One of my friends is looking for a good plains game safari on which to take his daughter in 2007. After some research he had narrowed his options to Namibia and Dirk DeBod on the suggestions of Jack Atcheson, Jr. As it worked out, however, DeBod did not have any openings at the time needed, so he's back to researching again.
I do know he's looking for some variety of a traditional safari. I wish he would consider Tanzania, but unless we find a 10-12 day hunt that's more affordable than TGT, I doubt he'll make that choice. I haven't been to Namibia, but much of it does appear to be a bit barren to me. He's a bit nervous about booking in Zim 2 years out. It also does not appear that buff is high on his list at this time, though I know he wants to get one at some point as he recently bought a new .458.
To replace Dirk Debod, Atcheson just sent him a letter recommending Progress Safaris in Namibia and a hunt with a fellow named Mike Kibble in June of 2007. I know nothing about him and haven't heard of him mentioned on AR before. Anyone have any thoughts about Mike or any other options? Aren’t many of the hunts in Namibia on game ranches?

PM Peter(Balla Balla) with your quest. He's posted something about kid's hunts some time ago. In a beginner's hunt with a youngster, RSA may be the better choice for now. I'm sure there are other posters who'll give you some other suggestions.

You might also like to consider Tuli Block botswana........

There are both conservancies and game ranches in Namibia. Several members here have hunted with Fulton Classic Safaris from a traditional tented camp, but there are other conservencies there.

Namibia is a dry country. The terrain is quite varied but I am not aware of any area that would be described as "lush." Nonetheless there are areas with good game populations of species adapted to the climate and terrain.

Some operators may let him take his daughter and pay observer daily rates but let her shoot for trophy fees. Someone else may have better suggestions.

474,
FWIW, his daughter will have just graduated from college at that time, so a "kids hunt" isn't actually necessary. Interestly, his daughter has always enjoyed hunting while his son likes computers....

I have a friend who just returned from a Namibia hunt with Mike Kibble that he booked with Keith. He had an excellent time, and is raring to go again. He brought his photos over and we looked at them at dinndr: he killed some great animals too.

jim

I would offer up Jan Visser of Klawerberg Game Ranch. http://www.namibiahunting.net

He and his wife treated my father and I great. I would also add, that game ranches in Namibia sound very different from some of the ranches found in South Africa.

It amazes me that some scoff at hunting on a game ranch where game is managed, but don't care to hunt whitetail or elk on public land if they can help it because of low population density or poor trophy quality. Many of the posters here have written about how animals go over, through or under fences. Also, when someone says fenced everyone thinks it's chain linked and 20 ft high, which is not the case in many instances. Most of the fences encountered are 5 ft cattle fences that use single strand wire (not barbed wire) The high fences my father and I experienced didn't even surround the entire area. The fence ran along a traveled road and deterred the animals some. We saw kudu, oryx, etc still traveling between properties though. There were no high fences between most of the ajoining properties either (we had to stop stalking a couple of kudu bulls when they jumped over the fence).

Bottom line is, many of us have the wrong idea of what a "game ranch" is. I stalked for 6 hours in the "hills" behind the main house and wasn't able to connect with the bulls we were chasing. It's not like shooting ducks in a barrel, although a game ranch may give you more shot opportunities than hunting on "public" land. Namibia was a great place to hunt, the people were very friendly and courteous everywhere we went. If your friend is interested in zebra, I would recommend mountain zebra. The hunt takes place a few hours north of Windhoek and the scenery is breathtaking. It's on a huge cattle ranch and it's like no other hunting I've seen. The moutains are beautiful and it can be a very challenging hunt.

Let me know if you'd like anymore info.

Chuck

quote:

Originally posted by Spring:
474,
FWIW, his daughter will have just graduated from college at that time, so a "kids hunt" isn't actually necessary. Interestly, his daughter has always enjoyed hunting while his son likes computers....

OOOOPS! Anyways, a beginner's hunt should always be as easy as possible with lots of game to see even if none is harvested.

I had a great father/son safari last year with Kamanjab Trophy Hunting. Booked by Mims Reed of Dallas. http://www.hunters-hq.com

hosts and food are great. There's a post in Hunting Reports about somebody's recent hunt. Couldn't recommend more highly. Bob

If he's still set on Namibia, I recommend Vaughan Fulton's outfit for a nice tented safari. I would also gladly point him to Farm Felseneck for a hunt with Helgaard, who posts on this forum as OMUHONA, for a more laid back outfit with nice accommodations and plentiful game.

If he'd consider RSA, I recommend Andrew McLaren Safaris in the Free State for a wide variety of hunting conditions. I just hunted with Andrew and had a great time while taking some fine animals.

Spring,

Kurick1 said in his post :†It amazes me that some scoff at hunting on a game ranch where game is managed,…….â€. His insight into game ranching in South Africa made me realize that is actually unusual for an American to understand what is “behind the fence huntingâ€, what is “hunting on a game ranch – where game is managed†and what is meant by “no fencesâ€. I will attempt here to put my personal take on these matters for anyone to consider or to reject.

A few “definitions†may first be given, and note that “farm†and “ranch†are interchangeable. In South Africa an area on which a person practices an agricultural activity, be it row-crop planting or rearing cattle (or game), is normally called a “farm†and such a person a farmer.

1. A “game farm†is an area enclosed with a very high fence that has anything from 18 plus wire strands and within which there are no other fences to control the movement of game, cattle or other livestock. The majority of foreign hunters are offered hunting on such game farms, which mostly, but not always, comprise the entire property that belongs to the particular farmer. As there are no livestock (other than an occasional milk cow) kept in the enclosed area, the only income to the land owner is from the game, and such an owner would be referred to as a “game farmerâ€.
2. A “stock and game farm†is also enclosed by a high multi-strand game proofed fence, but the area is still used for stock farming, and the whole of the game-proof enclosed are is subdivided into a number of grazing camps by internal typically 4 ft high stock (but not game) proof fences.
3. A “farm†is typically fenced by a 4 ft high fence. If hunting is offered on such a farm, it means that game occurs there, but the game of those species able to jump over or crawl underneath a 4 ft fence is free to move to adjoining properties.
4. “Canned hunting†could also be called “Behind-the-fence-hunting†and is the shooting of animals in an enclosure that is too small for the animal to live and reproduce in a manner normal to the species. The animals that are shot (as opposed to hunted) are typically released from being held in captivity in a cage into another slightly bigger area just before the shooter or so-called ‘hunter’ arrives.

In these definitions the height of 4 ft is just typical, and could really be anything from about 3 ft to somewhat higher than a measured 48â€. One should also note that a 5 ft fence is easily jumped by kudu, whereas a well constructed 3 ft fence usually keeps species like blesbok confined.

The vast majority of all areas where a foreign visitor could hunt legally in South Africa is on private property. There are a few provinces (amongst others the Free State) where the nature conservation authorities auction some hunting packages in their game reserves which hunting outfitters can buy and offer hunting on these public land reserves to foreign hunters. In other provinces hunting in game reserves are preserved strictly for South African citizens. The actual hunting opportunities within provincial nature reserves are so few in relation the vast number of hunters who hunt on private property every year that I’m going to ignore it in this discussion. In any case all, without a single exception, of these reserves are fenced by multi-strand (18 to 22 or more and sometimes electrified) high fences to keep the game in and cattle and other farm animals out. They can be regarded as just a special case of the true “game farm†simply because the area of these game reserves are typically at least an order of magnitude bigger than that of the typical privately owned game farm.

The size of the enclosed area on a game farm or stock and game farm has very little to do with the ability to hunt “ethically†on such a farm.. I have previously posted a long-winded story about the minimum size of an enclosed area to be able to hunt ethically in such an area at https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../768109021#768109021 The message in this posting is really that only a few hundred acres are required to give the fenced-in animal the opportunity to keep on evading the hunter, and, in my definition, so make the ethical hunting of many species possible. The nature conservation authorities will not issue an exemption permit, or in some provinces a certificate of sufficient enclosure, for any species fenced into an area that is too small for the species to live a natural life, to move, feed, breed and evading of it’s enemies, including a hunter! So, even though the area of game-proof fenced farms range in size from minute patches of real estate to vast tracts comprising of thousands and thousands of acres, the chances are very good that you can possibly hunt there in an fair chase and ethical manner.

I don’t want this to become a legal argument, but in essence our laws are written such that the game in the country “belongs†to the owner of the property on which it is found. This legal system is the fundamental reason why South Africa still have much to offer a hunter: It allows a property owner to make money from the game on his property!

The owner of a property can put up a high game-proof fence around his property, and so take control of the game on his property. Provided some standards are met the provincial nature conservation authorities may issue a certificate or permit (the names in the 9 provinces are different) to the land owner which document essentially acknowledges the fact that the game on his property of those species listed in the document is regarded as “his gameâ€. The holder of such a certificate or permit has, amongst other, freedom to hunt the game mentioned in the permit at any time of the year. In short: He can, and because the animals are fenced into a defined area of restricted carrying capacity HAS to, manage the numbers and make money from the game.

Without a high game proof fence the game can, and does readily cross over into neighboring properties. Kurick1 remarks in his posting that “… we had to stop stalking a couple of kudu bulls when they jumped over the fence…†meaning that they jumped over the fence into a neighboring farmers’ land. Now the kudu that they were legally stalking on the land that belongs to their host had, by effortlessly jumping over a fence, suddenly changed ownership and they now “belonged†to the neighbor and could no longer be legally hunted by them as clients of their host! Had they been hunting on a game proof fenced farm, this would not have happened, and the kudu would have fled into another direction, but remained on the same property. But please do not for a moment think that because the kudu would be restricted to one property they would be easy to hunt! A kudu, and most other antelope, can lead a hunter on a merry and seemingly never ending chase within just a small portion of a large fenced in area – as Kurick1 also noted that “I stalked for 6 hours in the "hills" behind the main house and wasn't able to connect with the bulls we were chasing.â€

So, if your friend has the financial resources to hunt in the total absence of fences, like in Tanzania, fine, let him go there. In South Africa all hunting is in fenced areas, some small and many so big that you’ll hardly ever see a fence. In Namibia the same applies, just the areas are larger, but the game numbers are similar, as the drier climate results in a lower game carrying capacity. I would be please to exchange e-mail with your friend to make him an offer to arrange a hunt of a lifetime for him and his daughter at very cost effective value for money price.

Try Hannes Steyn. He was Dirk de Bot's Partner for a number of years an the two are still good friends. I have hunted with both and they are superb.

Joof Lamprecht is another Namibian PH that I have had dealings with- I liked what I have seen, although I have never actually hunted with them.

Shot a nice 41" Gemsbok on Hannes' place.