SOUTH AFRICA: Has Anyone Hunted With Authentic African Adventures?

[Tony L.]

Good afternoon all,
Have any of y’all stayed/hunted with Authentic African Adventures before?
How is the staff, any precautions that we need to be aware of?
Airport safety to the ranch, is it pretty safe?
Thank you all for any response to these questions!!

 

[Hogpatrol]

May want to read this thread:

https://www.africahunting.com/threa...for-illegal-elephant-hunts.43623/#post-451814

 

[Leon Small]

May want to read this thread:

https://www.africahunting.com/threa...for-illegal-elephant-hunts.43623/#post-451814

Im an Outfitter myself, and Ill tell you Hanno is a GREAT person, Outfitter, Ph. Rest assured youll be treated as Royalty!

 

[Tony L.]

May want to read this thread:

https://www.africahunting.com/threa...for-illegal-elephant-hunts.43623/#post-451814

Im an Outfitter myself, and Ill tell you Hanno is a GREAT person, Outfitter, Ph. Rest assured youll be treated as Royalty!

Im an Outfitter myself, and Ill tell you Hanno is a GREAT person, Outfitter, Ph. Rest assured youll be treated as Royalty!

Im an Outfitter myself, and Ill tell you Hanno is a GREAT person, Outfitter, Ph. Rest assured youll be treated as Royalty!

Im an Outfitter myself, and Ill tell you Hanno is a GREAT person, Outfitter, Ph. Rest assured youll be treated as Royalty!

Thank you Leon Small, I was hoping to hear good things about Hanno and the staff!

 

[Leon Small]

Thank you Leon Small, I was hoping to hear good things about Hanno and the staff!

Pleasure, sir. Im sure he is more than willing to give you tonnes of references!

 

[Hogpatrol]

Tony & Leon, you guys are too funny. You don't actually think we're that dumb, do you?

 

[Leon Small]

Tony & Leon, you guys are too funny. You don't actually think we're that dumb, do you?

Meaning?

 

[Leon Small]

Meaning?

Forgive me if Im wrong, but dont understand what you mean? I gave Mr. Tony my honost feedback on his question? If you havent met Hanno on a personal level, pls dont judge or criticise some one who has. Explain your statement pls ...

 

[Tony L.]

I’ve never been to Africa Hogpatrol, I’m very serious in my question. We plan on taking our wives and want to ensure we are around good honest people. I was also curious about the airports as well, if we need to be aware of anything there also.

 

[Adrian]

Meaning that Leon Small and Tony L both joined the forum on exactly the same day.
Kind of a coincidence don't you think?
That Tony asks a question about an outfitter of whom questionable practices have been raised against and he is directed to the thread regarding it, doesn't respond yet he does respond to Leon who praises the outfitter in question.

Call me cynical but something ain't right.

 

[Hogpatrol]

@Adrian, 72 years on this rock, my nose for this stuff is pretty good. Yep, I can smell this all the way to Delaware.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Good afternoon all,
Have any of y’all stayed/hunted with Authentic African Adventures before?
How is the staff, any precautions that we need to be aware of?
Airport safety to the ranch, is it pretty safe?
Thank you all for any response to these questions!!

If he isn't arrested on arrival in to the U.S., he should be at SCI's convention in Reno. He has booked some really exciting hunts while at that venue.

https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/n...fficials-to-shoot-an-elephant-illegally/#more

 

[Sean Smith]

Good afternoon all,
Have any of y’all stayed/hunted with Authentic African Adventures before?
How is the staff, any precautions that we need to be aware of?
Airport safety to the ranch, is it pretty safe?
Thank you all for any response to these questions!!

Yes, twice—once in 2011 and again last April. Zero issues with airport or transportation safety, staff is great and Hanno is great. You will not be disappointed.

As for this “illegal” elephant hunt business, without getting into too much detail, I’ll just say I’ve investigated it very thoroughly and am absolutely convinced Hanno is innocent of any wrongdoing and will eventually be exonerated. Hanno will be my outfitter of choice for as long as I’m able to keep returning to SA—hopefully at least a few more times before all’s said and done. He’s gone above and beyond to give me the best experience possible, so I’ve never felt the need to roll the dice on another unfamiliar outfitter. Never have I seen a man work harder to satisfy his clients.

 

[Adrian]

Interesting that the only members who have spoken in defence of this outfitter are brand new members.

Mr Smith, maybe you can share in more detail your investigation on the illegal elephant hunt because in this instance the details are what members want to know.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, it will be a fool who is likely to give his or her money to an outfitter when so many questions on his ethics and legality are unanswered so if the person in question is beyond reproach it would be good to have all facts available.

To join a forum and make a statement as you have done when there are so many words to the contrary and not explain more is obviously raising more questions than it gives answers.

I don't know how many members here will be spending their hard earned cash or wasting their time hunting with this outfitter when it appears that there is an association with bribery, corruption and law suits to follow so, if you are so convinced van Rensburg is innocent, please share your reasoning and make the information available to all.

 

[Leon Small]

Interesting that the only members who have spoken in defence of this outfitter are brand new members.

Mr Smith, maybe you can share in more detail your investigation on the illegal elephant hunt because in this instance the details are what members want to know.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, it will be a fool who is likely to give his or her money to an outfitter when so many questions on his ethics and legality are unanswered so if the person in question is beyond reproach it would be good to have all facts available.

To join a forum and make a statement as you have done when there are so many words to the contrary and not explain more is obviously raising more questions than it gives answers.

I don't know how many members here will be spending their hard earned cash or wasting their time hunting with this outfitter when it appears that there is an association with bribery, corruption and law suits to follow so, if you are so convinced van Rensburg is innocent, please share your reasoning and make the information available to all.

Adrian, I dont know the author of the original post. At all. Total coincidence. Like I said, I only answered his question truthfully to my knowledge. If being judged for being a new member and commenting on another new members post, on the assumption of a member that that only knows one side of the coin then AH is not for. So thanks for the few days. All the best to everybody. Cheers.

 

[Sean Smith]

Interesting that the only members who have spoken in defence of this outfitter are brand new members.

Mr Smith, maybe you can share in more detail your investigation on the illegal elephant hunt because in this instance the details are what members want to know.

As I'm sure you can appreciate, it will be a fool who is likely to give his or her money to an outfitter when so many questions on his ethics and legality are unanswered so if the person in question is beyond reproach it would be good to have all facts available.

To join a forum and make a statement as you have done when there are so many words to the contrary and not explain more is obviously raising more questions than it gives answers.

I don't know how many members here will be spending their hard earned cash or wasting their time hunting with this outfitter when it appears that there is an association with bribery, corruption and law suits to follow so, if you are so convinced van Rensburg is innocent, please share your reasoning and make the information available to all.

I see we have a second self-professed super sleuth who believes himself deuced clever for having made the amazingly astute observation that people speaking in Hanno’s defense have just joined today. Wondering if it’s occurred to either of you brainiacs that the reason I joined today is that I was only just made aware of the conversation today and was eager to defend a friend, and that my having joined today has no bearing on the truth of what I’ve had to say. I’m using my real name, first and last. My email address is Sean@starfirelumber.com if you’d like to reach out to me for pictures of my last two hunts with Hanno. I’m an open book.

I’m not at liberty to disclose all of the reasons I believe Hanno is innocent. Otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate to do so. Suffice it to say I’ve talked to people I’ve deemed trustworthy who have firsthand knowledge of the relevant events, and everyone’s stories corroborated Hanno’s. Maybe you should try talking to Hanno yourself and get his side of things, rather than just believing and parroting everything you read in the stupid press. As the old saying among criminal attorneys goes, you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. No charges have been even remotely proven against him, and I don’t believe any will be. Obviously only time will tell whether I’m right, and it’s more likely than not they’ll end up coercing a guilty plea and stiff fine out of him because they know they’ve got him in a horrible squeeze with this indictment making it impossible for him to travel to the US to market his hunts. It’s also devastating to his business, since so many who don’t know him simply read about these charges—which at this point are mere accusations—and either decline to book with him or cancel. Still doesn’t make him guilty, however. Why should people listen to me? Because I actually KNOW him, have spent dozens of hours (and tens of thousands of dollars) hunting with him, and I’m saying unequivocally and without hesitation that I’d book with him again. That should certainly give me more credibility than someone who merely clicked on a link, read nasty things about him, then decided to start spreading it around without the slightest idea what he’s talking about.

As far as anyone being concerned about spending their money with someone who allegedly engages in these “questionable” practices, they shouldn’t be. Here’s an idea: talk to his CLIENTS. I can state with confidence that, to a man/woman, they will sing his praises. He’s as honest as the day is long, works harder than any man I know, and ALWAYS does what he says he’ll do. And I’ve never seen him do a single illegal or unethical thing in all the time I’ve spent with him. Not once.

 

[Adrian]

I don't and did not profess myself to be a super sleuth so your first line is completely inaccurate.

There is no problem with new members defending someone if their practices have been called into question however discussing questionable outfitters is what makes this site an invaluable resource for potential hunters and to leap to the defence of someone and not qualify your reasons is not the answer.

If you can state that you have investigated the outfitter to which this thread relates but not make it clear why then you have to admit you are raising more questions than you are answering.

There is no doubt van Rensburg has many satisfied clients however with the charges of bribery and corruption leveled at him and a hunter finding himself the subject of investigation where many thousands of dollars are involved surely you can understand the scepticism around the hunting this person undertakes and if a hunter is willing to pay to hunt, will they in turn also have to be questioned over alleged dodgy dealings.

So, it makes no difference to me if anyone is guilty or not, what matters here is that a new member has asked a question about an outfitter, it has been replied to and links provided which state the outfitter in question is under investigation.

Then there is a reply from a member who states he has investigated the problem but doesn't want to let on the extent or on what level his investigation took place.

No one is parroting anything, they have provided information which you dismiss as stupid.

All anyone here wants to know is why a hunter should hunt and spend money with an outfitter who has these charges hanging over him and so far despite your endorsement of this outfitter, I can see no reason why they should.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Let's see. I'm going to Zimbabwe, hunt with a person with a criminal indictment against him, who MAY be in the business of bribing government or tribal officials, hope that I don't get involved in some sort of back door shenanigans to hunt on a game reserve and then find myself in a Zimbabwe jail for an illegal kill. Yep, where do I sign up?

Reminds me of the old saying "The Devil is a Gentleman".

Edit: What's with Zimbabwe? Cecil the lion, Van Resburg's elephants, Sorry boys & girls, lots of red flags being waved in that country. I wouldn't write off all the outfitters there but I'd be VERY careful with whom I'd book a hunt. Van Resburg would NOT bet the one. YMMV.

 

[johnnyblues]

This is precisely why this site exists, to help fellow hunters book hunts in Africa and just about anywhere in the world a member has hunted. To not be suspicious of an outfitter who has serious allegations alleged against him would be nieve. I agree that this thread is suspesious, sorry call me a cynical New Yorker if you like. It wouldn’t be the first time I’m sure an outfitter just as show season starts with serious allegations against him would ask for some backup until the case is cleared. One way or another.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Probably having trouble filling dates and the U.S. stock market swoon usually causing people to tighten up isn't going to help either.

Aside that, one really has to laugh at this whole sordid affair. The tusks were supposed to be sent back to Zimbabwe. Holy Sheep Shit Batman! Maybe they made it back before Uncle Bob got tossed. Then again, maybe they were the ones Mrs. Mugabe tried to smuggle out of the country. SMH.