NAMIBIA: My Hunt With Frontier Safaris (Barry Burchell Property)

That's good. I was sure wondering
 
I'd never settle for the treatment you received. By the second day I would have had a full refund and been transferred to another camp or there would be one hell of a lawsuit in the works. Just the realization that everyone should have had a PH but didn't would have put an end to things.
 
Does anyone have pictures of the animals harvested?
 
You got four animals out of a promised/contracted 12 each, and you did the best?

:A Blowup:
One of the great things about Namibia is that you will virtually always fill your hunt card, assuming you aren't trying for anything too exotic (like cheetah or nocturnal animals). Typical plains game animals should have been relatively easy to obtain with a little work, and it sounds like they did the work. So I remain baffled that Brandon isn't more pissed at this situation. I would have been livid, and would not have lasted beyond the first day. If I had found out there were no permits, I would have terminated the hunt and reported the PH and the whole outfit to the authorities. This could even have been a Lacey Act violation. To have been put in that position is entirely unacceptable.
 
Totally unacceptable!! You guys were taken for a ride.
 
One of the great things about Namibia is that you will virtually always fill your hunt card, assuming you aren't trying for anything too exotic (like cheetah or nocturnal animals). Typical plains game animals should have been relatively easy to obtain with a little work, and it sounds like they did the work. So I remain baffled that Brandon isn't more pissed at this situation. I would have been livid, and would not have lasted beyond the first day. If I had found out there were no permits, I would have terminated the hunt and reported the PH and the whole outfit to the authorities. This could even have been a Lacey Act violation. To have been put in that position is entirely unacceptable.

I was upset, I said after numerous complaints the camp manager was able to let me get a trophy blue, as far as the permits and the phs, it was my first time in Africa, or anywhere out of the USA. I was not about to start demanding them to take me to town, and try to find another ph to hunt with or report them, never crossed my mind. I've been hunting for 30 years, and I've always known nothing is a give me. Hunting is hunting. My hunt did turn around and I got a few nice trophies. I wrote the report because a few members asked me to, after a few comments I made on another thread. I wrote this so others here know about this particular outfitter and make up there own mind if they want to hunt with them. I never will again, but I put this on the back burner, chalk it up and move on. I am completely confident my second africa hunt this September with@game4africa will be an excellent hunt, and can't wait till September.
 
Your second hunt will really be your first. I can't wait until you experience the difference.
 
I do wish I would of known about ah before my first hunt, might of been a difference in the outcome, but water under the bridge now, keep moving on
 
Following this thread, then tonight reading the latest issue of safari mag. I came across an ad.
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I was upset, I said after numerous complaints the camp manager was able to let me get a trophy blue, as far as the permits and the phs, it was my first time in Africa, or anywhere out of the USA. I was not about to start demanding them to take me to town, and try to find another ph to hunt with or report them, never crossed my mind. I've been hunting for 30 years, and I've always known nothing is a give me. Hunting is hunting. My hunt did turn around and I got a few nice trophies. I wrote the report because a few members asked me to, after a few comments I made on another thread. I wrote this so others here know about this particular outfitter and make up there own mind if they want to hunt with them. I never will again, but I put this on the back burner, chalk it up and move on. I am completely confident my second africa hunt this September with@game4africa will be an excellent hunt, and can't wait till September.

Brandon, I didn't mean to be critical of you. We each have to handle these things in our own way, and I don't know what I would have done had it been my first hunt as well. I guess it's easy with a number of hunts under my belt, and a pretty good understanding of what things should be like, to say I wouldn't have tolerated what you were put through. Now that you've posted this thread, we all have an understanding of this particular outfitter, and you, I think, have a better understanding of what you should expect when you hunt.

Thanks for being open and putting yourself out there. We've all benefited.
 
Brandon, I didn't mean to be critical of you. We each have to handle these things in our own way, and I don't know what I would have done had it been my first hunt as well. I guess it's easy with a number of hunts under my belt, and a pretty good understanding of what things should be like, to say I wouldn't have tolerated what you were put through. Now that you've posted this thread, we all have an understanding of this particular outfitter, and you, I think, have a better understanding of what you should expect when you hunt.

Thanks for being open and putting yourself out there. We've all benefited.

Thank you for understanding hank!
 
Yes there is many good write ups of this place, I'm telling my story to what actually happened. I'm sure many people will still hunt with them, myself and the others there on this particular trip, never will
No doubt at all. It's a shame that your trip didn't go well. I just thought what are the odds, when I came across the ad in my reading this evening.
 
I am positive my next hunt will be an excellent report! @game4africa is a sponsor here that has great hunting reports! Can't wait to add another report!
 
Any pictures of the animals harvested?
 
I was upset, I said after numerous complaints the camp manager was able to let me get a trophy blue, as far as the permits and the phs, it was my first time in Africa, or anywhere out of the USA. I was not about to start demanding them to take me to town, and try to find another ph to hunt with or report them, never crossed my mind. I've been hunting for 30 years, and I've always known nothing is a give me. Hunting is hunting. My hunt did turn around and I got a few nice trophies. I wrote the report because a few members asked me to, after a few comments I made on another thread. I wrote this so others here know about this particular outfitter and make up there own mind if they want to hunt with them. I never will again, but I put this on the back burner, chalk it up and move on. I am completely confident my second africa hunt this September with@game4africa will be an excellent hunt, and can't wait till September.

brandondd24,

Don't feel alone.
It is easy for people who have hunted in Africa multiple times to say, "I'd have done this or, I'd have done that".
But when we are new to something, it's more like groping our way through a pitch black, multi-angled tunnel via the Braille method, all the while spiders crawling on our back, water dripping on our head, strange noises in the darkness, etc. so to speak.
Like yourself, when my first try at Africa was not delivered as advertised, I was too new at it to gripe very much or very loud to my PH.
I had absolutely nothing comparable in my hunting experiences to gauge a guided African Safari with.

Anyway, as I've mentioned in other threads and posts, my very first try at hunting in Africa was with "Burchell Safaris", as they were known back then (2002 - 2003).
And, although the hunting itself was quite good, the over all experience was not so good.
To be fair, Barry Burchell only visited camp while myself and one hunting partner (Tony) were there.
He had nothing to do with our actual hunting as far as we know, aside from his last name being on the company title.

Barry's brother in law, "Kevin" was our PH.
Neither Tony nor I had ever been on a guided hunt of any sort, much less to the dark continent.
So in our naivaty, we opted for a 2 client, one PH arrangement and that wrong move was not the fault of anyone except myself and Tony (and we'll never do that again).

Anyway, Kevin's rowdy children were always sprinting about camp, with the livestock manager's equally rowdy kids each evening, tirelessly playing screaming grab-ass.
We often would take a beer in each hand from the refrigerator and walk way out into the desert, until supper was ready, trying to avoid that terrible chaos and ear splitting racket that nobody else seemed to even notice.
One of Kevin's kids (the female) saw me walking toward the kitchen door, with my two beers and hurried to block my exit with her bicycle.
With a snotty tone, she told me I had to wait until she had finished putting on her lipstick (she was perhaps around 7 years old).
I just stepped over her little bike and ignored her barking futile orders at me to stop.
At that time, if she had been 30 years older and a couple hundred pounds heavier, she might have reminded me of my ex-wife, because she already had the barking of rude and senseless orders at me thing, down perfect.

Out into the desert I determidly did march, stopping every 50 or so paces to look back, in case these children of the corn were chasing me and also to angrily lurch a swig of Windhoek Lager now and then.

Tony and I both frequently found our belongings in our rooms had been rifled through most days, while we were away hunting.
I complained and Kevin blamed it on his black employees (who were extremely mild mannered people, unlike the mean spirited / aggressive white children mentioned).

Kevin was what I would call a depressed person or at least an angry one.
He rarely smiled.
His thing was driving around until game was spotted and then he'd instruct us to shoot it from the truck.
When I repeatedly tried to coax him toward hiking through that beautiful desert, on foot with our rifles, he raised his voice at me, saying something like:
"You Americans always think you can tell us how we should hunt in our own countries" or words to that affect.

As mentioned in other threads, my skulls and horns arrived damaged (falling apart like chalk) by boiling too long or by soaking too long in bleach or something like that.
What looked and smelled like axel grease had been applied to the horns, in an apparent attempt to stop them from flaking any further, after such harsh "Taxidermy" treatment.
Our one each zebra hides were as plywood, even though Burchell Safaris had charged us for "tanning" them.
Likewise these zebra hides smelled of rotting flesh.
How they made it past the biltong dogs so common here in every Africa connected US Port of entry remains a mystery.

One horn on every scull of mine had a hole drilled through it and a wire was run through each of these.
Each drilled and wired horn held what I now believe was a fake Taxidermist's export number or fake Taxidermist license number.
(Because this same unacceptable / unlawful activity is described in at least one complaint, from a previous law suit against this controversial outfit).

I own a couple of Craig Boddington's books and have enjoyed reading them very much.
Nonetheless, he can endorse Fronteir Safaris (I believe formerly "Burchell Safaris") all he wants to.
They may have literally treated him like a king for all the rest of us know.
But, no matter how many happy songs he sings about them or how many times they change their name, my one hunt with that bunch is all I will ever need from them (or any outfit even remotely connected to them.)

Now doing research before booking,
Velo Dog.
 
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I own a couple of Craig Boddington's books and have enjoyed reading them very much.
Nonetheless, he can endorse Fronteir Safaris (I believe formerly "Burchell Safaris") all he wants to.
They may have literally treated him like a king for all the rest of us know.
But, no matter how many happy songs he sings about them or how many times they change their name, my one hunt with that bunch is all I will ever need from them (or any outfit even remotely connected to them.)
I also have a couple of his books which are quite good and have talked with Craig at the SCI show and he seemed like an alright guy. However it is interesting how he may have received the golden glove treatment but the rest of the clients get treated like crap. I would think a "celebrity" such as Craig would do a little research prior to endorsing a slipshod outfit. I know that after reading the reports on this outfit I would steer clear no matter what Craig has to say. Just saying.
 
I not on board with all of the bashing of Frontier Safaris. I hunted the South Africa camp in September and had an excellent safari with no complaints. My hunting report can be read on this website and it includes pictures of all animals harvested. I can't comment on the Namibia camp or what happened on someone else's safari 15 years ago. I'm not calling anyone a liar but this report is very fragmented, one and two sentences at a time over several days and no pictures. I'm reserving judgement as the whole story has yet to be presented. Please post pictures of the animals harvested so everyone can see how bad it really was.
 
Please post pictures of the animals harvested so everyone can see how bad it really was.

While its great to hear you had a good hunt with them, pictures should not be the deciding factor on the quality of a hunt. The experience is what truly makes the hunt, then the quality of animals hunted. From all accounts, the treatment and experiences made for a horrific hunt and therefore experience. Pictures only show a fraction of the tale.
 

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