutch oven. Linen napkins, monogrammed dishware, excellent wines, hot water showers and impeccable service make this remote camp as comfortable as most permanent facilities.

The hunting took place on a 15,000-acre private ranch where the habitat was mostly acacia savanna. The action is a combination of driven and walk-up helmeted guinea fowl, yellow-neck spurfowl and crested francolin shooting. The driven guinea shooting was excellent, with our best single drive for six guns yielding 59 guineas. Spurfowl were plentiful and mini drives and walk-up shooting were both productive. The daily limit on ground birds (guinea fowl, spurfowl and francolin) is 15 birds per day, and most days we reached or approached that number per shooter. The dove shooting was in the afternoon at natural water holes and, in one case, a watering area where a well supplied water to a cattle trough. The dove shooting was good, with bag limits of 25 per shooter reached on most outings. The species bagged in order of abundance were red eye, African mourning and laughing doves. We also spent several mornings shooting sandgrouse. The birds were all chestnut-bellied sandgrouse; however, in some years yellow-throated and black-faced sandgrouse also are included in the bag. The sandgrouse shooting was the weakest portion of the program with only 31 birds shot during three mornings.

Apparently, unseasonable rain had scattered the flocks, and the traditional watering areas were not being used.

The other shooting area, which I did not visit, was in the Shaba/Samburu region of northern Kenya. Here the mobile camp is set up in Shaba National Reserve, and the shooting takes place just outside the park. The shooting is similar with vulturine guinea fowl added to the birds available. Sandgrouse here are generally less abundant than they are in Masailand.

The bird hunting season runs July 1 to Oct. 31 and again from Feb. 1 to Mar. 31. The hunting is not hot-barred but still very good from both a variety and numbers standpoint. Limits are 25 doves, 20 sandgrouse and 15 ground birds, and limits are enforced.

Gary Kramer


Hunting Season

- July 1st through 31st October and 1st February through 31st March
Species
Chestnut bellied sandgrouse, Black faced sandgrouse, Yellow throated sandgrouse, Helmeted guineafowl, Yellow necked spurfowl, Crested francolin

- All year round
Species
Mourning dove. Ring necked dove, Pigeons, Harlequin quail

Daily Bag Limit (per shooter)
- Doves 25
- Sand grouse 20
- Pigeons 25
- Guineafowl, francolin, spurfowl 15 mixed bag total


Here are some bird hunting pictures in Kenya from AH member Blueduiker posted in his photo gallery... Someone you may also want to PM.


Duck Shooting Kenya White-faced Ducks. These ducks wont decoy, at least not to my home made decoys. White-faced Ducks in coastal Kenya.


Kenya Sandgrouse Shooting. A mornings bag of Black-faced Sandgrouse. Shooting among the Elephants and Buffalo puts a different spin on Wingshooting.


Kenya Sandgrouse Shooting... a few Sand-grouse in the Tsavo-East area of Kenya.


Vulturine Guineafowl Kenya Wingshooting. One of my favorite game-birds, the Vulturine Guineafowl, shot in the dry thorn Savannah near Tsavo-East, Kenya.

Jerome,

Thanks.

They were the first ones I checked with. Sadly, they only deliver the "full safari experience" to foreign hunters.

Being locally based, taking a full safari every weekend during bird season is not practical. I got spoiled in South Africa, where I could take to the field for about $100 for a weekend shoot.

I will keep searching. There appears to be no organized wingshooting group in Kenya. Maybe this is a gap that I can assist in filling.

Cheers,

Brian Robinson

Brian, Good luck with your search and keep us posted. Hope you will share with us some pictures from Kenya!

I will be taking the Kenya Wildlife Service Game Bird Shooting License examination in Nairobi on Wednesday. If I pass this test, I will be licensed to shoot game birds in Kenya....once I get my shotgun imported from the US.

I will continue to post as things progress.

Cheers,

B. Robinson

Congratulations on getting to the point of sitting the exam.
Good luck.
Look forward to your game bird hunting stories.

Hello All,

Here is an update on my Kenyan wingshooting adventure.

I took the Kenya Wildlife Service Game Bird Shooting License test today and passed (total cost of test and license 5500 ksh or about $60). The test was in 2 parts. The first was answering random questions about the Kenya Wildlife and Conservation Management Act and the second part was a powerpoint where I had to identify various Kenyan game birds and non game species. It seems that the test is designed to see if you have taken the time to familiarize yourself with the basic hunting legislation and birds you can legally shoot in Kenya. Strangely, it does not judge your competency with firearms or your familiarity with basic hunting ethics. I am not exactly sure the test is designed to weed out in the process.

The folks at KWS were very helpful and friendly. I also purchased a large map detailing all the game bird shooting "blocks" in Kenya from KWS (500 ksh). I was also informed that there were well over 1000 licensed game bird hunters in Kenya, but that bird hunting in Kenya had suffered over the past year due to the high price of locally obtained shotgun ammunition.

The next step is working to get my shotgun imported from the US. I will report more as things progress.

Cheers.

B. Robinson

That may just be the most daunting task. Good luck.

Thanks for the update and info saprof... Please tell us what species of birds can legally be hunted in Kenya?

Hi Brian,

I'm in the same boat and looking to take my test and get my gun here soon. let me know if you want to get together sometime.


I sent you an E-mail also.
Eric

hi fishdreams welcome to AH. how about some info, are you from kenya or working there . i presume you like fishing from your member name?

Originally Posted by saprof

Hello All,

Here is an update on my Kenyan wingshooting adventure.

I took the Kenya Wildlife Service Game Bird Shooting License test today and passed (total cost of test and license 5500 ksh or about $60). The test was in 2 parts. The first was answering random questions about the Kenya Wildlife and Conservation Management Act and the second part was a powerpoint where I had to identify various Kenyan game birds and non game species. It seems that the test is designed to see if you have taken the time to familiarize yourself with the basic hunting legislation and birds you can legally shoot in Kenya. Strangely, it does not judge your competency with firearms or your familiarity with basic hunting ethics. I am not exactly sure the test is designed to weed out in the process.

The folks at KWS were very helpful and friendly. I also purchased a large map detailing all the game bird shooting "blocks" in Kenya from KWS (500 ksh). I was also informed that there were well over 1000 licensed game bird hunters in Kenya, but that bird hunting in Kenya had suffered over the past year due to the high price of locally obtained shotgun ammunition.

The next step is working to get my shotgun imported from the US. I will report more as things progress.

Cheers.

B. Robinson

Brian,

Well done on passing the Bird License exam. I did mine in 2003 and it was an interesting process, the exam administered then by 'Honorary Wardens' that wouldn't tolerate any 'funny business' so at least it was an HONEST process. Good news is (unless they've changed the rules since then) you don't have to repeat the exam process, just pay the renewal fee and you're re-licensed for subsequent years. I like you, have always been a 'self-guided' type resident hunter and get much more satisfaction in 'inventing my own wheel' rather than the fully laid on visiting tourist hunter type safari. It is a challenge to find shooting grounds in Kenya, and I'll send you a PM with a few thoughts that might be useful. If I can upload them, I知 posting a few photos from Kenya weekend bird shooting trips. The even bigger challenge I predict will be importing your shotgun and getting it licensed!

I think all the regulars here on this forum would be very interested in hearing from you guys in Kenya more often than we do. Your process for finding ways to wingshoot is most enjoyable to read Please continue the conversations over the next months, As I've said before, this is the best forum on the net period! And it has the best contribtors I've ever found on the net also.

Brian,

I sent a PM and an email, both some days back but have received no reply. I hope it's because you've been too busy hunting! . . . . I'd be happy to meet up and discuss local resident hunter wing-shooting opportunities when I'm back in NBO soon. Drop me a note when you can.