South African Safaris-----At a Sportsman Show last weekend I talked with a 'Safari' travel agent about a cape buff hunt and saw that the price to shoot one was $11,000 +/-. It's been a while since I was on safari but never in S.A. I was blown away that it cost so much so I asked, "Who sets the price for the buff?" Years ago I shot two buffs in Mozambique for like $350 a piece I'm guessing. 1963 was the year and a lot has happened since. Mozambique in some areas has started a come back but the graft and corruption and thievery is a problem. Also little infrastructure outside the big cities. I know for a fact that lions are a problem around some towns taking people down !!! A missionary wrote about it recently.

Anyway back to the buff hunt. The reply was that's what the safari outfit has to pay to BUY a cape buff. I assumed the buff would be bought at a ranch ?? and brought to some other ranch for a client to shoot. If this is true then I can see why the lion charge video is questionable. Especially since it looked canned.Yes, there can be fences and tele lines where lions may be but very unusual.....

My father lived in Africa and shot two lions---both with a double 500-450 and his opinion (and mine as well) was a client can use a bolt action on dangerous game but the PH is out of his mind to not have a double. Seldom is there time to work a bolt action fast enough to be of any use in close quarters. Dad owned at least a dozen doubles at one time or another, taking some in on trade or buying one and repairing it. He worked at the biggest gun shop in Harare as their gunsmith but I don't recall the store's name.

We had lots of great hunting but it was always in the tented safari which, IMO, is the only way to go.