Namibia It Is!

[FairChase]

After considerable discussion, my 2 hunting buddies and I have decided to make Namibia our next safari destination. All three of us have been to S. Africa and would have been comfortable with returning, but decided on somewhere new.

We are planning for the 2017 season but before we can start preparing, we need to make our biggest decision: which Outfitter/PH to use? We will decide with whom to book shortly after the DSC show in January 2016.

We have done our homework on a number of them, but before we make a decision, we would like more feedback about a few that don't have as much available information. Any feedback/information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

#1) Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris: PH - Philip Hennings
#2) Kowas Hunting Safaris: PH - Danie Strauss
#3) Ondjiviro Hunting Safaris: PH - Volca Otto

Thank you in advance...

 

[Red Leg]

Your number three is a great choice. Unfamiliar with the other two. Can also highly recommend Nick Nolte - particularly if one of you is contemplating a leopard. They will be represented by Jack Atcheson $ Sons at DSC.

 

[johnnyblues]

Just got back from Namibia, great experience....Must hunt Eland there if you don't already have one. Big trophy quality and a difficult animal to hunt.

 

[G Skinner]

NAMIBIA ....yes ! not sure of the outfitters .... but have fun !
Good luck and play safe
Glen

 

[tarbe]

Great Kowas report here, by @Jfet: http://www.africahunting.com/thread...on-writing-across-the-curriculum-kowas.16062/

Enjoy!


Tim

 

[dory]

Namibia's a good choice .
It is a real hunter friendly country .
i had a look at all those farms you have mentioned before i chose one last year .
Any of the 3 you have mentioned would be fine .
It really depends on the sort of country you want to hunt and what sort of animals you want to hunt .
Have fun chooseing you have plenty of time .
Cheers Dory .

 

[Mike B.]

I was in the same boat as you and really liked what I saw about Namibia, except this will be my first trip to Africa. I will be hunting in 2017 with Kowas. I paid my deposit about two months ago. After the research I'd done and with talking with Ansie Strauss, I felt good about booking with them. I know that doesn't help much in the sense that I haven't hunted with them but I don't doubt I will have a great time being there. I seen great hunt reports and feel like they have a good operation going there.

 

[dory]

At the end of the day it depends what sort of hunt you are after .
after all the research i done on Namibian hunting outfits and believe me i wasted hours on the computer ( ask my wife )
I decided i wanted to hunt with someone who owned the land we were on and no high fences .
A family orientated outfit with alot of family history with a minimum of 20,000 hectares .
I chose to hunt at Ongariwanda with johnnie Van Rensburg and his family .
Kowas , and a couple of others made the final choice really hard .
It wasnt till a well liked SA ph recomended Ongariwanda that I finally ticked the box a wrote the cheque !
If you have read my hunt report you will know what a great time I had .
But Namibia is full of wonderfull people and outfits to take you on a hunt of a life time .
We are planing on returning to Ongariwanda in 2017 for a 3 week hunt .
Yep , thats how much we enjoyed our time there .
Cheers Dory .

 

[Jacques.strauss]

Goodday Fairchase

You are more than welcome to come and visit the Kowas Hunting Safaris booth at the DSC convention! We are in booth number 1901. It will be Ansie Strauss (Danie Strauss, the owners wife) & myself, Jacques Strauss (son of the owner, manager & PH of Kowas Hunting Safaris). It will be fun to get to meet you and just have a chat.

Kowas Hunting Safaris:
- Privately owned hunting safari operation
- Established since 1999
-family operated
- 400 000 acres available to hunt on (Dordabis Conservancy)
- 19 antelope species, 7 predator species, 200+ bird species
- strong fair chase principals
- top class free-range trophies


If there is anything WE can help you with, drop us an e-mail.

Thank you for your time! Happy Holidays to all...!

Kind Regards
Jacques Strauss

 

[FairChase]

At the end of the day it depends what sort of hunt you are after .
after all the research i done on Namibian hunting outfits and believe me i wasted hours on the computer ( ask my wife )
I decided i wanted to hunt with someone who owned the land we were on and no high fences .
A family orientated outfit with alot of family history with a minimum of 20,000 hectares .
I chose to hunt at Ongariwanda with johnnie Van Rensburg and his family .
Kowas , and a couple of others made the final choice really hard .
It wasnt till a well liked SA ph recomended Ongariwanda that I finally ticked the box a wrote the cheque !
If you have read my hunt report you will know what a great time I had .
But Namibia is full of wonderfull people and outfits to take you on a hunt of a life time .
We are planing on returning to Ongariwanda in 2017 for a 3 week hunt .
Yep , thats how much we enjoyed our time there .
Cheers Dory .View attachment 52827

Dory,

Thank you for the feedback. I read your post and immediately went to their website. After reading through it, I sent them my standard letter to make further inquiry.

The type of hunt I want is what you described; large area(s) to hunt with no high fences and following Fair Chase tenets(imagine that!)...

 

[FairChase]

Goodday Fairchase

You are more than welcome to come and visit the Kowas Hunting Safaris booth at the DSC convention! We are in booth number 1901. It will be Ansie Strauss (Danie Strauss, the owners wife) & myself, Jacques Strauss (son of the owner, manager & PH of Kowas Hunting Safaris). It will be fun to get to meet you and just have a chat.

Kowas Hunting Safaris:
- Privately owned hunting safari operation
- Established since 1999
-family operated
- 400 000 acres available to hunt on (Dordabis Conservancy)
- 19 antelope species, 7 predator species, 200+ bird species
- strong fair chase principals
- top class free-range trophies

You can contact some of our references if you would like:
Joseph von Benedict - Hunting editor for Shooting Times, western editor for Petersen's Hunting Magazine, and field editor for Rifle Shooter & Handguns: vonbenedict@yahoo.com
Ross Murphy - has done 10 different hunting trips to Africa & has a wealth of knowledge: bulldogmaster2@gmail.com
Terry Blauwkamp - ballistics expert & has been to Africa more than anybody I know: tblauwkamp@superior-sales.com
*** These three references will be at the DSC Convention***

If there is anything WE can help you with, drop us an e-mail at kowasadv@iafrica.com.na

Thank you for your time! Happy Holidays to all...!

Kind Regards
Jacques Strauss

Jacques,

Unfortunately, I will be in Brazil during the DSC Convention, but 2 of my hunting partners are planning to attend as they usually do. Nevertheless, thank you for the references...

 

[enysse]

There are a lot of great outfitters in Namibia, some large hunting areas too. Good luck on the research.

 

[FairChase]

After reviewing their site, I noticed that skinning and preparation of trophies was not included in the Daily Rate. I am wondering how did you handle that?

Thanx...

 

[BRICKBURN]

After reviewing their site, I noticed that skinning and preparation of trophies was not included in the Daily Rate. I am wondering how did you handle that?

Thanx...

Spread sheet.
Add it to the daily rates?
Also see if there are "other" charges that need to be added to compare apples to apples.

 

[FairChase]

I apologize, I meant the following for Dory about Ongariwanda...
Nonetheless, Thanx for the input, Brickburn!

After reviewing their site, I noticed that skinning and preparation of trophies was not included in the Daily Rate. I am wondering how did you handle that?

Thanx...

 

[dory]

You are right about the skinning and salting fees at Ongariwanda .
They are not included in the daily rates .
Johnnie charged me $40 us per animal for this service so it wasnt hard to work out .
I took 26 animals for the trip but was only charged for the trophy animals i took not the cull animals .
What i really liked about Ongariwandas system is all the money for the skinning went to the guys who did the skinning .
That is why there was always 4 or 5 happy guys doing this work what ever the time of day .
When i tried to tip these guys at the end of the trip , Johnnie said there was no need to as they would share this money i had paid for the skinning between them .So even though it was extra to the daily rates it saved me some cash in the end .
I found $40 us a minimal charge as they do a wonderful job for you while you sit back with a cold beer relaxing !
Cheers Dory !

 

[Wheels]

The Khomas Hochland is a neat place to hunt. If you enjoy glassing and putting on a stalk it can be fun. I have not hunted with any of the three mentioned. Jacques Strauss participates here some. I have met he and his mother at DSC and they seem like great people. As tarbe mentioned, Jfet and his wife sing their praises. You should communicate with Jfet.

It seems you are doing your homework so your trip will probably be great. My only recommendation is to not use Trophaendienste as your taxidermist. My experience was way less than satisfactory.

Have a great hunt whoever you choose. Hope to read all about it here!

 

[FairChase]

You are right about the skinning and salting fees at Ongariwanda .
They are not included in the daily rates .
Johnnie charged me $40 us per animal for this service so it wasnt hard to work out .
I took 26 animals for the trip but was only charged for the trophy animals i took not the cull animals .
What i really liked about Ongariwandas system is all the money for the skinning went to the guys who did the skinning .
That is why there was always 4 or 5 happy guys doing this work what ever the time of day .
When i tried to tip these guys at the end of the trip , Johnnie said there was no need to as they would share this money i had paid for the skinning between them .So even though it was extra to the daily rates it saved me some cash in the end .
I found $40 us a minimal charge as they do a wonderful job for you while you sit back with a cold beer relaxing !
Cheers Dory !View attachment 52853

Very nice! Thanx for the reply!! I especially like the part about sitting back with a cold beer. I think they are going to make our short list...

 

[dory]

Im not sure how long you intend to go for .
We spent a month in Namibia with 3 weeks hunting and then spent a week doing a road trip .
We spent 3 nights in Windhoek when we first got there to recover from all the travel .
Im not sure what your plans are or how much spare time you and your mates have for your trip .
I am no expert on Namibia and there are people on this forum who have spent a lot more time and know a lot more about Namibia than me .!
But if you have any questions or queries , just pm me and i will answer as best i can .
We did a few things wrong and a few things right , and learnt a lot .
Cheers Dory .

 

[CAustin]

I look forward to your hunt report and lots of pictures.