Why are cape buffalo hunts so expensive now ? they seem to just keep going up each year [alot]by the time you pay your airfare and all the ''add ons'' theres not much left out of $20G,out of the question now for me

Is $8500 including trophy fee to much for a trophy buffalo hunt with the opportunity to hunt a few other animals "a la carte"?

Or even $11 000 all included with excellent accommodations. Easy access from airports etc ??

Thanks, $8500 sounds good !!! to me, but cant do it this year as i have spent my $ on a different animal ,hopefully next year !
Thanks again

My brothers and i are planning a buff hunt for 2012.

I think the biggest thing that prespective hunters fail to realize is the high final cost of the non-hunting items. Having recently been to africa, i now calculated these costs for a 10 day buff hunt in Zim to be $8900.00.

Now add the daily rate+trophyfees+gov levy+tax and you will be $20K. Taxidermy is a bit of a defferred cost, but still needs to be considered if you are on a tight budget...

quote:

Originally posted by Bryce Dillabough:
My brothers and i are planning a buff hunt for 2012.

I think the biggest thing that prespective hunters fail to realize is the high final cost of the non-hunting items. Having recently been to africa, i now calculated these costs for a 10 day buff hunt in Zim to be $8900.00.

Now add the daily rate+trophyfees+gov levy+tax and you will be $20K. Taxidermy is a bit of a defferred cost, but still needs to be considered if you are on a tight budget...

There certainly are a lot of add on costs that need to be budgeted for. I have come to the conclusion that most hunters choose not to think about these costs because knowing the whole bill is to painful.

A good example is I'm going to Zim for a Buff hunt in Aug 2012. I will need a room in Joberg on the way there ($120), and room in Bulawayo ($120), rifle permit SAP help in SA ($100), Rifle import fees ($100) Room in Bulawayo on the way back ($120), room in Joberg ($120) plus food in drink during those 4 nights ($250) and tips(??). Poof there goes a grand! Now add in airfare, trophy fees, daily rates, dip and pack, shipping of trophies to new york, shipping of trophies to your taxidermist, taxidermy costs.

I'm going light on the return shipping and taxidermy this time, if not plan on spending 50-100% of the cost of the hunt on all the hunt related things like flights, rooms and taxidermy.

Today for a buffalo hunting in East or South/East Africa USD.15000 , all include ! In West Africa ( Burkina Faso or Benin ) may be USD7000 to USD8000 ! Dont forget Trophy fees, Handling, Shipping, Gratuities,... Catalogue prices + 30% !



Buffalo of West Africa. OUAMOU / BF 2011

Simple economics . . . Supply and demand.

Yes and no ! But , that's right, in West Africa we are few hunters,... and oftens you hunt only with local people ! No white PH !



And it is better you speak More, Dioula, Gourmanche, Peuhl..or French !

Very good trackers, but only trackers !

Next year eh? The problem, I fear, is going to get worse as the world wakes up to the true value of the US dollar, which after all is just another piece of paper spat out by a high speed printing press. Reminds me of the days when Ferrari 12 cyl cars could be bought for $5000. Get your "hunt of a lifetime" done before the prices hit six figures.

Regarding the "non hunt" costs, the biggest things are the airfare, the charter, and of course air freight for trophies. The charter and the air freight are optional, the airfare is not.

There was a good thread not too long ago about how to save money on all these incidentals. Airfare ... frequent flier miles. Charter .... share with buddies and schedule your hunt so that you can share with the departing hunting party or the one following you, or both. If you are alone, you can often ride in by vehicle with the PH. Hotels ... you should be able to get away with only one hotel stay on the way in, and none on the return. Depends of course on flight schedules. But I prefer to spend a night at a hotel on the way in, otherwise your first two days in camp are not 100%. And you don't have to spend 100s ... Afton and the other B&Bs at JNB are reasonable, and I know of a couple of B&Bs in Harare that are also very affordable. I don't know of a cheap place to stay in Vic Falls. Russell Caldecott used to be about the best deal but he has closed down his lodge. Bulawayo ... not sure either.

Air freight ... that's an area that responds to some negotiating effort, and you can also ship by ocean freight esp. if there are a group of you.

Frankly, you can have a lot of fun hunting PG and birds for half the money of a typical buff hunt. Kudu, Bushbuck, Nyala, Eland, all present great challenges, tougher to hunt than buffalo.

Next year ? OK ! There are big Roan's ( koba ) as great Hartebeest's ( grand bubale ) in the aera !

There's always Australia. You can shoot 5-10 Buffalo for the price of 1 cape buff. Fly during the off season and save big.
LDK

I thought they halted those "Chasse Libre" hunts in BF?

In 2005 I booked a 10 day Buff hunt in Mozambique through Wendell and my total costs including the air charter, dip/pak and trophy fees for the buffalo, one hippo cow, one croc and two baboons was $ 12,600. This amount didn't include taxidermy, shipping and tips.

This company has changed hands and Wendell is now booking for them again. The same exact hunt with the exception of a hippo bull rather than a cow (no real difference anyway) is now $ $ 23,250!

That is a 85% increase in five years.

If those price increases were to continue then this same hunt would cost $ 43,000 in 2015!

I am glad I went as often as I did when I could. I could never justify spending that kind of money on a hunt like that again.

I don't see how this trend can continue, but I could very easily be wrong.

Agreed. Take away the A here and what have you got? I could never hunt half of the animals that I have shot in Africa, today. It will not be a rich man's game, but a very rich man's game in the future, if things continue the way they are going. Go now if and while you can afford it. LDK: Australia is sounding good!

www.nazingasafari.com

The PH speak german and imo english !

http://www.pecheretchasser.com...eerwayasafarifi.html

Low prices but only french !The outfitter as all trackers/guides are from Burkina Faso. Two big open hunting aeras with a lot of game !

quote:

Russell Caldecott used to be about the best deal but he has closed down his lodge.

Russ, I'm not sure when this happened, but I stayed with Russell in Vic Falls at the end of Oct/Start Nov last year when I hunted Matetsi.

Ultimate Lodge: www.ultimateloadge.com

I would recommend it.

Cost also depends on what type of buffalo you are looking for and the area. In some areas with many buffalo, shooting 'a' buffalo is no problem. Shooting a large trophy bull can be quite another story.

Some areas have few buffalo, but a good percentage of them are large trophy bulls.

When looking for trophy bulls, you get what you pay for.

quote:

When looking for trophy bulls, you get what you pay for.

+1

LDK - I am interested in Aussie Buff especially if I can shoot 5-10 for the Cape price. PM with details when you get a chance. Thanks. This is a serious inquiry by the way.

Larry Sellers

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
There's always Australia. You can shoot 5-10 Buffalo for the price of 1 cape buff. Fly during the off season and save big.
LDK

quote:

Originally posted by L. David Keith:
There's always Australia. You can shoot 5-10 Buffalo for the price of 1 cape buff. Fly during the off season and save big.
LDK

David,
Can you recommend any particular outfitter or provide a link to that? I've looked into Aus buffalo hunts before and most that I've found are comparable to or more expensive than a cape buffalo hunt.

David: Yes, we're serious. PM the details please!

Here you go Frank: http://grayghostsafaris.com/australia.htm

Not Frank, but thanks SBT for the link.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
Here you go Frank: http://grayghostsafaris.com/australia.htm

The aussie hunt is not as expensive as a cape buf. You can do it on shorter days and less trophy fee. If you want to shoot a bunch you can do a herd reduction hunt, management bull hunt or only trophy hunts or mix them up with a bunch of the outfits. I booked with L. David Keith last year who posts on Ar. I hunted with Paul Trucolo, since then I met Matt Graham who also posts here and would enjoy hunting with him as well. Matt was a huge help and talked to me at DSC even though he knew I had already booked and paid for somewhere else. I consider him to be a true ambassador for Australian hunting. go to the Aussie/new zealand link here on Ar for everyones posts.

Larry, Frank, UEG: PM's sent with details. Thank you guys, David