MOZAMBIQUE: My safari With Juan Pace Of Chasseurs de Mocambique

[GreenT]

Not biased or conflict of interest at all, don't operate in moz or sa.....but have read on here, but also heard ( from friends in sa in this business ) so many total fkn rip offs , and nightmare shit that how he is still operating fk knows....and please tell him ...all my contact info is on my header....can't be arsed with people who are fktards....simple....seems you lucked out.. but as @BRICKBURN said hope you get your trophies...

Oh, okay. You "read" and "heard". Of course. There's no possible way to refute that.
Well, except for the fact that I actually did it, and know exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[GreenT]

I could agree with you speculation can create the impression of more negative reviews than there really are, but if there is truth that his PHASA membership was revoked after review that would be too much for me to overlook. I thought possibly you booked through an agent you trust or on the recommendation of friends who had successful hunts and got their trophies home.

No, just successful on my own.

 

[spike.t]

You definitely know what you're talking about, right? Not just repeating what you heard? Right?

Goodnight 3.14 am here.....can't find the smiley headbutting a brick wall....apparently you had a good hunt....you are in the finite amount....you obviously have no inclination of doing anymore research.....so as I said can't be bothered....given up smacking my head against things these days

 

[WAB]

Again, congrats on your hunt. I for one hope all the negative reports prove false in your case and you receive your trophies without issue. Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

 

[GreenT]

Goodnight 3.14 am here.....can't find the smiley headbutting a brick wall....apparently you had a good hunt....you are in the finite amount....you obviously have no inclination of doing anymore research.....so as I said can't be bothered....given up smacking my head against things these days

This reply is so incredibly absurd that it deserves a closer look.

apparently you had a good hunt....

Apparently??!! Are you just picking up little clues from reading between the lines? Have I been too subtle or indecisive? Let me know where you're having trouble and maybe I could clear up your doubts and confusion.

you are in the finite amount....

Did this series of words make sense to you when you heard it in your head? It'd be interesting to find out what you were thinking when you wrote that.

you obviously have no inclination of doing anymore research.....

Huh? Of... what, exactly? Would you have me continue to research an outfitter that just personally accompanied me for a month? Why? Am I to research more about a safari that I've already concluded? What would be the point? Can't say I even begin to grasp your concept of "post-safari" safari planning.

so as I said can't be bothered

My brother in Christ you told us you stayed up until 3 in the morning to bother with this! And for what? Do you want to betray my lying eyes; convince me that I didn't experience what I experienced; have me believe it was all an illusion? What is it you're trying to say to me, or anyone else reading this? Do you even have a message, or are you "just saying", like a toddler who makes noises with their mouth, with just as much effect?
Your post, Mr. Taylor, is a prime example of the useless drivel infecting online discourse these days, even if it did have some amusing bits.
Listen, I'm really sorry, though, that my outstanding safari experience is frustrating you so. Try not to lose anymore sleep over it, okay?

 

[flatwater bill]

@GreenT I enjoyed your hunt report........Very nice buffalo, would sure like to hear more details on the stalk, the shot, the rifle.....and the bullet....etc. Enjoyed the fotos as well. Sounds as if you got good value for your money. I have hunted Niassa.....and it is quite unlike anywhere else I have ever been.....congrats...FWB

 

[IvW]

How much did you pay for the Moz hunt?
Do you have the breakdown of the daily rate, licence fee, throphy fees etc?

 

[Gerry Addison]

I for one am happy you had a great hunt and you took some great animals. I don't doubt your honesty and I'm happy you are one of the lucky ones who had a good hunt with him. Hopefully your animals will arrive faster than mine did (3 1/2 years and only after finally giving up and posting a negative review). I would ask anyone thinking about booking with this outfitter to question how many different names his companies have had. Ask, how you book three different hunters with one PH all hunting different big 5 animals and none of the three knew about the others? Ask how you guide in a country where you aren't licensed to guide (Zim.) while the one PH hunts with one of the other hunters. I can go on but my report says everything. I'm speaking from my own personal experience. The man is a crook and I'd say that to his face and anyone who books with him takes the chance of being ripped off and worse yet arrested for breaking laws in an African country that you don't even know about because of the games he plays. I like you, checked some reviews and didn't dig deep enough. Seems some of his hunts turn out well, but some are a disaster and many are totally illegal. Why book with a man like this when there are so many quality people out there?

 

[thi9elsp]

@GreenT

Welcome to the site and am happy that you had a good experience on your safari with some very well earned and good trophies. Understand that those of us that are long time members are cautious when someone new joins and posts something that may feel as though it doesn't pass the sniff test.

We've had scammers come on and list rare firearms for below market prices. We've had hunting reports posted that were not valid. We've had a taxidermist that was a sponsor and though many had good experiences, the individual's business went south and left many AH members without their trophies.

Because of the operator you listed has had documented issues, we are asking hard questions so that the casual reader of our site maybe aware of potential issues.

Something that I simply am trying to come to grips with is the number of days you listed and the pricing. Good for you to get 29 days hunting and those trophies for the all-in price of $65,000. I would have expected your 15 days in Niassa Province to have cost close to that. With the 14 days in SA to be pushing $20,000. Are you comfortable sharing any further insights?

I look forward to you receiving your trophies and sharing pictures of them on your walls. Also, would enjoy hearing about what other types of hunting you have done and do.

 

[GreenT]

How much did you pay for the Moz hunt?
Do you have the breakdown of the daily rate, licence fee, throphy fees etc?

This was very much a custom package that went through several different iterations before we finally settled on the specifics. Juan was very willing to negotiate and accommodate, as I've reported. The expenses you've listed are part of his website (or will be provided to you after an inquiry, I don't remember which), and you can go from there.

 

[GreenT]

I for one am happy you had a great hunt and you took some great animals. I don't doubt your honesty and I'm happy you are one of the lucky ones who had a good hunt with him. Hopefully your animals will arrive faster than mine did (3 1/2 years and only after finally giving up and posting a negative review). I would ask anyone thinking about booking with this outfitter to question how many different names his companies have had. Ask, how you book three different hunters with one PH all hunting different big 5 animals and none of the three knew about the others? Ask how you guide in a country where you aren't licensed to guide (Zim.) while the one PH hunts with one of the other hunters. I can go on but my report says everything. I'm speaking from my own personal experience. The man is a crook and I'd say that to his face and anyone who books with him takes the chance of being ripped off and worse yet arrested for breaking laws in an African country that you don't even know about because of the games he plays. I like you, checked some reviews and didn't dig deep enough. Seems some of his hunts turn out well, but some are a disaster and many are totally illegal. Why book with a man like this when there are so many quality people out there?

I appreciate your personal knowledge and I'm sorry things went so badly for you. I can't offer any explanation or apology for JP's past conduct, because I don't know anything about it, but neither do I have standing to doubt the truth of what you're saying. It seems you and I are simply witnesses who are reporting what we've seen for other people to consider, and the fact that we have very different impressions to offer is not unreasonable - people are complex, never all one way or the other.

 

[PARA45]

What rifles did you use, or did you rent the rifles/ammo? Any more pictures of the hunt? thank you!

 

[GreenT]

@GreenT

Welcome to the site and am happy that you had a good experience on your safari with some very well earned and good trophies. Understand that those of us that are long time members are cautious when someone new joins and posts something that may feel as though it doesn't pass the sniff test.

We've had scammers come on and list rare firearms for below market prices. We've had hunting reports posted that were not valid. We've had a taxidermist that was a sponsor and though many had good experiences, the individual's business went south and left many AH members without their trophies.

Because of the operator you listed has had documented issues, we are asking hard questions so that the casual reader of our site maybe aware of potential issues.

Something that I simply am trying to come to grips with is the number of days you listed and the pricing. Good for you to get 29 days hunting and those trophies for the all-in price of $65,000. I would have expected your 15 days in Niassa Province to have cost close to that. With the 14 days in SA to be pushing $20,000. Are you comfortable sharing any further insights?

I look forward to you receiving your trophies and sharing pictures of them on your walls. Also, would enjoy hearing about what other types of hunting you have done and do.

Your rationale for skepticism makes perfect sense, and I've no problem with it. What I take exception to are the derogatory comments directed at me personally, motivated by nothing more than mean spirited ignorance. I didn't expect my report to be well-received, given that I was fighting the tide of popular opinion, so thank you for showing me some respect and being willing to engage in a meaningful dialogue.
Some background: I was born and raised in south-eastern Wisconsin, on the border between suburban and rural landscapes. There's no family history of hunting, but I was interested from my earliest memories, and grew up trying to teach myself with the help of magazine subscriptions. I hunted small game with a .22 and deer with a 16 gauge shotgun and slugs. After school I traveled around a bit before settling in Alaska, some 50 miles north of Anchorage, in 1993. I bought a second-hand Browning X-Bolt (30.06) as soon as I could afford it, and that's the gun I still use today. (I often think about getting other rifles, but the litmus test I use is, "Can it do something my Browning can't?", and the answer is always, "not really", so I'm still saving my money.)
I hunt within easy driving distance of my home for moose, waterfowl, and small game. My favorite place to go, however, is Kodiak and its surrounding islands. I've hunted Kodiak three times, for deer (Sitka black-tailed) and caribou (seems a lot of people are unaware that there's a population of feral "reindeer" on the south end of the island); been to Afognak Island three times for deer and Roosevelt elk (transplants from Washington State in the late 1920's); and Shuyak Island for deer. I don't hunt brown bears, but I've had many encounters with them, which all unfolded without incident. Almost all my hunting is done with my brother, whom I love dearly and like to host on adventures outside of his urban home.
I attended a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet/fundraiser in 2009 where I won a bid on a plains game safari with Mafigeni, in South Africa. I never seriously considered hunting Africa before, because it seemed so terribly exotic and unaffordable, but - as I'm sure we have all discovered - plains game in SA is one of the most accessible and economical "non-resident" hunts in the world. I was warned ahead of time that I'd get bitten by the safari bug, which proved entirely accurate, and I've been wanting to go back ever since, but in a really big way.
In 2021 I experienced a combination of events that culminated in my recent safari. First, I had been keeping my eye out for a big bore rifle to take on a hunt for Cape Buffalo, and I found a really nice .458 Win Mag for sale at auction. But my brother was being very dissuasive about me bidding on it, which was puzzling to me, until he sent me the .416 Remington Magnum he had bought me for a Christmas present! Okay, now it makes sense. At the same time I discovered "onlinehuntingauctions.com", which is the motherlode of donated safari hunts. I compiled a thick file of various outfitters in Africa, wrote dozens of emails inquiring about package hunts, learned a lot about the market, and eventually began a correspondence with Chasseurs de Mocambique and Juan Pace. My hunt was about a year and a half in the making.
I would be delighted to share some more insights about my experience! Not only do I have lots to relate, but I'd like to honor your desire to establish my credibility, which seems perfectly reasonable under the circumstances, as I said. All I ask is that I not be treated like a fool, a thief, or a liar because of some pre-existing prejudice that I bear no responsibility for.

 

[GreenT]

What rifles did you use, or did you rent the rifles/ammo? Any more pictures of the hunt? thank you!

We brought our own rifles. Mine were an ancient Browning X-Bolt in 30.06 for the plains game (bought used in 1993, it's still performing with excellence), a Ruger No. 1 in .416 Remington Magnum for the buffalo, and my brother used a Tikka T3 in .300 Winchester Short Mag.
I would like to note that bringing rifles into Mozambique is not something I would do again. It is such a tremendous hassle, from the red tape to the incessant pressure to provide bribes to the inconvenience of lugging gun cases into a really remote area, that it's just not worth it. I'm very attached to my rifles, and the Ruger was bought purposely for this hunt, but it really wasn't worth the trouble. The main camp in Niassa has a very nice gun collection for hunters to choose from (most lodges do, from what I've seen), and I would recommend utilizing one of their rifles. South Africa is a different story: the bureaucracy isn't nearly as bad, the attempts to solicit bribes much less aggressive, and it's pretty convenient to use your own gun there.
I've got garboons of photos! Your want animals, people, landscape, lodging, food, vehicles...? Just name it.

 

[IvW]

This was very much a custom package that went through several different iterations before we finally settled on the specifics. Juan was very willing to negotiate and accommodate, as I've reported. The expenses you've listed are part of his website (or will be provided to you after an inquiry, I don't remember which), and you can go from there.

So you dont have a breakdown of costs.....

 

[GreenT]

@GreenT I enjoyed your hunt report........Very nice buffalo, would sure like to hear more details on the stalk, the shot, the rifle.....and the bullet....etc. Enjoyed the fotos as well. Sounds as if you got good value for your money. I have hunted Niassa.....and it is quite unlike anywhere else I have ever been.....congrats...FWB

Hoo boy! The buffalo hunt was really quite a story, but I'll try to make it compact for easy reading.
During the first week of hunting we were really focused on the leopard, but we made a detour one afternoon to a local village that asked for help in removing a buffalo that was causing problems. My PH, Leo, located it and got me in position for a shot, but as soon as I got a good look at the horns I said no, it's not what I want. Leo insisted that it was a good bull, and I fully agreed, but not the one I came for. It didn't have the features I had described to Leo. I think he was disappointed in me, so later on I showed him some photos of the kinds of horns I was looking for in a big bull. "Oh! Yes, we can do that!" Now we're on the same page.
After the successful leopard hunt we focused on the buffalo. One afternoon we cut some tracks on a roadway and Leo and the trackers started following. The area was miambo woodland surrounding a depression that was a big marshy area. We closed in on the buffalo and I got a good look at its left horn through the brush. Yes, that's what I'm looking for! The buffalo disappeared, but now we could go to where it was standing and identify it's specific track. Turns out one of the hooves on its right front foot was a bit longer than the other one, so based on that unique signature the trackers could follow that specific bull.
We tracked that buffalo through the elephant grass and woodland for the rest of the day. We bumped him three more times, but never got a clean shot, and then it just got too late in the day to continue. The bull was basically circling the area, so Leo felt confident we could return and find him still there the next day.
Well, over the course of the next five days we made three more attempts to stalk this bull (there was other, incidental plains game hunting going on as well). My brother had nicknamed him "Big Toe". At one point I said to Leo, "It doesn't have to be this one, exactly. We could go after another one that looks similar." But Leo had it in his mind that this is the one he was going to put me on.
So, the final stalk took place near a village where a woman had been killed by a buffalo just a year or two prior. We were following Big Toe and two other bulls in and out of little vegetable fields. "Looks like he's trying to get his salad in", Leo remarked. We went for many hours, over several miles, losing the track, finding it again, constantly glassing ahead. Then we were in a relatively open, grassy area with a scattering of trees, with one little grove providing some meaningful shade. Now if I were a buffalo who had been grazing all morning, I would love to be laying down under those trees for a little rest during the hot afternoon, I thought to myself. So I started glassing, absolutely intent on finding a snippet of buffalo through the grass. I mean, I was REALLY concentrating on finding that bull, but I didn't see anything, and we pressed on, on a kind of oblique angle to the grove.
Then Leo and Maxwell snapped to attention. Leo looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Oxpeckers!" Their call was the tattletale that the buffalo were nearby. Soon Maxwell identified a buffalo lying down, completely on its side like a dog. We had already moved into position for a better view, and now we moved in even closer to set up for a shot. The wind was not good, hitting us on the shoulder from the rear and threatening to give us away. We were only 60 or 70 yards away when one of the bulls stood up, facing away from us. It seemed like it was alerted, but not yet alarmed. Then it turned its head and we could see that left horn. "That's him!" Leo shout whispered in my ear. I was already on the sticks, but the bull was moving around, like he was trying to figure out what woke him up. Leo was predicting his every move, like a mind reader, and finally said, "He's going to turn broadside, facing left. If you want him just shoot right into the chest". Then the bull turned broadside, facing left, and I shot him in the chest. He dropped right in his tracks, and the other two buffalo dashed off to the right and stopped. "Those are both shooters too, if you want another one", Leo said. "Better reload regardless."
We walked up to the buffalo directly from its back. Leo told me to put another one right between its shoulder blades for good measure. The 400 grain Swift A-Frame .416 Rem Mag actually rocked that bull when it hit. There were a few twitches left in it, then it was time for handshakes and back slapping and getting ready for photos.
I think it was my brother who picked up that right front foot, where one hoof was slightly longer than the other.
I'm going to try adding some photos in order. The first is that grove of trees I mentioned, where the buffalo were laying; the moment we came on the buffalo (Leo's in front, then tracker Maxwell, me in the white shirt, and tracker Phillipe); a shot of Big Toe's signature; group effort; recovered bullets.

 

[gbflyer]

Old friend of mine who is now passed was head of security for Coutada 5, District of Machanga, Sofala Province for a time. That location means little to me, I took it off an old writing of his. Anyway, I enjoyed his stories of Africa and Moz. I will probably never see it personally but I do enjoy reading others adventures and the great pics. Thanks for the report.

 

[K-man]

Gentlemen. I believe it is entirely possible that the O.P had a wonderful hunt as he has reported.
I also believe most of the claims against the outfit over the last few years. No reason to discount the hunt report. If someone asked me how much I paid or a breakdown itemization of costs I would not respond on an open forum. My late father's words come to me as he would often say, "a broken watch is still correct twice a day"... Thanks for your hunt report and I really hope everything turns out perfectly for you. It doesn't change my mind about booking with the outfit.

 

[Safari1]

Old friend of mine who is now passed was head of security for Coutada 5, District of Machanga, Sofala Province for a time. That location means little to me, I took it off an old writing of his. Anyway, I enjoyed his stories of Africa and Moz. I will probably never see it personally but I do enjoy reading others adventures and the great pics. Thanks for the report.

Who was that?

 

[Hunt anything]

Those rates do seem reasonable, buff is more expensive than buffalo I’ve seen advertised and shot in the delta. Niasa could very well be different. You did have a tremendous hunt and congratulations.
It’s really none of our business; but what was the invoice for $25,000 for?