Ryan Wilson
AH senior member
Decided to hunt with Huntershills Safaris in the Cape for my 3rd Africa trip. The reason for booking with HH was relatively easy. First, I have never been to the Eastern Cape. Secondly, my mom would join me in this trip and I figured the travel she would enjoy. Lastly, well, from a monetary standpoint, they have the best prices for the animals I wanted to hunt. Our travels would take us through Atlanta on Delta to Johannesburg. We overnighted in JoBurg at Afton Guest Lodge. Afton was nice, clean and comfortable. We didn't have dinner the night we arrived as promised (thank goodness for terrible airline food). However, it was a pleasant stay and I would recommend them to anyone staying a night over in Joberg. We eventually flew into East London where we met our transportation to HH via a van we shared with 4 other HH guests. Before moving forward with the trip, I do need to mention a comment I got from the liaison we met from Afton. Mr. X had asked where I was going when we met him at JNB. When I stated HH, he simply sighed and said they had lots and lots of hunters come through. So, as you may guess it, when we arrive at HH it's a touch confusing. The usual meet and great never happened. I actually asked around and finally found my PH for the trip, Jaco. After we were shown to our rooms and a nice dinner, our hunt was to begin the next morning.
To skip through a 14 day trip, I'll highlight the good and bad things I experienced this trip. First the good. HH has some amazing and beautiful property. The hunting is target rich and they do have some really nice trophies. The lodge is nice and comfortable, the food was adequate with the exception of a couple nights of Hake, which I'm pretty sure they need to make tires and condoms out of. The staff were all pleasant, my PH was a great guy and his dogs, well, my mom was a threat to steal them. The were great tracking dogs. Overall, I'd give HH a 7/10 score. Now the bad parts. HH is without a doubt a rifle hunters dream. We were a mixed group of rifle hunters and archery hunters, and it was evident after the first day that us archers needed to jump ship. My first afternoon I had a hunter shooting Zebra from a helicopter in the same preserve as me. I expressed my concerns with my PH, in a civilized conversation I might add, and never was the helicopter an issue with my hunt after. Three days into my hunt most us archers got moved to less populated camps. My PH knew we had better stalking opportunities as HH is not setup for bowhunting like you'd see camps in the Limpopo. Jaco moved me around when rifle hunters showed up so we actually didn't run into people that much. All the animals I took were spot and stalk and I wore the knees out of my hunting pants crawling. (Not a bad thing, I love spot and stalk hunting). The worst and best part of my hunt was the crowd. I met some great people all over the world. Even though it was crowded at times and I was trying to bow hunt in a rifle camp, I had a fantastic hunt. There were a few complaints from fellow archers, all similar to mine, all having to do with the fact that HH wasn't setup for blind hunting. So, all in all, I had a very enjoyable and successful trip. My mom enjoyed her time at camp, in the field and at Addo. I certainly have and will continue to recommend HH to first timers and rifle hunters, or, to bowhunters looking for a challenging stalk. Enjoy.
To skip through a 14 day trip, I'll highlight the good and bad things I experienced this trip. First the good. HH has some amazing and beautiful property. The hunting is target rich and they do have some really nice trophies. The lodge is nice and comfortable, the food was adequate with the exception of a couple nights of Hake, which I'm pretty sure they need to make tires and condoms out of. The staff were all pleasant, my PH was a great guy and his dogs, well, my mom was a threat to steal them. The were great tracking dogs. Overall, I'd give HH a 7/10 score. Now the bad parts. HH is without a doubt a rifle hunters dream. We were a mixed group of rifle hunters and archery hunters, and it was evident after the first day that us archers needed to jump ship. My first afternoon I had a hunter shooting Zebra from a helicopter in the same preserve as me. I expressed my concerns with my PH, in a civilized conversation I might add, and never was the helicopter an issue with my hunt after. Three days into my hunt most us archers got moved to less populated camps. My PH knew we had better stalking opportunities as HH is not setup for bowhunting like you'd see camps in the Limpopo. Jaco moved me around when rifle hunters showed up so we actually didn't run into people that much. All the animals I took were spot and stalk and I wore the knees out of my hunting pants crawling. (Not a bad thing, I love spot and stalk hunting). The worst and best part of my hunt was the crowd. I met some great people all over the world. Even though it was crowded at times and I was trying to bow hunt in a rifle camp, I had a fantastic hunt. There were a few complaints from fellow archers, all similar to mine, all having to do with the fact that HH wasn't setup for blind hunting. So, all in all, I had a very enjoyable and successful trip. My mom enjoyed her time at camp, in the field and at Addo. I certainly have and will continue to recommend HH to first timers and rifle hunters, or, to bowhunters looking for a challenging stalk. Enjoy.
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