Thinking Africa in 2017 or 2018

Gatehouse

Gatehouse

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Pemberton BC
I'm thinking a few things about Africa...

For starters, I'm in the tourism business and my really busy time is June 1 to Sept 30. Little business in October and November, and not much in Dec until the holidays and then it really picks up at the end of January. So for me the ideal time is Oct 1 to Jan 25 or so.

I've thought about Africa for years but time was always an issue. I understand that these times aren't great though....

On the other hand, I don't really care about getting "trophy" animals. I'd love to hunt buffalo and some plains game, but I really don't care how big they are. I might retain some skulls and such but I've got some taxidermy and it isn't something that really excites me any more. No interest in real "exotic" stuff like giraffe, lion or leopard either. And I've never had a desire to kill an elephant. From a 'trophy' standpoint, the only thing that get's me going are big blacktails, big bears and legal size sheep.

When I reflect upon about 30 years or so of hunting, in much of BC, and killing some pretty big deer, bear and moose...I think about what really appeals to me- meat (won't be bringing that back from Africa, but I will be eating it there!!) fun in the bush (I'm sure that's very attainable in Africa) and Adventure ( completely new hunting experience on another continent would qualify for sure!)

So- given the times of year I have, and the thoughts of more adventure and little emphasis on trophy (I would actually rather shoot 2 animals with broken horns than one with really big horns but obviously no hunter is truly against shooting big horns :) ).....What would some of you guys suggest?

I know CFBMI and Dogleg and a few others have quite a bit of Africa experience, so let's hear it!! :)
 
Here are my two cents. I know that you're an avid hunter and to my mind you won't find a "ranch hunt" in RSA or Namibia particularly satisfying. It's a little like fishing in a stocked lake. yes, you know that the animals are wild and they're likely on a ranch larger than their actual range would be. But in the end, it's really managed, put and take hunting.

It will cost more money, but I would recommend looking at a hunt in the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe or Northern Mozambique. These hunts are on large concessions (the area I hunted in Zimbabwe was 500,000 acres and bordered several other comparably-sized concessions and communal areas) and the experience will be as close to the sort of hunting we do in North American as you can get. What I mean by that is that you will hunt out of a camp and sleep in tents. Now, these camps and tents aren't on par with a wall-tent camp in the Yukon, far from it. they're more "Luxury Rustic". Some people would call it "Glamping" but I wouldn't put it quite on that level. We had wood-fired hot water and outdoor showers and the cooks worked with wood-fired stoves and ovens and turned out excellent meals (you of all people will want to watch this process - it's impressive).

Prices will likely be pretty comparable between the places that I mentioned before. A consideration is that if you're going to Zimbabwe you cannot take your own firearms legally. Now, this can be good and bad. The cost of renting a rifle and ammunition is pretty minimal, and the convenience of traveling without firearms cannot be understated. But in the end you're not hunting with your own rifles and, for a big guy, you just can't be certain that the rifle will fit or the scope will be in the right place for you.

Also worth thinking of is that come October it's going to be getting pretty warm in the hunting areas but that's not an entirely bad thing. Less water lying around means that it will be easier to find game. I wouldn't hesitate to go during that time of the year.
 
I suggest Australia.... Its no Africa but Boy it feels like it when your up in the North... but excess humidity :)


Buffalos...
Pigs..
and Some Deers which eat well..


and if you were serious about it I can proberly line it up for Half the price of Africa :) between me and a few buds up there.

You would need to fly to the north and then to the South though for the deers.


food for thought

WL
 
Australia isn't a bad idea. After having worked in Whistler for a coupel of decades, I've got tonnes of Aussie friends, too. :)

What's it like bringing a rifle to Australia?
 
Bringin em in is not bad , depends on your end but ive taken a Rifle to NZ and back.. all is good aslong as it isn't a Semi/Auto AR type rifle LOL


few papers to sort out which they do like close to the depature date, its quite good with Customs

WL
 
Namibia in the north there are some big concessions, or low fenced ranches.RSA the North Cape into the Kalahari for gemsbok.
 
I'll add a couple of points to the suggestions above. We typically hunt March to End Oct. After that it is too hot and the animals just stay in the stick stuff and use the cover of night to move. So October will work. If you are not after trophies and not going to bring any taxidermy back you could think of a cull hunt or a combo trophy/cull hunt. It significantly decreases prices. You also mentioned Cape Buff in your post, if you after the trophy by all means hunt a bull, but if you are just after the experience perhaps a cow hunt would work, basically the same scenario/hunt but much less expensive. As for the meat aspect you are correct you won't be bringing any back so tell your outfitter you want game for B/L/D :) Some areas are more diverse for game in regards to quality, numbers and different species within the same ares. An example would be hunting croc/buff/hippo up along the RSA border with Mozambique. Good for those species but not as good for plains game. You may want to consider multiple locations. You also don't remark if you are hunting alone or with spouse and family/others or if you may want to do some tourism/fishing as well. I guess my last point is Africa offers quite varying experiences and adventures, from days of walking for a buff, to glassing plains game herds and making multiple stalks in a day. Have fun planning!
 
I wouldn't dismiss a game farm plains game hunt in South Africa as a first African hunt. The one animal that may not be satisfying to hunt in those conditions may be buffalo. I have hunted the Eastern Cape only once, but was very happy with the experience. It was not put and take, more like hunting on a private ranch in Western Canada, with good control of people and traffic and good range management for animals, but with little or no actual control of the animals themselves other than keeping them fenced in a huge area where they roamed at will.
It's a great way to get to know what African hunting is all about, is relatively low cost and accessible. It is real hunting in my opinion.
 
Watching with interest Gatehouse!

And I don't know about you, but NOT being able to take my own rifle would be a deal breaker!

Cheers
Jay
P.S. I know you love the 375 Ruger... Anyone know if it's gaining a following over there? Can you get ammo for it on the dark continent?
 
Hmmmm...... Gatehouse, we may disagree at times, after all, this is an online forum and that stuff happens, but I think your assessment both of yourself and your hunting career pretty much mirrors mine......

We are likely around the same age, and as i look to what I want to do, adventure tops my list...... I have sold off countless guns over the last year or two, taken up reloading and purchased a few guns that fill gaps with adventure in mind...... Like you, taxidermy does not overly interest me, except in a few rare cases, and even those cases involve euro or skull...... We live in the age of digital photography, and a simple and free picture is enough to evoke memories...... No need for a 4 figure mount, as that will only take up space and pull money from the adventure fund....

That's not meant to be critical to those that love the taxidermy, I would love to visit c-fbmi's trophy room one day......

Although I can assure you that Ontario is not the barren wasteland of hunting some proclaim it to be, I envy you in that I never had the priveledge to hunt BC...... I will be rectifying that next year as adventure number one.......

Good luck on your hunt..... Africa is the crown jewel for sure, but Australia sounds cool, and i have been looking into Argentina for buff as well....... I have some cheap options lined up in the near future including a hog hunt and a pheasant / chukar hunt as well as an opportunity to complete the turkey slam (I am missing a rio)......

The meat is important to me as well...... I am a damn good cook, have taken courses and enjoy don't everything from field to plate, but what I can say, is don't let the meat keep you from the adventure...... As long as it goes to use (IMOP).....
 
Jay said:
Watching with interest Gatehouse!

And I don't know about you, but NOT being able to take my own rifle would be a deal breaker!

Cheers
Jay
P.S. I know you love the 375 Ruger... Anyone know if it's gaining a following over there? Can you get ammo for it on the dark continent?
Click to expand...

Like most hunters, I would prefer using my own rifles, but it's not the end of the world if I couldn't, as long as there was something I liked to use. These days, I use so many firearms just about every day, that things get blurry about if I care that much about an individual rifle....Although I still have my faves I guess.

375 Ruger is all over popular African hunting destinations, available at all the gun shops. It's been very well embraced by local hunters, for the same reason it's been so popular here- affordable quality rifles, and excellent performance. Howa must be sending half their supply of 375 Rugers over there, as they seem to be very popular, and not surprising as they are good rifles at a great price point.
 
Best of luck with your plans.
I would suggest looking into a cull-type hunt, if you can find an outfitter willing to take you for that sort of experience.
If you want a contact in South Africa who might be able to help you out, send me a pm and I'll be happy to make the introduction.
During our first visit there (2007) several of our group used the outfitter's rifles (one was a Sako in .270 Win and the other a South African-made Mauser in .308 Win.).
Either way, might as well work in some other things to see while you're there. The Okavango Delta and dozens of tourist-worthy locations come to mind.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Here are my two cents. I know that you're an avid hunter and to my mind you won't find a "ranch hunt" in RSA or Namibia particularly satisfying. It's a little like fishing in a stocked lake. yes, you know that the animals are wild and they're likely on a ranch larger than their actual range would be. But in the end, it's really managed, put and take hunting.

It will cost more money, but I would recommend looking at a hunt in the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe or Northern Mozambique. These hunts are on large concessions (the area I hunted in Zimbabwe was 500,000 acres and bordered several other comparably-sized concessions and communal areas) and the experience will be as close to the sort of hunting we do in North American as you can get. What I mean by that is that you will hunt out of a camp and sleep in tents. Now, these camps and tents aren't on par with a wall-tent camp in the Yukon, far from it. they're more "Luxury Rustic". Some people would call it "Glamping" but I wouldn't put it quite on that level. We had wood-fired hot water and outdoor showers and the cooks worked with wood-fired stoves and ovens and turned out excellent meals (you of all people will want to watch this process - it's impressive).

Prices will likely be pretty comparable between the places that I mentioned before. A consideration is that if you're going to Zimbabwe you cannot take your own firearms legally. Now, this can be good and bad. The cost of renting a rifle and ammunition is pretty minimal, and the convenience of traveling without firearms cannot be understated. But in the end you're not hunting with your own rifles and, for a big guy, you just can't be certain that the rifle will fit or the scope will be in the right place for you.

Also worth thinking of is that come October it's going to be getting pretty warm in the hunting areas but that's not an entirely bad thing. Less water lying around means that it will be easier to find game. I wouldn't hesitate to go during that time of the year.
Click to expand...

i"m not against "Glamping" at all. I've spent enough time sleeping under tarps, in tiny tents, in snow caves and improvised shelters getting snowed and rained on that I find wall tents pretty luxurious, so the African camps would be very nice! :)
 
BigUglyMan said:
Here are my two cents. I know that you're an avid hunter and to my mind you won't find a "ranch hunt" in RSA or Namibia particularly satisfying. It's a little like fishing in a stocked lake. yes, you know that the animals are wild and they're likely on a ranch larger than their actual range would be. But in the end, it's really managed, put and take hunting.

It will cost more money, but I would recommend looking at a hunt in the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe or Northern Mozambique. These hunts are on large concessions (the area I hunted in Zimbabwe was 500,000 acres and bordered several other comparably-sized concessions and communal areas) and the experience will be as close to the sort of hunting we do in North American as you can get. What I mean by that is that you will hunt out of a camp and sleep in tents. Now, these camps and tents aren't on par with a wall-tent camp in the Yukon, far from it. they're more "Luxury Rustic". Some people would call it "Glamping" but I wouldn't put it quite on that level. We had wood-fired hot water and outdoor showers and the cooks worked with wood-fired stoves and ovens and turned out excellent meals (you of all people will want to watch this process - it's impressive).

Prices will likely be pretty comparable between the places that I mentioned before. A consideration is that if you're going to Zimbabwe you cannot take your own firearms legally. Now, this can be good and bad. The cost of renting a rifle and ammunition is pretty minimal, and the convenience of traveling without firearms cannot be understated. But in the end you're not hunting with your own rifles and, for a big guy, you just can't be certain that the rifle will fit or the scope will be in the right place for you.

Also worth thinking of is that come October it's going to be getting pretty warm in the hunting areas but that's not an entirely bad thing. Less water lying around means that it will be easier to find game. I wouldn't hesitate to go during that time of the year.
Click to expand...

That's a real world take. Save your money and even if it means an extra year avoid the South Africa / Namibia ranches in my opinion. I respect what they're doing and you can go there and actually strike out, but it's still not the dream we all picture when we think Africa. Zimbabwe for buffalo is spectacular, I wish I could go back tomorrow. Took mine on my last hunting day and actually figured I was about to strike out, still likely the best hunt I've enjoyed.
 
Tyler you should go there. My six month old son did, as did my two year old and wife, all miraculously survived. As have my aunt and uncle living there for the last fifty years and my grandfather. A few posters in this thread call RSA home as well, it's not Canada, but it's not Afghanistan either.
 
Ardent said:
Tyler you should go there. My six month old son did, as did my two year old and wife, all miraculously survived. As have my aunt and uncle living there for the last fifty years and my grandfather. A few posters in this thread call RSA home as well, it's not Canada, but it's not Afghanistan either.
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+1. Some of the biggest BS about Africa is how dangerous it is. The cities in RSA can be risky but you can say the same about the USA or even parts of Canada.

Most of my time in Africa has been spent working in Namibia. I wouldn't walk through downtown Windhoek at night but I won't do that in Washington, DC either. I have no worries in either place during the day. The biggest threat to your safety is on the highways and it's a very bad idea to drive at night.
 
Gate..........As with you my busy/money season is Apr - Oct virtually all of my hunts have been late, season hunts in the last 2 weeks of Oct. The heat can be very oppressive but I just learned to suck it up and bear it, or hunting in Africa would be out of the question for me. I found the hunting to be very productive this time of year as there are no leaves on the trees and you are there just pre-November rains in the south of the continent. The upside of hunting in Oct there, is the bugs are at their yearly low and I have yet to be bitten by a mosquito in Oct.
Don't rule out RSA or Namibia ranch hunts either, I hunted properties where I never saw a fence in 5 days of hunting and the game was born, lived and dies on these properties without ever seeing a fence or being herded or inhibited in any way. The multitude of habitats , open plains, mountains and bushy hill country held a vast and diverse quantity of game which never was encumbered by the miles away fences. These are not canned hunts and the game is neither fed nor managed beyond the numbers that may be taken by hunters, they live out their lives as though they were in unfenced concessions, and it is still very possible to lose a poorly hit animal, although the trackers are amazing. It is absolutely no easier than hunting unfenced Zambia or Mozambique.
Depending on your "must have" and extra "wish list", will determine where is best to go, as certain animals are indigenous only to certain regions. Buffalo are almost universal to southern and central Africa and are available in virtually any hunting country south of the equator, but I think Mozambique has the highest population density these days. They also have excellent waterbuck, puku, sitatunga and other plains game. It is (or was) relatively easy to import you own firearms.
RSA and Namibia are probably the easiest of all African countries to import rifles into but Zambia is also relatively easy if your PH does his job right as to the correct paperwork and permit. Zim, of course is forbidden these days but only by our Gov't. There are ways to do it but I can't expand on this here.
My biggest fear these days would not be my time in Africa as much as it would be the travel to and from, given all the current terrorist activities in Europe and about. Sooner or later they are going to hit an airport somewhere, and of course it will be a major one. It used to be possible to fly directly from some US centers to Jo'burg, which would be my choice nowadays. Jo'burg is the southern continent hub and regardless of where you go, you will likely hub out of Jo'burg.
 
Well, other than the heat, the news from some of you that October is still doable is heartening. :) I'm not a real fan of oppressive heat, unless I can cool off in a lake, damn, some of our summers here have been very hot, 35C often.

More thoughts on animals and "must haves"- When I first started thinking about Africa, it was about 1999, and I almost went, then a new well and septic system ate up my $20K for Africa! Heck, a man has to drink water and poop, so it was money well spent :)

But back then I figured I wanted a bunch of animals and taxidermy and the whole shebang. Now, I'm much older and like I said, I'm pretty much over taxidermy, as it's just more "stuff" and I try to keep it simple these days. These days, the only thing I would consider mounting is a Gemsbock, as I think they are one of the most beautiful animals, due to the colour contrasts. And the only thing that I care about being reasonably large would be a a kudu, since I think their horns really scream "Africa" to me. Although they have kinda funny looking faces/necks so I would only be interested in a skull mount. Ha Ha I know that's not what the kudu aficionados want to hear!

Must have would be buffalo- but it need not be a trophy specimen. More than happy with a smaller one or even better, with weird horns or an old one with a busted horn or whatever. And kudu...other than that, who cares! Whatever is around! I'm in Africa and hunting weird stuff! It doesn't get better than that! :)
 
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It starts with a dream. Do your homework, pick your friends' brains on the subject.
One downside is that our dollar has lost a lot of value against the US greenback in recent years and you can expect your expenses to be in USD.
Recently, I came across the current day rates for the Bubye Valley Conservancy in southern Zimbabwe. They were just over double what we paid in 2011 and 2013.
Your idea about an oddball buffalo isn't that outrageous. There are other fans of such "character" trophies.

Best of luck.
 
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