A few years back when I was researching an African plains game hunt I saw much more info for Botswana than what I see today.
What changed?
I'm looking for a more "adventurous" plains game hunt than the average lodge hunt.
Any suggestions?

2 years ago i hunted plains game and leopard with dogs on a huge game ranch bordering the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. the ranch was over 25,000 acres and the fence did little to keep the animals in or out. it was a tented camp next to a waterpoint and every night a big male lion came right through the tents to have a drink at the borehole. lots of kudu, eland, gemsbok, etc. got my leopard on the second day. saw several other lions while driving around( they come out of the game reserve hunting and didn't seem to have a problem finding a hole in the fence). unfortunately the Bots game dept. wouldn't issue any permits for the Kalahari. the plains game was numerous and BIG. hunted with Greg Butler Safaris- email Kelly Butler(Greg's wife) at sls@info.bw jerry dollar

I just returned from Botswana last month. I had a wonderful hunt with Greg Butler Safaris. When I can get out from underneath all of this work, I'll do a report. I got what I wanted- wide open spaces, no artificially high game populations, a traditional tent camp, great company, good food, and an extremely challenging hunt. We hunted for five days in the okavango and four days in the kalahari. I bow hunted for 6 days and rifle hunted for 3, while my father just rifle hunted.

Sorry for posting again. Just for edification, Greg Butler no longer has the 25K fenced concession referred to by jdollar. They hunt 250,000 sq. km concession in the delta and 2.5M sq. km concession in the kalahari, bordering Namibia.

Carolina,

Is the fenced concession in the Okavango? What kind of coin did it set you back? Thanks.

Jeff

Yeah, lets get a report. I think a combo hunt in the Delta and the kalahari would be as good as it could get for a family safari. What did you hunt in the Delta, and could you tiger fish and wingshoot?

Granted, it was my first safari, but it was truly a great experience. I wanted to bow hunt but was not interested in doing a traditional south african bow hunt where you sit in the same permanent blind over a water trough that Joe Blow sat over last week, etc. I am NOT knocking that kind of hunt and I'm sure you can have a wonderful African experience with Dries Visser or Ha Nore or any of the other outfitters who cater to bowhunters, it's just not what I wanted to do. I didn't want to hunt a fenced area. Again, I know you may never see a fence, but it's not what I wanted. I also needed a place where I could hunt with a bow and my dad could hunt with a rifle.

After months of research, I found Greg Butler Safaris. It was a great choice. Like I mentioned above, we spent 5 days hunting the southern edge of okavango delta in Greg's Lechwe Camp. I hunted with a bow for 4 1/2 days. It was tough. I bet I stalked 25 or more impala before I got one, and even then it was tough shooting. He was a nice, but not huge, ram- just over 23 inches. I spent the next few days trying to get a red lechwe. Got close to what would have been the new number 1 with a bow, but couldn't get close enough. On the last day, I succumbed to pressure from my family and carried a rifle, "just in case." The bull snuck past me at about 35 yards with my bow, but never stopped until he got to 278 yards. I don't think he realized that I also had a .300.

In the meantime, in the okavango, my father took a 41 1/2 buffalo, zebra, red lechwe, and warthog. If we had had licenses, he could have also taken an impala, kudu and a few others. However, in the Delta, if you don't have your license before you get there, you probably aren't going to be able to find one.

After a great time in the delta, we headed 8 hours over rough roads to the Xai Xai, which is a concession in the Kalahari. The hunting was very tough and the animals widely dispersed. I gave up with my bow on day 2 after taking a fairly nice 4 inch steenbok after an enjoyable stalk. I ened up taking a respectable kudu, red hartebeast (only the second one taken in four years), and a 40 inch gemsbok (which we thought was a bull at the shot, but ended up being a heavy cow). My father took a nice wildebeast, 44 inch gemsbok (cow again), steenbok, and duiker. He never had a chance at a kudu. Neither of us got within 3 kms of an eland. Other than that, we got everything on our list except for a warthog.

I would change a few things about the hunt. One, if you're only going for 10 days, stay in the Delta. If you're going for 14+ days, split it up. Two, put in for every license you may possibly want because you won't be able to get them there.

As far as cost goes, mine was reasonable, as I was only hunting plain's game. I think I was $375/day plus license fees (which weren't cheap) and trophy fees (which I think were on par with most places). Also, there were a number of transfer fees that added up. My dad hunted buffalo. He paid $1000/day, plus license and trophy fees.

One last thing. I know that you can fish, but I don't think the tiger fish make it that far that early (august). Plenty of guineas, francolin, etc. Lots of sand grouse. Not too many waterfowl.

Their elephant, lion and leopard is supposed to be great, and I know the buffalo hunting is hard to beat (my dad passed several 42-43 inch bulls on the first day for the beauty he took. He wanted big hooks and good curl, rather than just spread.) Cheers, CC

Wendell Reich posted a Bostwana/Kalahari hunt report.

I just realized that I may have earlier posted some misinformation. I believe that the figures I gave should have been in acres rather than square kilometers, but now I'm second guessing myself again. I can't remember. It was really, really big, though.

Hunting plainsgame in Botswana on large Communal Conservancies is a bit expensive due to all the gov fees involved.

You can do a hunt on a ranch, but it will be behind wire, to avoid the government fees. Now, there are some absolutely enormous places in Botswana, where you would have no idea there was a fence.

I believe what you are looking for is a communal land type hunt. Namibia is a good place for that.

A lot of guys here have hunted with Vaughan Fulton's outfit in Namibia. I book hunts for Vaughan.

His area is NW of Windhoek about 4 hours. It is an absolutely enormous piece of land, and not your typical rach type of hunting.

I believe there were a couple posts here on hunts done this year in Vaughan's Communal area.

I will be hppy to talk with you about his operation.

after my leopard/plains game hunt with Greg in the Kalahari, we moved to his Okavango concession for 5 days of picture taking and also stayed at Lechwe camp(one of 2 camps he has there). every day was a constant parade of dangerous game, especially elephant and lion and lots of buff, plus the usual plains game and red lechwe. a first class operation. from talking to Greg, i gathered that his Xai Xai concession is so large that they are still learning the layout. apparently lots of big elephants.

I've done 2 plainsgame and one Buffalo and plainsgame hunts in Botswana. The first two were in the Delta, the third started in the Delta and then we went to a ranch near Ghanzi. It appears that plainsgame hunting in Botswana is gravitating towards Ranches. There still are a couple of Outfitters, Mark Kyriacou is who I use, who still offer plainsgame in the Delta, but the number has shrunk. The hunts on ranches are competitive with ranch hunts in Namibia and RSA, the Delta hunts are significantly higher but also spectacular. I feel that Botswana is a premier destination and I'll be going back in May.

Thanks for all the good info. Again I'm looking for a Plains game hunt but not the fancy lodge deal.

This is something I am considering myself for next year combined with a business trip...spoke to Wendell about it today in fact. Give Wendell a call. He can help you "make a plan".

If you want to talk about my hunt this past August, feel free to call me at the office between 8am and 7pm ET. 864-349-2616. Trey Suggs

I believe that most hunts in Bots, including ranch hunts are tented.

quote:

Originally posted by elkfitter:
Thanks for all the good info. Again I'm looking for a Plains game hunt but not the fancy lodge deal.

I could set you up next in the Tuli block - hunting from a classic tented camp using bushmen trackers - the real deal. Please feel free to contact me for more info.

a plain game hunt in the delta looks very interesting specially for the red lecwe. I'm very interested to find an outfitter who can offer this type of hunt

Trey,

What did you see for elephants in the Xai Xai that time of year? Did your PH talk about the quality and quantity of elephants there during other seasons?

Mario
Try Mark Kyriacou at: mk.birdsaf@worldnet.att

I have completed 3 hunts with his outfit all included Red Lechewe in the Delta

Wendell Riech also books for Clive Eaton, Clive could probably organize something

thanks Terry.

SBT,
Sorry for the delay in responding. My dad is actually interested in going back to the Xai Xai for ele because it's a good bit cheaper than the Delta. All of the elephants had already moved through the area when we were there in August. According to my PH, they get a lot of activity earlier in the winter and for the value, the hunt is really hard to beat. I can tell you that there were a lot of elephants in their Delta concession and the hunter in camp took a respectable bull. It is my understanding that you have a decent chance at a 55-65 lb. bull in the Xai Xai.

Thanks. That is consistent with what I have been hearing.