Africa Recommendations

[Gunnersdad49]

I know this is an older thread, but wanted to ask if you got the taxidermy done in Africa or stateside. Awesome pics.

I had mine done in Africa. My reasoning was that they see thousands of these animals, while a US taxidermist might see a couple a year. That and the cost was about half of what a US taxidermist charges. With shipping, I think the mounts there vs here and the larger shipping crates for finished mounts is probably a wash. If you are doing Euros, I definitely see better quality from US taxidermists.

I think you would be fine doing it either way, cost will be similar.

 

[Rick M.]

I had mine done in Africa. My reasoning was that they see thousands of these animals, while a US taxidermist might see a couple a year. That and the cost was about half of what a US taxidermist charges. With shipping, I think the mounts there vs here and the larger shipping crates for finished mounts is probably a wash. If you are doing Euros, I definitely see better quality from US taxidermists.

I think you would be fine doing it either way, cost will be similar.

Thank you! All and all, if you don't mind me asking, what was the total cost of your Africa hunt? I mean when you factor in flights, PH fees, tipping, etc. Thanks again!

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Thank you! All and all, if you don't mind me asking, what was the total cost of your Africa hunt? I mean when you factor in flights, PH fees, tipping, etc. Thanks again!

Roundtrip flights from Denver to Johannesburg were about $1600 per person. We flew coach, but the booze is free on Delta international flights, so we managed.

The hunts all varied, my buddy shot a cape buffalo, and we did a 5 day dedicated hunt for that. His hunt was about $10k plus tips and taxidermy. I did a plains game hunt, 6 days, and got an eland, impala, gemsbok and paid about $3500 plus tips. Another trip was won in a raffle, so we just had to tip. It is easy to spend tons of money, but you can do it all-in including taxidermy for under $10k.

Most places have a menu of sorts. They have a base rate for a plains game hunt, typically including an animal or two. Then if you add animals, they are each priced by the species. So adding a kudu may add $2500 or a warthog may be $400 and a wildebeest could be $900, etc. We found that getting in good with the PHs allowed us to opt for "cull" animals if we wanted. So if the book price for a wildebeest is $900, and we saw an older bull with smaller horns, we were able to add it for $450.

Things to consider in your budgeting are tips for the PH, cook, housekeepers, and trackers. Also taxidermy, shipping, and a US customs broker.

 

[Rick M.]

Roundtrip flights from Denver to Johannesburg were about $1600 per person. We flew coach, but the booze is free on Delta international flights, so we managed.

The hunts all varied, my buddy shot a cape buffalo, and we did a 5 day dedicated hunt for that. His hunt was about $10k plus tips and taxidermy. I did a plains game hunt, 6 days, and got an eland, impala, gemsbok and paid about $3500 plus tips. Another trip was won in a raffle, so we just had to tip. It is easy to spend tons of money, but you can do it all-in including taxidermy for under $10k.

Most places have a menu of sorts. They have a base rate for a plains game hunt, typically including an animal or two. Then if you add animals, they are each priced by the species. So adding a kudu may add $2500 or a warthog may be $400 and a wildebeest could be $900, etc. We found that getting in good with the PHs allowed us to opt for "cull" animals if we wanted. So if the book price for a wildebeest is $900, and we saw an older bull with smaller horns, we were able to add it for $450.

Things to consider in your budgeting are tips for the PH, cook, housekeepers, and trackers. Also taxidermy, shipping, and a US customs broker.

Man, that sounds like an amazing experience for the money, especially considering elk and muley's stateside are beginning to average $7500 and up. Africa has always been on my bucket list, hunting or otherwise. Cheers.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

It was on mine too. I really enjoyed the experience, and justified it similarly; I couldn't do a guided elk hunt in my home state for less than 4 animals I never get to encounter on the other side of the globe. Watching the warthogs and monkeys and everything else was pretty amazing. I really also enjoyed seeing the similarities and differences in US hunting vs African hunting styles and such.

 

[Sevens]

You might look into a consulting group like Neal and Brownlee. It’s usually a little higher priced but they take all the guess work and have worked out most of the logistical issues.

Used Greg Brownlee to book both my safaris so far. Makes it super simple. Highly recommend them to setup your safari. Did Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Liked both, but felt Moz was prettier.

Just let him know what you want, budget, and he can get you options to consider.

 

[Wapiti1]

Used Greg Brownlee to book both my safaris so far. Makes it super simple. Highly recommend them to setup your safari. Did Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Liked both, but felt Moz was prettier.

Just let him know what you want, budget, and he can get you options to consider.

I second Greg. He's done 2 of my overseas trips. Great guy to work with.

Jeremy

 

[left field]

I'm currently in Cape Town at the end of a 12-day birthday party and non-hunting safari with 20 friends. I rented a car and drove throughout the cape and had zero problems, other than turning on the wipers when I wanted to signal. Right side driving in a stick shift took some getting used to.

I must have missed all these political issues.

off topic, but....I want to go with my wife and two teens (16 son, 14 daughter) on a non-hunting safari....just to see/experience Africa. thoughts/recommendations?

The place we stayed at was a bush safari just south of Kruger. https://www.simbavati.com/lodges/river-lodge/

High-end tents/structures and open top land rovers. I was shocked on how many animals we saw: lions with 8-week-old cubs, elephants, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, leopards, warthogs, wildebeest, baboons, crocs, buffalos, every type of antelope and gazelle, hippos, wild dogs. I finally asked for small stuff, like a dung beetle, and 20 minutes later my tracker pointed one out.

Our camp was unfenced, so at any given moment you would have animals walking through. I was also amazed on how close you could get to an animal. Lions would walk within a metre of the truck.

And like all these lodges, everything is taken care of and you leave a few pounds heavier.

DM if you need details and suggestions for Cape Town which is beautiful.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

Any guy going on an African Safari with his wife first needs to read "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Hemmingway.

 

[safarihunter]

I have been to SA once in 2005 and I will be going in 3 weeks with a different Outfitter. Best way is to find a local Safari Club International (SCI) Chapter and email the board and find out if they have any events coming up. Go and Talk to the members about their own trips out there. If your located in Michigan there a bunch of awesome SCI Chapters with awesome Information sharing members.

I second this. Additionally they might have a fundraiser auction, with donated hunts that can be really good deals. At the very least that's what SCI Michigan does. Plus a number of Outfitters go to the shows, so you can actually meet and talk with them (which is nice to do in person before traveling around the world to hunt with someone)