First Safari: What made you decide on a particular Outfitter?

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

@Tom Leoni , I hear ya loud and clear. Everyone here with the exception of Brickburn was a first-timer to Africa at some point. I think Brickburn was born with 5 safaris already under his belt.

Sounds like Chuck Norris...

 

[BRICKBURN]

Sounds like Chuck Norris...

 

[Bart]

After hunting 7 times in SA i wanted to change my PH/outfitter.

And i did no research, just picked a PH who was also an outfitter on this forum and i relied on the professional attitude of SA towards its hunters.

i had several very good hunts with Tsala Safaris (Rouan Nel) and will return to SA as long as i have a budget.

 

[Savage Hunter]

Maybe you should pull up my 2015 season where the smallest ram for the year was 14.5" and that was for only one animal. Most cleared 15" with a couple of 16" rams in the mix.
I'm happy to start posting photos on a tit for tat measure on Bushbuck.

Hey Marius, I don't know what this one measured, but I was danged happy with him!
He looked like 20 inches to me. He should be coming home to me from the taxidermist real soon.

I just wish Lana was standing with us when we walked up on that second one at 25 yards.

my only question is, Do you charge extra for old bucks that still have hair on their faces and teeth in their mouth?

 

[Savage Hunter]

To answer the OP's original question.

I had planned elk hunts 3 years in a row where a friend backed out just before time to put in for tags.
Lana demanded I go hunt somewhere because she was tired of hearing me complain about it.
I had no friends that were interested or could afford to go if they were interested.
We had been planning to go to Africa "one day" so she said that I should take our son that summer as long as I took her within 5 years.
That was in January of 2012.
I got on another forum and started searching. Then, I found AH.
I read everything I could on hunt reports and all the various offers from companies.

I narrowed it down to a few, contacted 2 of them by email.
I never talked to anyone that the 2 companies provided me to contact, instead I read the hunt reports.
My thinking was that I would only be provided with contacts that would be favorable anyway.
Was this a smart idea? I don't know, but it worked for me.
I only talked to one outfitter by phone and the decision was made.

Did I second guess my choice before going ? certainly, because I was ignorant about the whole process, but I trusted the person I chose.

Being my first hunt that was at least a year before I was financially ready to make it, price was a big issue, but did not want to sacrifice the experience for mere low price.
I didn't care about accommodations, but they turned out to be great.

Marius at KMG was my first and second safari, I did make it back their with Lana in 2014 for another great time.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Hey Marius, I don't know what this one measured, but I was danged happy with him!
He looked like 20 inches to me. He should be coming home to me from the taxidermist real soon.

I just wish Lana was standing with us when we walked up on that second one at 25 yards.

my only question is, Do you charge extra for old bucks that still have hair on their faces and teeth in their mouth?

My goodness Jerry.... I will remember that Bushbuck ram until the day I lay my head to rest.

 

[Savage Hunter]

My goodness Jerry.... I will remember that Bushbuck ram until the day I lay my head to rest.

Sigh. He was only a cape bushbuck though.

 

[billc]

Sigh. He was only a cape bushbuck though.

But a giant cape bushbuck that is for sure. Great job to take one like that as that is way above the avg taken in the East cape. Did by chance you get to hunt a kudu down there to. I see by your profile pic you took a great carcal to which is one awesome trophy to.

 

[adgunner]

Africa wasn't my first guided hunt so i already an idea of the basics even if they weren't Africa specific. I started out with some internet research and luckily landed on this site. The first thing i did was narrow it down to a country and to plains game. This would be the start of comparing apples to apples. Next i looked at the specific species i wanted to hunt, price and accomadations. I then looked at several different outfitter sites and narrowed it down to about four outfits. I checked some references and reputation on the internet and narrowed it down to about two or three. Next and the most important for me was communication. I reached out and waited to see if i got a personal response as compared to a canned EMail in return. Lastly and what cemented the deal was a phone call with the PH to see if we were on the same page when it came to hunting. From start to finish it probably took me about three months to pick out my first hunt in Africa. Last but not least i really tried not to overthink it. I did this by following the advice my PH gave me and remembering always why i wanted to go to Africa in the first place. To hunt and have fun! Everything else was secondary. Ended up hunting with Marius at KMG and it was a fantastic experience. So good in fact we are hunting lioness together this summer on my fifth trip over to hunt with Marius and KMG.

In the end pick a reputable outfitter and enjoy the ride ... and of course i never miss an opportunity to chase Bushbucks when i can!

 

[POCONO GUY]

Tom
I made my first African Safaris in May. I decided to use a small outfit one man ph.vchecked hos references all had good things to say. I wanted South Africa since it seemed safer. I also wanted free range hunting.

 

[Savage Hunter]

But a giant cape bushbuck that is for sure. Great job to take one like that as that is way above the avg taken in the East cape. Did by chance you get to hunt a kudu down there to. I see by your profile pic you took a great carcal to which is one awesome trophy to.

That's my wife's caracal. Marius lined up a hound hunt for us. It was record book worthy.

My son killed a 50 inch kudu with Marius. Well, 49.75 to be truthful.

Killed some fine animals there.

 

[johnnyblues]

Might have to look at this guy Marius.... Kidding. Looking forward to my first hunt with him after several years of talking.