Armorer,
over the past 15 years, hunting has become more and more competitive. Since hunts and quotas are a commodity that expires, outfitters try to keep cancellations to a minimum, as it is very difficult to fill in the bed nights at last minute. asking for a 50% deposit separates the determined client from those that are not. A client that pays $1000 deposit is more likely to cancel for "personal reasons" than the client that paid $20000. The initial bookings by the outfitter tend to be less, but cancellations are also way down, this giving the outfitter a better idea of his situation with the bookings. you will find that this is especially the case with your cheaper hunts in SA and Namibia. Repeat clients tend to get leniency in this regard. Most operators will give the client the option to postpone to a following season if there has been enough warning of the cancellation.