Hunting SA or "Wild" Africa - Which is Better

[Gerry Addison]

I'm going to open a can of worms here and I realize that. Before I start I want to say that I'm speaking from my own personal experiences and from talking to others that have hunted both fenced areas in SA and "open" concessions. My conclusion is there is good and bad about both areas and you need to understand this when going to both the fenced and wild areas.

Let me start with the obvious, no matter how large the fenced area, you are still within a fence. No way around that in SA and much of Namibia. My first hunt like many of us was in SA on a large and very well known ranch. When I say large it was right at 40,000 acres. We saw tons of animals, good quality trophies, and the animals were super spooky. They didn't stand there and let you shoot them. We took long hikes, stalked our animals, and shot nice animals. My hunting partner shot a nice average hard boss buffalo with a bow after a long stalk. We walked away very satisfied and we had a great time. The only animals I ever saw at a feeder of any kind were Rhinos. Still, I said to myself I'll never hunt behind a fence again, no matter how large.

Fast forward a few years and I plan a trip to Zimbabwe for buffalo. Not knowing it at the time, I booked with a crook and was badly taken. I wrote a report about it on this site which you can find if you dig a little. Lets just say I only saw a couple buffalo in 12 days and ended up shooting a Zebra on the last day which took three years and a lot of dollars to get home because they didn't fill out the paperwork. This trip almost made me avoid Africa in the future. My own fault, I didn't dig deep enough before booking. The references he gave wrote glowing reports, but had I dug deeper I would have found other very disturbing reports.

Now I decided I'm really going to do it right and went with a very well known PH in Mozambique. It was brutal getting to camp but I honestly didn't mind that because it was wild Africa! After 4 plane rides and three truck rides and two boat rides I made it to camp. To say I was pumped was an understatement. We were on buffalo every time we left camp and on the third day we shot an average buffalo which I was told to shoot by the PH. It was the first shooter bull I had ever seen and I took him at his word and shot. Had I known what I know now I wouldn't have shot. So I got my first buffalo. However, after all that travel, we would be out hunting and we would continually see locals walking around, riding bikes, etc. There were poacher snares and gin traps everywhere, and we even caught some poachers while out on a hunt. It was 115 degrees and of course no air conditioning, but after the second night we were given a small battery operated fan which at the time was wonderful!. I was in "wild" Africa but I saw more people on this trip than on my other two trips and far more than my trip in SA. The animals seemed to be accustomed to seeing humans and really didn't react in the same spooky manner that they did in SA.

Now I decide I'm really going to go overboard, do my homework, spend more money than I had before and book with a very well known PH in Zambia. We land at the airport and a PH is there to pick us up but not our PH. On the way to camp I ask if our PH is in camp and he said no, he was in another country and not feeling well so they wouldn't let him on the plane. No one had taken the time to tell us this even though we all had email and texting and they had know this for some time. Then we get to camp and we go to sight in the rifles. I was going to bring my Blaser R8 but my PH says don't bother, we have a Blaser R8 here in camp with a Swarovski scope that you can use. Well guess what, they forgot to bring the rifle to camp. I now have a CZ. Bad start but we were determined not to let it ruin our trip. The PH we now had was great, hunted hard, long days, for 10 days. Saw tons of buffalo and I mean tons. On one herd I stopped counting at 600 but not one hard bossed bull. Once again, we saw tons of people walking around, hiking riding bikes, farming, etc. Animals seemed accustomed to seeing people and my friend killed an average bull with a bow that allowed us to drive up and get close to so he could get out and shoot. That was the only decent hard bossed bull we saw in ten hard days of hunting. It was his first bull and he was happy. Two days we drove 2 1/2 hours each way to hunt a certain area, so 5 hours of our day was wasted driving. We saw lots of other animals but nothing of trophy quality. Not a decent Impala, warthog, Kudu, etc. My friend did shoot a nice Croc and there was no shortage of Crocs or hippo. I left there after 10 days and didn't fire a shot. I honestly had a great time hunting with the PH and would hunt with him again anytime, but not in that area. There is nothing we could have done any differently to give ourselves a better chance. It just wasn't in the cards for me on this trip and that is hunting.

So now I'm eating my words and going back to SA on another large fenced area this May. This one is 50,000 acres. Hunting with a young PH who's family has been in the business but has had mostly European clients and wants to break into the American market. I chose to go back to SA for several reasons. The first being, while I like to see the villages and meet the local people I don't like running into them while I'm hunting. I don't like all the poaching that goes on in many of the wild areas and not being able to find decent trophy quality no matter how hard you hunt. To be honest, it feels more wild to me in SA than it does in some of the other so called wild areas. Animals seem more wary because they are hunted, you don't waste time driving to distant areas to hunt, and trophy quality and cost are better. I want to say, money factors in to all my decisions as I'm a retired school principal so when I take these trips it is because I've saved to take them. If I had unlimited funds sure I'd go to Tanzania or some of the other places, but I just can't justify double the cost and believe me I've tried. I know this is going to rub people the wrong way, and some are going to say if you'd done your homework you would have had better hunts. Believe me I did my homework. The guy in Zim was a crook and a very slick crook who conned many people. The others were just tough luck.

I'm writing this to see if any of you feel the same way as I am beginning to feel. Many of the "wild" areas aren't really that wild, and if you choose the right place SA can be a very positive and challenging experience. Believe me I'm not looking for easy. I'll hunt as hard as the PH will allow. I don't need a guarantee to kill something, as I said I had a great time last year in Zambia and I never fired a shot and honestly was never tempted by any of the animals to fire a shot. I would just not like to deal with the extra stuff that you can run into in some of these "wild" areas. I just want to go to an area with a reasonable expectation of finding some quality animals and hunt with someone that will hunt hard and make things enjoyable and at the same time not spend all of my life's savings. Am I the only one who feels this way?

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

This is an interesting perspective and quite different than what you normally read. I hear you about wanting to be away from people. I’m working on a trip to hunt the Niassa in northern Mozambique for the express purpose of holding as remote and wild a place in Africa that I can find and afford.

You’ll not hear me bashing South Africa, but there will be those along who never pass up the opportunity to do so.

 

[Gerry Addison]

This is an interesting perspective and quite different than what you normally read. I hear you about wanting to be away from people. I’m working on a trip to hunt the Niassa in northern Mozambique for the express purpose of holding as remote and wild a place in Africa that I can find and afford.

You’ll not hear me bashing South Africa, but there will be those along who never pass up the opportunity to do so.

A few years ago you would have never heard me say these things.

 

[AjFourie]

Good day Gerry, the secret in my opinion would be due diligence and to doing homework regarding who you decide to hunt with, I understand that you mention that you have done your homework although this is not the only aspect to take into consideration.

Well managed and truly wild areas definitely exist, they usually come at a premium but the logistics to running these blocks implicate higher cost as anti poaching and area management has to be covered.

We all know Tanzania is an expensive hunt but there are other options available as @PHOENIX PHIL has mentioned, thankfully we have communities like AH where we have the opportunity to ask around and help each other find some great spots, in South Africa or elsewhere because they are there.

Kind regards
Aj Fourie

 

[Rickmt]

This forum is a great way to examine the outfitters before you go. Ask members who hunted with an outfitter you are considering what they experienced . I had a good friend who won’t hunt fenced SA go to Mozambique last year . Tough getting there . Gun entry problems and no hard bossed bulls were seen.
Fences are just one consideration of a hunt destination . Due. Diligence is essential to your satisfaction.

 

[JPmbogo]

Let's not forget that much of the hunting in the US is on private lands, even where I live on the Washington coast. Much of the huntable land belongs to the large timber companies who charge access fees. Of course, the main difference is that in SA, the owners of the land also own the game; her the state does.

 

[steve white]

GREAT perspective bringing balance to the consideration of hunting destinations. It also permits appreciation of the work required to develop/improve/manage great hunting properties. Africa is in the throes of population explosion and all the attendant habitat encroaching/poaching conundrums. As you say, wild is not always as wild as you might have imagined. We are fortunate to have the opportunities we have provided by people dedicated to offer the best hunt they can under the circumstances. I appreciate your perspective--it gives me something to think about in planning my next adventure.

 

[Pheroze]

Thank you for this honest post. It confirms something I suspected that "wild" is often confused with "impoverished." SA's image for hunters suffers from its success. But I think it comes down to the outfitter. You need a professional who wants to deliver what you are looking for. I will always go to @KMG Hunting Safaris first because I know he will do what he can to make the trip what I am looking for. He will be candid about what he will deliver, which gives me confidence to plan. I don't think any country holds a monopoly on good experiences. But the PH holds the keys.

 

[JPmbogo]

So, price being no object (theoretically, of course), where is the "wildest" country and area to hunt in sub-Saharan Africa?

 

[mdwest]

Good and bad opportunities are everywhere… I’ve hunted wide open free range spaces that presented less challenge than a 2000 fenced in property… and I’ve hunted 25,000 acre fenced properties where the animals appeared more docile than a typical house pet…

It is all situation dependent… what is the hunter looking to experience, and what is the outfitter willing and capable of providing?

While I do love a nice Texas whitetail hunt… I’ve always found it comical when someone starts down the path of complaining about “high fence” hunting (whether in South Africa or the TX Hill Country… or anywhere else) stating it’s unsportsmanlike, or not challenging, etc… but the same guy is perfectly happy with and completely proud of the 140 class deer he took while sitting in an elevated blind 75 yards from a feeder that holds 600lbs of corn and dispenses 3 meals a day on schedule for the local whitetail herds…

I’d maintain that your typical impala on even a little 500 acre concession is a more challenging “hunt” than most whitetail or hog hunting in Texas…

At least you have to go find the impala…

With the feeder… the whitetail is coming to you at 7am, 11am, and 3pm on the mark

 

[Flewis]

Carefull, I got kind of called a liar for saying my hunt in sa had the wilder game. It was by a legend or and elite. But it was harder than my hunt in Zambia.

 

[Rickmt]

My next hunt in 2024 will be my 4th hunt in SA. I go to SA for two main reasons: price and less travel.
My first trip over was a put and take ranch hunt with lots and lots of road time between destinations for put and take game.
My second trip was with Ernest Dyason of Spear Safaris. I enjoyed it immensely. Ernest is very good.
My third trip was this year with Cullen Kelly on about a 50,000 acre reserve in Kwazulu
Natal. Simply excellent.
My next trip in 2024 will be with Kwalata Safaris in Limpopo on 85,000 acres with Jaco and Lindie . I have high hopes for that trip.
Someday I may circle back to a previous outfit but I am enjoying the diversity .
I try to learn what to look for and how to evaluate a destination and the safari company. I think that is part of hunting a long damn way from Montana.

 

[Rickmt]

Carefull, I got kind of called a liar for saying my hunt in sa had the wilder game. It was by a legend or and elite. But it was harder than my hunt in Zambia.

The truth speaks for itself!

 

[Red Leg]

I have hunted with many outfitters in North and South America, Europe, and of course Africa and have never been "scammed." Occasionally, I have had more than one PH on a hunt, but it wasn't an issue. I enjoyed the company of each of them. I have often used a hunting consultant, particularly going to any area outside of the US for the first time.

I have had excellent hunts on game farms in South Africa and in Namibia. The latter was large enough to have elephant and black rhino on it, and the first was worth a magazine article. That said, I prefer low fence or wilderness areas. The primary reason is that I like to hunt game in its native environment. For instance shooting a lechwe, waterbuck, or nyala hundreds of miles from its native habitat is rather like hunting one in Texas. Also, I will not knowingly participate in put and take shooting. Lastly, I am also not interested in artificially created animals, whether colors or horn size. I should hasten to add the 200 class whitetail freaks created behind fences in the US leave me equally cold.

So yes, a quality hunt can occur in both environments. Perhaps the most important research tool is to clearly and honestly articulate one's expectations to one's self.

 

[IdaRam]

So, price being no object (theoretically, of course), where is the "wildest" country and area to hunt in sub-Saharan Africa?

A very good question which I believe begets another one. What is “wild”? Is it simply an area in which there is no inhabitation of indigenous people? Must an area be at least a certain minimum size? Must there be certain animals such as lion, or elephant present?
I bet there are a lot of varying opinions on what qualifies as wild. I’ve hunted a couple places that qualify as wild for me. The two I have experienced are Coutada 9 in Mozambique and Sengwa Research in Zimbabwe. Both have lion, elephant and cape buffalo in significant numbers. Leopard in Sengwa but not C9. Sengwa is about 90K acres and C9 830,000K. And both of these wild areas are pretty much surrounded by indigenous peoples. Islands of wild in a sea of humanity. But the hunting areas are in fact free from human population, with the exception of a few poachers who are kept at bay by robust teams of anti-poaching rangers.
But to throw in my 2 bits regarding some of the “wildest” areas still available to the traveling hunter, I would say the Niassa Reserve in northern Mozambique stands out. Several areas in Tanzania. Upper Luangwa and others in Zambia?

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I have hunted with many outfitters in North and South America, Europe, and of course Africa and have never been "scammed." Occasionally, I have had more than one PH on a hunt, but it wasn't an issue. I enjoyed the company of each of them. I have often used a hunting consultant, particularly going to any area outside of the US for the first time.

I have had excellent hunts on game farms in South Africa and in Namibia. The latter was large enough to have elephant and black rhino on it, and the first was worth a magazine article. That said, I prefer low fence or wilderness areas. The primary reason is that I like to hunt game in its native environment. For instance shooting a lechwe, waterbuck, or nyala hundreds of miles from its native habitat is rather like hunting one in Texas. Also, I will not knowingly participate in put and take shooting. Lastly, I am also not interested in artificially created animals, whether colors or horn size. I should hasten to add the 200 class whitetail freaks created behind fences in the US leave me equally cold.

So yes, a quality hunt can occur in both environments. Perhaps the most important research tool is to clearly and honestly articulate one's expectations to one's self.

Perfectly said

 

[Velo Dog]

Hello Gerry Addison,

I very much enjoyed reading your post.
Nothing hits a bullseye more “Center-X” than the bald face truth and I salute you for it.

First off, I apologize for my following rant, reading like an advertisement for Khomas Safaris.
In truth (there’s that word again), it is pretty much that for sure.
However, it seems to me that people likely will hear from at least a few if not, many outfitters here on this topic.
Therefore, if I have helped anyone in their search for an excellent safari experience, then I have done right.
However, if I have offended anyone by touting the outfit I work for and am so proud of plus mentioning my friend’s name down in the Limpopo area, please forgive.
No harm was intended.

Anyway;
Like yours, my first trip to Africa was a flop, due to having trusted Cabela’s “Outdoor Adventure” department or whatever they called it, back in or around 2003, as I recall (I am getting old and foggy).
I was mostly interested in Namibia because it had so few people and Namibia’s prices were and still often are a tad lower than many other African countries.
Equally important to me is that there are both not-game-fenced, very wild places left to hunt in Namibia and, high fenced / game fenced areas as well, take your pick.
As you and others have pointed out, there are advantages to both.

Anyway, Cabela’s had booked myself and a hunting partner into an outfit called “Burchell Safaris”, located near Ketmanshoop, Namibia.
Burchell Safaris owned about 96,000 acres in one piece.
However, that safari company turned out to be slippery and according to internet chatter, eventually collapsed under a flurry of law suits from angry clients.

Upon receiving my crate of ruined skulls (over-boiled / crumbling apart), horns covered in what looked like, and felt like plus, smelled like axle grease, also my very putrid smelling yet “plywood hard” zebra skin, I phoned Cabela’s (more than one time).
I never got a live person to answer.
So, I left voice messages each time.
Then, I emailed them plus, I wrote a pen and paper letter to them.
Nonetheless, they refused to respond to ANY of my efforts.
This was despite my opening each time with; “I do not want anything at all from you
except your awareness that you are endorsing a disappointing safari company”.
Then I listed in numerical order, all of the many things that had angered myself and my hunting partner.
No response from Cabela’s, zero, zip, nada …. total silence.

Elsewhere in this forum I listed details.
Just a couple of brief examples here:
1.
Burchell Safaris led me to believe warthog was available on their property.
It was my #1 animal of interest (I’m not the most sophisticated chap and that is for sure).
96,000 acres in one piece, beautiful real estate but, we never saw one swine of any sort.
The PH (who’s children by the way, acted like wild ferrets, loud, rude and selfish little imps), sheepishly admitted that there were no warthog there at all, never have been, because there was not enough water in that place for them to survive.
He also said it was too far to drive to good warthog habitat from there.
2.
Yet, he drove us a very long way to hunt gemsbok, down in The Kalahari.
There, we found the Kalahari land owner, herding his gemsboks toward hunters, by recklessly racing after them, in a home made hillbilly loud contraption of a dune buggy.
Nauseating, simply disgusting.

Just like yourself, due to my first experience there, I too was tempted to brush Africa off my shirt, like a moldy cracker crumb.
However again just like yourself, I decided to try once more.
I spent much time and effort in researching one safari company after another.
This has resulted in myself being blessed to have experienced 6 hunting trips to Africa, so far.

Back at that stage, I did not much care which country I might end up in for my 2nd try at Africa, just so long as I didn’t get the old “bait and switch” trick played on me and my friend/s again.
I eventually settled on Hannes Swanepoel Safaris of South Africa (near Gravelotte, Limpopo District) for my second trip to Africa.

Hannes turned out to be a very honest and hard working fellow.
The buffalo in my avatar was taken by myself while he was the PH for me.
It was on about 100,000 acres known as “Maruli or Baruli” (I never saw it written so I’m not sure of the spelling).
Most of Hannes’s leases (about 500,000 acres in total but, in several separate plots) are high fenced.
But Maruli / Baruli - whichever, had only a fence on ONE side of that beautiful and game rich concession, up beside the road, to keep villagers from grazing their ragtag cattle and goats in there.
One side of this concession was bordered by the Olifants River.
The other side of this river is Kruger Park.
All manner of critters, from elephant, on down were present there.
They crossed back and forth through the river at will.
There were hippos in the pools and crocodiles sunning themselves on the sand bars.
We even saw a truly wild lioness briefly crouching in the shade of the thick riverine foliage on “our” side of the river.
Then she bolted away from us.

Although I do prefer Namibia, again due to their very user friendly main airport, their country’s low density of human population, combined with plenty of not-high-fenced areas and of course, often times lower prices, nonetheless, I would probably hunt South Africa again, if something there really caught my attention and that I found extra tempting.
An affordable tuskless (or otherwise) elephant permit comes to mind.
I won’t hold my breath on that one (but, stranger things have happened you know).

Anyway, I have hunted with Hannes 3 times and we are still friends.
If one wants to hunt in South Africa, a hunter could do a lot worse than booking with my friend Hannes Swanepoel there.

Having said all that, indeed I do work for and am repeatedly humbled by the owner of Khomas Safaris, Phillip Hennings, up in the Khomas Hochland Highlands of Namibia.
It is my home away from home.
His family’s land there is primarily not high game fenced.
Most of his fellow land owners have not high fenced their huge properties either.
Zebras and gemsboks migrate up and down the mountains, to and from the low desert there, according to the rains each season.
Also, a few eland migrate those same game trails as well, just as they have for centuries.
The land owners have agreed to not hunt them up there, until their numbers return again some day.
Plentiful eland hunting is done within driving distance of Khomas, but just not yet right at Philip’s house and lodge.

There is only a high fence around about 1,000 acres of the little (compared to the entire conservancy) spot where Philip’s house and his new lodge are located.
There is no hunting inside this fence, as he has kept it for viewing and photographing animals such as sable, giraffe, eland, impalas and various assorted others, right in front of and all around the lodge viranda and guest cabins

Well anyway, my long-winded narrative is finally over.
And, I’m glad we had this little meeting.LoL

Best Regards and Safe Hunting to all,
Velo Dog.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I am always a little hesitant to chime in because I have exactly one trip to Africa under my belt, and that was to South Africa. (@GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS, in case anybody wants to know)

However I will share, from this standpoint: virtually all of my hunting happens across SW Alaska, which is very unfenced and quite wild. It is the remote, wilderness feel of it that soothes my soul and makes me glad it's home.

I chose a fenced situation for my own reasons when I went to Africa in 2021. Do I sometimes dream the romantic dream of wild Africa? Hell yes. It wasn't in the financial cards and may never be. That said, the hunting where I did go very much felt like hunting at home: the animals were wary, and we had to hike to make things happen. I had changes in the breeze blow stalks on kudu same as it would at home for moose.

I'm my opinion, due diligence and realistic expectations are critical. This site was absolutely vital in my planning, and I chose to approach my hunt as though simply going was reward enough. My first time could not have been better.

I am going back to the same place, in June, with my youngest daughter. I am excited, to say the least. Maybe someday I'll get to lay in a tent and listen to lions roar, but if I don't Africa has still been everything I could have hoped for and more... even with the fences.

 

[Hank2211]

“Wild” can mean many things, and it will mean different things to different people. Years ago I was in camps in Zimbabwe which I thought were wild, until I went to places like Benin, Cameroon and Liberia. Those are wild places, as I define them. You leave the Western world behind, you leave the developed world behind and you could be in Africa a century ago and things would probably be about the same (if not worse - a century ago only rich people did this and they had lots of porters!).

Wild isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t for me all the time. I enjoy South Africa, for example, for what it is - beautiful country, by and large wonderful people, many of the comforts of (a very nice) home, great food, air conditioning and then, of course, game densities you would never see in the ‘wild.’ My last hunt was Liberia (wild); I’m trying Texas for the first time with a friend at the end of this month (not at all wild) and I’m going to Mozambique in September (mid-wild). Each is its own type of hunt and each can be just as much fun and just as agreeable, if you know what you’re getting.

Each place, of course, has its pros and cons, and each can provide a worthwhile experience, if not adventure. The bottom line is that you need to know what you’re looking for and then find that. It’s there - the full range. But if you’re not sure what you want, well, it’s like not being sure where you’re going. You’re going to get something . . .

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Nothing puts me off more than cow bells and local people wandering around on my hunt. Not to mention the danger of accidentally shooting an animal and suddenly it was a prize bull. Worse still by orders of magnitude a person and your life is ruined. Once years ago on a private ranch doing night time jackal control with a shotgun a group of people suddenly appeared out of the gloom with bundles of wood on their heads that they were illegally collecting. We just went straight home.
It is a great pity about your bad experience in Zimbabwe Gerry, there are indeed some truly wild areas here, expensive but not bank breaking.
I have hunted South Africa only twice, but visited large fenced game areas without hunting and the definition that divides it for me is 'fenced hunting areas as a unit block' or 'mixed game/farming areas with internal fenced paddocs'. The latter are a joke and really spoil it for the former true hunting operations. I find nothing wrong at all in a large fenced hunting block. Remember those high fences are there as much to keep domestic livestock and people out as they are to keep game in.
I agree with @Red Leg that the final criterion is that the game mest be endemic to that area, reintroduced is fine, but an introduced zoo is not. No artificials for me either, it is like bling hunting imo.
I am seriously considering some SA hunts, even though it adds the hassle of the rifle export permit.