Starting to plan our first safari

IAhawks84 · Feb 2, 2018

hello everyone,
Myself, my wife, and another couple have recently purchased a 7 day hunt with Wild Wildebeest Safaris in South Africa. We did not expect to win this auction that he hunt was sold on, but we did and we could not be more excited. I have been reading posts on here nonstop and cannot believe how helpful everyone is. This site is very informational and gets me more excited for our adventure.
We turned in the paper work for our passports today. We now just need to nail down the dates and send off the deposit. A couple things I have been curious about that I have not necessarily found answers to, that maybe some of you could give your opinions on.
I am from Iowa. I do own a rifle that I use for occasional elk hunting out west. It is a 300 ultra mag. Our outfitters do rent guns, and some of the horror stories that I have heard with getting guns through customs leaves me wondering if it is worth it to try to bring my own. The cost of renting the gun or ammo is not my concern. I just think that it would be really cool to have brought my own rifle to Africa to hunt. Does anyone have a personal opinion of this? It's probably way early to be worrying about this, since we are about 14-15 months from proposed dates.
Another thing that I have been curious about is what to hunt. To be honest this trip kind of feel into our laps. I have not planned on this at all. I have been doing some research on the animals there, and there are many amazing choices. We have an impala included with our hunt. Some others that I am interested in are the Gemsbok, the Blesbok, Kalahari Springbok, and the Warthog. Unfortunately I am not a millionaire or anything like that so I will not be doing the Big 5 or anything like that, but maybe if anyone has some suggestions for a first timer would be great. As I had mentioned before, we have 7 hunting days, so I'm not sure how much time to allot for each species, or how many to book with a good chance of filling on all of them. Our outfitter has been more than informative and perhaps these are good questions for them, but I just like to get the opinion of fellow hunter/customers sometimes.
There are so many things that I can see myself having questions about, or wondering what everyone else's opinion is. I'm sure that I will keep on posting, and hopefully have a couple of nice trophy photos to post.

billc · Feb 2, 2018

Take your gun as it is easy to do. If you don't want to take the chance on a mess up then look at henry's rifle permit service for 150 it is all done and waiting.

I am not sure why you would send a deposit if you bought the hunt at auction? You should not be paying for any animals up front at all.

For animals if animals like kudu or nyala would be out of your price range then I would look at these. Blue wildebeest, zebra bushbuck , warthog ,springbuck. If you can do a kudu or nyala I would do one of those. On a 7 day hunt you could easily take 7 animals or more.

Also call lori at travel express and get a quote at least on airfare.

Good luck and enjoy your trip

GA Hunter · Feb 2, 2018

Well first of all congratulations and welcome to the forum. I feel obligated to warn you as Africa tends to become quite addictive. Just ask pretty much anyone who has ever been.

With regards to the rifle question, I personally would not go without taking my own gun. Having my gun and my handloads is no small thing for me. I have taken two different 300 Ultra Mags and can say for certain that the caliber is more than adequate for everything up to and including eland. Choose a well made 200 grain bullet and you’ll be fine. If you are concerned about the hassle then use http://riflepermits.com and rest easy. They will walk you through all the paperwork, meet you at the airport in Joburg, and walk you to the police station to get your gun. Roughly $150 but it’s money well spent. If you decide to rent or borrow a gun then be sure to ask the outfitter what he has to offer. Some have very nice guns and some not so much. Be sure to ask about the optics. Otherwise you may find yourself looking through a 2X Lynx scope to find a single post reticle.

As far as the animals you should target, I would think that most would agree that a kudu is the iconic African plains game trophy. After that I bet your “list” changes at least 100 times before you get to the last hunting day. My philosophy here is to pick one or two “must have” trophies then take what the bush offers and trust your PH.

Good luck and enjoy the entire process. The planning and anticipation is almost as good as the trip itself.

BD

IAhawks84 · Feb 2, 2018

Thanks GA, I have picked up on that it is very addictive hunting in Africa haha. I have been thinking long and hard about the Kudu. My biggest worry is having somewhere to hang it. The Gemsbok would be hard enough as is. But as you said, I'm sure I will change my mind numerous times. From what I understand, we have to let the outfitter know 2 months ahead of time what we would like to hunt so that they can get the licensing all squared away and what not. I could be completely wrong, I will have to contact our U.S. rep again.
I'll probably end up doing that riflepermits thing. Cost will be approximately the same reguardless of what I do, so I may as well have the satisfaction of my own gun. Thank you very much for your input. Go Braves!

IAhawks84 · Feb 2, 2018

billc said:
Take your gun as it is easy to do. If you don't want to take the chance on a mess up then look at henry's rifle permit service for 150 it is all done and waiting.

I am not sure why you would send a deposit if you bought the hunt at auction? You should not be paying for any animals up front at all.

For animals if animals like kudu or nyala would be out of your price range then I would look at these. Blue wildebeest, zebra bushbuck , warthog ,springbuck. If you can do a kudu or nyala I would do one of those. On a 7 day hunt you could easily take 7 animals

Thanks for the reply Bill,
We have to send the deposit to hold the days. We can use it towards more days, animals, or if unused at the end it is credited back. At least that is from what I understand.
Are there pros/cons to using a travel agency vs using a site like orbitz? We usually just book on orbitz for another site like that when booking regular flights. However I have never booked an international hunting flight.

cpr0312 · Feb 2, 2018

Welcome to AH and best if luck in your planning!

billc · Feb 2, 2018

Lori just knows the best routes and her prices have be good for me. I am not sure what kind of tickets to jo-berg will be on orbitz. I like a direct flight and go jfk to jo-berg on SAA. Has been go to be so far on 4 trips and hope it works the same on my 5th. She will do a free quote so will not hurt to check.

Good luck on the list even after 4 trips I still change mine all the time. So many animals to hunt over there it is hard to decide till you see some of them to. I never wanted a red hartebeest they just look ugly most of the time when you see a mount. See one in the wild and they make a lot of peoples list and made mine to.

A kudu will make you look twice and are hard to pass when you see a good one. They also really don't take that much more room then an oryx.

CAustin · Feb 2, 2018

IAhawks84 said:
hello everyone,
Myself, my wife, and another couple have recently purchased a 7 day hunt with Wild Wildebeest Safaris in South Africa. We did not expect to win this auction that he hunt was sold on, but we did and we could not be more excited. I have been reading posts on here nonstop and cannot believe how helpful everyone is. This site is very informational and gets me more excited for our adventure.
We turned in the paper work for our passports today. We now just need to nail down the dates and send off the deposit. A couple things I have been curious about that I have not necessarily found answers to, that maybe some of you could give your opinions on.
I am from Iowa. I do own a rifle that I use for occasional elk hunting out west. It is a 300 ultra mag. Our outfitters do rent guns, and some of the horror stories that I have heard with getting guns through customs leaves me wondering if it is worth it to try to bring my own. The cost of renting the gun or ammo is not my concern. I just think that it would be really cool to have brought my own rifle to Africa to hunt. Does anyone have a personal opinion of this? It's probably way early to be worrying about this, since we are about 14-15 months from proposed dates.
Another thing that I have been curious about is what to hunt. To be honest this trip kind of feel into our laps. I have not planned on this at all. I have been doing some research on the animals there, and there are many amazing choices. We have an impala included with our hunt. Some others that I am interested in are the Gemsbok, the Blesbok, Kalahari Springbok, and the Warthog. Unfortunately I am not a millionaire or anything like that so I will not be doing the Big 5 or anything like that, but maybe if anyone has some suggestions for a first timer would be great. As I had mentioned before, we have 7 hunting days, so I'm not sure how much time to allot for each species, or how many to book with a good chance of filling on all of them. Our outfitter has been more than informative and perhaps these are good questions for them, but I just like to get the opinion of fellow hunter/customers sometimes.
There are so many things that I can see myself having questions about, or wondering what everyone else's opinion is. I'm sure that I will keep on posting, and hopefully have a couple of nice trophy photos to post.

Take your gun. It’s always been my preference. Have helped several guys on here with the process. PM me if you like and I will be glad to help you.

IAhawks84 · Feb 2, 2018

CAustin said:
Take your gun. It’s always been my preference. Have helped several guys on here with the process. PM me if you like and I will be glad to help you.

Thank you very much. Like I said I have plenty of time, but I may take you up on that.

MAdcox · Feb 2, 2018

I would definitely take my own gun. SAPS office was a little time consuming for us but no hassles really. Definitely worth the time to have my own rifle.

I got to go on my first trip on a purchased auction as well. We had Impala, Blue Wildebeest, and Warthog included. Kudu has always been a dream for me so I had to add that and ended up taking a Gemsbok too. All great animals, but don’t overlook the little guys. I passed on multiple Steenbok and have regretted it. They are already on my list for my Namibia hunt in 2019.

Most of all just have fun and be open to things you didn’t expect. Enjoy the planning and prep too. Our hunt was amazing, but some of my best memories were the weekends of shooting and talking gear with the guys I went with.

brandondd24 · Feb 2, 2018

Plus 1on the kudu, that is the premiere plains game animal imo!

brandondd24 · Feb 2, 2018

I have a 48inch greater, my father has a 52 inch eastern cape and a 54 inch greater, I need to hunt again!

BRICKBURN · Feb 2, 2018

Welcome to AH.
Read all those hunt reports and you will quickly see what people hunt on their first trip.

Read all the offers and you will see the typical packages on offer.

Enjoy the planning.

Mekaniks · Feb 2, 2018

Welcome to AH!

My vote is take your own gun. And make sure you get some practice with loads that’s you are going to use shooting off of sticks. We Americans don’t usually shoot off sticks much and while it really easy, you should practice ahead of time so you are comfortable.

As for what animals to take... When I went I told my outfitter ahead of time that I wanted a Kudu (pic in my avatar) and after that I had approx $3500 more to spend on trophy fees and would take what was good until that money ran out and It worked out perfectly.
So what I am saying is there is nothing wrong with having a target animal or two and then setting a budget and taking what Africa offers you.

Good luck and happy hunting. Don’t forget the AH hunt report when you get back and we like lots of pictures!!!!

Scott Slough · Feb 3, 2018

if when you think about your elk hunts you don't focus on the "shot" or the gun, then I would recommend that you NOT take your gun...I didn't take my gun...not because it was hard or expensive to do so but because the "shot" is such an anticlimactic part of the hunt. I still think almost daily about the hunt and it always involves the animals, the people, and the place with no regard to the gun. I don't take pictures with the gun and the animal...it is just a tool to be used.

Welcome to AH and enjoy the safari!

rinehart0050 · Feb 3, 2018

Regarding trophies, I think it's all about setting a budget and letting your outfitter know this. Choose one or two priority animals and spend the rest of your budget on what africa offers up.

Ridgewalker · Feb 3, 2018

IAhawks84, welcome to AH! As Mekaniks stated practice practice practice off of standing sticks or tripod. Out to 200 yards if possible. If you have no place to shoot, dry fire from sticks at least 20 times every day you can. Take your gun off the sticks; remount it; sight it; and fire within 5-10 seconds. It is likely that is the most time you’ll have to shoot IME.

If you don’t have room for full shoulder mounts, maybe European mounts will work. I like them for lots of animals. If you have no space for them either, there’s nothing wrong with just a photo album of your grand adventure! And it will cost a whole lot less saving money for your next trip!

Most of all, enjoy your planning as well as your trip.

lil 2 sleepy · Feb 3, 2018

I hunted with Wild Wildebeest Safaris this past year, and everything is top notch. You won’t have any issues with getting whatever animals you are after. They will do what is necessary to get your wish list. 7 days is plenty to get a good bag. My wife and I killed 11 animals in 6 days. The kudu in my avatar is from there, and he was 58+

With regards to the gun, I would leave it home if it were me. They have very nice options and it’s one less thing to worry about on your first trip. 2nd or 3rd you may want it, but I never felt it was that big of a deal.

Rob404 · Feb 3, 2018

Contact Travel Express Lori is the best
Take your own Rifle

IAhawks84 · Feb 3, 2018

Thank you all very much for the responses. I have a lot of new information to process. We are going to be with the other couple we are taking the trip with tonight so I’m sure we will do some more planning over some drinks. Again, thank you all.

Starting to plan our first safari

IAhawks84

billc

GA Hunter

IAhawks84

IAhawks84

cpr0312

billc

CAustin

IAhawks84

MAdcox

brandondd24

brandondd24

BRICKBURN

Mekaniks

Scott Slough

rinehart0050

Ridgewalker

lil 2 sleepy

Rob404

IAhawks84

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