trophy import specialist -conservation force?

[Bill Thom]

Greetings- I have an elephant hunt scheduled for September in Caprivi and have not started the pre trip paperwork for trophy importation into the US. Conservation was considered the gold standard for the navigate the complex maze of regs and paperwork. I have not heard much positive or negative in the past few years . Has any one worked with them recently? or perhaps another firm . I may be a little behind on some paperwork and have not filed USFWS form 3-200-19 and would like to get some professional help to get a jump on any documentation. It is my first ele and completely overlooked this side of the pre hunt prep. Any thoughts or suggestions would be a great help.
kind regards

 

[375Fox]

You can use conservation force or Adventure permits. I used Adventure Permits but both get a lot of good reviews here. You can touch base with them and see approval times for Caprivi but they can’t really do much until you get your elephant. They’ll probably have your permit long before your trophies are actually ready to ship anyway. Also, all they are going to do is secure your import paperwork. You then send that to your normal broker (whoever you use) to actually clear your trophies at port of entry.

 

[Rare Breed]

I use Conservation Force due to they were the only ones who sued our government and won the right for the import of elephant to take place. Yes they are the most expensive but I have great loyalty to the firm that got us here not anyone else who reap their benefits of the fight, just me

 

[375Fox]

I use Conservation Force due to they were the only ones who sued our government and won the right for the import of elephant to take place. Yes they are the most expensive but I have great loyalty to the firm that got us here not anyone else who reap their benefits of the fight, just me

The pricing was the same for a long time. Conservation Force didn’t always have a dedicated permitting group, so they were slow until more recently. I was advised by two outfitters to use Adventure Permits when I made my choice in 2024. I think they are both the same speed now, but Adventure Permits is very responsive and easy to deal with. I’ll keep using them. Conservation Force definitely made it possible though.

 

[Scott CWO]

Greetings- I have an elephant hunt scheduled for September in Caprivi and have not started the pre trip paperwork for trophy importation into the US. Conservation was considered the gold standard for the navigate the complex maze of regs and paperwork. I have not heard much positive or negative in the past few years . Has any one worked with them recently? or perhaps another firm . I may be a little behind on some paperwork and have not filed USFWS form 3-200-19 and would like to get some professional help to get a jump on any documentation. It is my first ele and completely overlooked this side of the pre hunt prep. Any thoughts or suggestions would be a great help.
kind regards

Hi Bill. I think it is important to leave the party with the one who brought you. I think Conservation Force has earned our loyalty. They have facilitated the management plans for several countries for lion, elephant, etc… that led to importation. Here is a recent example that I posted earlier.

Thread 'Botswana USFWS elephant import permit update'

May 2, 2026

I have been a contributor to Conservation Force for many years. CF also did the successful USFWS Import Permits for my Botswana elephant, Tanzania lion, South Africa bontebok and Mozambique leopard. I just received an email with breaking news from John Jackson that is great news for Botswana elephant hunters.

As you may know, Conservation Force has a wildlife management MoU with the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks, was the primary funding sponsor of their National Elephant Management and Action Plan and assisted in the completion and implementation of that plan...

• Scott CWO
• Replies: 6
• Forum: News & announcements

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[Bill Thom]

You can use conservation force or Adventure permits. I used Adventure Permits but both get a lot of good reviews here. You can touch base with them and see approval times for Caprivi but they can’t really do much until you get your elephant. They’ll probably have your permit long before your trophies are actually ready to ship anyway. Also, all they are going to do is secure your import paperwork. You then send that to your normal broker (whoever you use) to actually clear your trophies at port of entry.

thanks for the speedy reply. I will reach out to both and see where it takes me. To be fair CF put in a lot of sweat equity (and risk) to get us here .The only way to keep people like that in business is to use their services. without organizations like that our international hunting opportunities would shrink.

 

[Bill Thom]

I use Conservation Force due to they were the only ones who sued our government and won the right for the import of elephant to take place. Yes they are the most expensive but I have great loyalty to the firm that got us here not anyone else who reap their benefits of the fight, just me

great point! I appreciate your input. After a long stint of overseas work I returned to the US to attend to family matters mostly all cleaned up not and realized I had not done much thinking or prepping for the Sept hunt. I spent a lot of time working in africa and shot mostly plains game on week ends and vacations. This would be my first hunt traveling from NYC. . I had given up on even considering elephant, lion and other CITES stuff so do feel a genuine obligation to give CF opportunity. They opened the door -trading the business away just because of lower price feels a little unethical.
cheers

 

[Bill Thom]

Hi Bill. I think it is important to leave the party with the one who brought you. I think Conservation Force has earned our loyalty. They have facilitated the management plans for several countries for lion, elephant, etc… that led to importation. Here is a recent example that I posted earlier.

Thread 'Botswana USFWS elephant import permit update'

May 2, 2026

I have been a contributor to Conservation Force for many years. CF also did the successful USFWS Import Permits for my Botswana elephant, Tanzania lion, South Africa bontebok and Mozambique leopard. I just received an email with breaking news from John Jackson that is great news for Botswana elephant hunters.

As you may know, Conservation Force has a wildlife management MoU with the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks, was the primary funding sponsor of their National Elephant Management and Action Plan and assisted in the completion and implementation of that plan...

• Scott CWO
• Replies: 6
• Forum: News & announcements

• 
• 

Thank you for weighing in on this. I procrastinated a little on this will pick up the phone nxt week. you make a solid case for going with them. Working with government agencies and officials in africa is laborious and frustrating. And that's before the Washington component is factored in. Most dont have the stomach for it .They got the ball over the goal line-cheers