Water Troughs: typical in African hunting?

I am researching my first African hunt. I have noticed that many animals are taken very near or even at water troughs in many African hunting videos and photographs. Is this customary in most areas? Is it possible to successfully find, stalk and shoot african game without such practices? What areas can you reasonably be assured of finding and taking game away from water troughs/holes?

Thanks much and please bear with my ignorance. Mike

most places have a bore or under ground water ,continually pumping water to a tank or trough , even in the parks .
if your not comfortable taking an animal at or coming in or from watering .
simple don't .
but pretty much every where ive been in Africa there is a windmill somewhere ,bringing water up from below .
im continually surprised how much underground water there is in southern Africa .

if at any time ,anywhere in your adventure , not comfortable with the shot , don't squeeze the trigger / release...
who ever /wherever you guys and your wives choose to go for your adventure , communicate with your P.H/outfit .
about what you want to hunt .
and especically your chosen method of hunting .
what some think as ethical , lots don't .
whether you like spot and stalk
walk and stalk (my favourite)
tree stand / blind (quite often near water )
ethical , legal and fairchase ............

communicate/ask , study , search and when you've ticked all the boxes .....enjoy the adventure

bluey said:

most places have a bore or under ground water ,continually pumping water to a tank or trough , even in the parks .
if your not comfortable taking an animal at or coming in or from watering .
simple don't .
but pretty much every where ive been in Africa there is a windmill somewhere ,bringing water up from below .
im continually surprised how much underground water there is in southern Africa .

if at any time ,anywhere in your adventure , not comfortable with the shot , don't squeeze the trigger / release...
who ever /wherever you guys and your wives choose to go for your adventure , communicate with your P.H/outfit .
about what you want to hunt .
and especically your chosen method of hunting .
what some think as ethical , lots don't .
whether you like spot and stalk
walk and stalk (my favourite)
tree stand / blind (quite often near water )
ethical , legal and fairchase ............

communicate/ask , study , search and when you've ticked all the boxes .....enjoy the adventure

Click to expand...

My issue is not an ethical one. I hunt whitetail deer in northeastern Michigan. Very dense forest, low numbers of animals. Hunting over bait is considered (by most) ethical. My question was whether this was the most common technique for hunting game in Africa today and if still successfully done without water and bait, where would be those places?

the same places , just in different areas
no matter where you decide to go ,there will be water somewhere.,and sooner or later both you and the animals are going be near it .
whether its a trough or a water hole

It seems a decent amount of bow hunting takes place in blinds over water.

Rifle hunting is normally:

Spot and stalk
Walk and stalk
Drive and stalk
Drive and shoot. Depending on where you are and what you and your PH want to do.
Blinds

Choose a good outfitter in a good area and there will be more animals than you can imagine away from water.

Communicate with your outfitter. Talk to his references and see what he says. Once you think you have decided on an outfitter, ask what the members here think about him. If people have good things to say about him they will post it. If they had a bad experience you will probably get PM's. If no one has heard of him......

On my safari this last may there was no sitting on any water, be it a stream, tank, or a trough but there is water available to the animals. We did a totaly spot and stalk. We usually would drive into a area where we would get out of the truck and hike to a vantage point and then glass. Then if we saw animals that were on my list we would go after them. We either drove to get closer to start the stalk or walked from where we spotted them.

I am sure that most operators will cater to what you want to do. If you want to sit in a blind over a water tank then that is what you should mention that you want to do. If you want to do spot and stalk only then tell them that. On my hunt on the first day I mentioned to my PH that the way that we were hunting reminded me of hunting elk here in Colorado and wasn't what I imagined I would be doing. But all the crawling, sneaking, thorn scratches, and everything else was worth it when I was finished.

I'm from Michigan as well.....was never crazy about the whole "baiting is the only way to go" issue. Tried it a few times; it's just not for me. I prefer to find some trails that are used and then set up overlooking those trails and wait. With the amount of public land and the number of hunters, stalking here in MI is almost out of the question.

I enjoyed hunting pronghorns out west.....drove around until we spotted some animals; sometimes it was far off, sometimes it was close. We would drive down the road a piece out of sight, and then try to put the sneak on them. Sometimes the stalks produced......most times something either spooked the animals, or they changed direction for some reason known only to the antelope, or they just weren't there.
.....and then sometimes it all came together, and we were punching out a tag.

I went on my first African safari last year in South Africa........none of the animals I shot were feeding or watering from a trough, although I did see quite a few feeding/watering areas. Some of the other hunters set up on waterholes for warthog, but to the best of my knowledge, those were the only instances of hunting from a hide. All the animals were either spotted from the vehicle, and then we parked and set up a stalk, or we would just stop and "go for a walk", and go look for game. We would occasionally stop and glass when we spotted a herd, and look for a mature animal......other times we would just look up and there would be one standing in front of us.
Best advice I can give you if you plan to hunt Africa is to tell your P.H. your expectations up front and be honest with him.......they are under pressure to get you what you came for, and if there is some means that you prefer (or would not prefer), it's best to tell them up front.....they will adjust their techniques accordingly.
Also, I think it makes a big difference whether you are hunting with a gun or a bow; a bow hunt, from what I've seen, usually takes place from a hide which is near a water hole or feed station.....but that doesn't mean it can't be done differently.
Good luck with your plans...................

We killed a few near water but none over water or placed feed. The people we hunted with do not use supplement feed(or baiting) and all hunting was spot and stalk. That was one reason(of many) for choosing Iliwa Safaris for me. If the outfit will not hunt the way you like with the ability to take the game you want then I say move on to another that will

Michael J. Harrison said:

My issue is not an ethical one. I hunt whitetail deer in northeastern Michigan. Very dense forest, low numbers of animals. Hunting over bait is considered (by most) ethical. My question was whether this was the most common technique for hunting game in Africa today and if still successfully done without water and bait, where would be those places?

Click to expand...

It is quite common for bow hunting. Not so much for Rifle hunting.
Blinds are often set up over water or feed.

You can hunt anywhere and not hunt over water. Elephant in wild places often start the tracking at water each day. Also Eland and Buffalo can be done this way.
Some Outfitters/PH's won't allow you to shoot near the water points.

Just state the method you want to hunt.
Talk to references and they will tell you how they hunted.

Thank you Brick.

Good question. Everyone should know without man made water there would not be near as many animals in Africa. This is why the stories of gazillion head herds in the past are impossible. Man made water has allowed wildlife management to get to the great state that it is in today. When Kenya banned hunting in the 1970's the people who had the leases left and he pumps quit. This is when the massive die off of elephants occurred and spawned the poaching industry (watch elephant and e pauper video).
To better answer your question it is mostly bow hunting that uses water holes for the hunt. Gun hunts are mostly spot and stalk.
This forum is to help us all not be ignorant so keep the questions coming!
Regards,
Philip
P.s. I'm gone! Look for a report in a month.

You can also hunt more remote destinations such as Mozambique or the Caprivi in Namibia. There the water sources are largely riverine and you will have a true wilderness experience - but, obviously, at a cost. Almost all the dry country Southern African PG hunting, will employ supplemental water sources - whether tanks, troughs, or ponds. It is the only way to create sustainable populations of species to hunt. The only animal that I have seen regularly hunted by riflemen near waterholes are warthog.

BRICKBURN said:

It is quite common for bow hunting. Not so much for Rifle hunting.
Blinds are often set up over water or feed.

You can hunt anywhere and not hunt over water. Elephant in wild places often start the tracking at water each day. Also Eland and Buffalo can be done this way.
Some Outfitters/PH's won't allow you to shoot near the water points.

Just state the method you want to hunt.
Talk to references and they will tell you how they hunted.

Click to expand...

Brik is right. Most bow hunting is done like that and if your not a fan our outfit will change the whole set up to suit you which i am sure most of the others will too...
It is actually illegal to hunt with in 200m from a water hole or point and the vehicle in most provinces in SA.

Make know what you want to do i think is the most important part here.
hope its a cracker

Shot Shot

Where I hunted in Zimbabwe (that bastion of high ethical standards ), ambushing animals coming into water was not done. Wasn't considered sporting. We'd go to the watering holes and find a set of tracks, or as they say in Africa, spoor, and follow them into the bush. Other methods was spot and stalk.

couple of our waterholes.........
dam that is filled by rainfall


and 16kms of kafue river they can choose to drink from, so take your choice where you would sit and wait......

Michael J. Harrison said:

I am researching my first African hunt. I have noticed that many animals are taken very near or even at water troughs in many African hunting videos and photographs. Is this customary in most areas? Is it possible to successfully find, stalk and shoot african game without such practices? What areas can you reasonably be assured of finding and taking game away from water troughs/holes?

Thanks much and please bear with my ignorance. Mike

Click to expand...

Michael,

As others have said - it is common practice to bowhunt from a blind over a waterhole in Africa. In fact; I believe most bowhunts are conducted this way as it gives the Hunter the best chance at success.

The same is however not true for rifle hunting. I would guess most animals that are rifle hunted in Africa are in fact not hunted from a blind over water but rather via spot and stalk.

If you prefer not to hunt at or near water I would suggest that you already discuss this with your Outfitter during the planning stages of your safari and not leave this discussion for when you're already in camp. All the Outfitters I know will be more than happy to accommodate your wishes but from an Outfitter's perspective it's nice to know detail like this in advance.

Best regards,

Chris

PHSC_Jono said:

It is actually illegal to hunt with in 200m from a water hole or point and the vehicle in most provinces in SA.

Shot Shot

Click to expand...

Jono,

I don't mean to stir the pot here but could you enlighten us in which Provinces it is illegal to hunt within 200m from water? (Maybe with a quote from the relevant Ordinance?)

Best,

Chris

I´ve only shot warthogs near a waterhole (2 out of 8).

Mike,

All of the info and advice given so far is spot on....(except for the "illegal to hunt over a water hole" part)??

Just to expand a bit on the water hole concept.... I would assume that most of the videos and photographs you are referring to are from bow hunts. The majority of visiting hunters, especially those on their first safari, usually share the same goal. That is, to have opportunity at as many trophy animals on their wish list as reasonably possible in a relatively short timeframe. Given that, sitting the hunter at a water hole during the driest months of hunting season is usually the best strategy for accomplishing that goal.

However, that is only one of many strategies that we will employ during a hunt for our guests. It really depends on the expectations and goals of each individual guest. It also depends on other factors such as the weather conditions, time of year, species of animal sought, as well as the skill and experience level of the hunter as to what method might prove most successful. Reputable, experienced outfitters will discuss all of these factors with the guest before the hunt and plan accordingly. When conditions are favorable, we happily encourage our guests to get out of the hide and try some spot & stalk. Often, it may be the best and only option given the conditions.

These days, about 95% of my African hunting time is spend on the ground spot & stalking. I may go days without letting an arrow fly, but that's not what it's about for me personally.... My wife, on the other hand, usually runs out of arrows before the hunt is over... Then she picks up the rifle.....

Michael J. Harrison said:

My issue is not an ethical one. I hunt whitetail deer in northeastern Michigan. Very dense forest, low numbers of animals. Hunting over bait is considered (by most) ethical. My question was whether this was the most common technique for hunting game in Africa today and if still successfully done without water and bait, where would be those places?

Click to expand...

It all depends on where you are and how limited access to a good water source is. Even as tough as the African animals are they will all come to water once a day at least if they can so if water is limited your odds of finding there, or heading to/from a trough or windmill is very high.

We hunted just about every way you can imagine on my recent trip and while I get bored and uncomfortable just sitting in a blind we even did some of that.

My preference is for spot and stalk or walk and stalk type hunting but many factors come into play in deciding which is the best method for where you are and what you are hunting that day.

We did a whole lot of "Diesel Stalking" meaning driving around and spotting a likely suspect or herd and then would generally drive well past them and get out and let someone else take the truck on. We'd then begin the foot stalk.

In many areas the game will be spread out over vast acreages so you have to either cover a lot of country yourself or have an outfitter that sends out scouts to help give you the best chances of success.

As stated above by another poster, spend some time talking about the various types of hunts, your preferences, and what they offer and are comfortable with.

I had one rather unpleasant day with one PH because he was just flat out rude, condescending and refused to even listen to me and I've been in this business longer than he's been on the planet.

Out of everyone we did business with he was the only problem so I feel pretty fortunate particularly since once I'd had enough of his BS I had a very blunt talk with him.

Funny thing was when we decided to do it my way we very quickly found ourselves in the middle of some nice stalks and shooting opportunities.

Communication before the hunt will always be a huge benefit to you.