How does graduated/tiered pricing work?

[Ontario Hunter]

Agreed. The one on left is a few years younger. A lot of that boss would boil away.

I think his bosses are just muddy. Look at the light colored tan mud half way up the drop of both horns. The one on the right does appear to be larger bodied. I would have to defer to PH on this situation. Not interested in a soft boss.

 

[375Fox]

I think his bosses are just muddy. Look at the light colored tan mud half way up the drop of both horns. The one on the right does appear to be larger bodied. I would have to defer to PH on this situation. Not interested in a soft boss.

I don’t see any mud. I see pointy horn tips that haven’t dropped below the boss. Very little hair loss if any on the face and hair between the bosses and on all sides of them. The bosses have a puffy appearance. Tough to tell from a frontal photo but no signs of a dewlap starting under his chin. All signs of a young buffalo on the left. You can read Africa’s Most Dangerous by kevin Robertson if you are looking for a good resource on aging buffalo. He defines the characteristics of each age class very well in the book and is worth a read if you can find it.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I hunted a rather large ranch last year in RSA that had 2 price categories for Kudu and a slot limit in the middle that was off limits.
Cat 1: Kudu under 52”
Cat 2: Kudu over 60”

Anything in between was off limits unless broken. The ranch owner gave the PH a little leeway +/-. I thought this was a different take on it and I’ve never seen more large kudu on any South African ranch so what he was doing seemed to be working, though I’m sure there was some supplemental additions of other bulls or cows for genetics. Also saw a herd of 40+ cows/calves with no bull. My PH was astounded, said he’s never seen that before in his life.

 

[mark-hunter]

I see come safaris offer graduated or tiered pricing for things like Cape Buffalo and Kudu. I'm curious how that works.

I know that these are going to be in much more intensively managed areas.

So, if you sign up for the lowest tier hunt, then does that mean:
A. They won't let you hunt a larger animal
B. You pay more if you get a larger animal
C. They will guarantee you a certain minimum size, but if you see/hunt something larger, that's no problem and you don't pay extra if you get a larger animal

Typical for South Africa, and for European hunts with CIC score system.
Correct answer is A, B and C. All three.

The guide should be experienced, and will give you a chance for desired animal of agreed size.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I hunted a rather large ranch last year in RSA that had 2 price categories for Kudu and a slot limit in the middle that was off limits.
Cat 1: Kudu under 52”
Cat 2: Kudu over 60”

Anything in between was off limits unless broken. The ranch owner gave the PH a little leeway +/-. I thought this was a different take on it and I’ve never seen more large kudu on any South African ranch so what he was doing seemed to be working, though I’m sure there was some supplemental additions of other bulls or cows for genetics. Also saw a herd of 40+ cows/calves with no bull. My PH was astounded, said he’s never seen that before in his life.

Must have been something in the air last year. We saw a herd of 17 cows and calves with a couple of dink bulls. Owner was astonished. We saw a total of 29 for the afternoon. Very unusual. Everyone says they are free roaming no matter the fencing used.

 

[375Fox]

I hunted a rather large ranch last year in RSA that had 2 price categories for Kudu and a slot limit in the middle that was off limits.
Cat 1: Kudu under 52”
Cat 2: Kudu over 60”

Anything in between was off limits unless broken. The ranch owner gave the PH a little leeway +/-. I thought this was a different take on it and I’ve never seen more large kudu on any South African ranch so what he was doing seemed to be working, though I’m sure there was some supplemental additions of other bulls or cows for genetics. Also saw a herd of 40+ cows/calves with no bull. My PH was astounded, said he’s never seen that before in his life.

Interesting. He has some long term plans for improving genetics on the property.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Sounds like a good place to avoid.

I was thinking the same thing. Sounds like a South African high fence, small enclosure operation to me.

Im an outfitter here in SA
Its amazing how people love to generalise about South African outfitters
Majority of outfitters do not work on a tier system!!!

At Tallyho hunting safaries A kudu is a kudu a buff is a buff
If u shoot a 35” buff or a 43” buff then its good luck to the hunter

Happy days

Sure, I think most of the people on AH know that not all SA operators work like that, but if you are going to find a high fence, small enclosure "hunting" operation where the buffalo bulls have ear tags, it will be in South Africa. Some people are good with that kind of thing but most real hunters wouldn't be. The image is bad for safari hunting, but don't worry, we know your reputation, and it's good.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Interesting. He has some long term plans for improving genetics on the property.

Yah he said a lot of PH's & Hunters see a 55"+ bull and even if they're a little young shoot them. So he put the slot there and makes exceptions for some truly super old bulls and has the clientele looking for 60"+ bulls (bother hunters, ranchers, and game breeders).