So how does someone who wants to be a PH start? In order to guide for DG, they need to have a fair amount of DG under their belt. With the current costs of shooting say a lion or ele...How does someone of average means get the real experience they need? I understand that they could go on hunts as a backup, but that isn't the same as shooting it themselves. So whats the deal?

to be a ph in most countries you have to go through a apprenticeship.

botswana has a 5 year dg appy i think south africa you go to school i think

mozambiqe you just show them a existing licence and your good to go

ill wait for more vet to way in on this one as im not entirly shure on this subject.

The career paths differ from country to country, as does the level of difficulty of having legal status to work.

RSA has short courses for PHs -- on the order of two weeks -- and other countries have an apprentice system that takes three years.

jim

quote:

Originally posted by bulldog563:
So how does someone who wants to be a PH start? their belt.

A full frontal lobotomy is a good start. Then a huge aversion to money. With those two items crossed off your on your way to great career as an outdoor professional.


An apprentice PH gets his DG experience by working as an apprentice hunter under the guidance of a full fledged PH and many times culling PAC shooting ETC. In Zim they have a three year apprentice period than have to take a very demanding final test.

In South Africa one can take a 12 day course to become a PH but I don't know what that level license allows one to do.

Every country is different. I would say that it's definatley a young mans game to have to put up with the lack of funds and general BS during your apprentice period. I always drop the poor "appys" a tip as most are in a state somewhere between abject poverty and below.

For starters you would need to be fluent in at least one native language and better yet two or more. That is the biggest stumbling block for most folks.

Next would be the apprenticeship program which is a couple years or more and is now required in RSA for the DG certification.

Some countries only require your the high bidder on the consession area, then you can hire your won staff or you get to be a PH because you can buy into the "job". Just like much of the USA where a "Hunting Guide" is somebody who decides he is.

Many think the RSA Professional Hunting Academy is the easy way in. It still requires a bilingual written exam and many lectures are also not in English. It's not as easy as many think it is, but then they never went through it either! Nationally they have a 50% failure and drop out rate of those attending!

It became much harder in 2002 when they required citizenship to attend the academy. If your white, you better have some kinda really good business or skill to provide the "new" government. Cause they are not inviting many white's to have citizenship. Getting citizenship in RSA would require that you give up your American Citizenship. I went through this entire process several years ago and when the state department said there is no way you can have dual citizenship with one of them being RSA I chose to keep my American Citizenship.

There are a few loop holes with owning a business there and getting the equalivelint of a "green card" for temporaray residency, but that no longer allows you to get into the academy. No Academy certificate, no PH license end of story.

I think Namibia is the best chance to do this. Although you will not make any money as a PH there. You would have to be the owner of the consession or the contracted PH to a landowner. Odds are low that a huge landholding would turn over the entire responsibility to a non-native American to do that. As I recall Namiba has nothing to speak of in the way of required PH status to take foreign hunters. Many of the landowners sons and family are the PH much like thay would be in the USA. For example if a large cattle ranch in Wyoming or Montana offered hunts they ranch hands become hunting guides during that season. No formal training or dedicated skills, just the intimate knowledge of the land and the game on that land.

Bottom line is that if you don't own the business you won't make any money. If you work as an apprentice you will not be hunting but washing the truck, skinning the game and fetching coffee and beer for the guys that do. It's not a pretty business for the most part. The old days of the PH are mostly gone now. It's 90% business and 10% hunting. I know I do this myself!

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
I always drop the poor "appys" a tip as most are in a state somewhere between abject poverty and below.

Some appys get very nice fringe benefits.

A writers recent African safari comes to mind.

Couldn't ya just study a bunch of Mark Sullivan movies to get some pointers and see how it's done? Walex

walex, that would then make me a ph, i've watched 'em so many times! lol

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
Some appys get very nice fringe benefits.

A writers recent African safari comes to mind.

Nitrox,

Yes things happen from time to time. Otherwise the poor boys would go completley off the edge.

I think I'm getting the drift.

Wait, wait, hold on.

Are you ready for the jab to the artery?

I spent about 3 years, 11 years ago trying to figure out a way to make this work.

I talked to everyone, everyone, even Mark Sullivan. I spent tons of money, I volunteered to work for free, I kissed babies, shook hands, and networked.

It is vertually impossible for an American to become a dangerous game PH in southern Africa.

It is very do able if you have two things. The ability to support yourself financially without work for a few years while following a PH around. Or enough capital and knowledge to start your own safari company and the ability to communicate in a native language.

If you speak fluent French, and I mean so fluent you could order a non-fat half-caf, latte, with a shot of cinnamon, cream and chocolate sprinkles coffee at Starbucks in Paris fluent. Really fucking fluent frog, then maybe and I mean maybe you could kiss enough ass to get in on the team of someone in the CAR, Benin, Cameroon, Sudan, or the Congo. Of course your ability to order a fancy coffee in Brussells won't help the fact that you will still have to have shitloads of personal cash to invest into one of these french PH's companys or to start your own.

If you want to be a bear guide in Alaska, establish residency, work for someone as a assistant, bang 2-3 years your a bear guide.

Africa, no jobs for whites other than from other whites and these are rare. I mean while your not working for free for some PH so you can get enough experience and knowledge to become a PH yourself.

THE BOTTOM LINE, IT'S DOABLE IF YOU HAVE THREE THINGS.

1. THE FINANCES TO WORK FOR FREE FOR UP TO 3 YEARS.

2. THE ABILITY TO LEARN FOREIGN LANGUAGES QUICKLY, CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF SPANISH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, RUSSIAN, OR FRENCH WILL HELP YOU MARKETABILITY. YOU WILL HAVE CLIENTS FROM EUROPE.

3. THE INTESTINAL FORTITUDE TO STICK THROUGH IT FOR 2 OR 3 YEARS MAKING CHICKEN SCRATCH, WORKING FOR FREE.

Remember Africa today isn't what it was in the good old Apartheid days. White men don't control anything anywhere, and the black men that do will work everything they can in favor to work you out of your hard earned dollars or worse.

Remember while you may get some help from some white PH's most will see you as an American taking away jobs from native white Africans.

You could always buy a ranch and work your own magic for a couple years until the black goverment takes it away from you.

D99?

You may be the right man at the right place at the right time. I'll PM You.

D99,

I'm in the process of helping two American graduates establish themselves as PH's in South Africa. Your assessment of the situation is remarkably accurate!

Bulldog
Most of what has been written is sort of true. First SA- very easy to get a PH licence if you have residence, but NO DG hunting allowed till after a open licence has been issued to you. Currently, the powers that be requeres 60 days hunting DG before considering a open licence (not neccicerraly giving it though..)
Zimbabwe- permanent residence, learner PH exam, then MINIMUM of 3 years appy (used to be 2 years) to even try and pass the full exam.
Namibia- has 3 levels of "PH" (BTW- that is why there is such a discrepancy between daily rates in Namibia), but for all you need permanet residince at least. a) Hunting guide (easiest to get, normally owner/ family member)- 4 written exams, and a practical test. These guides normally d it part time, farm rest of the time or do someting else, though not neccicarraly bad hunters (Cheapest daily rate)
b) Master hunting guide ( same as above, but have hunted with minimum of 20 clients, IOW experienced.) c) PH- works for a registered safari company, or has shares in it. More difficult exam & practical. Remember that in Namibia they have 1 exam only per year (normally end October), and that no-one holds your hand and teaches you what to learn for exam like in SA. You better know close to everything... To register a safari company in Namibia, now that is fun! If you really want details on that, PM me.
Karl Stumpfe

What about Bots or TZ? I assume its more difficult.

IMHO it is a (pain in proverbial butt) for the average foreigner wanting to become a fully licenced and registered PH/Guide within Southern Africa in particular //

With the trend towards bringing in more indigineos locals to the industry the challenge of cource will become even more difficult for you overseas chaps ///

My personal thoughts are

You are (much better) to pool your ( large burgening sharemaket gains ) or inherantance or loot you have aquired and get on-side with some trustworthy (Entreprenual African Rancher) whom you have similar life interests with and that way you can use (their local knowledge) and your fresh enthusiam and maybe get into some Game Conservation projects and develop from there. Beleieve me, many many overseas entreprenual investors have gone that route with success //

The problem is, you have to FIRST be a genuine wildlife enthusiest out for the lifestyle adventure more so than to make a quick buck, as unless you fall with your backside in the butter it is a (longer term thing) to develop a project and make money in the short term, it is more a LIFESTYLE choice thing and a DREAM

We personally ( Balla-Balla Safaris) are moving our eggs into (two baskets) within Southern Africa being

1) Hunting & Wildlife Safaris

2) Wildlife Conservation & game breeding projects

BOTH operations are on (private owner operated game fenced ranches) as like it or not THAT is the future of WILDLIFE in Southern Africa, believe me you can see the reality unfolding before your eyes.

WE have some (interesting projects ourselves) under consideration in Zambia in particular as the climate for Zambia investment is very conducive and there is a big push by the government in that direction. WE have already been private investors in Zambia for (9 yesrs) and moving to expand the operation further especially as the country is getting much overseas AID and help as they have what can be termed a reasonable stable AFRICAN GOVERNMENT and the EU is backing and covering the investments against any illegitimate appropriation

Cheers, keep in touch

Peter

This is very interesting and I really enjoyed all of the above mentioned commenst some true some far of the mark.

I agree with Surestrike on the Zim appy ship. In Botswana you have to write an exam and do a practical on all sorts of interesting stuff like vehicles spares, bush, birds etc. You have to have a concession which is not available anymore.

In South Africa it works as follows:
Any person can do the PH School for a period of 12 days. Here you will learn a lot of things, including the law for a specific province, animal behaviour, animal and bird identification etc, etc.
You DO NOT have to learn or speak different languages - english is judt fine!

If you pass the written and practical exams (min 70%) you get a certificate. But this does not make you a ph. If you don't have residency or citizenship you can not register at the provincial government as a ph. That is why I always say the SA certificate does not make you a PH!!!

In order to qualify for Dangerous Game (DG) you have to have proof of 60 days appyship on minimum of 3 of the DG species.

The law is about to change again where PH's will have to also do an apprenticeship for a period of time - a good thing in my opinion.

Therefore if anyone wants to do the course they are free to do so it will probably cost you in the order of $1750.

Bulldog, good luck. If you make it, I told you so if you don't!

I spent a lot of time and headaches trying to figure out a way to make it work. I spent about E1000 on phone calls and talked to everyone I knew and everyone they knew and got told to piss off about 99% of the time.

The bottom line is you are still taking jobs away from white Africans and if you have been there you know how bad it is. If you haven't been there then I don't understand why you would even ask about it.

I love Africa, when I retire in 7 years I am going to work my ass off to get a state department job in Africa and I really don't care too much about location.

I'll have my masters degree finished and I will have retired from the Navy. Maybe you should consider getting a state department job instead. That way you can live in Africa check it out and see how things go.

You could be a billtong hunter, get to know some PHs, and maybe get enough equipment and study for a PH exam. Then if you wanted to venture into the wild blue yonder and glamour of being a PH it would be available to you.

quote:

Originally posted by bulldog563:
So if I wanted to be a PH in Bots or TZ and I have;
1. The finances to live without income for 3 years.
2. Currently can speak Spanish and ability to learn other languages quickly.
3. Don't have a problem working for a few years for little income.
4. A degree in Biology from a highly ranked university.


What are the chances of a US citizen becoming a PH and how do I proceed? I also wouldn't mind working for a government cropping or PAC kind of thing to gain experience.

This cropping job is a pipe dream, you might as well give that up now. Call the Parks people in Kruger or any other big park and ask them for a job. They will probably laugh you off the phone.

You might also consider going the Peace Corps route. They need people all the time, and yes pay sucks but it's in Africa and your making contacts and you will have time off to hunt or do whatever else you dream of.

quote:

Originally posted by D99:
You might also consider going the Peace Corps route. They need people all the time, and yes pay sucks but it's in Africa and your making contacts and you will have time off to hunt or do whatever else you dream of.

From what I've seen of Peace Corp "personell" in Africa, they rarely get to make much contact with other locals then the ones they deal with in their village projects (projects which btw usually seemed to be a waste from what we could see, and from what even some of the PC people told us!). The locals they deal with usually are not the ones that have hunting connections. They also seemed to have little time off. I'd look at the State Dept route more closely if I were you.

Erik, your probably right about that. I only knew a few folks that were in the peace corps and all of them had a good time, but they weren't in Africa they were in South America. I doubt Africa is as good a place to be as Brazil or Argentina if your working with the people.

Seth,

FWIW, It seemed to us that the "Peace Corp", and "Politically Correct" both can be abbreviated as: "PC". And as virtually all the PC personell we met in Africa were also PC, it seems kind of fitting.

We were not very impressed with them.

You don't have anything until you have been there for 3-5 years. It's easy for an Outfitter to promise anything from 10K miles away.

Good luck.

Fill you mouth full of marbles. Everytime you think about being a PH, spit out a marble. When you have lost all you marbles you are ready to be a PH.

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by PWN375:
Fill you mouth full of marbles. Everytime you think about being a PH, spit out a marble. When you have lost all you marbles you are ready to be a PH.

Perry

Perry //

That is about the most sensible comment in this entire thread ... you are on the nail (-:

It is a piss shit struggle to be a PH in Africa nowadays in particular as apart from the local white chaps being entrenced within the industry there is a big push to get more black chaps enter and that mixed with the political connotations can only be a receipe for trouble IMHO ..

To any wide eyed foreigner wanting to make money being a PH good luck and good health as well

Peter

In my opinion I think people who think that being a PH earns you good money is very far from the truth. For years that I have hunted for other outfitters I really struggled to make ends meat. Often my tips were more than my salary.

Even an outfitter nowadays have to count every cent for it is such a cut throat business. I don't have my own property and have to lease concessions. This makes the profit margin very narrow. Secondly the booking agent also takes 15% and this often leaves me with a profit much less than what the agent put in his pocket.

I am the one who have all running costs. So if you have a lot of money and just do it for the kick - go ahead, but if you concider making a living out of it - forget it.

3 more post saying the same thing.

I really do hope if you want to be a PH and you struggle through all the red tape, bullshit, and difficultys it works out for you.

I saw an advert for an Outfitter in Namibia that had 2 white PHs and 3 or 4 black ones.

You won't have job security that's for sure.