Gentlemen:
In a few days I will post my info on the Mark Sullivan films. It is slower going than I thought as my knee won't allow me to sit for long at a table as it swells and stiffens. It needs to be kept iced and elevated. So whilst time is passing I have a question for you that I have thought of often: the advantages and/or disadvantages of large and small safari operators. Is there a difference in your opinion?

In my limited experience I have found the big operators to be big as they have some time in the business and are successful. Good areas to hunt and numerous camps. And, of course, experience. The down side is the hunter may become a production line affair--get him in, hunt, collect the money, and out, and make ready for the next hunter. Also many hunters in the same camp often times meeting each other whilst out on drives or walks. Free lance PHs are hired and one may not know or hunt with the owner who booked the hunt at the convention.

The small operators (again, my opinion from personal observation) seem to appreciate the business more, have a personal touch to the service, and work hard to make a good name for themselves. However, they may not have the areas and nor as many camps and not as fancy.

So, is there a difference in your opinion and whom do you prefer to hunt with? Also, I'm within a week or two of booking a hippo and plains game hunt in Zim and this question is coming to mind. And before you ask, a .600 will serve quite well for bushbuck, impala, bushpig, etc., as well as the hippo!

Cheers and thanks for your comments.
Cal

Hunted with big and small and had a great experience with both. The guide/PH is what makes the trip/safari for me.

I am a fan of the small operator all the way. I think they tend to work harder, are more personalble, and more at risk. Besides, I like to help the guy making his way up.

What is the definition of "big" vs. "small" operators?

Obviously, a PH who is operating on his own is a small outfit, and a corporation that owns rights to multiple concessions and has most/all of the hunters hunt with their employees is big, but where is the line (is an outfit with one area that they control with multiple PH's big? Using Zim as a basis, is CMS big or small? How about SSG? I assume that Chifuti and HHK are big, but maybe not?

Personally, I am more concerned with customer service than I am size of the outfit.

I havbe hunted with both, and great safaris with both.

But, I most definitely prefer to hunt with a small operator.

I believe there are advantages and disadvantages to both.

They each have their Pro / Con; but I prefer to hunt with "small" if possible.

Orvar

I would like to add that what is more important is the individual PH you are hunting with.

I've only used 2 safari companies, 1 considered big & the other small but very well established.
So far I have had great safaris with both.
I'm not sure whether it is the big or small that matters, but instead the people that you are personally dealing with that matter.
I personally like to pick my PH, don't know if I would book with someone not knowing who I would be hunting with.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I would like to add that what is more important is the individual PH you are hunting with.

I believe this is the most important element.

When I do my research I look at the area, as far as game possibilities but I mostly look at the PH and exhaustively seek references.

Joyce and I are about the experience and the area can be dripping in game but if we were with a PH that gave us the feel that he/she was looking at anything other than the present experience it would diminish the joy of the trip. Might sound odd since I am paying the dime but I want the PH having a good time as well. If they are into enjoying what is going on each day then you also will have a better chance at enjoying the experience.

Saeed, your statement about liking small outfits makes me wonder. Do you consider the Vincents to operate as a small outfit?

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I would like to add that what is more important is the individual PH you are hunting with.

I believe this is the most important element.

When I do my research I look at the area, as far as game possibilities but I mostly look at the PH and exhaustively seek references.

Joyce and I are about the experience and the area can be dripping in game but if we were with a PH that gave us the feel that he/she was looking at anything other than the present experience it would diminish the joy of the trip. Might sound odd since I am paying the dime but I want the PH having a good time as well. If they are into enjoying what is going on each day then you also will have a better chance at enjoying the experience.

Saeed, your statement about liking small outfits makes me wonder. Do you consider the Vincents to operate as a small outfit?

To me the difference between a large and small operator is how many concessions they have.

Roy has always had one concession, and so does Alan now.

I hunted with TGT, which is a big oparator, only because Alan was working for them at that time.

I was really hunting with Alan, not TGT.

This is not to imply that TGT is a not good operator, but if Alan was employed by someone else at that time I would have hunted with him.

Regardless who he was working for.

My hunts with him while he was at TGT were great.

I did all my dealings with Alan, including bookings and payments.

One thing I might mention here also.

TGT had a contract which one has to sign before hunting with them.

It was so convoluted and one sided, I would never have signed it if Alan wasn't conducting my hunt.

It was the only time I had to sign and contract, and frankly, if Alan was not involved I would have hunted with someone else.

A small operation on a family property where the husband is the PH, the wife cooks and manages the books, and the son is an appy. Nothing better than this set-up as far as I am concerned and no better place to find it than Namibia.

I started off as a small operator, but with all the beer I've swallowed around the campfires, I'm now a big operator !!

I have done most of my hunts with one PH/Operator. With him I have hunted RSA from the Cape to Natal to the Western Cape and in Moz and Zim Binga, Dande North. I call him a pick- up PH. He has his truck and books time and area from bigger operators. We get along pretty well and enjoy ragging on each other. I have never booked with what I would call a large operation using their staff PH's.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I would like to add that what is more important is the individual PH you are hunting with.

Agreed!

But I would add what's "MOST" important is the area/block you are hunting! You can take the greatest PH/Guide, working as or for the smallest/quality operator in the world, and put him in a poor or mediocre area, and the best you can ever hope for is poor/mediocre results. No PH anywhere in the world can produce something that just isn't there. Be it quality of game, or quantity.

The area I am planning to hunt, based on my personal criteria (whatever that may be) is always my first consideration. Some of the biggest operators, have some of the "best" areas - not always of course, but frequently that's the case. Regardless, I would prefer to pick the area first, PH second, and size of the operator third.

I think Aaron and Saeed have it right. Area first, good PH second and then you should have nothing to worry about. I have definitely experienced both ends of this spectrum more than once. I have had seemingly perfect safaris, and I have had two really bad ones. I had a bad safari with one of the biggest companies in Zim- got issued an old burned out PH that had the ability but could have cared less and pretty well ruined an experience. I killed 2 buff, but that didn’t make the trip a success; he put a real damper on my first DG hunt. There is more to a hunt than killing. I also had a nightmare of a trip with a small operation in Namibia, I won’t go into that again.

I had a trip of a lifetime with Buzz in Zim. Great area, great PH, great safari, and shot 3 of big 4 in 9 days. I used to consider CM a small operator, but they have grown a good bit, but they still keep the feel of a small company, personal attention, only good PH’s, etc. I feel the same about Kambako in Moz. Though they are a major player in Moz, they are still fairly small company as far as number of hunts in a year, # of areas, etc.,. They have one big main camp (in a great area with a huge support staff), some options to spike out, and they have a small PH staff, but they are all great guys.

Not much worse than either hunting an area with little to no game or having to spend 10-21 days with a PH that doesn’t care about your hunt. Life is too short and money is too valuable to throw it away like that… that being said, I just don't think size of company is the determining factor.

I have done both.......and as Cal suggested got the "assembly line" deal with the large operator.........

I'll stick with the small guy that WANTS repeat business.


.

started off as a small operator, but with all the beer I've swallowed around the campfires, I'm now a big operator !!

Good one Neil.Think I am still a small operator...

Hello Cal-
I have hunted thirteen of my fourtenn trips to Zim with the same operator. They are a small outfit that the family has been in Zim for over one hundred years. Personall I prefer a smaller company because I beleive you get a bit better service and can develope a stronger bond between you and company. Just my opinion. A large majority of thier clients are repeat clients.

Not to be a smart ass but who cares. I book with a GOOD company no matter what the size.

I've hunted with quite a few different safari operators pretty much covering the full spectrum of operations from a large outfit with numerous area all over the country to a one area one PH operation to a guy subcontracting only with no areas of his own.

Like Aaron I think the area is foremost in importance and the PH second. A mediocre PH can put on a fairly good safari in a great area but a fantastic PH can't pull off a super safari in a poor area. Of course the ultimate goal is a good area, a good PH and some good luck. The company's infrastructure is probably the next most important factor. Do they have back up equipment and the ability to make a plan "B" if necessary? Is the camp comfortable and fully stocked for the client's comfort. If these things are not in place it can ruin a safari also.

In my experience the best safaris often are put on not by biggest or smallest safari companies but by the safari operators that really care about how the safari goes. My preference is to book my clients and myself with an outfit where the owner is available to the hunter during the safari providing a level of personal service that might be lacking in a very large outfit.

Mark

I am so glad about this post as i am a small outfitt only started marketing this hear. Typical family bussines, father owns the land mother and wife does the cooking and well you now know the PH.

Cheers

i've been with both types & pretty much agree with what mark says. the area & ph are #1. you can't substitute either one. that said I'll take the small operator every time i can. I feel much less like a number, feel more at home instead of just pay up and leave.

i guess i should add that the couple poor experiences i have had both came with large operators