I know the Zim gov't. charges a fee for their game scout on dangerous game hunts. This was a result of the "Cecil" debacle. I remember reading that the fee was $50 per day but I'm not certain this is the correct amount. Is the fee $50 per day? I'm asking because I see hunts being offered and various fees quoted for the game scout. I've seen fees of $50, $80 and $100 per day quoted in various hunt offers.

I'm wondering if the fee varies or are some outfitters marking up the fee for additional profit. I understand that the fee is an additional expense imposed upon the outfitter and must be passed along to the client in some form. However, marking up a gov't. tax/fee seems improper to me.

I am not sure when this thing started.If this started with Cecil or was going on for some time? I had to pay a game scout a similar fee on a hunt in 2010.As for recent hunts the game scout fee that I am required to pay for my upcoming hunt in Zimbabwe is $80/day.

Game scouts have been paid ever since they started accompanying clients.
Not sure the cost now.

Well before Cecil

It started way before the "Cecil" incident. Some game scouts are absolutely worthless and can be a detriment on the hunt. On my last hunt for elephant in 2011, our game scout was great and acted like another tracker. He pitched in with setting baits for hyena after I took an elephant. I don't recall the fee, but I tipped him like I did the head tracker. He deserved it and was very thankful. He had an old Lee Enfield but don't know if he had any ammo!

If I am not mistaken these fees apply to hunting areas directly controlled or run by Parks and not other hunting areas.

Saeed,

Actually a Scout was not necessary in Zim on private land before the Cecil mess. The Save now has to engage a Park's Scout for ele and cats hunts where they did not previous to the Cecil thing. Mokore charges $100 per day above the day rate for the Scout but the Scout is only necessary through the day the cat or ele is taken.

Mark

Had one who could be noisy but all in all he was ok. Tipped him in the end. He carried a 303. I know he had ammo. Encountered poachers and he let a few rip! We caught the slowest one and he rolled over on the others.

Our game scout in Dande North last month was a great gentleman-very solicitous and concerned with the safety of both me and Vicki. He treated her like royalty, and even used a switch to keep the tsetses off my back when we were walking through an area that they were bad in. He had an ancient AK-47 that looked like it had spent a week in a cement mixer. Darn right I tipped him!

They became mandatory post Cecil under certain circumstances. If my memory serves me correctly, the initial cost was $75 per day. It may have changed .

Some are good. Some are not. Personally, I have been lucky. I have gotten pretty decent guys who were helpful and hard working. I was glad to have them along.

I’ve recently paid as little as $50/day and as much as $125/day (earlier on) for the Parks game scout on DG hunts. Depended on the particular Park’s office at the time. In my experience, an additional fee is not charged when the DG hunt is on Park’s land (e.g., Deka Tails). So far, every Park scout I’ve had has been an extremely hard worker, good game scout, good tracker, fun to hunt with, and very protective of our party. All have been eager and proactive in getting involved. Each definitely earned the gratuities they received.

I have never hunted private land in Zimbabwe, so all our hunts from the 90s onward had game scouts.

quote:

Originally posted by Labman:
I know the Zim gov't. charges a fee for their game scout on dangerous game hunts. This was a result of the "Cecil" debacle. I remember reading that the fee was $50 per day but I'm not certain this is the correct amount. Is the fee $50 per day? I'm asking because I see hunts being offered and various fees quoted for the game scout. I've seen fees of $50, $80 and $100 per day quoted in various hunt offers.

I'm wondering if the fee varies or are some outfitters marking up the fee for additional profit. I understand that the fee is an additional expense imposed upon the outfitter and must be passed along to the client in some form. However, marking up a gov't. tax/fee seems improper to me.

The game scout fee is not a tax, the game scout is a service (wanted or not) so the fee is not just a collection of a tax. This fee is a cost to the outfitter which should be passed on with a profit margin just as any other cost of running the business. Costs without profit margin can creep up and undo a business.

Our hunt with Mokore in Sengwa required a game scout because the land is owned by Zim Parks. I don't recall and additional fee but assumed the cost was rolled into the daily rate. He was an outstanding gentleman named Energy. He and his children were a pleasure to be around and he had excellent eyes and was like having an additional tracker along. He and my wife hit it off from the get go, and he kept pointing stuff out to us and explaining the different trees and birds. Would gladly pay double to hunt with him again.

The Tourist Hunting Industry in TZ has always foreseen the presence of a Game Scout or more (depending on the number of hunting clients) for as long as I can remember.

The fee has always been there and has slowly increased over the years - I think it has reached approximately $30/day + food at the outfitter's expense and I do not recall this cost being offloaded onto the client unless it is absorbed/hidden within the daily rate.

P.S. This fee is paid directly to the Game Dept. and not to the scout whom I doubt sees a single red cent.

As per some comments: there are good ones and some not so good ones.

$100 per day until the quarry is taken seems to be the norm now.

When I looked into a leopard hunt for next season in Zim on Forestry land it was $100 per day.

I had a game scout on a 2012 Safari. He was totally worthless. My PH chewed his ass because he was not safe with his AK 47. My friend said his game scout stunk very bad.

I've had a couple of dud Game Scouts, but most have been great.

The worst was a female Game Scout, who seemed to be rather popular with the guys -- suspect a side job. She was deathly afraid of everything, from the rifle she was issued -- what once was a lovely Mauser in .458 WM, but had been horribly neglected, to buffalo and elephant. After spending a few hours sorting a herd of buffalo for a shootable bull in thick riverine bush, which really stressed her out, we bumped a bull elephant on the way back to the gari. He screamed and she got physically ill. She wouldn't leave the gari after that.

On another buffalo hunt, I had a Game Scout armed with a bolt action .30-06 with no front sight. He was a real comfort.

Then there was the accidental discharge in camp one night when the Game Scout was helping patrol camp. But that can be excused, as he was very good and a hard worker. Helped hang baits, helped spot game and track. He switched from an AK to some French military rifle after the AD.

Most have actively participated in the hunt. One, had the most amazing eyes I've ever witnessed. He could see with his naked eye what I struggled to see with 8X binoculars.

One of the more interesting was a young, very attractive, female game scout who made jump boots, a folding stock AK and a field jacket look like fashion accessories. All worn with skin tight designer jeans. She didn't assist much in the hunt, but she never got in the way, was very chaste and did an amazing job of keeping the guys in line. They truly were on their best behavior. Trying to impress her no doubt.

My last two hunts for elephants I paid $80 per day until the elephant was shot. The bill was for teh days he spent in camp.
Cal

I've had some game scouts that were invaluable and others that were as worthless as tits on a boar pig. But, they all seem to have their hands out at the end of the hunt-good or bad. That's why I like putting tips in separate white envelopes and handing them out as I am leaving.

Interesting....The most worthless person in camp is the game scout..rather tip the staff, never paid a game scout fee in my lifetime, but mostly I gave the PH the money to handle the tips, maybe he paid the game scout..

I don’t have a problem with paying the game scout fee, and will happily tip them if they do a good job.

I have BIG issues with Outfitters marking up game scout fees or charging for days that they are not working to have another profit center or revenue stream.

I don’t mind them making a profit, it just shouldn’t be in a regulatory area. To me, if the trophy fees are going to the government or the game scout fees go to the government, present me with that document and I will happily pay it. Your profit as a hunting operator (as opposed to private land or game farm) should be off the daily rate, not mark ups of trophy fees.

To me, the transparency is important. (I also think commissions should be line items, but that is a different matter.)

Most of the ones we had were great.

A few have been not so good.

One was an absolute idiot.

His name was CHARLES.

He would not accept us calling Charlie.

He was bragging about how whites he had killed in the war.

He was a rather big man.

He said he came from royalty in Wanki, a Prince!

Someone asked him if he was a Prince of the WANKERS!

And he proudly said he was.

One day we drove on top of a hill, and stopped our truck.

We wanted to look a few yards away on the other side if there were any crocs there.

Close to where we stopped the truck, was a large log lying down.

Charles sat on the ground with his back against the log.

As Roy and me were walking, Alan came running to us to tell us they could see some kudu not far away, with a very good bull.

It just so happened that we could see the kudu feeding from where Charles was sitting.

I sat on the other side of the large log, right behind Charles, and told him not to move.

I was using a 338 Lazzeroni, with a muzzle break, a few inches from his ears!

I shot the kudu, Charles went ballistic, and ROY was laughing his head off as tears were coming down his face!

We left Charles to fend fir himself - and we ran to our kudu.

Roy was saying I LOVE IT!

I don’t recall a fee for the game scout on my two dangerous game safaris. But they both were good team members and were tipped accordingly.

Zim needs to wake up .. at some point the declining hunt quality curve and the rising cost curve are going to cross and then the golden goose will keel over.

Are we not confusing two topics here?

(1) Parks concessions where a game scout has always been required, and for which there is no hunter cost (other than a tip which has become customary as the scouts are not paid regularly by Parks)

(2) Conservancy’s and private land that after the named-lion was shot, begin having to charge for a Parks scout to monitor hunting. For example, Wayne Van Den Bergh, just posted a hunt with a fee of $60/day for the days required.

Or is this not correct?

What I originally asked and nobody seems to know is how much is the actual fee that is charged in Zim by National Parks? Does the fee vary or are some outfitters marking up the fee? I'll be leaving in a couple of weeks for a hunt in Zim and the game scout fee I'm being charged is $50 per day.

Prior to the Cecil debacle I made several trips to Zim where we had a game scout with us and there was no daily fee. Of course, I tipped the scout.

TomZ, per my post above, where are you hunting now (Conservancy or Parks area)?

And, where did you hunt before (conservancy or Parks area)?

I think people are getting confused here, but I may be wrong.

I would think it takes a Zim-insider to answer your question, but if you are in a conservancy, $50 a day does not sound like it is being marked up. But again, I could be wrong.

Bill - On prior hunts (pre Cecil) I hunted on both private and Parks areas. Didn't have a game scout on private areas in those days but did on Parks areas. No fee for game scout on any pre Cecil hunts. I was not saying that $50 a day is marked up. It's the other higher fees that I've see that caused me to ask the question. As previously stated I've seen rates of $50, $80 and $100 a day quoted for the game scout by various Zim operators.

Saeed,
I always remember that woman game scout, she never shut up for one minute, sounded like a tree full of squirrels 24, 10. I remember when I shot my all time best buffalo and she stayed in the truck, One of the trackers told me to look at her thru my binoculars, she was talking to herself and never shut up, the whole crew was