Hello from England

JamesR

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Hello Everyone

I have joined this forum in order to learn as much information as possible for when my friend and I go on our first African hunting safari to celebrate our 30th birthdays in 2017/2018 - a while away yet but I have always been taught it is best to be prepared! We shoot regularly in the UK and both have good weapons handling skills and are able to hit a target repeatedly at distance so feel it is the right time to step up our hunting level.

We are not sure whether to do 1x1 hunting or to share the adventure/hunting each day and do 2x1 hunting - I would be interested to hear the forums opinions on each option (I could not find a discussion on this on the forum but may have missed it). Having gone through a few websites for PH's and Outfitters it looks like we would not save a great deal by hunting 2x1 but would have a lot fewer trophies each - am I right in understanding things this way?

I would welcome any advice you are able to offer on which animals are best to go for on a first trip (I would love to hunt Kudu but not sure if this is a good starting point?) and also on which area of Africa would be best to visit - at the moment we are thinking South Africa so would appreciate view on the different regions within SA. We would be looking to go for 10 to 14 days in total so potentially 7 - 10 days for hunting - I am unsure how many animals would be possible in this time and also what would be the best length of time for a first hunt. I have read a few threads on the pros and cons or package hunts vs "a la carte" but am not yet sure which option we will go for so any pointers on this would be gratefully received.

We would not wish to take our own rifles (to avoid the hassle of travelling with them) and would instead look to hire them from the PH - is this something that is easy to do? Here in the UK we have "estate rifles" but I am not sure if this concept exists in Africa?

I have also noticed that Taxidermy forms a large amount of the cost of a Safari and whilst I have been able to find some price lists online I am unsure of how much it would cost to ship mounts to the UK (I would be looking for one or two shoulder mounts and the rest skull and horns only) - does anyone have experience of shipping to the UK?

In terms of budget we would probably be looking at about $8000 as a starting point - but this could increase as time goes on if we are able to save more each month.

I am sorry for the length of this introduction but had a lot of questions to start with (and will inevitably have a lot more in the future)

Thank you in advance to those who are able to offer help and advice, I look forward to being a part of this forum!

James
 
Welcome,

I would recommend setting the hunt as a 1x1, the savings in money does not make up for the lost time. You save +/- $50 a day then you only hunt 50% of the time. Do it as a 1x1 then hunt together a couple days and share stories at night around the fire.

Typical animals for a first trip are: in no particular order, Kudu, gemsbok, warthog, impala and wildebeest. That makes up 90% of my first time guys.

it is very ease to use rifles in camp, there is usually a small charge for the gun and ammo. always ask what they have on hand for you to use.

from RSA to USA it is about $100 for a skull, and $250 for a shoulder mount, this is taking onto consideration this is a crate of trophies, not a single piece.

$8,000 is a good budget, you can have a nice hunt on that amount. Assuming flights are cheaper from the UK to Africa.
 
gday james .
welcome and enjoy AH
by your intro , you and your mate have definitely been planning .
theres a ton of highly recommended outfits/p.h on here that would go to great lenngths to put together a hunt you boys will still be telling your grand kids about , as for areas , ive only been to limpoppo , eastcape , and the north west , all different but challenging to say the least .and would return to all of them , but are always looking to experience new places
the two hunts ive been on were both package hunt ,with extras added , and animals swapped ,with prior corraspodance .

definately 1x1 is my choice , unless husband and wife /, father /son/daughter,
you have plenty of time to check many outfits out , so you will know when you click with the right one .
enjoy the planning ,mate
there is some execellent deals, here on the board right now that include taxidermy .
 
Welcome!!

  • Agree with James - do the 1x1, unless y'all are just dying to hunt together. It sure doesn't save money.
  • Kudu is a great starting point!
  • Eastern Cape gives you the most different animals, but some other areas have greater size of certain areas - Limpopo is very popular
  • 7-10 days of hunting is fine. This is personal and dependent on finances obviously
  • Same with the number of animals - how many you take depends on your wallet and how picky you want to be on the trophy
  • Taxidermy again is personal - euro mount or shoulder mount etc....
You are asking the right questions and you've come to the right place. Now just keep reading and ask more questions! :)
 
Welcome to AH, James!
 
hi James,

welcome to AH. enjoy

you asked some good questions.

I also suggest that you and your buddy book a 1X1 safari. both of You will have almost double time in the field hunting and the small cost of hunting 1 on 1 is small. on a 7 day safari it is like $350 dollars.

i suggest you look a the great deals tab on AH for some of the best offers. This will change continually.

next i suggest that you and you buddy put together a trophy list of 5 to 7 animals. Put a plan in place for 5 animals with a possibility of getting a few more, due to being flexible and you just bump into when in the field. this will give you a few large animals and a few smaller animals in your trophy list. going 1 on 1 both you and your buddy will be able to hunt different areas and have different trophy animals targeted. At the nightly campfire you and your friend will be able to have great chats on how your day went.

your $8,000 + dollar target is very doable.
example: These prices are all flexible up and down depending on who you go with.
daily fees - 3,000
kudu - 1,500
zebra - 1,000
black wildebeest - 1,000
red hartebeest - 1,000
impala - 350
Warthog - 350
blesbuck - 450

others to consider: Eland 2,000 -- Waterbuck 2,000 -- Nyala 2,000 -- Bushbuck 900 -- Reedbuck 900

What i suggest you do is build a spread sheet and compare cost from different outfitters - PH's this way you will compare one to another.

Next i like to book about 18 months out to tie up a quality dates, and allows planning of vacation or time for the safari.

Now, if you are unable to plan that far out with your vacation, and get a commitment from your work until vacation schedule are set in January then book as soon as both of you can.
 
Start with kudu, end with kudu, and if the opportunity presents itself shoot one in the middle.
 
Welcome to AH James! Enjoy the planning that's half the fun for sure.
 
Welcome to AH.
The answers thus far should be of help.
Have fun planning.
 
Hi James

Welcome to the forum! I will be at the Newark game fair month end!! Come and say hello! Maybe i will be able to shed some light on some of your concerns!!

All the best
 
Welcome James! Agree with the above replies. You found the best place to get answers to your questions. Enjoy the planning!
 
Welcome to AH James! The members and the site will be a tremendous resource… Enjoy the process!
 
Welcome to the forum James!
You have certainly asked the right questions and I think you are spot on with your research. The only point that I would reconsider, is your own rifles. It's not as bad as you think.
If you would like , I can put you in contact with some of my English hunters, who hunted with me this year. They were also in your age group, and real super lads! They brought their own rifles.
They would also be able to give you insight into the procedure, as well as the costs involved with shipping trophies home from South Africa.
You are welcome to drop me an email, or a personal mail, and I will be glad to put you in contact with them.

Take Care,
Marius Goosen
 
Thank you to everyone who has replied and offered advice so far. We are going to go for a 1x1 hunt but like the idea of having a couple of days 2x1 as well if the opportunity arose.

Marius - it is good to hear other English people have transported their own rifles - maybe it is not as much hard work as I imagined. We may contact you nearer the time for further details if this is ok with you?

Scott - I love your thinking! The Kudu is a beautiful animal - one of my worries is I will take one and then see a bigger one which I just have to have!

James - Thank you for that rough price list - I had been doing some research into prices, but your list put into perspective just how good the prices can be!

Royal27 - we are thinking Eastern Cape as although the flight is a bit more and would involve a change of planes, the fact the prices seem to be more reasonable and there is a wider range of animals does appeal to us

Hunting Agent - your list of animals is pretty much identical to the ones that we were thinking of going for - at least we know we are not too far off the mark!

Thanks again everyone - now time to start going through all of the threads I can!

James
 
JamesR,

On advice from the good folks of AH, I always had enough money in the budget for an additional animal or two. I had thought that I would add either a blue or black wildebeest, but as soon as I shot my first kudu I knew that I would rather hunt a second kudu than a first anything else on the farm. Fortunately for me, the second kudu was the gold medal Eastern Cape Kudu in my avatar!
 
That is a great Kudu Scott!

It is a great idea to have extra budget for impulse animals - there are a few that do not appeal to me at the moment but I have a feeling if/when I see them in the flesh I will be desperate to get one!

James
 
James,

Scott Slough gives good advice. If a proper Kudu presents and opportunity to be hunted, you should stop whatever you are doing and go hunt it.

Rifles - as others say, use your own. I would look up U.K. based fellow AH'er @spike.t to get more info.

While it may make it a bit more harder to save for your safari, a trip to Las Vegas for the SCI convention or to Dallas for the DSC convention would give you the opportunity to meet prospective outfitters in person. Meeting the person whom you're going to spend a bunch of money and time with in person is not something I would undervalue. If there are other large hunting conventions available to you closer in the U.K. or Europe, then that would certainly be another way to go.

1x1 is the way to go unless of course you just want to spend that time with your buddy and there is something to be said for that.

Taxidermy, again I think I'd direct you towards @spike.t for that info.
 
Thanks Phil

Hopefully Spike will spot thus thread now he is mentioned but I will also drop him a line at some point too.

James
 
Welcome to AH, James !
 

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