ZIMBABWE: African Trails Safaris & PH Shingi - Don't Let The Website Fool You!

[Ontario Hunter]

I can understand the PH telling the client to shoot from the truck if he's not in shape to walk. That's a liability issue. The bit about paying for gas makes no sense to me. We did a LOT of traveling when I was hunting RSA and my PHs always paid for fuel with cards. Perhaps Zimbabwe is different? The national currency is such a joke from day to day that maybe buying with a credit card is not possible? Anyway, it is hard to believe either PH or operator would count on client having enough cash on hand to get the vehicle down the road. That really sounds incredible to me.

 

[Philip Glass]

I Am sorry to hear this tale but it has been told before. Sadly we have heard many bad reports of black PH's and the terrible areas they take clients to. I am sure Martin had some insight to share with you when you met.

 

[Betterinthebush]

I booked a hunt with an outfitter who advertises on BYH. But I found that out after research. Also, I did not book through BYH. I researched him thoroughly on here and through contacts in the business and booked directly only after weeks of work.

His communication was exemplary and he sent me a complete itinerary which I sat on for a while before committing while I had a chance to call his references and complete my research. He didn’t act “hot” for a sale. I didn’t act needy for a deal. Desperation for a deal or a sale seems to be a sure recipe for failure.

I’m only one hunt into my Africa hunting efforts. Now that I got wet, I’ve learned a lot, both here and personally on what to look for, specifically; what area(s) are going to provide me with the maximum opportunity for success, which operation(s) control/hunt/manage those areas, and which PH’s are most successful in pursuing the quarry I want to hunt in that area. Africa, IMO, is wildly different in all respects from my Alaska experiences, but only in location, climate and game. Clients that have never been to Alaska before are stunned to learn that you don’t have to kick a moose in the ass every morning to get it out of the way so that he can get out of the tent. Bear aren’t behind every tree and tussik. Caribou aren’t covering the tundra every day. Sheep get diseased. Some beautiful country is devoid of wildlife simply because of habitat or hunting pressure or winter die off. Same thing pretty much goes for every hunted animal in Africa.

So, research. Quarry first, area of abundance’s second, outfit and PH last. If it’s truly important to be successful, then you should be prepared to pay your good money for excellent service and success. For my money, skipping any of these steps and going after a deal before going after the game will lead to failure.

FWIW, I learned all this the hard way on an Interrior grizz hunt in the Alaska range. Despite my own years of experience I went for a cheap hunting deal with a guy I didn’t know and got exactly what I paid for. That’s on me.

 

[WAB]

Firearms hunting etiquette, or safety depends on where you come from. And where you actually are.
In my country, (EU), rifle is empty in car, transported in bag or case empty, unloaded in safe, loaded only in a hunt, or on the range.
Besides, that is the local law. No choice

But in Africa, if you have elephants or buffalo passing near camp in the night, perspectives are different.
It is not surprising that PH is asking for loaded rifle to be chambered and locked during DG hunt.

I have hunted Africa fairly extensively. My experience is quite different. Our rifles are NOT loaded in the vehicle.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The whole issue of how a gun is carried and the loaded condition of the gun while hunting is between PH and hunter.

The issue about ATS as a safari or hunting trip booking agent is different. I was curious so I started to read through their website this morning. Got through a couple of their bullet point presentation categories and it became obvious… the entire site is one big, dripping, “slathery slick”, buzz word laced sales pitch. Even beyond “To good to be true”. Huge red flag if I were considering them for planning a hunting trip. They could just as easily be a China-based, eco-safari shill using AI to generate an advertising website. Sadly, these operations reflect poorly on the whole industry and do an injustice to established and reputable companies like Atcheson.

I looked over the website and didn't see anything that looked terribly slimy. Appeared very well done. The orphanage fund angle seemed "unusual" but other than that I didn't see anything glaringly off base. Didn't care for the "we reserve the right to change anything at any time" clause but we have seen that in many operators. Perhaps more of a reflection on the instability of Zim in general than the outfitter. The PH reserving the right to declare an animal wounded and lost without blood seemed iffy but I'm not experienced enough with safari shopping to know if this is unusual. For my operator a lost animal required confirmation from PH and tracker that blood was on the ground.

 

[mdwest]

I have hunted Africa fairly extensively. My experience is quite different. Our rifles are NOT loaded in the vehicle.

My rifles aren’t loaded in the vehicles ever, anywhere… just not something I’m willing to do… if I don’t have 100% control over the weapon (I.e. my hands on it), there’s no round in the chamber…

I’m perfectly comfortable with a hot magazine and a cold chamber.. I’ll leave my rifle in that condition from the moment I start a hunt until the last moment of the last day of the hunt…

But if a round is in the chamber, my paws are on the gun…

The only exception(s) are my personal defense weapons… my ccw pistol and my home defense rifle stay “hot” 24/7/365..

 

[Smitty]

I can only go off what thar OP wrote. If bookyourhunt was going to pull their listing I’d hope they’d look into the accusations.

I had a problem on BookYourHunt last year, with the same outfitter! It involved charging booking fees and the quoted price changing by several thousand dollars. I sent BYH( bookyourhunt) the whatsapp conversation and Elephant Trails was removed from the site..... less than a week later they were back on. BYH sent me a message simply stating that BYH has spoken with Elephant Trails and they admitted their mistake and were warned and they promised not to do it again, so they were re-instated. I spoke with a previous hunter who had used them and was very upset with them as well, with similar problems about fees being raised AND not hunting in the promised area.
Ultimately, I decided not to hunt with them because I felt they were deceptive. NOTE: all my interactions were with the co-owner who lives in Florida and handles the bookings. I never interacted with Shingi. Still, I feel I dodged a bad experience.

 

[analog_peninsula]

I Am sorry to hear this tale but it has been told before. Sadly we have heard many bad reports of black PH's and the terrible areas they take clients to. I am sure Martin had some insight to share with you when you met.

In all fairness, I had a black PH on my Caprivi hunt for hippo, croc, and buffalo, and he was very competent and a skilled hunter. He also was on great terms with the locals, who treated him with great respect. I won’t say he was a sterling conversationalist, but his hunting and guiding skills were 100%.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

At that stage, it was too late!
With that red flag suddenly hoisted, the only option was - to take what Africa will offer next, and hope for best.
But this detail is very illustrative for any future clients.

Disagree, a call/couple messages to the “booking agent” gets you some insight quickly and cuts out the BS. That is predatory behavior on the outfitters part knowing many won’t call to “verify” he got his share from the booking agent. Additionally, if they are slow to pay, it’s his business he needs to have a solution and work around.

I also disagree on it being too late. You can always cut your losses at anytime and say bring me back to the airport. Knowing how/when to cut your losses is what sets great product managers, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, business owners and leaders a part from good ones. No one wants to be out their deposit, or any money they’ve invested but we’re all going to be faced with some no win situations in life and our ability to avoid bias when looking at it an say this is a dead product & it doesn’t fit the market, or too many red flags I need to walk away and start fresh elsewhere will ultimately cost us less in the long run.

As for the Black PH/Operator comment unless you’re an experienced African hunter (more than just RSA/Namibia) I feel you’re going to get burned more than you’ll be successful. I can name 1/2 a dozen Black PH’s/Operators in Zim that are all extremely shady. Nixon is one of the exceptions, but his hunts aren’t a fraction of market value and he was hunting prime areas. Proper research would lead one to the areas and trophy quality first. Peter Chipman in Zambia is another exception. I think Zim has a little more of an issue than many other countries because of the 51% laws, the corruption, the number of “once” white farms, and the ministers ability to circumvent Zim Parks issuing licenses to those who don’t necessarily know a lot about hunting. One doesn’t need to be a licensed PH in Zim to be an Operator.

 

[DieJager]

After @Smitty his story this is becoming a pattern so this is a boost to the credit of the OP.

 

[BJH65]

I also disagree on it being too late. You can always cut your losses at anytime and say bring me back to the airport. Knowing how/when to cut your losses is what sets great product managers, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, business owners and leaders a part from good ones. No one wants to be out their deposit, or any money they’ve invested but we’re all going to be faced with some no win situations in life and our ability to avoid bias when looking at it an say this is a dead product & it doesn’t fit the market, or too many red flags I need to walk away and start fresh elsewhere will ultimately cost us less in the long run.

I strongly disagree with you. During our Mozambique hunt 30 years ago, we were the second group to hunt after the end of their 17 year long civil war and the country just reopened for hunting. It would require a very lengthy separate story, hell I could write a book about it, but demanding to be taken back to the airport probably 700 miles away wasn’t even remotely an option.

Actually, the backgrounds you mentioned would probably be extremely ill prepared to handle the situations we faced but a military background would help. Sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation and that may involve sticking it out, in third world countries, making demands like, “take me back to the airport “, that isn’t always an option.