New Guy in Pennsylvania

Hogpatrol said:

Welcome to AH. There are plenty of Africa hunters in SE Pennsy. There is usually a winter banquet for the SCI chapters in that area. It's a good venue to meet others with a lot of African experience.

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Velo Dog said:

Hello jhausladen,

And welcome to the best forum in the world.
Plenty of very good Safari Companies here to choose from.
Of course I heartily recommend:
www.Khomas-Highland-Hunting-Safaris.com
as the best one, since I work for them.
In all seriousness though, shop around and do much research.
Look closely at Safari Company web sites and read carefully, any reports from their clients, posted in this forum.
Yours truly has written a series of long rants about free-range hunting, in the mountains of north / central Namibia, within this forum as well.

Make sure you are booking to hunt on a large enough property so as to not be stuck in a “put & take” situation with new, semi-tame animals, being trucked in each time a hunt is booked.
You will be much happier experiencing the wide open expanses of Africa, while stalking truly wild game, than you will on a tiny plot with pen-raised animals.
Don’t be shy about asking a thousand questions of former clients and / or of the company rep.

Rifles?
I’m partial to bolt action and single shot ones for 99% of African species and their habitat.
A big double is perfect for elephant and hippo on land.
However, even for buffalo, a suitable caliber bolt action (or, even a big nitro express type single shot), with a low power scope will give you potentially a much greater success rate, as buffaloes often stay in the thick, shady stuff.
The thick black shade makes them hard to determine which end you’re looking at, without a scope.
A scope will also help you avoid hitting that small, bullet deflecting stick, otherwise in your bullet’s path.

If hunting “normal” sized antelopes, zebra, warthog and such, a .30-06 with 180 grain bullet or heavier, is a very good one.
I’ve used a .30-06 with 220 grain bullets in Africa (here in Alaska as well) and it is a peach.
If, like so many other fellow N. Americans, you already own a 7 mm Magnum, (I’m guilty LOL), I’d recommend 175 grain bullets.
Worth mentioning is that, resident born Africans use the old time 7x57 Mauser caliber with 175 grainers and keep their stew pots boiling, year after year (I’m guilty of owning one of those as well).

Art Lambert II recommends the .35 Whelen and I agree with him that, it is one of the very best African calibers.
It’s strange to me why it never became more popular there than it is.
My best guess is that the 9.3x62 Mauser pre-dated it by many years and so, was well established there, before the Whelen was even thought of.
But again, the Whelen is near perfect for much of what Africa has to offer.

If you are a “rifle nut” like me, sooner or later you will have a .375 H&H.
IMO, this is the World’s most versatile hunting cartridge, the absolute best of the best.
If a world tramping hunter was to only have one rifle for life, a .375 would be the cat’s pajamas.
It’s a bit light for elephant and certainly a bit much for impala.
However, it will put any animal on land, into the skinning shed, if you load it with bullets appropriate for the animals hunted and of course, if you shoot it straight.

For a scope, I’m the weirdo who generally likes 4x scopes (or even less magnification in heavy bush).
But, most hunters use the very common 3 to 9x variable power scopes.
Those are a very good choice if you can remember to keep it turned down, unless actually preparing to shoot a long way at a small target.
(I’m no good at remembering anything and so personally, I don’t mess around with variable power scopes).

Parting Shot, as it were;
Do a lot of “tire kicking” before deciding who to book with.
But whatever you do, make sure you visit Africa.
As a hunter, you’ll regret it if you don’t.

Regards,
Paul
(Velo Dog).

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jhausladen said:

New guy looking to hunt in Africa for the first time, experienced Rocky Mountain hunter for elk and deer. Any advice as to recommended PH and guide, and best rifle caliber would be appreciated.

Cheers!

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jhausladen said:

New guy looking to hunt in Africa for the first time, experienced Rocky Mountain hunter for elk and deer. Any advice as to recommended PH and guide, and best rifle caliber would be appreciated.

Cheers!

Click to expand...