Hunting in South Africa - Awesome !

SO if a guy were to start saying money now for a trip comparable to this, what's it going to cost? What are the trophy and improt fees on top of the hunt?

I'd love to go, but I'm thinking it would be a once in a lifetime event....
 
jjackman said:
SO if a guy were to start saying money now for a trip comparable to this, what's it going to cost? What are the trophy and improt fees on top of the hunt?

I'd love to go, but I'm thinking it would be a once in a lifetime event....
Click to expand...

The way we started is by checking out the package rates with our outfitter < http://w ww.sun-africa.co.za/ > (space added as per CGN rules), then we sent Pierre a series of e-mails asking all of the questions that we needed to figure out the overall cost and to get a better sense of how the hunt would be run.

Bear in mind that you will have gratuities for your PH, tracker and skinner (generally a per diem of US$100 for the PH and $10-$20 per day for the skinner and tracker respectively plus something for helpers, if you need them) as well as taxidermy and souveniers.

Some costs are spread out a bit (like the airfare, taxidermy and the deposit), the rest goes in more or less one shot soon after your arrival.

Pierre offers some very nice packages, starting at US$2,995 to $4,500. If you shoot more animals (off the trophy list), bring more cash or a Visa card with a good limit. :) Of course, you also have to get there. Let's just say, if you can fly on points (Aeroplan:D) you can save about $3,000 to $3,500 on airfair.

If you bear in mind that your accomodations, transportation to and from the airport in RSA (as well as during the hunt) together with food and beverages are included in the package price, it should be clear that adding a bonus animal or two to the package helps the outfitter a lot. Be prepared for that because, once you see how majestic some of these animals are, it becomes pretty hard not to add one or two to the list.

Anyways, check out his website. It isn't a very fancy site, but it gives you a reasonable idea of what is involved. By all means send the guy an e-mail. He was very good at replying and giving us all of the information we needed to make a good decision. By all means talk to other guys who have been there to get a good handle on what's involved. I really feel very happy with our choice, for sure.

Bottom line: be prepared for somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 as an overall cost, spread over a couple of years if you stick to a reasonable package and don't go overboard with the extras. Just my experience, your mileage may vary.;) Over the course of a lifetime, I'd say it's a pretty good investment. :)
 
Re taxidermy.
My Son and I are getting 3 shoulder mounts(kudu, gemsbok and mountain reddbuck) 5 skull/horn mounts (kudu,gemsbok, wildebeest, impala & springbok) a felted zebra rug for a hair under $3,000 US. air freight to Edmonton is $1500 US.

I paid for the airfare and a 20% deposit in 2006, $$11,000 Us including a wounded eland that was extra when I was there, we hunted 10 days, went to a national park first, tips were $800 us. I left behind all the camo clothes for the PH (it's very expensive in RSA) and brought 4 knives for the trackers($ 90 cdn). Bought my wife some really nice diamond earings in kimberly for $1800, with the taxidermy the whole deal for 2 10 days, 14 animals was about $26000 cdn.
 
Martinbns,
Is the $26,000 including the diamonds?;) Diamonds are an integral part of safari pricing, especially if you want to go back.
The freight quote you got sounds entirely reasonable, can you post the name of the company?
 
Dogleg said:
Martinbns,
Is the $26,000 including the diamonds?;) Diamonds are an integral part of safari pricing, especially if you want to go back.
The freight quote you got sounds entirely reasonable, can you post the name of the company?
Click to expand...

The $26k definitely included the $1800 cdn for the diamonds, I will post the company when i get home. It's stored on my home PC.
 
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