For those of you who are PH's and outfitters does it bug you when a 16 year old kid says he wants to take a hippo or a cape buffalo?
do you have thoughts going through your head thinking if they are ganna be able to handle the pressure when the moment is right? if you are bugged by it what age do you think a kid should be before he hunts DG

I forgot to put that i would also like feedback from us hunters too.

I dont have experience with young hunters hunting DG but with the little experience that I had guiding a 10 yaer old and 16 year old. I must say it was a pleasure they did excatly what they were told to do when the time came to shoot.

No pun itended to the older hunters but it is like they are much less reluctant to dissobey to something that they have to do when told while hunting.

So if you take them on the DG in the same way I see no problem as long as they can shoot and know the rilfe.

Had some great hunts with kids. Haven't had a kid yet that hasn't fully appreciated the privaledge of hunting dangerous game.

I have had youngsters on PG safaris, but not DG, yet.
I would feel that if the parent/s are comfortable with the ability and maturity of their youngsters to hunt DG then I would have no problem with guiding the kid.

I would think that the ph would prefer guiding young kids. I have taken a few youngsters hunting pg and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the kids I took under my wing had just been through a marriage break up and was a very shy and reserved kid after a couple of hunts this boy really came out of his shell and not only is he more sociable he has started excelling at school.
Also kids in my opinion are more receptive to instructions we all know the saying "you cant teach an old dog tricks"

I've had a few youngsters take Buff, Croc and Hippo etc, but never a cat - so far, they've always been a real pleasure to hunt with.

I did meet a father and (12 or 13 ish) son in Jo'burg airport a few years ago, who were on their way home after a hunt where the boy had taken all of the Big 5 in a week or so, and it struck me that it was a shame that he'd done it all so young and wouldn't have anything else to look forward to in his African hunting career....... Doesn't take much working out to know what kind of a shoot it was.....

You guys have summed it up well. The biggest problem I have it that the experience and privilege of hunting DG is bigger than they are capable of appreciating at a young age - as John mentioned.

Another problem is that some fathers are expressing their own desires and dreams through their sons - especially when they get too old to do the physically demanding stuff they way they would have liked to. This is especially nasty when the dad is bulldozing his boy into doing things everyone else can see the kid does not even enjoy!

I have guided a few young people, (under 18 and dad is paying) on PG and DG and they have all done well but generally i dont think they truly appreciatte the priviledge of doing what they have and nor do they value the lives of the animals as much as the older folk. A lot were ashen white and shaking like a leaf on the DG and looking at them i had to ask if they were really living the moment and enjoying it as they should. I personally will let my kids start hunting later rather than earlier. I think it is great for them to start shooting young but they can start the real hunting when they are old enough to really apprecaitte it. I have seen PH's kids who hunt DG at a very young age not apprecaitte it and move on with no interest in hunting again at a later stage. I had one particular kid that didnt deserve to hunt a squirrel but he was in Africa chasing DG with his OWN double and hunting with his dad. Life definitely isnt always fair!!

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
I've had a few youngsters take Buff, Croc and Hippo etc, but never a cat - so far, they've always been a real pleasure to hunt with.

I did meet a father and (12 or 13 ish) son in Jo'burg airport a few years ago, who were on their way home after a hunt where the boy had taken all of the Big 5 in a week or so, and it struck me that it was a shame that he'd done it all so young and wouldn't have anything else to look forward to in his African hunting career....... Doesn't take much working out to know what kind of a shoot it was.....

I ran into a fellow at Reno last month that was looking to set up the same thing for his son--including a pen-raised lion in South Africa. I'm not sure who they hoped to one day impress--but it wasn't me.

Howdy,

I have had several clients go to African and take teenage children. They usually do really well and all enjoy themselves. I did have one client that took a 15 year old buffalo hunting. A very large buffalo was found close to the end of the hunt. This kid had killed a lot of PG on this safari allready, but on the buff he locked up. The danger stories got in his head and he just locked up. He never got the buff, and his dad chewed him up and spit him out right there in the bush. I don't think he has hunted since. I have a client that says he is taking his 4 year old with him on his buff/lep safari in July. I will be interested to see how this one works out. The child will not be shooting.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I went on overseas hunts and safaris before the age of 18 and it only made me a keener hunter.

I was raised in the 'big city' with no hunting opportunities, just dreamt about the upcoming hunt just as much as an older person.

Everyone has a different measure of who 'deserves' to go hunting. I personally think kids are pretty deserving! If they are fortunate to get the rush of dangerous game hunting, I am only happier to see a new hunter being made. After all, most 'old Africa hands' have tales about shooting buff on the family farm when they were 12, they don't seem to be 'turned off' hunting!

Two AR members I know of have taken their sons on safari for DG.. My one friend told Ph to protect his sons if the you know what hits the fan...And the other watched his son take his first buf..
Both had very successful safaris and lifetime memories from hunting with their Dads...Stronger ties between father's and sons..and I have to also another AR member has taken his daughter and had super times with his whole family hunting wife and daughter also...

Mike

Some of my earliest, and most cherished, memories are of hunting elk w. my father in Montana... Hunting is about attitude, and (presuming hunters in Africa are similar to ones in TX) some of them are jackasses, others shouldn't be allowed to handle a firearm, and most of them are good people -- I don't think age would matter as much as upbringing.



By 16, there were many boys who had lied their way into the armed forces in WWII

Johnny,
at the age of sixteen one can be a boy or a young man. If I had had the possibility to hunt at that age...but at that time I was in a part of my life with a lot of difficulties.

The only problem that I had with people of that age, when I was diving instructor and underwater touristic guide, is that they are in the "stupidity period" as we say in Italy, even if I prefer to call it the "sindrome of Superman".

It can endure a lot of time this sindrome, in someone it can endure forever, and it is concentrated in the "nobody and anything can kill me" concept.

The only suggestion that I can want to give is "Let the PH do his work, be a proud and friendly observer, stay near him without be oppressive".

I'm not a PH.

My 15 year old and I went on a buffalo hunt in the Selous last summer and we had the time of our lifes.

All parents know that trying to teach your teenager is impossible. But let somebody else like a PH tell them what to do and they'll follow the instructions to a "T". That's being a teenager.

As far as not appreciating the dangers and the experience---well you are probably right but you have a PH to look out for you. Plus when the shit hits the fan your kid will be able to out run you .

What? do you want your kid to wait until he's an overweight, out of shape 50+ year old to experience a DG hunt?

It's not so much taking a son/daughter DG hunting as it is spending time with your child. There is no tommorrow and if you put it off you won't do it. Your kid will grow up get married, have kids, mortagage and you know the rest of the story.

I let my son do all the shooting on our hunt and as a result "we" missed an opportunity or two but in the end he made some nice shots and I was there.

There will be other times for me to hunt buffalo (I hope) but probably only one time to experience it with my son.

Does he know how lucky he is to go DG hunting, probably not , at least not right now. But I know how lucky I was to spend 8 days with my son, and you can't put a price on that.

I recommend folks bring their families. Usually we can arrange something that will give everybody what they need. Whether a young person can handle a DG hunt is up to the parent.
Safari operators like having people bring children and often the PH has a great time with them.

In a family group I sent to Africa in '07 the 11 year old wanted a kudu above all else. He missed his first opportunity but nailed the second. The kudu went 58.75". Do you think the kid, Dad, Mom, PH and crew were happy? They went bananas.

Kids are great as long as the parents are reasonable in there expectation of them.

Mark

I took my 3 kids and they all had a great time. Read this hunt report.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/dogcat.html