Well, I'm less than two weeks out from my hunt so I thought I'd give a review on what it's like to procure an auction hunt in Zim for those that are curious.
The first issue I had to sort out was to find a qualified and very trustworthy PH from Zim. This person had to be knowledgable about the auction process and had to be given instructions on max bids and ideal weeks that would be acceptable. Check.
The next step was to hand over $5000 so the PH could deliver that cash to the government auctioneer for a entry fee (earnest money) to bid at the auction. Check.
The day of the auction happened and my representation there was excellent and my auction camp was purchased. (My 2nd choice) This also takes a leap of faith because there are many permutations to be figured out on the fly. Example: you wanted to hunt zebra but the camp won doesn't come with that, therefor when they auction additional animals at the end of the auction, your agent needs to bid according to his conscience and your money to assemble a suitable bag for which you'll be satisfied. Check.
Now the fearful next step is sending copious amounts of cash to Zimbabwe to pay the park service auctioneer the full amount of your won hunt. Here's the moment of fear. The auctions require payment wired for delivery in 5 business days or you forfeit your hunt and you lose your $5000 earnest money. I was sweating bullets because it took myself and others I know 10 business days to get the wire transfer received due to international red tape and intermediary banks. This was the moment where I was worried Mugabe scammed me because the auction house became unresponsive and my money was lost to computers at some intermediary bank never to be found. Thankfully, I eventually received confirmation and I am paid up. Check.
At this point of secured a well regarded PH and well regarded land along with a reasonable amount of tags for animals. The costs appear to be about 40% higher and all prepaid than if I was to avoid the auction for a fly camp experience and had just done fenced grounds in the Midlands with the same PH. This is all assuming I harvest 100% of my bag in 10 days which I surely will not. (I was pre-warned that warthog is iffy in this area, for example)
The bottom line is that auctions are fraught with additional red tape but promise a truly wild adventure that is different. When all the math is complete it appears they are likely to be at least 50%+ more expensive than a comparable bag elsewhere due to the premise of hunting on government safari lands managed by the parks. (I knew this going in because my PH gave me all the options and probabilities before we decided to take this route)
For a comparison, I could have secured a get your money back if animal not harvested bag of identical size with the same PH in SA for perhaps 1/2 the cost. Perhaps 1/3 the cost if I had shopped discount offerings on small areas of SA that were high fenced small farms.
Sadly, even if this is the best thing since sliced bread it does not appear auctions will be practical in the future as the costs are skyrocketing for purchase of the concessions by Eastern European oligarchs that really like this format and will outbid westerners by some margin going forward. (Especially on DG hunts)
Look for my hunt report upon my return in about 30 days.
