It was decided last weekend that a buddy and I with spouses will be hunting in southern or eastern Africa sometime in 2007. I will be hunting for buffalo and maybe a little plains game and my hunting partner will be on plains game only. This will be my fifth trip to Africa and Phils sencond, but the first buff hunt for me.

My hunting partner, Phil, will be 72 in 2007 and walking long distances may be tough for him. My questions are what areas should we be looking at for this type of adventure? As much as I would like to hunt Mozambique, I beleive this may be tough walking. So, my thoughts are leaning to Zim or Tanzania. And who knows where Zim will be in 2 years.

Sencondly, is this too early to begin the planning stages of this hunt?

Should we consider 1 week buff hunting somewhere and then transferring to another location for plains game? This uses up hunting days and costs additional airfares/transfer costs.

Your thoughts, suggestions and experiences would be appreciated.

Thank you,
BigBullet

If you're taking your spouses and one of the clients is elderly then I'd suggest you forget Mozambique. It's tough hunting and unless you're careful about when you hunt it's damn hot.......generally the camps are considerably less comfortable than most other countries in Africa.

Zim will offer you an inexpensive alternative but as you say, who knows what the situation will be by 2007.

A Tanzanian 7 day licence will allow for 2 Buff and a handful of plains game per licence.....so that's one good alternative. You'll also probably get to shoot a few extra animals for camp meat. If you need to find out which animals are available on which licence you'll find details on my website.

If you made the hunt a 2 centre one, you'll certainly get a lot more animals but obviously cost and time committments escalate.

A lot of our clients opt to hunt 7 days in Tuli Block Botswana for plains game before moving up to Tanzania for Buffalo etc..... It's a great hunt and a wonderful experience for the non hunters - but as I say, more expensive.

If money isn't your first criteria you might also consider adding on a photo safari/side trip to Serengeti or the Ngorongoro Crater etc...... a truly wonderful experience.

BigBullet,

First: Congratulations on the decision to go for the big ones! I often see advice on this forum about guys being told to go for buffalo on a first Africa hunt. IMHO you, with 4 safaris under the belt, are just about ready for it now.

The only part I'm going to comment on is: No it is not too early to start planning. Planning is part of the fun, and the earlier you start the more fun you have. Do yourself a favor and go see what advice I have on my web site about planning a safari.

Regards,

Andrew McLaren

Andrew, Steve,

Thank you for your comments and thoughts....anyone else?

BigBullet

If I were in your shoes I would contact a well known agent with a good reputation. Keith Atcheson would be my fisrt choice.

I would give him all the details you have given us and then ask him if there is a way to book with one of Zim's better outfitters(Russ Broom comes to mind) for 2007 while keeping the option of canceling and regrouping if Zim falls apart.

I would bet that Keith can set this up while keeping all your money here in the states until the trip happens. There would be several advantages to going this route.

Jason

BigBullet,

We are currently planning a 2007 hunt in Zimbabwe's Chirisa concession for April 2007. Elephant for my husband and buffalo for me. At S.C.I. we have to sit down with the P.H. (Terry Fenn) and Graham of H.H.K. to sort out workable dates.

It is not too early to plan. A possible location for your hunt is Lemco in Zimbabwe. If you go to the hunt report section of AR Dave Phillips and I just posted reports.

Our friend that went with us killed a geat "dugga boy". We saw a lot of big buffalo while at Lemco.

This is just another option for you. Best of luck on whatever you choose.

If Zimbabwe is ok in 07 i would recommend "Roger Whittall Safaris" and spend a few days in Chewore Safari area for the buff and some plains game then move on to his Save Conservacy area to hunt the great plainsgame.
Chiresa Safari area with "Nengasha" or "HHK Safaris" is another great option.
70+ should not be a problem for a buff hunt, the PH's just work in with this.

...also consider that:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6321043/m/468106101

BigBullet

You may want to check out Botswana. It is a little more expensive than Zim. but the accomodations are first rate and it is fairly easy to both get to or get around in. It also has some absolutely beautiful areas. Unless your spouses are avid hunters, ease of transportation, quality of of the camp and beautiful scenery should be high on your list of importance. Botswana has all three in abundance, along with good buffalo and plainsgame. I've been there 3 times and anticipate going back.

TeryR

I want to thank you for your good suggestions and I have reviewed many of the websites forwarded to me. Also thank you to the folks who have PM'd me directly. The help recieved on the AR board is really great.

BigBullet