No doubt Tanzania,

If you hunt Masailand and the Kilombero Valley you looking at 40+ huntable species!

I have never been to Africa, but this thread reminds me of an article that Craig Boddington wrote about Bob Petersen’s retirement safari in ‘Petersen’s Hunting.’ He could have gone about anywhere but he chose Zambia. Granted, it was a long time ago and things have changed, but it sounded like they had a blast. I believe they went to 2-3 different areas while in Zambia, but it’s been a while since I have read the article.

Justin: Yes! And this is a really good chapter in Boddington's book "Where Lions Roar." They hunted Kafue and Bengweulu.

If you want to not move a lot- and spend a month, your budget is going to be high.

The wild areas of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe are classic safaris.

Uganda is more specialty game and you need to move around within the country. Also, no cats or elephant hunting there.

Cameroon the biggest issue would be that the savanna and rainforest hunting is at different times and the licensing set up kind of makes doing everything at one time difficult. I think the savanna with LDE and savanna buffalo would give you enough variety for 2-3 weeks. Again, no cats but I think there is some limited non importable elephant there.

Tanzania has the largest total number of species, but you could bust your budget in Zambia, or Zimbabwe just as easily. All three have cats and elephant available, so if you want a blow out big 4 safari, you can do it there. Zimbabwe (along with South Africa and Namibia) are the only places where you will run in to rhino (in select places) while hunting if that’s important to you.

You said something about lion, and really that’s the call to make. Understand that lion and elephant are generally something you base the whole hunt around if that is your goal- to shoot a trophy of either. Lion hunting, everything is secondary to hanging meat in a tree until you get it. It’s a delightful chess match, but can be frustrating. Leopard is similar but supposedly higher success (personally, I’ve never got either one alone - my luck with leopard is less than lion, but I know I’m an odd case…)

Elephant you will be a lot more active, but while following tracks, you stay on it… not a good idea to bypass something.

You can get everything, but usually you have to subordinate things based on your goals. If you’ve done most of it once, then it goes to relaxing and going with it.

I’ve had a lot of great hunts, and at my point, I’m not hunting for one game animal. My advice now is different than when I was desperate to get a lion or whatever. The one I see sold most that fits what I’m hearing you say would be a 28 day hunt in the Selous, and take what comes, but that’s assuming you are not putting any one animal above the rest as a goal.

You can do the same in Zambia or Zimbabwe, but getting the quota available for everything can be a challenge. Folks “want” a lion or a trophy elephant or a leopard, and those operators tend to sell those as separate hunts.

Adding willingness to do 1-2 camp moves makes more available as far as variety.

You need to be really honest with yourself what you want… if the goal is wander around wild Africa with a ticket for anything you come across that looks good that’s one thing, but if you want a specific animal more than the others, it changes how you approach it. If the goal is the old fashioned full bag when you get back, then you make other calls. All are options.

In retrospect, the optimum hunt of mine combining finding things and working for them was my Selous hunt in 2015, but that was after I had shot the big 5, so I had absolutely no pressure on myself. Even then, I hunted 2 areas in Masailand as part of that.

quote:

Originally posted by fulvio:

quote:

Tanzania does offer some unique species. Gerenuk, lesser kudu, some gazelles.

I will offer some additions:

Lichtenstein & Coke's Hartebeest, Fringe-Eared Oryx, Roan, East African & Roosevelt Sable, Grant's, Roberts and Thomson's Gazelles, Topi, Nyasaland & White Bearded Gnu, Kirk's Dik Dik, Red Duiker, Southern & East African Impala, some great Lions & Leopard.

Trophy Elephants have also recently begun making a comeback in impressive numbers to their natural haunts which is testimony that poaching has been put under wraps.

For those who have a penchant towards Tiger fishing, rest assured that Tanzania is now on the world map as one, if not best places for BIG Tigers.

Great list! Not all unique to Tanzania though.
Liechtenstein's hartebeest you can find in Zambia too, and Zambian sables are bigger (and better looking imo), roan too in Zambia, red duiker you can find too in Mozambique.
But still, impressive list of unique species in Tanzania, and the impalas are monsters too (as are the buffalo in some areas).

The way I translate the Will P retirement safari is to kick start his retirement with a month in Africa hunting and just as importantly fishing a couple of wild locations within his budget. Other safaris will be considered for the future.

My take is Will does not really want to collect a catalog of species but would the notable animals and a few Buffalo along the way.

quote:

Great list! Not all unique to Tanzania though.
Liechtenstein's hartebeest you can find in Zambia too, and Zambian sables are bigger (and better looking imo), roan too in Zambia, red duiker you can find too in Mozambique.
But still, impressive list of unique species in Tanzania, and the impalas are monsters too (as are the buffalo in some areas).

The 2 Hartebeest, Wildebeest, Impala and Sable species were listed only because Tanzania offers the possibility of shooting both, something uncommon with other African venues which in turn will have some species not found in Tanzania.

I forgot to mention 2 species of Waterbuck (Common & Defassa), Suni & Grysbok, among others.

The current licensing system in Tanzania also offers the possibility of shooting 5 Buffalo without having to get a bank loan.

Taking South Africa from the equation - where one probably can shoot more animals than anywhere else in the world, by farm hopping.

Tanzania wins hands down.

Hunts within country can include an incredible amount of different terrain and animals.

Fulvio,

Five buffalo? I shot four last year. How can you get five? I love hunting buffalo and am hunting lion next year (again), so an extra buffalo could come in handy. Might obviate the need to shoot a hippo. Probably not. But another buffalo is always intriguing.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Fulvio,

Five buffalo? I shot four last year. How can you get five? But another buffalo is always intriguing.

If you shot 4 last year you must have been on a Premium permit.

Hunting packages come in 3 grades: Regular, Major and Premium.

Regular: 2, Major: 3 and Premium:4

Try twisting your outfitter's arm to obtain for you a Regular 7 day permit (2 Buffalo) and Major 21 day permit (3 Buffalo) to get a total 5 Buffalo, or the Premium 28 day permit for the Full Bag species you are after and have a 6 x Buffalo bonanza to boot.

Fulvio,

The judges I answer to won't let me book a 28 day. Add a week of travel and that's well over a month out of pocket. I usually do 15 days or so of hunting, but buy the highest level license I can.
If I decide to cut back and just mediate, I'd love to do a 28 day with six buffalo. Six buffalo -- If I wasn't hunting cats (which I usually am) I could get real selective. Sounds awesome.

The number of animals you can shoot depends on your outfitter, if he has the quota to give you, and you buying enough licenses to cover them.

Quota is always limited, hence the outfitter tries to get more hunters to pay daily rates to cover his costs.

This applies everywhere, not just Tanzania.

I think I have shot up to 16 buffalos on some safaris in Zimbababwe, and I 12-14 are normal.

Same goes for lions and leopards.

I have shot several lions on a safari.

Bottom line is you and your outfitter talking the same language.

quote:

I usually do 15 days or so of hunting, but buy the highest level license I can.

Lavaca,

The numbers of buffalo you get to shoot are regulated by the class of license/s you hold, immaterial of the number of days you have at disposition and obviously, their quotas permitting of which the outfitter is in full control to distribute as he wishes among his clientele through multiple license application.

Saeed's closing sentence reconfirms.

Reminds me of being at a hunting show.

I went to a South African booth.

One of the questions I asked was how many of each animal can I shoot.

He got quite shirty, saying one is only allowed to shoot one of each species, as animals are very valuable.

I suggested to him that he should go and grow potatoes, he might do a better job than selling hunts.

When I hunted South Africa, one could shoot as many animals as he wished, and pay for them.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Fulvio,

The judges I answer to won't let me book a 28 day. Add a week of travel and that's well over a month out of pocket. I usually do 15 days or so of hunting, but buy the highest level license I can.
If I decide to cut back and just mediate, I'd love to do a 28 day with six buffalo. Six buffalo -- If I wasn't hunting cats (which I usually am) I could get real selective. Sounds awesome.

Wouldn't you be more selective if you would only hunt 1 buffalo?

quote:

Wouldn't you be more selective if you would only hunt 1 buffalo?

The same selectivity is applied to one and all and if the hunter has the opportunity of selectively shooting more than one I don't see where the problem lies especially when targeting old bulls.

Thank you, All, for your replies and suggestions.

I am trying to do a bit more research myself before contacting very many operators. I have responded to a few PM's, and will follow up with others in the near future.

I look forward to posting more when I have a few questioned answered and begin to narrow my options. Right now I am thinking Zambia and Tanzania are probably my top choices, with Zimbabwe still in the hunt.

I am really not interested in Moz, Cameroon, Uganda, or any of the more exotic suggestions. While I have been to Zim on several previous safaris and had a great time, I do like the idea of the remoteness of parts of Zambia and Tanzania.

It is fun to plan, if still more than a year ahead.

Thank you,

Will P

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
The way I translate the Will P retirement safari is to kick start his retirement with a month in Africa hunting and just as importantly fishing a couple of wild locations within his budget. Other safaris will be considered for the future.

My take is Will does not really want to collect a catalog of species but would the notable animals and a few Buffalo along the way.

Hi Andrew,

If you remember, I posted a very similar thread a few years ago.

I knew my business was a prime acquisition target, and it was. I sold in 2019, still work a couple days a week for these guys (Good Guys BTW). Covid really delayed this Safari planning.

I have a wife that understands I need extended time with some Safaris. She has no issue me being gone 40-45 days. In 2005, I was in Zambia for 37 days IIRC. I did 10 days in Towdwa with Terry, then caught a flight from Kasama? I forgot the name. Directly to Luangwa and did 21 Days with Alister for Lion, Leopard,...blah..blah...blah.

To my point. I want to do the same thing Will does. I'm working on part of it now. 16 days in Masaailand on a 21 day license. Then off to Moz. for a proper Nyala hunt and perhaps a proper Eland, mine is a bit short. I would like to hunt Chifunda at some point before I call it quits. So I can easily see 40+ days.

I'd like to set aside some time for a shot at a nice Vundu as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
The way I translate the Will P retirement safari is to kick start his retirement with a month in Africa hunting and just as importantly fishing a couple of wild locations within his budget. Other safaris will be considered for the future.

My take is Will does not really want to collect a catalog of species but would the notable animals and a few Buffalo along the way.

Hi Andrew,

If you remember, I posted a very similar thread a few years ago.

I knew my business was a prime acquisition target, and it was. I sold in 2019, still work a couple days a week for these guys (Good Guys BTW). Covid really delayed this Safari planning.

I have a wife that understands I need extended time with some Safaris. She has no issue me being gone 40-45 days. In 2005, I was in Zambia for 37 days IIRC. I did 10 days in Towdwa with Terry, then caught a flight from Kasama? I forgot the name. Directly to Luangwa and did 21 Days with Alister for Lion, Leopard,...blah..blah...blah.

To my point. I want to do the same thing Will does. I'm working on part of it now. 16 days in Masaailand on a 21 day license. Then off to Moz. for a proper Nyala hunt and perhaps a proper Eland, mine is a bit short. I would like to hunt Chifunda at some point before I call it quits. So I can easily see 40+ days.

I'd like to set aside some time for a shot at a nice Vundu as well.

Sounds good mate. On my last croc hunt I was thinking of you as some serious fish were also attracted to the bait. Currently, the prime Luangwa concessions are up for grabs so it will be interesting to see who gets what.

As I have a boat we could consider a fish/camping option and one place that looks seriously fishy is the gorge below the Kariba dam. Kariba dam also holds monster fish but the trick is to try and bait them.

I'd go to Uganda in December and clean up Christian Weth's Karamoja Buffalo Quota - $100k would about cover a dozen buff and two weeks in the field.

Or, bounce from property to property in the Save in November until you've clapped double digit nyatis and a couple of Nzou.

Or, pick up a late season deal in Masailand for multi buff and PG.

That said, Ethiopia is my favorite out of 25 safaris. 24 days in three areas was well worth the squeeze.

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
I would consider Uganda. I have not hunted there, but spent two weeks visiting and touring when my niece lived there. Great parks, friendly people, reasonable prices.

This is a great place. I loved Uganda. Very unique, lots and lots of buff and other options for touring. Do a gorilla stalk there!

Ethiopia is a totally unique trip as well. I have one booked for 2024, 40+ species and a great place.