Personal Professional Hunter on Dangerous Game Hunt

[JimP]

I think that bringing your own PH would be a lot like taking your own bottle of whiskey into a bar to drink from, or taking a steak into a restaurant and having them cook it for you.

If I was planning a DG hunt I would do a lot of taking to the outfitter and find out about the PH that would be assigned to me if not the outfitter himself. I would then start a correspondence with the PH and if possible even talk with him to get to know him.

While I am sure that they would be quite competent in being a PH I would like to get to know just who I may be risking my life with.

 

[IvW]

Makes no sense.....if your personal PH is so good he should be able to set up and accommodate your desired safari...if not he may not be as good as you think on DG.. ...
Rocking up in a camp with a personal PH may ruffle some feathers and could actually destroy the dynamics of the whole safari...unless he knows the resident ph of course.....

 

[Denvir Tire]

Why not have your "personal PH" arrange and book the trip for you? He can book an outfitter he knows or has worked with in the past. The guiding PH knows that your personal PH is bringing you, not the other way around???

 

[sestoppelman]

Guess I am the odd one as I have heard of and seen this being done. As outlined, hunter is accompanied by another PH as a sort of guest/companion understanding the actual hunt PH has the last word on everything.
In particular I have seen this where a PH is not licensed in the country of the actual hunt, so the hunter has that PH that he knows go along to be sort of a companion PH.
If cleared with the hunt PH ahead of time and he is OK with it, then sure.

 

[Tanks]

Instead of bringing a 2nd PH along at your expense, it might be comparable in price to first just do a “plains game” hunt with your intended dangerous game PH, thereby getting to know him a bit more than over the phone.
...

Most outfitters that specialize DG do not do PG hunts per se. On my recent hunt PG was "if the opportunity presents itself". For example this year CMS is fully booked with DG hunts.

Also, it takes a lot of travel time to travel to Africa. Why would someone want to waste it doing a PG hunt when their intent is a DG hunt?

Furthermore, the fact that someone can do a PG hunt does not point to their competence in doing a safe close approach to an elephant in the middle of a cow elephant herd.

 

[Medicine]

This post perplexes me. Is the intent of the OP to be armed with an armed PH and then a third gun in the form of another armed private PH? And then a fourth gun in the form of a government ranger depending on species hunted?

 

[Velo Dog]

Most outfitters that specialize DG do not do PG hunts per se. On my recent hunt PG was "if the opportunity presents itself". For example this year CMS is fully booked with DG hunts.

Also, it takes a lot of travel time to travel to Africa. Why would someone want to waste it doing a PG hunt when their intent is a DG hunt?

Furthermore, the fact that someone can do a PG hunt does not point to their competence in doing a safe close approach to an elephant in the middle of a cow elephant herd.

I respect your opinion.

 

[Velo Dog]

I think that is a sensible scenario, but there are a ton of great deals that pop up here that people will jump on without that option. A $10k elephant hunt is almost too good to pass up.

I understand.

 

[Medicine]

I think that is a sensible scenario, but there are a ton of great deals that pop up here that people will jump on without that option. A $10k elephant hunt is almost too good to pass up.

The deals are because the PH bought a 2 million acre concession for only $20,000 over the next 5 years and negotiated the cheapest bull elephants in history with the local council due to the safari industry taking such a beating from COVID. It has nothing to do with him being incapable but is a perfect storm of COVID coupled with the fact that the U.S. is still not allowing imports from Zim.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I have only ever hunted DG once. It never crossed my mind to not trust my PH. The hunt happened at the midpoint of my trip and by that time if he'd told me to shoot while riding a unicycle and wearing a tutu I'd have done it. If anything a couple of my species leading up to the buff hunt, I kinda got the feeling he was sizing me up before we tackled DG, and I don't blame him one bit.

 

[Medicine]

The shooting of your rifle the first day has little to do with seeing if it was knocked off by the airline on your trip.

 

[1dirthawker]

I don't know if a brown bear is considered a proper DG hunt (i suspect it is) but....

when guiding brown bear hunters, we always like to see the clients shoot their rifle, one to check that it is still on after a long flight and you can learn a surprising amount about the hunter in the few shots he fires while checking the sights, handling the rifle, his inherent muzzle discipline, etc.

 

[spike.t]

It does happen where a ph books a dg hunt for a regular client in another country and accompanies them on the hunt ...basically as a keeping them in the comfort zone by having someone there they know...the hunt is conducted and controlled by the resident ph....and in most of the good dg countries the ph will have gone through an apprenticeship and will have gained the experience over a period of time and been examined critically through the whole time by experienced phs, and if not capable wouldn't get their full licence...so think you would be in safe hands and not something that would cross my mind...been on quite a few hunts in Zambia, zim, Tanzania and moz...with friends I have booked hunts for and all involved buff at the minimum...with most including leopard..lion and in zim ele...and with different phs from those countries and all knew their job very well....so as I said mot something that crossed my mind

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

I have no problem, as long as the visiting PH finds lodging close to the airport where we can drop him upon arrival and fetch him when the hunt is over.

 

[gizmo]

I have done both (interviewed prospective employees and outfitters). Despite very best efforts by me (and at work, my team) sometimes you pick a winner and sometimes a loser. We have a rigorous selection process and despite that we have made a few terrible hiring mistakes. We ended up terminating one guy on his third day on the job!

Whether an outfitter or job seeker, many people have a gift of BS to be able to tell you exactly what you want to here. They control which reference clients you get to contact. It's tough. Social media (like this) and others can help.

Point taken and you are certainly correct. I feel that in the instance of an outfitter though it is the exception as opposed to the norm. The fact is there are crap heads in every industry and walk of life. I feel though when a client does their homework with rare exception it ends up being a good match.

 

[TwoTracks]

I would guess, less than 1% of DG safaris end up with a client being injured. By bringing your own personal PH along, I’d venture that you have at best a 50/50 chance the trip will not go sideways. I do believe there are situations where it can work out well for everyone. Spike.t’s prior relationships and structure in Zam comes to mind.

The reality of the situation is most PHs and Outfitters are very competent men who have years or decades performing at a high level. They are confident and proud men and have earned their reputations. By bringing in a second unknown and unproven PH (unkown/unproven to your contracted outfitter) you are severely second guessing his competence. Unless each party has a previous relationship, it isn’t something thats likely to work out well.

 

[freefall]

Do you hire somebody to walk around behind you with a pistol?

 

[Cam Moon]

I think it may depend a bit on the situation and your expectations. If you want to have a buddy who you have hunted with come along as an observer, without a rifle, and keeping his opinions to himself, then I don't see it as being an issue. He's basically just there for moral support. If you are wanting to bring your own DG PH into another camp because you don't trust the one they have, and have him pack a rifle and try to "co-guide" the hunt, then I think you'd be hard pressed to not have some issues. There may be some exceptions in a situation where both PH's knew each other or something, but for the most part I don't think the idea would be very welcomed. Basically you're asking about bringing your own professional chef into a restaurant and having him cook your meal because you trust his cooking. It's probably not going to go over very well. Is it possible? Yes....With the right restaurant (outfitter), the right approach, and an awful lot of planning and communication. But it will not be without it's hurdles.

 

[Cam Moon]

Perhaps a better analogy would be skydiving. Without proper training and experience, you can't jump solo, you must go in tandem, which means that you are strapped to one of the companies professional skydivers.
I don't think many places would let you bring your own "professional skydiver" to be strapped to! Far too many things that could go wrong, and far too much of a liability risk. You use their trained staff, or you don't go. Why would hunting DG be any different?

 

[Hunting Hitman]

What an interesting topic! I have hunted DG on many occasions and about half of the time with my own PH attending with me. I have never had an issue with the PH from the Outfitter camp we were coming into.
I understand that we are supposed to do our homework and thoroughly scrutinize the outfitter we are booking with but some times things change. Many times the PH is not assigned until you arrive at camp and is also dependent on what camp in the concession you are going to. I see nothing wrong with bringing your own PH if that makes you feel more comfortable and the additional benefit of a built in translator for traveling in Africa.