Budgeting a Hunting Safari

[dailordasailor]

I know this type of question has been beaten to death but trying to get clarification if I can. I am thinking I can realistically do a Safari in late 2017, having figured out where I'll be working for the next 2 years at least.

What I've read over the last year on here is that you kind of space out the spending on the hunt. Buy tickets ahead of time, hunt down payment, taxidermy, etc. How exactly does this typically work?
1.I find the PG hunt I want, I pay him the deposit right away.
2.Then I get plane tickets.
3.Then I've seen some outfitters want remainder of hunt fees before hunt and some before you leave Africa. Whats most common?
4. Taxidermy... This is one of the bigger questions as I can see for a "starter hunt" I may end up paying more for Taxidermy than the actual hunt itself. When do you pay the taxidermist, shipping, etc

The better I can plan the budget, the quicker I can lock down a hunt. Planning a couple US hunts between now and then so want realistic idea of what I need and when. Once I've paid for the hunt/flights/tips, whens the next time I need to open wallet? When again after that?

Thanks a lot!
Dale

 

[BRICKBURN]

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/hunting-safari-preparation-timeline.14375/

I wish there were a specific recipe for everyone but there is not. General guidelines.
This is my experience and everyone will not be treated the same.

Deposits: Everything from; 10%, $500, to nothing. 18 months out is the furthest so far.

Plane tickets: depends how much guts you have. Phil watches the prices and then buys when they appear to be getting lowest. Typically for me a year out. This past year I got tickets within 4 months of taking off. It was for an additional itinerary item, not the main flights to Africa.

Fees: Day fees, everything from paid in full six months before the hunt starts to paying them all when I get home.

T Fees: Settle on departure or at return home. CC, E transfer or some have paypal.
Tips: departure

Shipping: 6 months to a year after you are home. D&P you delay your taxidermy deposit.

Taxidermy: I have paid deposits when I get home. Typically they want 50% up front for you to fund your own projects. Here or there.
Then the final payment to taxidermist upon delivery - Timelines for taxidermists, sheesh. That can be 6 months to years. (sadly)



So this can be spread out over a few years.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I think Brickburn nailed it.

 

[Grady]

I agree, I think Brick nailed a lot of it. Here is a link to a post that I put up once I returned from my first Safari with a lot of the things that I considered and experienced on my hunt. It is not all inclusive, but it may help you to start a budget.


http://www.africahunting.com/thread...or-the-cost-of-your-safari.18437/#post-153893

 

[James.Grage]

Brickburn has it covered to a point.

I purchase trip insurance... different companies provide this service... read the contract before purchasing...

When you book a hunt and put down a considerable down payment down up to a 18 month out or further, things can or may happen to you that does not allow you to take the trip. So purchasing a policy is reasonable in my way of thinking.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Brickburn has it covered to a point.

I purchase trip insurance... different companies provide this service... read the contract before purchasing...

When you book a hunt and put down a considerable down payment down up to a 18 month out or further, things can or may happen to you that does not allow you to take the trip. So purchasing a policy is reasonable in my way of thinking.

James is on the money.
Those details are in J's original thread in the link provided on safari planning timelines.

There are plenty of other choices on other costs. Look through the link.
Dr's visits, shots, passports, visas, etc etc. They are not all applicable to each hunter.
Destination matters; Global Rescue if you are going anywhere that you may need to have your ass extracted for health reasons. As well, Health insurance that actually covers something.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

A good thread: What is the TRUE cost of my African Hunting Safari!: http://www.africahunting.com/threads/what-is-the-true-cost-of-my-african-hunting-safari.7139/

 

[greyfox]

Sailor,
Where are you located? Drop me a PM, the best way to answer your questions is to talk to people who have been there - done that. Different operations have different requirements.

Too much for me to type but I paid a deposit when I booked (holds your dates) and I bought plane ticket 11 months out (wanted to make sure I was on the correct flight and got a window seat. You'll square up before you depart for home, unless arrangements are made. Your PH may place a "hold" on your trophies if you are not paid in full.
Taxidermy: Select him before you go and arrange a payment schedule, deposits, etc...

 

[dailordasailor]

A lot of replies quickly... My biggest unknown was the taxidermy. I know everyone has their own opinion but was planning to get it all done in Africa for cost. However if able to dip/pack and send this way then space out with a US taxidermists that could be a big savings on the budget. Hmmm.

I'm in Myrtle Beach, SC. I'll pm you

 

[JimP]

I didn't see it mentioned but get a good importer for you trophies. I am taking it for granted that you are here in the US.

I used SSI who are a sponsor on the forums here. They took a lot of the worrying out of getting things home. There are others out there and your taxidermist that you use locally may have some suggestions on who they like. But I would use SSI again and again and have recommended them to others that are headed over.

Airfare as was mentioned can't be done too soon. Prices go up and down like a elevator and if your luck is like mine a week after you buy your tickets you will see the prices drop, but just be happy that you have your tickets and remember that the prices could of gone up just as easily. I used Lori at Travel Express who is also a sponsor on the forums here. She was great and took a lot of the worries out of the equation. She caught flight changes and then notified me of them and asked what I wanted to do, I would also use her again.

On the taxidermist, start shopping around NOW and not later. Some taxidermist do great work on North American animals and lousy work on African animals. Ask to see examples of his work on African animals and if he doesn't have any you might want to look elsewhere. Also check into the dip and pack company in Africa, there are good ones and there are bad ones. Check on the one that your outfitter recommends and send them some emails asking about their time frames for shipping the trophies out of the country. My trophies were dropped off at my dip and pack company in Port Elizabeth the first of June and they were sitting at my taxidermist the first of October for about a total of 5 months, but I did have the dip and pack company do a little work for me.

Good luck on your planning.

 

[JimP]

I just seen your reply and that you are thinking of having the taxidermy done in SA.

While you may find a great taxidermist in SA what are you going to do if there is a problem with their work? It isn't that easy to send something back to them to get them to fix it, and usually the prices in SA will be about the same that they are here in the states. My taxidermist has a couple of mounts in his shop that are waiting for him to repair after they were mounted in SA.

 

[dailordasailor]

That is my hesitation Jimp. I don't plan to have everything mounted and more then likely will be mostly Euro because I like that look. However if I choose only one thing for a pedestal mount, and they mess it up, that will be a 100% failure and theres no way to make them fix it.

 

[billc]

You will get a million ideas on the taxi work. You work with the right shop you can have the work done there save a bunch of money and have it done over time also. Must will want it out of there shop and done with 2 years but you dont need to have it done and payed for in like 6 month. When you talk to the shop you pick there just ask them and tell them your not in a rush and just want work done within say 1 1/2 years. Plus the deposit amounts can be worked out also. they all want 50% but must will take less and say payments set on time.

You could also have some mounted and the rest just tanned for shipping. This saves on the dipping part which saves money if your tight on funds.

The deposits on day fees can be 1/2 or less depends on how you deal with the outfitter. Some people seem scared to ask to handle stuff differently for some reason that may be printed on a outfitters site. Just plan on before you leave to have all day fees and planned trophy fees paid. You may find some outfitters willing to wait on fees like if you take a few extra animals on a trip but again you talk to them about that before hand.

I have been with 4 different outfitters by my choice and have never paid more then a 1000.00 deposit. But I also only offered that or was told by them that was enough.

If you are doing only plains game there is no reason to pay anyone crazy money to handle your trophies. Again a good taxi. shop will have the paper work done and handle the shipping. To pay anything over 350 to 4oo is crazy to handle the shipment when it comes in to the states.I had a lion and plans game shipped in and paid 350 all in for them to clear my trophies.

Just talk with the people you plan on using as must will work for your business and tell you yes or no.

 

[greyfox]

Respectfully disagree with the Taxidermist issue, Yes you are taking a chance BUT any animal with AFRICAN is $200 more than North American,
I found a guy that I highly recommend who wanted to add African experience so he gave me a great deal - also he's retired military (so am I) so I got the military discount.

I piock up my last 5 this weekend!! Happy New Year!!

 

[LivingTheDream]

I would be a little leery if an outfitter was requesting all the money upfront. I did a 1000 dollar deposit and then got them more along the way and settled up before leaving. There will also be additional animals that capture your eye while you are there so I would budget a little more for trophy fees.

 

[Buff-Buster]

The responses you've gotten so far are "spot on" so I going to delve into the taxidermy part. (That's probably where you'll get the most division)

I have done both. My first safari all of the work was done in the states. The next two were done by Bullseye in SA. My fourth safari mounts are in progress at Bullseye right now.
If your going on your first safari and take, say, 4-6 typical animals that are going to get shoulder mounts, you will save approx. 20% on the work in SA. You will then spend those saving on additional shipping costs to bring the finished product home, thus probably a wash. Now, if you get a little crazy, like some of have done, and wind up with , say, 10-12 trophies or even more, your taxidermy savings will probably more than pay for the additional shipping/crating costs. This is a "no brainer" if you get into "full mounts" of the smaller stuff or you want pedestal mounted trophies with exotic bases. This is where the savings really start to kick in and make your decision pretty easy. These differences is costs are substantial! (States verses SA)

As far as the quality of work......If you stay with the better taxidermist in SA (search the taxidermy threads here on AH for those in SA that do quality work) you will get quality work. I can say the same about some here in the states. There are more "good" taxidermist here. (that doesn't mean they are ALL good just because they are here anymore than saying they are all "bad" because they are in Africa). Do your homework. If you decide to have it done here in the states, I highly recommend Dennis w/The Artistry of Wildlife and Mike Baird w/B&B Taxidermy.

As has been said, also use a quality importer - SSI.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Well the other thing to consider is the dip/pack cost of getting work done in the states. Shipping will be more if you get the work done in SA but now you don't have the dip/pack costs so I think that becomes a wash.

The thing I will say is that if you look at someone like Dennis you know you are getting high quality work (and really it is more art then anything) compare to some of the problems that have come up in foreign countries.

The biggest thing is do your homework and fine the combination (importer, shipper, taxidermist) that you feel comfortable with and that you think you can trust.

 

[gizmo]

I don't know if this helps but here is how I did mine.
1) found outfitter wired deposit. I chose to wire 1/3 of hunt cost. This was at a year out.
2) 5 months later or so I bought plane tickets
3) 30 days out wired the remaining balance of the hunt to outfitter so I didn't have to carry so much cash.
4) hunt- tips, money for stuff we wanted to buy/curios.
5) paid for dip/pack/crate 1month after I got back
6) paid for shipping one month later
7) three or so weeks later paid Ssi, and shipping to the tannery.
8) deposit on taxidermy
9) final for taxidermy/shipping to my house.
There are a lot of little things that can add up if you let them. Example- you will probably want to take an extra animal or two so keep in consideration the extra money involved outside trophy fees such as shipping, taxidermy, dip/crate. Sometimes it's not much sometimes it is depending on what the animal is and what all taxi work you want done.
I personally tend to rack up a lot in taxidermy bills because I taxidermy everything with at least a shoulder mount. That's just me though and to me it's a big part of the experience. I also get back hides tanned and stuff made out of hooves etc.... Airfare and taxidermy are generally the largest part of the investment. You won't have much control over the airfair part so you have to make choices when it comes to taxidermy. Do you want to take more animals and have less taxidermy done and settle with euro mounts and such or less animals and have shoulder mounts etc.
the cost of the taxidermy from my safari is almost as much as the cost of the hunt and that's considering I took two of the big 5 in addition to the pg. so it boils down to decisions decisions.

 

[gizmo]

I guess part of what I'm trying to say is one just has to be realistic with yourself on what you can afford. That way you don't over shoot your toilet paper. The trophy fees are the cheap part, it's everything else that adds up considerably.

 

[dailordasailor]

Can't thank you all enough for the replies and the multiple PMs which I'll get to shortly. My plan is just a starter hunt of 5-7 animals and budget for an extra if opportunity shows up. It'll be me and my fiancé going. I currently euro everything I shoot here. So plan was euros and maybe one or two shoulder mounts. However I know I'll be going back to Africa again (unless I become ill/die) and this trip will be about the experience and quality pics/euros will certainly satisfy us.

As I'm sure everyone can relate, trying to get a true idea of costs after the hunt and everything involved is overwhelming at moment. Cost of flights and day/trophy fees are clear cut in writing, other stuff can vary and keeps me guessing