I have started gathering up all the info I can. I was looking over the prices for some various outfits, and the first thing I noticed is the HUGE spread on animal cost. It is all over the board.
Anyone know why this is?
Trophy quality less with the cheaper outfits?
I've been twice and both times I booked through Neil Summers at BSC. If you establish priorities including hunting style (spot and stalk or waterhole) a list of animals you're after and non-hunting related activities Neil can recommend on outfitter or two. Ken Moody and Dries Visser also get high marks but I've never worked with them.
The second trip we did we spent 15 days including 7 days each at two different outfits (Melorani and Tshepe) and I highly recommend this. It takes so long to get there you might as well stay and extra 5 days. Plus between these two outfits they're going to have nearly every animal you can imagine.
For example I'm booked again with Dries Visser for this July...but I'm also booked with Ken Moody for elephant in 2016. Both are Bowsite sponsors.
We've booked our third trip for July '14, and I worked it largely using the spreadsheet as mentioned above. I'd share it, but it wouldn't be of any use to anyone else. Two of us will be there for 15 days and a third for 9 days and that makes the daily rates change during the hunt as well as everyone being after different critters. But it does give you a broader picture.
This year we booked thru Neil Summers at BSC and he's been very easy to deal with. We'll see how the hunt turns out.
Our last trip was with Limcroma and I agree with Toby above that Hannes Ells will provide you with a great hunt at a reasonable price.
Best of luck to you.
Naturally it is not easy to find big trophies from these kind of places (unless you get lucky).
There are also a lot of farms that mainly locals use, prices are a lot lower than in bigger places.
You can have a really nice African experience with lot less money.
That's so very true.
At least some of the farms have hunts for the residents during the off-season and the prices are pretty attractive. From what little I know about it they do not provide nearly the services they do for us foreigners. At least some of these hunts are "bring your own tent, food, and water.
They also offer "meat" hunts to help cull the excess critters. Helps the farmers control the herd without the cost of helicopter roundups and such.
Some outfitters allow you to shoot culls and females at a very reasonable cost while your there, but not all of them put that on their price list.
It is important to keep in mind ( IMO ) that especially on a trip to Africa you should probably lean towards quality over deal. There are places over there that you can haggle and barter with for the best deal but most likely in the end you may not get the true professional bowhunting experience that you are looking for. Often times just getting your trophies home can be a huge hassle. That is unless you are bowhunting with a top shelf operation such as mentioned above. There is nothing worse than taking an exceptional trophy and then opening your crate several months later to see that the trophy you have a picture of is not what you received mounted in your crate.
In short the best operations work with the best people and a quality safari operation will take care of you from start to finish.
There have been some excellent choices mentioned above. Start there and I wish you the very best of luck wherever you wind up in SA. One thing is certain, prepare to get hooked on bowhunting there!!
Best regards, Scott Alberda
There are plenty of deals to be had, but you have to be smart about it. I lucked into having an ex-pat friend that got me on some good places that didn't do as much international business. Bow setups, ranch size, and camps varied, but I was willing to accept that given the price. We were also very mobile and moved onto the next place if not happy with what we were seeing. I would not recommend doing the same thing cold unless you are very flexible with expectations - IMO the most important thing is aligning your expectations with where you are going.
Also, buyer be ware on auction hunts. There are some that are good deals, but there are a lot that just cover enough of the base cost to get you hooked into the hunt, and net out to basically the same cost as booking direct.
But in general I prefer atmosphere of those smaller, more local outfits.
We've hunted with one "small" outfitter and one "large".
With the "small" outfitter we were guaranteed exclusive access with 2 hunters and 2 non-hunters. We had a great experience and dined with the family and PH's. We had a fantastic experience and killed a few head.
With the "large" outfitter it seemed as if there were different guest each evening. Hunters coming and going each day, it seemed.
We were very well taken care of, but with far less personal attention. My hunting partner actually had to request that the mayonnaise be on the inside of his sandwich.
But, we were put on a truckload of game and had a great hunt.
We're up for our third hunt in July. Maybe in another few trips I'll be able to decide which I really prefer.
