Hello Guys and Gals,

Once again my ignorance needs assitance, We have been marketing our Bird Hunts in South Africa, and I was ubder the impression that they should get a lot of attention,

We are booked good with European and South Africa clients but USA does not want too take off

So I pose the following Question

Question:
Would you book a dedicated Bird Only Hunt in South Africa , with the possibility to take 14 species in 7 days

Choices:
Yes
No
Not interested at all

Question:
Do you hunt birds in USA

Choices:
Yes
No
Still want too

 

I'd certainly think Americans would be interested in that kind of hunt, and I suppose I am too although no time soon, sorry.

Americans commonly travel to Canada, Mexico and Argentina to bird hunt so I can't see why not RSA.

I get to infrequently bird hunt here in Alaska, but I almost always fly south to one of the western states annualy for a bird hunt.

The twist for American hunters is that quite a few, myself included get more enjoyment out of using their own bird dogs while hunting and ofcourse that's out of the question down your way I'd think.

What are you offering in RSA? (go ahead man, give us the sales pitch.)

Walter,

I've lived in Southern Africa for two-three years on two separate occasions. During each of those stays I hunted francolin, guinea fowl, ducks and spurfowl in Lesotho and francolin and guinea fowl in the RSA.

I am in Namibia and Natal hunting every year now that I'm back in the States. Not possible to go to Southern Africa just for birds. You have too many interesting four-legged critters (an Americanism for creatures) to hunt.

Regards, Tim

I am a Canadian, but answered as if I were an American. The rest of the world never bothers to make the distinction, so why should I!!!

I have hunted bird game in Africa, South America, continental Europe, Great Britain, the United States and Canada, and I can tell you that South Africa is a world class bird hunting destination. In recent years, my interest has shifted to big game, but I have in the past, and would again, book a bird hunt in Africa.

quote:

Not possible to go to Southern Africa just for birds. You have too many interesting four-legged critters (an Americanism for creatures) to hunt.

What about combining a trip 2 full days birds and 5 days plainsgame for example would that spark more interest ?

The problem we encounter with bird shoots is that (to really do it properly) it requires a larger group of guys to all come to Africa as a group, and getting them to agree on set dates is very difficult. - There's always someone who wants to come late or leave early etc and that of course changes the pricing which affects decisions.

Africa has some really good wingshooting, but I reckon it's not exploited to anywhere near it's full potential.

I like to bird hunt, but I'd be hard pressed to spend the time and money to go that far from home only to hunt birds. I certainly took advantage of bird hunting while in South Africa hunting big game and varmints though. I had great fun hunting guinea, ducks, doves, and pigeons, and a few francolin. I'd love to return for more bird hunting, but would have to tag that onto a hunt for big game and do some more predator calling.

quote:

The problem we encounter with bird shoots is that (to really do it properly) it requires a larger group of guys to all come to Africa as a group, and getting them to agree on set dates is very difficult.

What Steve said!

I see the bird hunting more as a one or two day adjunct to big game hunting. Argentina has some advantages for bird only hunters that are tough to counter.

Kwan, it occurs to me that this may not be the best place to get feedback on your question. AR is pretty much a rifle shooting, four-legged "critter" hunting web site, and the African Big Game Hunting forum is especially so.

In 1996, I travelled to the RSA for a 10 day, dedicated bird game hunt in a group of six shooters that had no problem all agreeing to dates and program, so it can be done. I was a serious, dedicated wingshooter in those days, and that expedition is one of the hightlights of my life.

Have you asked your question in the Bird Hunting Forum? You might also ask your question in a dedicated wingshooting discussion forum such as www.shootingsportsman.com

I would only hunt birds in Africa as an ancillary part of a plainsgame or dangerous game hunt, perhaps one or two days.

Thank you for all the replies guys, I know this is the big game forum, but this is where the most chatting gets done.

Thank you

Hopefully on my next trip over I can add a couple half day hunts for birds. With my opportunities of getting to Africa every 5-6 years, the four-legged critters get more priority for me personally. However, if I was able to go to Africa almost every year or every other year, I think a bird only trip would be right down my alley.

I hunt probably close to 30 days a winter chasing upland game birds here in the USA. Part of it is because I do enjoy watching my own dog work.

However, there are hunters here in the USA that could give a flip about hunting big game. Some spend months in the field chasing birds and never even think about picking up a rifle to hunt say an elk or antelope.

Different strokes for different folks. I'm sure there is a group of individuals out there were a bird only hunt would be exactly what they want. You just need to find the right avenue to tap into that particular group. As Wooly stated above, maybe a wingshooting only forum is one of those avenues.

Good luck,

Frederik,

I believe DesertRam gave the answer. I, too, would tack two or three days on for bird hunting after or before a plains or even dangerous game safari (probably after in the latter case).

For most newbies to Africa 'tho, I suspect the lure of the rifle and chase would make it impossible to break away for days "just" to hunt birds.

Regards, Tim

Like many others I would add in a few days of wingshooting, but I wouldn't make an entire hunt out of it in Africa.

What species of bird are legal to shoot?
Rollers
oxpecker and other songbird types not just game bird types.
raptors?

I can mount them myself while I'm there.

No, with us is gamebirds only, if we don;t eat them we don't shoot them

Kwan, I don't know what bird game you offer, but on my trip we shot several species of duck, spurwing geese, several species of partridge, quail, several species of dove and driven guinea fowl. Our outfitter had Labs that he used for retrieving waterfowl, and pointers for the partidge and quail.

The variety of bird game available on one trip was much greater than anyplace else I have hunted (although you could make the same statement about African big game as well).

Everything we hunted was eventually sampled at the dining table.

I've thought about bird hunting each time I've gone to Africa, but it is such a low priority to me, and the cost I found ridiculous. I believe I was quoted $5.00 a bird in Zimbabwe. I figured with one shot into a flock of guineas, I could blow about $30.00.

I go to Africa to hunt big game, if I have any downtime I like to watch big game, or if water is nearby I will fish. I'm an avid bird hunter in the States, but birds in Africa doesn't do much for me.

It's feasible to hunt pigeons, dove, francolin, sand grouse and waterfowl with one or two guns, but for guineas you need min 4 guns and up to 12 to make it work right.

Since the airfare is a big part of the cost of a big game hunt, it's worth spending a few extra days enjoying the outstanding wingshooting Africa has to offer. There is no more powerful and exciting flushing bird than the Francolin. Sand Grouse offer a unique wingshooting experience...like decoying ducks but under blue skies and at a reasonable hour! Guineas are big and powerful and boy do they hit the ground hard! This is a fun group hunt..a really social occasion. Pigeons in Africa are much like pigeons in Argentina, although those Rock Pigeons are faster than the South American species.

On our bird hunts, there is no per bird fee. Just a flat daily rate. The "per bird" fees seem to be favored by big game outfitters offering casual wingshooting.

I highly recommend wingshooting in Africa. RSA is probably the best choice, and the highest bird numbers are found in the croplands. These areas are not the prime big game areas..they are more settled farming areas. Hence the recommendation that you do birds as an add-on rather than mix it up with big game. Namibia can be good depending on the year. For sand grouse, note the seasons start very late...Sept or Oct, and by then the other seasons are drawing to a close.

We offer a combo bird/PG hunt in RSA. We do the birds first, upland up North and then down to KZN for waterfowl followed by 3 or 4 days shooting PG. The cost of the bird hunting is sensitive to the number in the group. A "MacNab" is an interesting challenge: to take a bird on the wing, a trout on a fly, and shoot an antelope with a rifle, all in one day. For the really dedicated wingshooter, we offer an 18 day "wingshoot the world" trip, including Argentina, RSA, and Spain or England. This can only be done in Sept due to the seasons. And we need a group of 4 plus to make the numbers work.

The "wingshoot the world trip" does sound like an interesting idea -- might be a bit tiring to do, however.

I think the biggest problem w. wingshooting only trips in RSA is the travel from the US -- from the US, you can go directly to Argentina, w. minimal gun problems, on a US airline, and not have to deal w. the jet lag.

To me, the best form of hunting is over pointers, second would be pass shooting -- I'm not as fond of stalking/waiting in a blind -- still beats work, but maybe not fly fishing...

If you could get some expert skinners, who could prep the birds for mounts, it might attract more customers.

I voted yes as I would be interested to do some of that in addition to other hunting or plans to be there for other reasons. I probably wouldn't come JUST to do that but I would seriously consider adding it to another plan.

Ditto to the comment on getting some expert skinners involved on the birds. In fact, I'm more interested in bringing back birds than large back skins, etc.