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I took an absolute hosing on Vista outdoors stock. Highly rated, strong buy, had some gains then boom....they announced they are selling off the outdoor/firearms divisions. Such a disappointment.

Nope. Actually, I thought I packed perfectly. They are really good with the laundry there. You don't need a ton of outfits. I think the most important things are: - A nice earth color or camo rain coat. It does rain this time of year. Unfortunately, the only time I got caught in it, I didn't...

I can't comment on Orient although I've heard good things. Every Seiko I have is solid. I have a Seiko SKX diver, and a Seiko re-invent of the "Arnie." The SKX auto literally needs adjusting once every couple of months. The Arnie, outside of DST, I haven't had to reset maybe more than once? I've...

Citizens and Seikos don't get enough credit, to be honest. Citizens are better in terms of their self-charging Eco Drive quartz, Seiko makes some of the toughest auto movements out there. Prior to the advent of the Casio G-Shocks (and then Suuntos, Garmins, etc.), all the serious operators...

Citizens are absolute battle tanks. I have a Citizen Aqualand Promaster Eco Drive given to me for my 18th birthday. I'm 41. It just keeps going. No battery, no winding, and the only time I ever have to reset the time is for DST. Some of those were favored by the SOF community back in the day as...

I have not used Wyatt, but plan to as we are due to have our mounts shipped likely sometime late this year. I/we (my group) are planning to use his services. I will be following this thread. I've had personal discussions with Wyatt and everything he's told me, the feedback read on here, and...

How long are you going and what's on your list? Are those 10 round boxes? It's always good to bring extra but that's a good bit of ammo. I shot 5 animals in RSA when I went in May and used 7 rounds total, 2 of which were for sighting in. Even if you have 3 out of the 5 with follow up shots...

Here in NJ we have biting greenhead flies, chiggers, and gnats in the marsh. I've always thought Skin so Soft was the biggest gimmick known to mankind. It doesn't work. I can tell you I've battle tested it here in NJ and greenheads don't give a gnats you know what about it. The gnats...

Re-stating it for clarity. Prior to going myself, I had a couple people suggest it. Just want to make sure he doesn't fall into that advice.

First off, do not put the ammo in the same case as the rifle. Just don't. Some people I am sure have done it without issue. Just don't I used one of these with a TSA lock: https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/mtm-survivor-dry-boxes Throw the lock on, put it in your checked bag. Done. The mixing...

We have a 2 year old at home and wife is pregnant with #2, now. My wife (a teacher) and I restrict tech heavily. It makes our lives about 75% harder because it's constant live entertainment from us but we make the sacrifice. He gets supervised TV on Saturday and Sundays just to let him have a...

Always used my Marathon GSAR as a backup bottom timer. 90% of people will have no concept of what these watches were meant for. A lot of the new courses (tech) don't even teach students how to manually time bottom and deco stops anymore. Kinda scary. It's right next to my dive computer in this...

I'm sure this could possibly happen but I will bet 99% of the time it does not. Like I said, it's career suicide to get caught. I don't know the particulars of what's involved with getting an AD contract but I've heard it's the farthest thing from easy. Lots of AD's do their absurd due diligence...

Permethrin (Sawyer) works best but you absolutely do not need to soak. The concentrate is nothing more than a cost saver. It's good to have because you'll likely never need to buy it ever again. A very little diluted in water, put into a spray bottle, goes an incredibly long way. Or you can just...

Could be, wouldn't surprise me. I know if they get caught that's the end of the line for their AD. Rolex has people watching the forums/classifieds. That's one of the reasons you'll see serials blacked out. Even a good client who maybe buys a new watch, realizes it's not for them maybe a year...

That's definitely cool. You got a pretty cool rig setup there. I assume you crated the giraffe yourself?

Lets not forget the gallons upon gallons of scumbag blood they get drenched in as well. Not me:

Did the tractor come with the giraffe? lol If so, I might be tempted to shoot one (giraffe, not tractor).

I have no qualms about people hunting them legally, but I choose not to myself. Bringing the trophy back can financially ruin someone. Folks will go with a full neck or 1/4 shoulder from the floor mount and the dollar amount to have only that shipped is staggering. There is also some...

Do you mean tipping...or "tipping." I have never personally done it. I used Mr. X. Which eliminated any sort of "tipping." Which is why you spend $150-$200 in the first place.

We had the most budget PG hunt in the world. Cost of airfare and taxidermy with animals all in could have been $5,000 - $6,000 if you stuck to the package (hint: I didn't). $150-$200 was a "rounding error" for us. I probably spent $150 on souvenirs for my family there. I could see renting a...

I'm seeing the airline storage fees coming up quite a bit with Coppersmith vs SSI, which no one seems to have any with. For having a bonded warehouse, seems like Coppersmith never uses it. I got a very vague answer with regards to my pig from Coppersmith.

Honestly, I had a blast from start to finish. Here is my report. https://www.africahunting.com/threads/south-africa-first-timer-success-with-kuche-safaris-may-2023.75195/ There has been some back and forth on here and I can honestly say, my experience was nothing short of fantastic. Koos and...

This got beaten up to death and I agree. So much misinformation online. My Amazon shopping list: I bought these for my Pelican...

Lots to think about after all the input. I see @rookhawk jumped in with some awesome info. It really seems like I should be looking at 10 years old at the minimum. There's a lot of runway till then. My son might not be interesting in hunting at all? The good news (for me) is my wife is all-in...

Forget the camo. No need. I wore Carhartt safari/fishing shirts in a green color and brush pants in green or brown color to match. Days I didn't wear them I wore wrangler cargo pants in the same color. Khaki color works too. That time of year, it can be chilly in the mornings and hot mid-day...

I have a 3-15x44mm in the Firedot and the same scope with the Windplex on another rifle. The light gathering on them is superb. Search my posts on here about my time in RSA playing around stalking warthogs at dusk. I never got a chance to actually shoot anything with the firedot but my PH and I...

Yeah it's the best $150-$200 you'll ever spend. Please don't do this without a permit service. You'll likely be "tipping" SAPS that much anyway. Otherwise get comfy at the airport for an overnight stay while they "review your paperwork." Mr. X handled ours. It was shockingly smooth. Even...

This makes me feel a lot better. I am hoping to convince the rest in my group to use SSI. Seems like a little bit of extra expense goes a long way with them. I am about 30 miles as the crow flies from JFK which is likely where my trophies will come in through so its an easy decision.

This is something I wish I knew prior to going. We would have been good with everything else. Kudu, impala, blesbok, and wildebeest. Knowing what I know now, don't think I'd have taken the warthog. This is encouraging. I'm curious to see how mine goes. From everything he explained to me, they...

It's honestly pretty amazing how they fit them in the back of the HiLux's with the safari racks.

It's bound to happen at some time to everyone. Thankfully both our stories went well and we were able to recover the animal. Those impala are tough. One of the guys in our group took the shoulder off one. Tracker and PH spent a day and a half on it. They eventually got him.

Our outfitter. Kuche Safaris.

This must have changed because that's not what I was told. But once again, maybe it changed. I very well could be wrong. Something else might be up here. I have heard of stories with crates getting infested with local bugs/critters. I am not saying this is OP's case. If it is the case though, I...

^ This And usually if you see an animal from the truck that's on your list, worth taking, and don't get the shot...be ready to stalk. That's usually how it goes. They won't just bail on the opportunity. I'd venture to say most PH's will try to get you out and on it with a stalk. Which is...

You will have to make these decisions for yourself based on your personal ethics. Your PH will ask you if you mind shooting from the truck and if not, tell them if you prefer not to. I can tell you, if you have a warthog on your list, you will have a hell of a time finding one NOT sitting by a...

Something is being missed here or something has changed since last speaking to Wyatt... I was under the impression that pigs, even just euro mounts (which mine is), require USDA inspection. I could be wrong though. I had not looked into this since July of 2023.

This is the way I am going. Coppersmith seemed like nice enough people but after speaking to Wyatt at SSI, my decision was easy. They have the bonded warehouse and handle things from start to finish. Like I said, Coppersmith seemed like nice enough people but for only $200 or so more with SSI...

I'm hardly qualified to really give a good input on this because I've only been to RSA once but... PG 1) Kudu. I could probably hunt kudu every time I go and it would still be as thrilling as the first time. The difficulty in finding and getting close to the older, bigger bulls is way up...

I think that and also the shock of the round. My blesbok was a bang-flop. The impala was close. Leg kick and flop. @rookhawk may be on to something. My blesbok was hit right on the heart area as well but never confirmed because it went to the skinning shed right away. It was hit in that region...

I don't disagree and I think the real problem here is the outfitter showcasing a bad shot. They happen. Animal moves, hunter just has a bad setup, grabs the trigger, etc. The outfitter should have just let it be. Bad shot, lucky to recovery the animal, everyone still goes home happy...that...

This was actually a "bad shot" but not really. Truth be told, I wasn't aiming for this spot. It was a tough shot with the impala only basically having its front leg up the body in the clearing. It kicked up its rear legs with blood spray, and fell back dead. I should have been a little higher...

Don't bother. Trying to compensate in 1-1.5" in a short range shot on an animal like a kudu, wildebeest, even an impala or blesbok is very inconsequential. You may only have 3-5 seconds for a good shot before the animal is back in the brush. Put the reticle on the shoulder (or where your PH...

Going back one day, I wouldn't hesitate to take that shot and IMO, it's pretty cool to be able to do that in Africa. Just gives a very fun experience of taking an animal on an open savannah type area. Being my first time I was very nervous and that shot on the kudu felt like even more than I...

This was my experience as well. We did have one area hunting warthogs that was vast and wide open. By far though, most of it there is thick.

It's a good book. The X-ray shots are handy. Take your PH's guidance over all. A lot of them will not let you take frontal shots and hard quartering to. Especially on some animals like wildebeest where if you make a mistake...it's a LONG day. Broadside, anything on the shoulder is going to be...

That's plenty of gun/cartridge. 200 yd zero should be fine. I zero'd my 300WM to 100 for RSA. Wouldn't have made a difference. I think my farthest shot was maybe a little over 100 at 120-125. I can't recall the specifics for 300PRC but at 100 you won't be very high at all. 200 yd zero should be...

Hopefully he chimes in as well. That's sort of what I was thinking. Around the age of 10. About the age where they are old enough to appreciate it and partake. Also about the age they can follow instructions as well. I'm sure your son is going to have a blast. Now if only I can squeeze in...

I have a 14060M and the wife has a 176200. The Rolex problem stems from flippers. Rolex created this problem. I guess it started basically in the late 2000's where NIB "flips" were going for 20-25% more than new. People would buy them brand new from an AD and sell them for 20-25% more later that...

I did my first Africa trip to RSA in May of 2023. My son at the time wasn't even 1 and stayed home with my wife. Came back, showed the wife all the pics, and she said she wanted to go. Naturally, my dream at this point is to return with my wife and son. My son is now almost 2 and absolutely...