questions for hunters who have been to africa

crunchiespg said:
i dont want to sound like an anti, but why on earth would you want to shoot an elephant?
one of the worlds most beautiful creatures, which is struggling against extinction...

i see hunting as a way to effectively manage the population of an animal. for example here in AB the Deer numbers surely need managing.. same for vermin animals like gophers or whatever.. with proper management hunting can improve the environment for animals. but shooting an elephant just seems to be a hobby for those who can afford it..

Elephants are hardly taking over are they? likewise a giraffe, hardly a challenge are they when you can literally walk up to a herd and take a shot.. i just cant see how shooting it is better than just seeing such magnificent animals in their natural environment..
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They announced today in RSA that they are going to cull elephants because the population is now double what they figure the land can handle. 20k in RSA, 165k in Botswana, too many in Namibia and Mozambique. They went unhunted for so long and poaching was controlled the populatiions have exploded. I for on ehave no desire to shoot one, but just think of an elephant as being equal to a couple of thousand whitetails.
 
martinbns,
The RSA announcement has been made before, and cancelled. Maybe this time they will do what needs to be done. Kuger has 20,000 elephants and sustainable habitat for 8,000. They would have to shoot 1000 a year just to maintain the numbers they have now.
 
jjohnwm said:
"well i admit i havnt researched the matter in depth, but a simple google search does say elephants are classed as endangered by the US and other main countries. as does the info at the zoo.. "

No need to explain your sources or lack of research, both are painfully obvious. You sure picked the right tooth to drill into if you wanted to hit a nerve.

Well-chosen avatar.
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oooh, arent we the cheerful one.

i said that i was open to now understand my figures may have been skewed, and as i have already said if it is good management then i have no problem with it.. i was wrong, and i learnt something. but unlike you i didnt have to get personal about it.

yes it is a nice avatar.. thank you.
 
Neo said:
Sound advice (from both you and Dogleg), but I have to confess that I've gone out and done just that -- booked a buff/leopard/sable/PG hunt in Zim for 2011. I agree 100% that it's a bit of a crapshoot. But the worst that can probably happen is a hunt cancellation and a return of the deposit -- which is being held in an offshore account in the Channel Islands until just prior to the hunt. The trick, obviously, is to be dealing with a PH whose reputation is above reproach -- which I'm quite satisfied is the case.
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The part I didn't say about booking in Zim 3 years from now is that I wouldn't do it because of the time factor, not the fear of losing the deposit. If you are planning to hunt in Zim 3 years from now and come 2011 events cancel your hunt, then you are starting to plan all over and you're 3 years older. Still, I'd bet you won't have a problem. I'm just a bit sensitive to the passing of years.

Cheers,
Dean
 
makid said:
The part I didn't say about booking in Zim 3 years from now is that I wouldn't do it because of the time factor, not the fear of losing the deposit. If you are planning to hunt in Zim 3 years from now and come 2011 events cancel your hunt, then you are starting to plan all over and you're 3 years older. Still, I'd bet you won't have a problem. I'm just a bit sensitive to the passing of years.

Cheers,
Dean
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Aren't we all... ;) You're right of course -- the real risk is the one we don't like to think about very much, the curve-balls life throws at us from time to time. And more often, it seems, as we get older.

Still, I can't feel too sorry for myself having to wait until 2011. The problem I was trying to get around was only being able to afford a major hunt every couple of years, and I'm already booked for a grizzly hunt in Alaska in 2009 :dancingbanana::p
 
I had an awesome hunt for plains game in Namibia. Also spent one week road tripping afterward. Would not change a single thing.

PM me for more details if you are interested
 
makid said:
Neo,

Sounds like a heck of o a hunt. Who are you hunting with? What area?

Dean
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Which one? :D

The grizzly hunt will be in September of 2009 in Unit 13. I'm not expecting a monster, as these are interior bears not costal brownies. But the hunt will be the last half of the month, so hair quality should be very good. The hunt will be with Jake Jefferson, who used to be the camp manager for Jim Bailey (who also operates in part of the same unit).

The Zimbabwe hunt will with John Sharp in the lowveld/Malangani area. For me, it's all about hunting leopard. But over the course of the 18 hunting days, we'll also be looking for buffalo, sable, giraffe and a variety of plainsgame.

Dogleg was right -- once you spend a day hunting in Africa, you're completely hooked. Damn him anyway! ;)
 
Ya, Damn me!:D Your hunt sounds like a good time. If a sable is on your list of things to do, picking it up as an incidental on a Zim hunt is the way to do it. They are hyper expensive, high dayrate items everywhere else. Myself, for the same trophy fee money I'd rather shoot either a NT elephant, a leopard, a bull and cow buffalo, 4 Kudus, 3 or 4 eland, 3 giraffes, 5 wildebeeste or some combination of the above. Obviously many people think differently, since the sable is one of the most highly prized antelope in Africa. I saw dozens of them in Zim. Quota can be tight.
I hope Zimbabwe doesn't self combust in the next 4 months, so I can get my elephant in July.
 
I hope Zimbabwe doesn't self combust in the next 4 months, so I can get my elephant in July.
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Chances are Mugabe will still be "alive and well and still in power", so everything should be OK.

Even if he leaves the scene in the next few months I would expect that the people who run the show would want the country to be governed in an orderly fashion. He can't stay in power forever, but I can't imagine that anyone there wants chaos.

(Have fun on your trip ! :))
 
Dogleg said:
If a sable is on your list of things to do, picking it up as an incidental on a Zim hunt is the way to do it. They are hyper expensive, high dayrate items everywhere else. Myself, for the same trophy fee money I'd rather shoot either a NT elephant, a leopard, a bull and cow buffalo, 4 Kudus, 3 or 4 eland, 3 giraffes, 5 wildebeeste or some combination of the above. Obviously many people think differently, since the sable is one of the most highly prized antelope in Africa. I saw dozens of them in Zim. Quota can be tight.
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Actually, to tell you the truth, I'm a bit indifferent to sable. Most PH's would think I must have been dropped on my head as a child, but I think the hands-down winner of the plains game beauty contest isn't the sable, but rather the nyala. Those things really, really trip my trigger.

Nevertheless, sable did end up on my bag list. The hunt as orginally booked was for leopard & buff over the course of 14 days. While I suspect that should be enough time to get a decent cat, I subsequently elected to upgrade to an 18-day hunt that included sable. If I get one, great. But what I was really solving for was tacking on 4 "insurance days" to the leopard hunt.

I'm still trying to figure out how to tell my PH that, after the leopard and buff, what I really, really want to get is a hyena. I can only imagine the look on his face :eek: But I can't help it -- I've just got a thing for predator hunting... :redface:
 
Neo,
Plenty of people have shot hyenas off baits, I'd like to call one in someday. I shot a jackal on my first trip, the PH jokingly told me it was free if I hit it and $100 if I missed. I made a 130 some yard offhand shot at the frontal chest with my .375, and offered to bet 100 bucks a shot on every jackal we saw. He didn't take me up on it, and just to be safe pretended not to see them after that.:D
I don't think you can ever go wrong by adding days to a cat hunt, or any hunt for that matter. Success rates are far from a sure thing, and many people take a few trys to get theirs.If I get my elephant this trip I'll start working on leopard next, with buffalo on the side.
A zone,
I think the election is this month, but uncle Bob probably already has the votes counted. I'm hoping for a good trip.
 
Neo said:
Actually, to tell you the truth, I'm a bit indifferent to sable. Most PH's would think I must have been dropped on my head as a child, :
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I get the same reaction when asked about sitatunga. I'm going to a place in northern Zambia this fall that is stiff with them apparently. I'll have a license and have included the trophy fee for one in my budget, but don't really mind if I get one or not. I'm told that the only reason people go there is for the sitatunga, but I'm going for the roan and sable.

I agree with you about the nyala btw.

Dean
 
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