Are these budget numbers unrealistically low?

Marshian

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I had the good fortune of a winning bid for a 7 day safari for plains game in South Africa roughly 9 months from now. The package is for 4 hunters and includes food, beverage, drivers, and lodging. Trophy fees are not included and run about US$2200 for a kudu and $1500 for a gemsbuck. The other three hunters are my brothers who are all relatively fresh out of college (all in their mid-20's), and will be on much more of a budget than me. I have been telling them they each need a minimum of $2500 (not including airfare), and they all plan on shooting only one or two animals. Also, the package I bought includes $700 per hunter to apply for trophy fees. I am planning on spending about $7000 and would like to shoot 3-4 animals. Do you think these budget numbers are unrealistically low? I was extremely excited to have the winning bid ($2500), and going to Africa for the first time. But now am a little worried that my brothers may have trouble raising enough money to enjoy themselves over there, and not run into awkward circumstances. Any input is greatly appreciated.
 
Marshian; I went to SA, last march, it included 10 days hunting, and one Gemsbuck. I spent $8,000.00. I got a gemsbuck,bushbuck,blesbuck, kudu, impala,warthog, and a Zebra. Remember ,the shipping, and taxidermy is extra. Fantastic place to hunt, especially if you take your brothers. Have fun, take lot's of pictures. Who are you hunting with? PH? Brian
 
Marshian welcome to AH...

A 7 day Safari is a good deal.

Are you hunting 1(hunter) X 1(PH), or 2 X 1 or 4 X 1.

What are you trophies selection...You have available at with you PH?....

This will make a great difference on what you are able to go after.

If you are sharing a PH and it would appear that way you need to find a partner who is looking for the same or close to the same animals you are looking for.

some plains animals will be together, however many are or will be in different areas on the concession or ranch. Travel time takes away from hunting time.

I am thinking you should be able to pick between: a warthog, impala, blesbuck, reedbuck, Burchells Zebra, bushbuck, Duiker, steenbok, bushpig, and possible others. These will allow them to stay with in the $2,500 bracket you area asking your travel partners to come up with. If they chose wisely they could wind up with 6 or 7 trophies each.

When you add Eland, Gemsbuck, Kudu, Nyala, Waterbuck you safari prices go up quite quickly.

The shipment of your trophies back to the states will cost you about 3K each, however you could reduce this if you double up your trophies in the same box.

I had the good fortune of a winning bid for a 7 day safari for plains game in South Africa roughly 9 months from now. The package is for 4 hunters and includes food, beverage, drivers, and lodging. Trophy fees are not included and run about US$2200 for a kudu and $1500 for a gemsbuck. The other three hunters are my brothers who are all relatively fresh out of college (all in their mid-20's), and will be on much more of a budget than me. I have been telling them they each need a minimum of $2500 (not including airfare), and they all plan on shooting only one or two animals. Also, the package I bought includes $700 per hunter to apply for trophy fees. I am planning on spending about $7000 and would like to shoot 3-4 animals. Do you think these budget numbers are unrealistically low? I was extremely excited to have the winning bid ($2500), and going to Africa for the first time. But now am a little worried that my brothers may have trouble raising enough money to enjoy themselves over there, and not run into awkward circumstances. Any input is greatly appreciated.
 
If your brothers can't pull through..I'm sure there's a few on here willing to take their place.

Congrats..for 4 people thats cheaper than going to Vegas!
 
Thanks for the advice guys. The set-up is 2 hunters per PH and we all have the mostly the same animals in mind-warthog, gemsbuck and maybe a kudu for them (definitely for me). The outfitter is White Lion Safaris who I am extremely grateful for their generosity as they donated this hunt to benefit the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
 
Taxidermy will probarbly cost the most out of the deal, so decide upfront if your brothers would like to take trophies home or just memories and good pictures. Also ask if your going more for the experience than the trophies. Contact the outfitter and find out if he has management animals that can be taken like kudu cows, impala ewe's or broken horn stuff that can be taken at a greatly reduced rate.
 
I had the good fortune of a winning bid for a 7 day safari for plains game in South Africa roughly 9 months from now. The package is for 4 hunters and includes food, beverage, drivers, and lodging. Trophy fees are not included and run about US$2200 for a kudu and $1500 for a gemsbuck. The other three hunters are my brothers who are all relatively fresh out of college (all in their mid-20's), and will be on much more of a budget than me. I have been telling them they each need a minimum of $2500 (not including airfare), and they all plan on shooting only one or two animals. Also, the package I bought includes $700 per hunter to apply for trophy fees. I am planning on spending about $7000 and would like to shoot 3-4 animals. Do you think these budget numbers are unrealistically low? I was extremely excited to have the winning bid ($2500), and going to Africa for the first time. But now am a little worried that my brothers may have trouble raising enough money to enjoy themselves over there, and not run into awkward circumstances. Any input is greatly appreciated.

Dear Marshian

I recommend strongly you get in touch with your PH to provide you with a calculation sheet or pro-forma invoice, reflecting all the costs involved which you can expect, to eliminate SURPRISES. We provide all our clients a calculation sheet once they make the reservation.

Yes, things can still change in the hunting field, but then you know the price of each trophy to adjust your wish list.

Take into consideration the taxidermy deposit, final taxidermy payment and shipment of your trophies.

Enjoy the planning process since it is a huge part of your safari!
 
Great advise so far. If your brothers do not want to mount their trophies I still highly advise exporting the horns, they can always be mounted years down the road when they have more money or simply stay as skull mounts. Once you leave them behind they are unretreivable if they change thier minds at some point.

$2500 is a great deal. If you figure $300 is an excellent 2x1 rate that comes out to $2100 for just one person, You have already saved $5900 before you even start hunting. Add in the $700 in trophy fees and the outfitter owes each of you $75 just for showing up! LOL That works out to a total of $8700 off of the normal day/trophy fee rates. Its hard to beat a deal like that.

As for choosing animals there is not much advise I can give there, just look at his price list and research each animal until you come up with a trophy list that you can live with plus throw in a couple alternates just in case you are unable to find all of your 1st choice animals. Dont underestimate the little guys, they are cheap and make great trophies.
 
DH good advice on the future trophy consideration. Very budget conscious option.

Three trophies (Kudu 2200, Gemsbok 1500, Warthog 400) you list are likely to have you at $4100 - $700 = $3400.
Guess they need to save a little more money! (or you can be a nice brother and give them a loan or christmas gift)

Make sure they take the best camera they can and take lots of pictures.

As Danie and others have said, make sure you know all the costs if your budget is that tight.
Transfers, if you have to go to other concessions, etc.
Sometimes those Kudu and Gemsbok might not live together on the same farm.

Have a great time.
 
I would study the animals available...especially the smaller ones on the list. The waterbuck, eland, kudu, zebra, oryx .... among others are in a decent price range for a donation hunt. Their are a lot of others like th giraffe for $5500 that to me are out of line price wise. Decide what you are going to do with the animals after the hunt....the costs add up quickly. Taxidermy in Africa...Taxidermy in USA....European mounts...or nothing but pictures.
 
Marshian

From White Lion Safaris
Gemsbuck ...........1490
Kudu ...................2290
Kudu 60+ inches ...6500
warthog .................550
Blesbuck.................590
bushpig..................650
Steenbuck..............590
Springbuck common.550

If i were you i would print off there price list and go over the trophy selection in a group.

It would help if you had a picture of each animal for reference. have each one prioritize there selection from 1 to 5.

When you have your selection process down then e mail it to your PH to see what he thinks your success will be and if you have to make another change in your priority list. See who he thinks should be paired up. While the pairing can change daily i have found it best when you are on the same playing field as your PH.

When sharing a PH who will get the first shot of the day. Example if hunter 1 gets first dibs in the morning of the first day and then he gets the afternoon on the second day. while hunter 2 takes back up in the morning the first day and becomes first after lunch and first up to start the 2nd day. Can you live with that...

remember to have fun...the back up man can be the camera man to take pictures and film the hunt...works great.


Thanks for the advice guys. The set-up is 2 hunters per PH and we all have the mostly the same animals in mind-warthog, gemsbuck and maybe a kudu for them (definitely for me). The outfitter is White Lion Safaris who I am extremely grateful for their generosity as they donated this hunt to benefit the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
 
From White Lion Safaris
Kudu 60+ inches ...6500

OUCH!

Marshian, You had better know how to judge Kudu better than me and most others around here if that price is the case!

Before you shoot:
1. "Is that Kudu less than 60 inches?",
2. "Are you sure that Kudu less than 60 inches?",
3. "Really? Is that Kudu less than 60 inches?"

Please share this list with your brothers. :)
 
Brickburn

I appreciate your support...A hunter has to know what they are pulling the trigger on or the cost go through the roof.

There were a few others depending on spices some cost more than others.

I just wanted to remind Marshian that they better know what they are shooting at because a mistake will cost big $$$ and if you shoot or wound it you pay for it.

Marshian, Make sure you or your friends do not shoot a black impala. Or the 4 of you will have to chip in to make the payment.

OUCH!

Marshian, You had better know how to judge Kudu better than me and most others around here if that price is the case!

Before you shoot:
1. "Is that Kudu less than 60 inches?",
2. "Are you sure that Kudu less than 60 inches?",
3. "Really? Is that Kudu less than 60 inches?"

Please share this list with your brothers. :)
 
It might help avoid one of those unfortunate stories....
 
One hell of a price for a Kudu i could have made a killing with the 64 in Kudu we took the other day damm.
 
One hell of a price for a Kudu i could have made a killing with the 64 in Kudu we took the other day damm.

Johan, Tie his brother up for me!
You could share the picture so Marshian knows what to be scared of and so I can be jealous!
 
Marshian,

The best piece of advice I would give your brothers is that it is cheaper to shoot more animals on one safari than to go back on a second safari because you regret not taking them the first time (especially if your generous older brother is footing part of the bill on the first safari). If they have to eat mac and cheese for the next 9 months and 9 months after they get back to afford to shoot one more animal - then by all means they should do that.

I used this philosophy last year when I went and decided to take an eland and a zebra above and beyond the 7 animal package that I had booked. I ended up getting a credit since I did not take a red hartebeest, but that eland and zebra cost a lot more than I got credited back for the hartebeest. At the time I felt a little guilty for spending so much and stretching everything else thin, but looking back on it now, I definitely do not regret it. In fact I wish I would've thought about taking an nyala too!

Just my $0.02

nd
 
Ok. Having just went on my first trip to Africa this year I am sure your head is spinning. This will be a great trip. Everyone here has given great advice. The one piece of advice I could give is don't stop asking questions. Weather it is here on AH or to your PH, ask away! Everyone here is always more than willing to help! I think if your partners stay with the more common animals (springbok, blesbok, impala, the really little duiker and so on) you can stay with that $2500 budget. In a worst case maybe double up on a couple of animals. The other thing you have to consider is tips for you PH and all the staff. There is a great thread on here about that topic. Someone here may be able to find it for you and post a link. I am on my phone out of time. An as others have already stated, don't forget about after the hunt cost(taxidermy). Ok, I am done for now....good luck and enjoy....this is one of the best parts of the trip....the planning!
 
Thanks to everyone for all the replies and suggestions. I am already getting really excited, even though I dont go until August. I have a friend who just got back from a Namibian safari and mentioned the possibility of getting more animals via the culling/ female route. I told this to my brothers who unanimously agreed that they would rather get only a few animals that they could take home. We are all on the same page in terms of animals that we want to get, and I plan on giving cash for Christmas and birthdays to be earmarked for the trip so hopefully their budget will increase some too. Thanks again to everyone. This is a great website/ forum.
 
Marshian,

The best piece of advice I would give your brothers is that it is cheaper to shoot more animals on one safari than to go back on a second safari because you regret not taking them the first time (especially if your generous older brother is footing part of the bill on the first safari). If they have to eat mac and cheese for the next 9 months and 9 months after they get back to afford to shoot one more animal - then by all means they should do that.

I used this philosophy last year when I went and decided to take an eland and a zebra above and beyond the 7 animal package that I had booked. I ended up getting a credit since I did not take a red hartebeest, but that eland and zebra cost a lot more than I got credited back for the hartebeest. At the time I felt a little guilty for spending so much and stretching everything else thin, but looking back on it now, I definitely do not regret it. In fact I wish I would've thought about taking an nyala too!

Just my $0.02

nd

That pretty much sums up my experiences in Africa. The time and money to go back and forth to hunt a few animals each time will break the bank. It's better to plan for more animals way ahead than regret not getting something. I hear stories over and over...if I had only saved I could have got that nyala, waterbuck...etc. I'd rather eat mac & cheese too to go hunting!

Marshian, You had better know how to judge Kudu better than me and most others around here if that price is the case!

Before you shoot:
1. "Is that Kudu less than 60 inches?",
2. "Are you sure that Kudu less than 60 inches?",
3. "Really? Is that Kudu less than 60 inches?"

It's a lot easier to judge a kudu on his feet than it is in a small framed photograph. Big kudu.....look huge and massive. Plus you can tell by looking at the body color, weight, height...how good he is. Yes, be careful a 58 and 62 incher are too damn close to call. Better have the PH put his word in and say 60+ or below 60. Also don't expect a definite answer either. That's why I will not deliberately choose to hunt with a operation like this...I'd rather hunt with Johan and pull the trigger on a kudu knowing the trophy fee is set, no matter what the size. A outfitter I hunted with 2 years ago, is shooting 58+ kudus left and right and now he has a price structure. <54.9 $2300, 55 to 59.9 $2800, 60+ $4500. My question to the outfitter is which horn determines the trophy fee? The short or long one? Not all kudu horns are equal. Two kudu I have are the same about. The next one is 2 inches different.
 

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