Maddog
.224 member
Reged: 15/06/05
Posts: 39
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Cazadero, sure sounds like you got mixed up with a couple of questionable outfits in RSA.
blacks, my son and I did our 2nd safari, this last summer. We went to Zim for a dangerous game hunt, and shot cape buff, tuskless ele, and hippo. It was a lot more remote and "wild" than RSA. However given what you AND your wife are looking for you will be able to fill the bill very nicely in RSA. Just make sure you do your homework, as far as checking out the outfitters on your short list. Good luck in your search.
Maddog
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mikeh416Rigby
.450 member
Reged: 24/02/03
Posts: 6051
Loc: The beautiful Oley Valley, PA....
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Quote:
blacks, here is a link to the hunt report I posted back in 2008, over at AR.
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6321043/m/304103498?r=304103498#304103498
Maddog
Maddog, rather than refer member to AR, please post the hunt report on NitroExpress. Thanks
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40727
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Tim,
A good question is to ask if you will have exclusive use of the camp and/or hunting area.
If you're there with your wife, you might like to enjoy the place by yourselves. Many do. Other hunters being there can be a bit of a lottery ...
Plus also if the hunting area is not very large, it means you are restricted or bump into each other. As a client you are paying good money so to me that is not acceptable. I also enjoy it by myself, not needing company to entertain me. Up to each person of course.
But at least work out what you want, and then try to book it that way and with that requirement.
As Cazadero said, get the details of the camp specified and again make that a requirement. If you wife is expecting lovely thatched bandas or cottages and you end up with tents or even concrete block sheds, you enjoyment will decrease rapidly ... 
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40727
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Quote:
Greetings Blacks, and here's hoping that your trip to Africa is only the first of many.
It took me three times to Africa before I got it right, but rather than just tell you my opinions, I'll start by sharing some facts about my trips, starting with the first two to South Africa. I won't name any names, but I will swear that everything here is absolutely true.
Cazadero,
Consider naming the outfitters. It is good for adverse hunt reports to be posted as well as positive ones.
Running out of fuel on the road, tented camps instead of "Five Star" camps etc as you listed really is sloppy outfitting and not honest (IMO) to sell a hunt that way.
Also the hunt auction where the trophy fees were supposed to be covered but they claimed they weren't is just crooked business practices.
Up to you if you want to name them, or not.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40727
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Gentlemen,
Per what Mike posted above.
Please also note. Please bring your reports TO NE. If a question is asked here, its not kosher to send members to a competing forum. We work hard to provide an entertaining and informative environment to members and visitors.
We regularly have photos pinched from this site and appearing with new watermarks on competing sites. We have created a HUGE resource of photos of many guns for the benefit of members and visitors here. Hundreds of hours of work.
Another guy regularly copies double rifle photos from this site, posts them with no reference or recognition to another site, and then gets accolades for what he claims to have produced. We know they came from here, because some gunmakers made the photos ONLY available to NE and even specified they were not to be posted on a particular website. The gunmaker would be upset to now see them "over there", so we don't make waves. Not all websites are viewed the same by the "trade".
I found a NE Team member's article on another site this week, completely copied to the competing site. The author was consulted and did not even know about it.
We had direct links to the huge Nickudu Files of online books, articles etc once made on another site, effectively bypassing NE. On request the links were changed to the forum posts instead.
All of that stuff takes a lot of time to produce. Much easier for people just to pinch it.
If you want to continue enjoying this forum, please support NE.
After all what reaction would a person get, if he walked into a Ford dealership and started approaching customers telling them to go across the road to the General Motors dealer across the road, where there was a nice car, just what they are looking for ...
Most forums just delete that sort of stuff immediately. We try to act with flexibility for the benefit of members. And we don't make anything from this site. We have sponsors but they don't pay all the bills.
Most people know the major forums on the net anyway. So can go to them if they wish.
So please support the site you are on, if you want it to continue with good original material. And thanks to the members who support this site with their material, plus our own.
***
Back to Tim's enquiry. He has started a good thread here on NE.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
Edited by NitroX (18/12/11 04:31 AM)
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blacks
.275 member
Reged: 17/03/11
Posts: 83
Loc: South-East South Australia
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Good point John, and yes please do name them Cazadero. Just like good operators who deserve to be reccommended and whom we should know about, we deserve to know who not to book with, just as the shonks deserve to be outed.
Regardless, those are the sort of things one hears about and dreads occurring...hopefully pesting good folks for lots of information on NE will help avoid this!!
Regards all
blacks
PS, If anyone has any positive (or negative) opinions and experiences with Chris Troskie, KMG Safaris (Marius Goosen) or Crusader Safaris, I'd love to hear it!!
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You won't shoot anything at home on the couch...
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Maddog
.224 member
Reged: 15/06/05
Posts: 39
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John, sorry about posting the link to the hunting report. I'm not good at the cut/past thingy. The man wanted some info on hunting RSA. That report is 3 yrs. old. If I've offended anybody, I'm sorry. Guess I'll not try to help anybody here again.
Maddog
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tophet1
.400 member
Reged: 15/09/07
Posts: 1873
Loc: NSW, Australia
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Maddog,
I'm sure we will value your contributions. I'ts just now you are aware of the expectations on this forum and I'm sure the moderators don't expect you to be a mind reader. You must admit, it is a very civilsed forum.
Blacks is a good bloke and we are all trying help him as best we can. He is one of us, like you, a hunter.
Blacks, you have some of your parameters set for you and your stated goials. 'Maintain Objective' is an old miitary maxim that will hold you in good stead.
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blacks
.275 member
Reged: 17/03/11
Posts: 83
Loc: South-East South Australia
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Maddog, no worries mate, I appreciated tha info and now we all are aware of how best to do it next time. If I can come home half as successful as you I'll be one happy hunter. Stick with it!
Tophet, much appreciated mate. Yes I have a much clearer picture now of what it is I want to achieve and how. Now just to make it happen. It's made much easier by blokes like yourselfves and the others on here that will take time out of their day to help blokes like me.
Is it wrong that everytime I now walk into my gunroom or shed I am looking sideways for things I can sell?
hehe
blacks
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You won't shoot anything at home on the couch...
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Azone
.224 member
Reged: 17/07/11
Posts: 30
Loc: Alberta, Canada
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I would suggest that you speak with someone who has been there before and who can attest to the type of experience they had.
Our first safari was in 2007 in the Eastern Cape. The hunt was arranged based on a personal recommendation from a friend and local outfitter (here in Alberta). My friend described his recommendation as "an honest and hard-working outfitter...the real deal".
Coming from an outfitter that I knew, I'd have to say that his review was both serious and flattering of the recommended outfitter. I am quite happy that we relied on the recommendation.
We had an incredibly satisfying hunt with seven friends for ten days. To this day I get a big smile when I think of our safari. It was simply amazing.
Quick Post-script - two of our 2007 group booked a return engagement with our outfitter in late May of 2011. The seven-day hunt was done on day rates and trophy fees (unlike the package deal of our first safari). It was a wonderful experience and great to be back.
Do your homework and talk to the references!
(Incoming pm.)
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40727
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Quote:
Maddog,
I'm sure we will value your contributions. I'ts just now you are aware of the expectations on this forum and I'm sure the moderators don't expect you to be a mind reader. You must admit, it is a very civilsed forum.
Blacks is a good bloke and we are all trying help him as best we can. He is one of us, like you, a hunter.
Blacks, you have some of your parameters set for you and your stated goials. 'Maintain Objective' is an old miitary maxim that will hold you in good stead.
Yes we value contributions and members experiences and knowledge. The comments were not specific to one poster, but more of a reminder over time. And the treatment is no different from 99% of forums. most of whom just delete such links immediately. Some even send abusive PMs to the poster. JM you can guess which one.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40727
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Quote:
Quick Post-script - two of our 2007 group booked a return engagement with our outfitter in late May of 2011. The seven-day hunt was done on day rates and trophy fees (unlike the package deal of our first safari). It was a wonderful experience and great to be back.
Do your homework and talk to the references!
(Incoming pm.)
A good point is "return business". Any business which has return customers must be doing something satisfactory.
A REALLY good question for any referee clients is:
"Would you book another hunt/safari with this outfitter/PH/Concession? If not, why not?"
Because I can say, I would give an OK reference for some outfitters or PHs, but won't probably rebook with them again.
An example. I hunted with one very competent guy. Serious dangerous game experience, a CV which included some of the best names in the outfitting business. He conducted the safari given the circumstances well. It was on balance successful. But I wouldn't rebook with him because he was immature. And he constantly talked about his "rich clients" and the inference was "it was a pity I didn't have more money and wasn't richer" and "a lear jet at the strip so we could fly to the coast for a day off".
A small thing, which one just shrugs off during a hunt, but no intention to book with the guy again.
Very instructive question if answered honestly by the referee.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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Cazadero
.375 member
Reged: 17/10/11
Posts: 561
Loc: Texas
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You all are probably right about posting a hunt report that in spite of being negative is fairly represented and intended to be good information for the other members here, so I'll probably put one together in January that includes a name, hopefully in time for anyone going to Dallas or Reno.
Meantime, try this link. Sure like that Sony night vision, but it only reaches so far. The lights in the far background are the Kapenta boats fishing near the Zambian side. Other than that, the only light was the stars above and my flashlight.
I woke up at about 2:00 am listening to the sounds of someone dragging a broom across the grass outside, and I had to look even though we had been instructed NOT to go out of the chalet at night...
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%...amp;view=videos
An early Merry Christmas to all from South Texas!
Edward
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CHAPUISARMES
.416 member
Reged: 16/01/08
Posts: 2908
Loc: DUBBO, NSW, AUSTRALIA
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Hi Blacks,
I just posted an article that I put together last September but seeing your asking sensible questions I thought that the time may be right, I sent you an Email which is the same as the post.
Cheers for now,
Jeff Gray
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blacks
.275 member
Reged: 17/03/11
Posts: 83
Loc: South-East South Australia
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Just had a look at that is an excellent and comprehensive reference. Many thanks for taking the time Jeff - will talk to you in the next few days mate.
Regards
Tim
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You won't shoot anything at home on the couch...
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controlled_feed
.300 member
Reged: 23/05/08
Posts: 227
Loc: NSW, Australia
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Slightly OT, but still relavant. Australia now has an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and you CANNOT export firearms to Zimbabwe under a normal Restricted Goods Permit. You have to contact DOD in Canberra and apply for a special permit.
The person I know that encountered this stumbling block got the permit with no problems, but it took longer than a standard RGP.
FYI
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I was born 100 years too late
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FATBOY404
.400 member
Reged: 14/11/09
Posts: 1730
Loc: QLD
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Quote:
Slightly OT, but still relavant. Australia now has an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and you CANNOT export firearms to Zimbabwe under a normal Restricted Goods Permit. You have to contact DOD in Canberra and apply for a special permit.
The person I know that encountered this stumbling block got the permit with no problems, but it took longer than a standard RGP.
FYI
Thats why I went to RSA first. 
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"WHATEVER BLOWS YOUR HAIR BACK"
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controlled_feed
.300 member
Reged: 23/05/08
Posts: 227
Loc: NSW, Australia
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The person I speak of was told that it didn't matter where he went before hand. If DOD found out he went into Zim with a firearm without the proper paperwork from here, he would be in deep doodoo.
It wasn't a big hassle just extra paper work.
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I was born 100 years too late
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40727
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Quote:
The person I speak of was told that it didn't matter where he went before hand. If DOD found out he went into Zim with a firearm without the proper paperwork from here, he would be in deep doodoo.
It wasn't a big hassle just extra paper work.
The usual bureaucratic crap for nothing.
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John aka NitroX
...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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