I also hunted through Bayete Group from an silent auction at a FNRA Banquet. My group must have been among the last to not be ripped off. We hunted in June of 2019. All of our trophies are with our taxidermist, Highveld Taxidermy. After reading on this forum, I contacted Highveld Taxidermy to confirm they have all our trophies, and there will be no problem. I was assured they have them all. In fact, the trophies for two of my friends are ready to be shipped home. The problem we are facing now is related to this "Nonsensical, Covid-19, sky-is-falling" shipping delay. My trophies are still not ready because the taxidermist had to wait on the tannery to complete my ostrich, impala, and buffalo hides, so they can then make my custom bags.
After purchasing the safari from the FNRA, I tried to research Bayete Group. I didn't find much information, but the small amount I found was positive. We had a great hunt. the staff were all friendly, and we all liked our PH's a lot. We did, however, notice some apparent confusion or concern from the camp manager. I don't feel like going into a long explanation, mainly because it was a little over a year ago, and I don't remember details.
After reading about the problems other hunters had with Bayete Group, I consider myself to be lucky. I will NEVER trust an outfitter simply because the FNRA appears to approve of it. I should have known better. I have always been skeptical of other large prizes of a similar nature. From now on, I will never purchase anything from these banquets unless it is a physical item I can take home when the evening is over.
I spent hundreds of hours editing a video of our hunt. I even went to the trouble of including Bayete Group's logo and giving them credit in my video. I want to share it with everyone here, but now I feel I need to re-edit the videos. I want to take their logo out. Otherwise, someone might get the idea I am endorsing them.
