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Your chance to “tell me where to go”…I’m looking for some help selecting the location for my first African hunt. Keep in mind that right now I’m in the research stage, planning to book for 2009, and I’m so uneducated in all of this that I don’t even know if the animals I’d like to hunt can be found in the same general area.
The list of animals I’m really interested in hunting is pretty short and I bet fairly common: kudu, zebra, warthog, cape buffalo (budget allowing), bushpig, and gemsbok.



THIS IS STRICTLY MHO--SO HERE GOES--BASED ON THE GAME YOU SELECTED I WOULD SUGGEST PRIME CHOICES WOULD BE NAMIBIA OR SOUTH AFRICA--HOWEVER TROPHY FEES IN THOSE TWO AREAS ARE TYPICALLY QUITE HIGH COMPARED TO ZIMBABWE OR OTHERS FOR CAPE BUFFALO




The list of “would probably hunt them if available” animals includes eland, lechwe, wildebeest, waterbuck, and leopard.

AGAIN LECHWE THROWS ANOTHER INTERESTING ANGLE INTO THIS MIX--YOU CAN HUNT ALL OF THE ABOVE FOR SURE IN S AFRICA--AND PROBABLY NAMIBIA--




I’m not interested in hunting from a lodge- I’d much prefer a remote camp of some sort. Also, while I don’t want the travel accommodations to dictate the hunting, I’d give some consideration for ease of getting to the final destination from a commercial air travel standpoint (my experience in hunting the continental U.S. is that more airlines and/or more flights = exponentially more likelihood that your guns either arrive late or don’t arrive at all…maybe African travel is different).



LOGISTICALLY, ONE OF THE MOST SIMPLE AGAIN IS SOUTH AFRICA OR NAMIBIA--HOWEVER ZIMBABWE IS QUITE EASY TO TRAVEL TO AS WELL--HOWEVER WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL BE GOING ON THERE BY THEN...I HAVE NOT TRAVELED TO THE OTHER AREAS SO HAVE NO OPINION..

THESE ARE TYPICALLY NOT THE TENTED HUNTS YOU MAY HAVE READ ABOUT-ALTHOUGH I AM SURE THEY ARE AVAILABLE--FOR THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF AMERICAN GREENBACKS..
THIS IS A BUSINESS LIKE ANYTHING ELSE AND THEY ARE IN IT FOR PROFIT--IF THEY ARE GOING OUT SETTING UP TENTS, EXTRA MANPOWER, ETC. --IT ALL COSTS MONEY...




Lastly, some consideration must be given to the fee structure for licenses and trophy fees. It seems that some locations require you to buy licenses/tags for any animal you want to hunt before the hunt itself starts (like we do in the U.S.) and others allow you to pay trophy fees only on animals that you’ve actually killed (or wounded). If possible, I’d like to avoid getting raped on government taxes/fees for animals, firearms, etc.



AT THIS JUNCTURE YOU DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO BOOK IN TANZANIA

AS FOR PLAINS GAME, DAILY RATES, ETC.. AGAIN IMHO, SOME OF YOUR BEST BETS WILL BE NAMIBIA OR SOUTH AFRICA--A VERY HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FIRST TIMERS GO TO THESE AREAS PRECISELY FOR THE REASONS YOU DESCRIBED. YOU MAY WANT TO SCRATCH THE DANGEROUS GAME ON THE FIRST TRIP AND GET YOUR FEET WET ON PLAINS GAME--JUST A THOUGHT..

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF ADVICE I CAN TELL YOU IS TO CHECK REFERENCES.. CALL SEVERAL..GET STRAIGHT ANSWERS..

ANOTHER IS TO USE A QUALIFIED BOOKING AGENT--IF FOR NOTHING ELSE BUT ACQUIRING INFORMATION..

THERE ARE MANY MORE CONSIDERATIONS, HOWEVER THIS SHOULD GIVE YOU A GOOD START..

GOOD LUCK
RIPP