first timer saving up for a safari, need advice

[matt85]

after reading around on this forum a little and finally joining the forum im considering starting a savings account for an African hunt. the big question for me is what kinda total cost am I looking at? many of the companies offering safaris don't mention prices and even those that do are vague about the final price. im not looking to buy right now, id just like a number to set as a goal.

at the moment ive got two hunts that I would consider essential for what could potentially be my only safari. I MUST have a trophy warthog, ive loved these critters since I was old enough to say the name. the other hunt that I consider to be the pride of Africa and essential to what could be a one time trip would be a lion (a female is fine). other critters could be added to the menu depending on price and how successful I am at saving money. in my present financial situation I can set aside a little over $5000 a year but that could improve (could also get worse, but lets think positive).

ive discovered there are many "fenced hunts" that very affordable. I don't really like the idea of shooting a animal in a fenced in park, just doesn't feel right.

to the main question: how much money should I set aside for an African hunt (and taxidermy) that will primarily consist of a wild female lion and a trophy warthog?

im sure ill have many more questions in the future but ill probably spend more time reading around on the forum before I annoy too many of you.

thank you
-Matt

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Hey Matt,
Drop me an email or a PM with some animals that you would be interested in hunting. I will then set out an example of all of the costs involved in such a hunt. All of my quotes, always include all the costs. Nothing turns a hunt sour quicker, than hidden costs.
If I sense there is any situation during a prospective safari where extra costs could be involved, I always inform my hunters about the possibilities and probabilities of these costs arising.

All the best in your planning. I have no doubt that you will make it happen.

Take Care,
Marius

 

[buchnerl]

Welcome to AH, Matt :rockon:

Good luck on your planning and keep on with that dreams! Look out for my PM!

Warm regards,

 

[peras]

Matt
You will be surprised at how much bang you can get for your buck over here.The big problem will come down to a "wild"lioness.If you are able to find one which has been free roaming since birth and if you are able to get a permit to hunt her she will be very expensive.Good luck with the search and planning !

 

[Savage Hunter]

Hey Matt,
You can very easily get a 6-7 day safari for plains game animals for less than $5000.00. I've looked at numerous sites, especially 2 years ago when I was researching my first safari. (going again this year).
I imagine you can find hunts including Kudu, wilderbeest, warthog, and impala all day long for $5k or less. These are 4 "signature" plainsgame of africa. There are numerous other options, too.

I would just recommend looking at the outfitter "PH" ratings that can be found and also asking for references. There are many highly thought of PH's that post on this site. This is a great place to do your research because you are getting references that aren't just ones the safari outfit gives you. Look also at threads PH's put up talking about some of their hunts. Also, look at the posts they put up. Their personalities will come thru as they post and you can get a feeling about them just from that. On another website I post on, I ruled out a couple PH's that either I just didn't like what they posted or seemed rude. Once you narrow it down to a few, then look at their prices. Then you can email them and they can (if you desire) set up to call you. This way you can talk to them and ask everything you want and, with skype, it doesn't cost them a fortune. Or you can ask them for PM's.

Now, you mentioned a lioness. Those are gonna likely be a minimum of $7k plus the other animals you hunt. A male lion can be anywhere from $13K to 25K+ . Most sites can't post the price for these animals, because it fluctuates so much and it's availability can affect that too. This will bring you total hunt on towards $9-10k for female and much more for male. Plus if you want a full body mount on the lioness you can easily find the taxidermist charging over $5k for it alone.

I'll try to answer your query about the total price. I'm going to assume the 4 animal package I listed at the top. I'll try to be inclusive.

safari hunt 4 animals.................................................. $5,000 (maybe less) this is all-inclusive for around a 7 day hunt.
Airline from USA........................................................ 2,200 (more or less)
Airline in country, if necessary..................................... 330
1 night at Johannesberg Guest house
along with them handling bringing your guns in............... 400

Subtotal................................................................. $8,430

Taxidermy depends on animals shot, how mounted, and
where you get it done.............................................. $3,000 that's shoulder mounts.... euro mounts would be cheaper.

ship trophies to usa ................................................. 2,400

use of expediter in USA who ships to your home........... 400
_________________________________________________________
$14,230

as you can see, the hunts are cheap. Taxidermy and shipping animals to America is more than the hunt.
Of course, there are many variables but all good PH's will offer you an ironclad contract of the exact price for the animals you intend to hunt inclusive of accommodations, the hunt, preparation of the hides and horns, pickup and dropoff at airport, etc.

I know you have feelings about the lion, but if money is a real problem, I'd do a plainsgame hunt on first trip. You like warthogs??? you can shoot them all day long for $300 to $350 each. They are awesome.
I know my "ultimate" animal is a cape buffalo, but I cannot see my way to paying that much money for one yet. Even though I'd salivate at the opportunity, as you would a lion, I am more than happy with my first safari with my son and my hunt coming up in July with my wife....... without hunting the buffalo.
Realize, you won't be going once. You may be "planning to go once", but the guys on here will tell you "If you go once, you'll go back. Get over it." lol.

I hunted with Marius of KMG the first hunt and will be hunting with him again in July. You cannot go wrong hunting with him.
There are also a few others on here that I would feel very comfortable hunting with, too, but I can personally vouch for Marius as being top-notch.

 

[gillettehunter]

You got a great reply from Savage Hunter. I'm going to ask you about fenced areas. Most of us on here aren't willing to hunt a small fenced property. Feels too much like shooting fish in a barrel. ie it doesn't seem sporting. You have to understand that most of RSA and parts of Namibia are fenced. The landowners own the animals and often buy breeding stock to get started with a particular species or beef up the genetics. They don't want their investment to wander over to the neighbors and get shot there. So they fence it. Some animals don't care about a fence. Warthogs aren't hindered much by them. I understand a eland and Kudu can go over very high fences.
So unless you go to Zim or Moz or somewhere equally wild there is probably going to be fences. My biggest question to you is how you define fair chase. A little different for most of us, but as long as the animal can hide and escape then many feel that is adequate. So would you hunt on a property that is 100,000 acres with almost no internal fences? How about 20,000 acres. Or how about 5,000 acres of Bushveld where you may never see a fence and still never find a particular animal in a 7 day safari.
Hopefully you may think a little about the questions I've raised and how you prefer to hunt. Most lion hunts in RSA are put and take. The lioness may be on the property free ranging for 1-4 weeks, but has been pen raised prior to that. That type of hunt can be done for under 10K. Free range will be more. Best of luck on your hunt. Bruce

 

[Mtgoat]

I hope that this thread doesn't get hijacked into a debate of free range vs. fenced hunts.

There is fenced and then there is fenced. Boone & Crockett Club is probably the most particular about what constitutes free range/fair chase. I'm not sure about their position today, but when I took my bison, they would accept entries from Custer State Park. It's a very large area (71,000 acres), but there is a fence around the whole thing. They saw fair chase as being possible in that confined area.

Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[Mtgoat]

Savage Hunter has given some good data. There are some other threads on the subject that have similar data.

I'm a simple guy. While i've made my career being very analytical, when it comes to estimating the cost of a hunt, I use a quick formula. I take the price (money paid to the outfitter) and I double it. This give you an idea of what total will be, including all of the "other" expenses - taxidermy, air fare, tips, etc., etc. It gets you in the ballpark. It breaks down when you start hunting big ticket animals (sheep, elephant, buffalo, etc.) or really exotic locations which involve a lot of extra transportation costs (like central Asian countries).

 

[Nyati]

Welcome to AH, Matt85 !

You ll get all the straight answers you need from the outfitters on the site.

 

[kal]

One thing to add on the taxidermy side of things, everything does not have to be mounted at once. Tanned hides will last years in proper condition, giving you the option to mount one animal at a time as you can afford. Depending on where you live I would strongly recommend going to a Safari Club banquet. There are chapters all over the country, you can meet outfitters and talk with experienced hunters. This web site holds a great number of stand up outfitters that I am certain will be more than willing to work with you.

 

[matt85]

thanks for the replies all!

at the moment im pretty set on a wild lion and a good warthog, if the price is going to be high then so be it. im 28 years old and don't plan on kicken the bucket any time soon so i got lotsa time to save money. that is assuming something else doesn't catch my fancy first of course. i will read around on this forum more and look at pictures of game yall have taken, who knows maybe ill change my mind. think of it this way, if i start out saving up for an expensive hunt but decide on something cheaper down the road then ill easily have the money for the cheaper hunt.

this thread is just to give me some kind of target to shoot for.

thanks
-matt

 

[peras]

thanks for the replies all!

at the moment im pretty set on a wild lion and a good warthog, if the price is going to be high then so be it. im 28 years old and don't plan on kicken the bucket any time soon so i got lotsa time to save money. that is assuming something else doesn't catch my fancy first of course. i will read around on this forum more and look at pictures of game yall have taken, who knows maybe ill change my mind. think of it this way, if i start out saving up for an expensive hunt but decide on something cheaper down the road then ill easily have the money for the cheaper hunt.

this thread is just to give me some kind of target to shoot for.

thanks
-matt

Good way of thinking!

 

[stuckey_t]

tagging along. great thread!

 

[billc]

The only thing you may need to really look at is time. You maybe young but lion hunting is always under the pressure of being shut down. Must talk is it looks to be ok till 2016 but that is in the air after that who knows because there is always someone trying to get it shut down.

One thing to remember is even if you take a lion you have time to get it mounted. You can have the skinned tanned but wait a few years if you need to save for the mounting.

I hope you get to live your dream and get that lion and warthog.

 

[greyfox]

Matt,
Also attend NRA and SCI banquets, sometimes there are auctioned hunts there and sometimes they do not fetch anywhere near their true value.

I hunted Africa for the first time last summer (July 2014) for plaines game and had a WONDERFUL time. I hunted with Marius and KMG, feel free to contact me.

 

[matt85]

this thread is a year old.

I will be hunting in RSA in May and September of this year. in May ill be hunting PG and then going after a cape buffalo in September.

-matt

 

[Spear Safaris]

after reading around on this forum a little and finally joining the forum im considering starting a savings account for an African hunt. the big question for me is what kinda total cost am I looking at? many of the companies offering safaris don't mention prices and even those that do are vague about the final price. im not looking to buy right now, id just like a number to set as a goal.

at the moment ive got two hunts that I would consider essential for what could potentially be my only safari. I MUST have a trophy warthog, ive loved these critters since I was old enough to say the name. the other hunt that I consider to be the pride of Africa and essential to what could be a one time trip would be a lion (a female is fine). other critters could be added to the menu depending on price and how successful I am at saving money. in my present financial situation I can set aside a little over $5000 a year but that could improve (could also get worse, but lets think positive).

ive discovered there are many "fenced hunts" that very affordable. I don't really like the idea of shooting a animal in a fenced in park, just doesn't feel right.

to the main question: how much money should I set aside for an African hunt (and taxidermy) that will primarily consist of a wild female lion and a trophy warthog?

im sure ill have many more questions in the future but ill probably spend more time reading around on the forum before I annoy too many of you.

thank you
-Matt

Hi Matt
We would like to invite you to visit us free of charge for a few days on our 22000 acre fenced in concession in South Africa (North east Limpopo Province bordering Greater Kruger National Park). Just so that you can decide first hand if a fenced in area is for you or not. We have free roaming lions within this area, as well as other Big Five species and plains game, that are self sustaining. This will give you an idea of how ecologically balanced large fenced areas can be.