WANTED: Outfitter Recommendation South Africa

Hello Africahunters....I am hoping to make my first hunting trip to SA in May 2015 or 16. I am now in need of your knowledge and experience and am hopeful you can recommend an outfitter(s) that will both suit my fair chase(if possible in SA) hunting preference and very comfortable (upper end) accommodations to satisfy my non-hunting city girl wife. If that isn't demanding, I would like to spend no more than 7-10k (not including airfare) for a 7-10 days safari taking 5-6 trophies...(Kudu, Oryx, Zebra, Warthog, Impala, and possibly Giraffe). I am not sure this is possible to have the best of both worlds with this budget, but thought if any group would know of such an outfitter(s), it would be here!

Hi MPN,
Welcome to the forum! We will be able to assist you with your hunt.
Please keep an eye out for a PM in your inbox.
Enjoy your safari planning!

Take Care,
Marius Goosen

AH is the best place to start your search many good outfitters on here, Marius is a very good start!

My best always.

Welcome!

For SA I personally signed up with Tootabi Hunting Safaris for the reasons you mentioned, which mainly means keeping the wide happy!

You'll find a LOT of well respected outfitters to chose from here on this site!

Gday mpn
Welcome and AH ,
The out fitters will be intuoch with you
Enjoy your african adventure
Have a blast mate
Theres more then enough info in the vault on here to see you right inthe planning department
Enjoy

Greatland Safaris with Owner/PH John Henry Keyser in Thabazimbi, SA.

Welcome to AH. There are many outfitters on this site as well as other sites. Make sure whichever one you get serious with that you Are able to speak with two or more references in your country.

I was quite Happy with CT Safaris you might look at Them

Have a look around and you will see there are plenty of possibilities here for you.
Welcome to AH.

Welcome MPN,

If you are still looking into quotes please send me a private message so i can reply to your questions and give you some references on us.

Welcome to AH, MPN !

MPN; You should have no trouble meeting the "fair chase" criteria in RSA. Especially in the East Cape but not ruling out other areas, I'm just not familiar with them. And I think that on everything except the giraffe (not really sure about giraffe), you might be able to upgrade that expectation to "free range"... Meaning cattle and sheep country (much the same as ranch country in the USA) and relatively wild land with low livestock fences but not the high fences that keep the game animals in.

I think most of the reputable outfitters will have very nice accommodations and it may depend more on time of year as to how comfortable you are. But your going to have clean comfortable private chalets with flush toilets and hot showers. Probably go eat in the lodge and you will enjoy the camaraderie.

You may have opportunity, especially in the Karoo and mountain areas, to stay in one or two of the old colonial style houses with very fine hosts.

We went with Crusader Safaris but Tootabi is brand new and may be very competitive. And there are many others on here.... I would request pictures of the actual chalet they will book you into as they do vary within an operation.

And with 7-10 days for only 5-6 trophies, you have a lot of time so request going to at least two if not 3 camps to see some other country and split up to different accommodations. We traveled to the Cowie or jungle area for one day (did not stay the night) for Zebra and Bushbuck and saw a lot of Wart Hog as well. Spent 3 days, 2 nights in the Karoo or semi desert area for Gemsbok Oryx and springbuck... But saw some really good East Cape Kudu and I'm still losing sleep over missing a really nice Steenbuck.

And if you are in close enough proximity, you could easily squeeze in a day to do something like Ado Elephant Park and Schotia Game Reserve... Do the morning and lunch at Ado and the late afternoon and evening meal at Schotia with the night time game drive to see the hippos on land as well as the lions on the prowl. I know either of the afore mentioned outfitters can arrange that for you.

If you can afford it, I would suggest budgeting a little extra for a couple more critters... Odds are you will just chance across a lot of other species and I think some good advice (I was given and followed) is that if your PH and/or Trackers are gasping at the size of something, aim small and squeeze the trigger carefully and then be prepared to pay for it. Likewise, if you take a really nice Kudu (or whatever, maybe not giraffe), and later a way better one walks out and presents an opportunity, same advise! If all else fails, either cut back, delay, or cut out some of the taxidermy.

You are planning far enough ahead that you are going to get a great trip laid out and both you and your wife will have a blast!! Get her some books on the various species and get her some good binoculars (make come with shopping have her try them) and if she has any interest, get her a good camera, Christmas is coming before you go.... (buy an expensive camera and a training session will come with it). And a neat little journal and pen set. Make it part of the deal with the PH to take time to point out all the birds and reptiles as well as the small game, in addition to the stuff you are hunting. Make a game out of her writing down how many species she can list.... Her challenge can be to list as many as possible..... My wife had 20 the first day!

We did 9 days and got 15 critters to mount and a jackal we left. You have plenty of time to meet your goals and be patient to see everything else... Even coming over the mountain pass in the morning and pulling over for a couple minutes to take in the breathtaking view........ Explain this to the outfitter and PH before hand.

PM sent

We went with KMG last year and enjoyed it.
Good Luck in your search... that is about half of the fun.

I highly recommend Numzaan Safaris in the Limpopo or Kikuyu Lodge/Harry Fourie Safaris in the Eastern Cape.

Hi MPN,

Welcome to the forums.

All, I appreciate the suggestions and will heed the sage advice provided.

I am curious about something I read a while back and it relates back to my original post/question...it concerned a lion hunt in Africa where the outfitter stated the lion hunted would be a captive bred/raised animal which would then be released to hunt. How much of this really takes place on "game farms or ranches" in Africa? and is this common with other African hunted species...ie plains game?
I mean no offense to those who hunt these animals, I just prefer to hunt game that is as free as possible and want to ensure the outfitter I book with is not pulling animals from the shed outback the am prior to my hunt.

Thanks much,

Some of the concessions are as large as 100,000 acres and some as small as 4000 acres. From one corner of a 4000 acre concession to the other is about three miles across. The animals on these "farms" move about freely. My son took his kudu off a 6000 acre unfenced farm " free range" all the way. So it can be a mixture of both fenced and unfenced. I took a blue wildebeest off a 50,000 acre farm.......which is the size of a good size city. Walking across a farm that big gets very tiring for sure.

Lions that are captive raised are let out 30 days before the hunt is my understanding.
Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

MPN,

I hunted in 2012 with Mike Birch of Hunt The Sun Safari out of Kimberley, SA.... and the East Cape of SA

He hunts many concessions that range from 4000 acre to 10,000 on up. All the animals you listed are available. Looks like you are a rifle hunter... He specializes in both Bow and rifle. Bow is blind and spot and stalk if hunter desires, Rifle is usually spot and stalk only... No rifle hunting from Blinds.

My wife, who is not a hunter, and I stayed at the Imbasa Lodge and I can say it is a very upscale operation and we were treated like King / Queen...All of the help were very accommodating and met all of our needs... Food was of the best quality... Mike even arranged a SunSet dinner out on the veldt one evening. ( buffet table setting , wine and fine food) It was Awsome !!!!!!

My PH, Evert was a class A guide ... He did everything to insure i had opportunity for all of the species I listed. Saw game every day and on my first evening in our blind/Hide I arrowed a 44" Kudu Bull which was a real dream come true. Evert insured there was plenty of food and drink while in the hide so that I could stay out all day if I chose. It was a 1 on 1 safari plus a Tracker and skinners for the whole time I was there ...10 days.

Here are some pics of Imbasa Lodge , etc.



These pictures show , the Lodge building, Living Room, Sauna in separate building, Lodge dinning room, Outside Pool, Mikes Outside Barri, My Kudu Bull, My Wildebeest with me and my PH Evert, our Room facing the bath area--notice the opposite view in the mirror.

Believe me you and your wife will not be disappointed with the accommodations and PH service...They do everything to make the hunter happy.

The Hunt the sun website is : www.huntthesun.com

If you have any more questions you can contact me at email address: archerman@mail.com


Good Luck,

Bob

Royal27 said:

Welcome! For SA I personally signed up with Tootabi Hunting Safaris for the reasons you mentioned, which mainly means keeping the wide happy! You'll find a LOT of well respected outfitters to chose from here on this site!

Click to expand...

Good day MPN,

Welcome to the forums and enjoy the planning! The question is where do you start, LOL???

I have sent you a PM with an irresistible offer.