Greetings everyone!
First off, thank you to everyone who contributes to this awesome site. For someone starting out without real contacts in this space, I sincerely appreciate all the information people have so kindly shared here for those of us to read. It's a genuinely great resource.
As said in the thread title, I'm from Texas (side note: go Frogs!). I'm mid-30s and a Marine Corps veteran (Semper Fi to any fellow crayon eaters out there). I've hunted California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Mexico, and Texas--some of those even successfully. I hunt rifle, archery, and blackpowder. I'm currently running my own business which I've learned really just means I now have more bosses--who are also more demanding--than I ever dealt with in any corporate job. I'm sure many here can relate and will probably get a chuckle from my naivete (let me tell you about learning what cash flow means in real time...).
The chief boss, my wife, has officially given the thumbs up to Africa. Honestly, I think she agreed after she learned about sundowners. Anyway, we're looking a bit far out with May/June 2029 being the likely timeframe (we have another family member on the way and early 2028 already has a cruise booked--plus she wants to wait until the newest family member is at least 2 before switching hemispheres). I am looking at RSA and I've spoken with a few outfitters. While I've traveled a lot, neither of us have been to Africa, so we plan to make it more than simply a hunting trip. I don't plan to bring firearms with me and will rent instead. I would like to hunt Kudu, Impala and Blesbok. Possibly Gemsbok. My wife hunts and will likely choose to hunt while we're there, but right now she just wants to "hunt sleep." If there's one thing I've learned from speaking with people who have gone (and reading reports from this site), I feel it's likely this won't be a one-off trip and the experience will be much more enjoyable if I keep that in mind as opposed to trying to do everything all at once. Case in point: a gentleman I spoke with this weekend described his most recent trip as his fifth once-in-a-lifetime trip.
