Geopolitics, Global Economy, and Hunting Safaris

[Timbo]

You guys are sounding like you are bending under the strain. Positivity cures all.

I'm not bending - just being alert and proactive enough to raise awareness. Since the 70s hunting has become more and more restrictive and political. India and Kenya have banned ALL hunting. In my country duck hunting has been banned for nearly 30 years: so I have personal experience of having a category of hunting banned. Increasingly, businesses are boycotting services that are connected to trophy hunting. The UK is currently debating introducing legislation to stop the import of trophies. The WWF is now under scrutiny for supporting sport hunting. Last week public ignorance - manipulated by the anti hunting agenda - triumphed in firing a fellow hunter from his job: and this decision not based on any crime, or legal precedent - but accepted almost nation-wide upon public opinion! Now the US is also tabling a Bill to prohibit the import of trophies.

To date, there have been no "wins" for sport trophy hunting - just a litany of losses.

So IMHO to continue ignoring these inroads into our sport is precisely what makes their multi-pronged strategies possible, and compounding. Indeed you may opine people are "bending", but that's because we choose to remain a fraternity of individuals - with no cohesive strength - of which remaining positive I think won't be enough, but action will.

As I've stated many times before, as long as we maintain a healthy apathetic stand, we'll have no-one but ourselves to blame if our sport is inevitably extinguished.

 

[Newboomer]

Yes, it is a mess but I think we have to watch and see how it unfolds. If everyone panics, imagining all sorts of disasters, it's not going to solve anything. The next few years are going to be touchy with all the restrictions, cutbacks and other obstacles. Everyone is hurting. Outfitters can't take hunters if the hunters can't get to them. With no flights hunters can'travel even if countries are open.

Those of us, myself included, who have hunts booked or deposits down are in limbo for the foreseeable future. I'm debating whether to cancel my April 2021 hunt or ride it out and see what happens between now and then. As has been mentioned: will outfitters still be in business? Will flights open up? How will prices adjust? Can I take my own guns, bring my trophies home? All valid points with no answers as of yet. This being an election year just increases the doubts and unknowns.

I guess, just hang loose and watch what develops.

 

[Timbo]

All true, and I agree with you - but my point is those bastards are like a poacher's snare - insidious and always working 24/7 against us.

 

[Saul]

I would seriously consider booking right now just to support our outfitters and give them some much needed cashflow. The worst possible outcome all around would be if they had to scale back or even shutter operations, leaving the animals defenseless against poachers. I seriously doubt the wildlife would be able to recover from even a year without outfitters.

While I understand the lack of demand is forcing a lot of outfitters to slash prices, let us not forget that these men (and women) put their lives on the line every day to provide for their families, employees, community, and for the animals. We just get to show up and have fun.

I think that a possible solution for some outfitters would be to offer a much more upscale, private experience with additional services outside of hunting. Fancy up the camp and food if possible, add some cultural excursions, plan outings for non-hunters in camp. Even something as simple as heavily incorporating a theme, such as Hemingway or the golden age of the Safari, would add plenty of value to the experience that would more than make up for the additional cost.

 

[Hogpatrol]

The pricing I see on RSA hunts has been decreasing over the last few years. If one considers the outfitting business is in a depression or recession, that just means inflationary pressure isn't there so the prices that have already dropped just stay the same. Having said that, I see a shakeout coming with more than a few outfitters/game farms exiting the business. The financial squeeze and demographics just aren't there to maintain the same number of venues when record numbers of U.S. hunters were traveling abroad.

 

[Newboomer]

A pretty good indication that the outfitter market is overstocked. The environment can handle only so many. It is a very competitive occupation and in order to survive there has to be a special draw: better pricing, accommodations, outstanding trophy animals in good supply, outside activities for non hunters.

I believe we are going to witness a thinning of the herd in the not too distant future. The strong profitable ones will survive and the weaker shoestring businesses will succumb. The chicom bioweapon is causing that now and will continue until such time as the world revolts and forces china to share the antidote.

 

[markm]

The way travel and the economy is and will be in the near future I think all these outfitters are going to have to sharpen their pencils.there isn't enough hunters around .unfortunately their prices will have to come down to offset hunters.some prices are down but people are going to shop prices that's the way of the world now.

A pretty good indication that the outfitter market is overstocked. The environment can handle only so many. It is a very competitive occupation and in order to survive there has to be a special draw: better pricing, accommodations, outstanding trophy animals in good supply, outside activities for non hunters.

I believe we are going to witness a thinning of the herd in the not too distant future. The strong profitable ones will survive and the weaker shoestring businesses will succumb. The chicom bioweapon is causing that now and will continue until such time as the world revolts and forces china to share the antidote.

 

[rookhawk]

So this isn’t an RSA example, but here is how hard it is right now to make a deal work:

In the US right now, it’s pretty hard to get a 4457. Luckily, I have one valid, but I need to bring those firearms specifically. Okay. So I need to hunt things with those weapons.

Next problem: you can’t fly to RSA right now. Okay, I’ll fly to HRE. That resolves that. But HRE has dodgy service and may not allow firearms to Vic. And you can’t buy a ticket on air Zim outside the country because they don’t have a safety rating by the IATA. And you can use a CC because they aren’t safety sanctioned. So you need a runner in Zim to buy that ticket.

okay, that’s out, so how about over Road? Well, that adds four days and $1000 round trip making the trip all but impossible. What else?

well, you could fly to Lusaka and then drive 5 hours and cross the border at the Falls. Yeah, except you’d have to quarantine for 14 days in Zambia and the border is closed.

okay. So then what? Get a travel agent, pay extra for many airlines. Hope they are operating. Fly via Jo’burg. Then connect? But RSA is shut down and may not reopen this year.


In the meantime, the democrats have put forward the 2021 funding bill. In it, no leopard or elephant may be imported from Zim any longer. So 2021 is out if that’s what’s of interest.

So this is what someone needs to try to pull off this year, rather than next year. There is no next year, things are getting harder, not easier!



let me describe the future as I see it: you keep your nose clean. You fly to Africa direct without firearms. You hunt with a rental gun. You have only domestic permits. You “cull hunt” with no trophies brought home. You pay, you enjoy, you go home. <- That’s the 2021-2022 forecast. That doesn’t bother me tremendously, but it will bother enough people that the demand will plummet further. Some, such as me, will do that for a wild hunt in a beautiful country. But what about resort/estate hunting in RSA where people expect easy logistics? None of this is easy right now. And complexities on the part of the customer for an RSA plains game hunt needs to be incentivized. I’m not seeing those incentives for 2020 provided borders open.

 

[Zambezi]

The SA rand is like a broken yoyo, it goes down well and only bounces back ever so slightly before falling again. That's under normal circumstances. Add this covid farce and who knows how low it will fall. So keeping pricing as it is is not a bargain for the dollar / pound / euro hunters but it feels like a hunt has been discounted to the operator. Our rand would have devalued and the price of the hunt does not reflect that. So you are getting a bargain of sorts...

I do agree that outfitters are going to have to find ways to add value in order to stand out from the crowd and some suggestions have been mentioned. But at the moment we are locked down and the future looks bleak and I'm not even talking about the regulatory side of things. I also think it would be disingenuous to offer a discounted hunt right now when we don't know if / when the country will open up. What new rules will be in place then, how low the rand would have fallen, how expensive flights and cost of living will be. As a hunter you're going to be highly irate if you have paid for a bargain and the outfitter can't deliver because the world has changed dramatically due to forces outside of his control since you paid. You'd hold him to the contract even if it meant that he lost money hands down. Not really fair to either party.

So I'd say hang in there! When things open up or there is more clarity you may well see bargains or improved "extras", time will tell...

 

[Timbo]

It must also annoying for those of us still awaiting completion of trophies in various African taxidermists - and whether or not they will be imported into home countries.

 

[rookhawk]

It must also annoying for those of us still awaiting completion of trophies in various African taxidermists - and whether or not they will be imported into home countries.

I know my African friends won’t appreciate this statement as it reduces their income, but that’s why you shouldn’t get taxidermy done in Africa right now. Get it dipped and packed as fast as humanly possible. Delays could prevent it ever arriving and your loss is greater on finished pieces. Gain possession as fast as possible!

 

[Nyati]

Hard to understand most of which is being written here, or maybe I don´t like to understand it.

To me this is quite simple, I am in contact with my outfitter, he knows what I´m after, and I know he is going to get me the best deal available (trust).

So whenever going back to SA is possible, I will be there.

 

[Hank2211]

Of course outfitters are hurting, and it’s only right that, where appropriate, we do what we can to help. But let’s not forget that many, many hunters in North America are hurting as well. Lots of us are older, and therefore more liable to be hurt by this virus, and many have lost jobs or had businesses suffer.

Again, I realise that suffering in North America and in Africa are two different things, but for many hunters, Africa is a nice to do, and not a necessity. Many who would have hunted this year or next won’t just postpone their hunt - they will likely eliminate it altogether until their personal circumstances improve. Family comes first.

There will need to be some give and take on both sides for this to work, but it’s an unfortunate fact that many outfitters will not survive, regardless. Some on this thread have commented that hunting in South Africa has been getting cheaper over the last few years, and as someone who recalls the days of $9,000+ trophy fees for sable and roan, I can attest that that is true. The reason hunts have been getting cheaper, though, has nothing to do with COVID and everything to do with too much supply chasing too little demand. The virus has accelerated a shakeout which was likely inevitable in any event.

This is the inexorable logic of capitalism. The good news is that those who survive will be the strongest, and the days of zero day rate hunts will likely end as supply shrinks.