Im planning my first Safari for 2012. Looking at all the "PLANS", some seem to offer more animals than others. I understand game abundance and types will vary from location to location and some species wont be near others; but some "PLANS" offer almost 1 animal per day, while others as little as 3 in 7 days.

As this is my first safari (already planning a DG hunt for 2013 or 14), I want it to be special. Im torn between wanting a lot of game and wanting a quality time.

Im NOT worried about record book game, but I dont want to be forced to take the first one I see either. Most of my hunting has been in the US, where the hunt is over when a single animal is down, so Im out of my league when it comes to this situation.

Right now Im looking at 7 to 10 days. To complicate matters Im going with a good buddy and we're talking about sharing a PH. I think Im in good company here when I say the hunt is NOT about the kill, rather the whole experience from planning to hanging the trophy. That being said, I neither want a shooing gallery, nor empty days.

What a good balance of game VS days?

Personally, after having been on safari, twice now[1 plains game hunt, 1 DG hunt], I would not go for less than 10 actual hunting days. It's too damn far to fly for 7 days or less. If you are hunting for quality, mature animals, and not "record book" everything, you should easily get 5-7 animals in a 10 day hunt. Here is who we hunted with in 2008.

www.cruisersafaris.com/

They have several huge properties to hunt, and you would have a good time. My hunt in Zim, that just ended, my son and I hunted 2x1 for DG. It worked well, and we hunted almost everything, together. I don't know if I would do a 2x1 hunt with anybody else, other than my son. Just my personal opinion.


Mad Dog

EDELWEISS,

I am the same planning stages as you are and while I have made very few concrete decisions, here are two I have made:

1) I am hunting 1x1.

2) No less than 10 days and more likely 14.

Two very good choices jjbull. Good luck with the rest of your plans.

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by jjbull:
EDELWEISS,

I am the same planning stages as you are and while I have made very few concrete decisions, here are two I have made:

1) I am hunting 1x1.

2) No less than 10 days and more likely 14.

Hunting 2x1 saves you relatively little money, yet by definition it pretty much halves your opportunities. Unless I were hunting with my father, or a son or daughter, I would suggest that hunting 1x1 makes a lot more sense.

As for "empty days", a day spent hunting, especially in Africa, is far from "empty".

John

I was referring to empty if we finished early.

Heck any day hunting is a good day. Brother Im ex Army and now a COP, everyday is a hunting day (2 or 4 legged). I understand hunting; but theres hunting and theres down time. If the game on the "plan" is filled early perhaps I can add game. Im looking for an idea of what to expect.

EDELWEISS,

jwm has made an excellent point. Safari is a total experience and there should be no "empty" days. With a good operator there will be so much to see and absorb that it won't matter if you shoot or not.

Also as others have suggested hunting 2x1 particularly on a short safari is false economy. I never recommend it and even father/son combos that booked 2x1 have returned telling me that they made a mistake as the 2x1 cut short their individual opportunities.

Think about this scenario. Your buddy wins the coin toss and gets to shoot first. On day two he finds that beautiful kudu and promptly wounds it. After two days of arduous tracking the kudu can't be recovered but your buddy drew blood so he still has to pay for it. In this scenario you have done no hunting of your own for 4 of first days and your friends loss of the kudu has put a damper on the mood of the hunt. Is that worth saving $50 a day?

Finally do take as many days as you can. I can't tell you how quick that first safari will go by.

Mark

I suggest that rather than focusing on the quantity of trophies, you should spend a little time defining the experience that you want. Certainly 2x1 versus 1x1 is one of the considerations, but also which specific animals do you want to hunt, what type of terrain (desert, bush, mopane forest, etc) do you envision; are you willing to hunt on fenced ranch land; do you want to be near ranches, villages, or developed areas or do you want to be in the bush? Do you want to be able to hunt right from camp or are you willing to drive to the hunting areas.
Once you define the experience that you want it will be easier to make your decision. After 4 African hunts, what comes to mind most readily is the experience rather than what I shot. If your vision is a tented hunt in the bush, no amount of trophies taken from fenced ranches will make up for the difference. Similarly, if the thought of sleeping in a tent with animals wandering through the camp at night, is not your cup of tea, more trophies won't make you sleep at night.
In the end it is the adventure, not the trophies that keep you coming back. Take the time to define your adventure before you book and you will have a better chance of booking with the right outfitter.

Go 1x1. I'll only do 2x1 in the future if hunting with my boys, as I'll likely have already been there and done that, and just want an additional species or two.

Roll with the punches when it comes to Africa. I took 6 animals on my last trip during a 7 day hunt. Of these 7 days, 3 of them I never squeezed the trigger; however, on the third day I took 3 animals. On my fourth day, I got that big kudu I was wanting and it made the trip a success for me regardless of what happened the remaining three days. I actually spent the rest of the trip scouting for kudu for one of my hunting buddies, which he never got. I ended up tacking on a black wildebeest on day 6.

Personally, I'll never go for less than 10 days again. I'm acutally leaning towards 12 or 14 days as a minimum from now on. I've done two 7 days trips and trust me ... time flies!!!

Have fun with the planning part too!!! Then, once the deposit is sent, the anticipation clock has been set. Look forward to hitting the gun range, working up your best load, etc. It is all part of the experience!!!

Good luck!!!

Ten days and 1X1. On a seven day hunt, you pretty much have to hit the ground running, you never get to relax, then it's time to go.
If you are looking at the typical South African entry level package hunt, daily rates are really pretty low, and you won't save much money hunting 2X1. You can still double up and spend a bit of time hunting together if that's what you want, it's your hunt and your outfitters will try their best to accommodate you. You must make your wishes known. Let them know if you want a more physical hunt. The default setting may not involve as much walking as you would like, a lot of American hunters aren't very fit and don't want much exertion.
You'll have a great time, and will want to go back, and perhaps start to upgrade your hunts. There is nothing wrong with a "whack and stack" first safari. That was my first trip, seven days in RSA with eight animals. That was ten years ago. I wanted to "get it out of my system." That's not how it works.

Thanks guys. Im neither looking for record book game nor fixated on filling a wall with trophies. ANY game I take or have taken in the past has been a PERSONAL Best. That being said I DO want to hunt and I DO want the experience.

Edelwiess,

I sent you a PM

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by EDELWEISS:
I was referring to empty if we finished early.

Heck any day hunting is a good day. Brother Im ex Army and now a COP, everyday is a hunting day (2 or 4 legged). I understand hunting; but theres hunting and theres down time. If the game on the "plan" is filled early perhaps I can add game. Im looking for an idea of what to expect.

Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant.

Just bring some extra trophy-fee money and spend any free days, after you get your main objectives, looking for something else. There will probably be no shortage of tempting candidates.

Depending on your location, there also might be fishing, birding, bird-shooting, photography...heck, an afternoon lounging around camp and catching up on your journal (and you MUST keep a journal!) can still be wonderful.

John

As mentioned, I strongly agree with several important points:
1. 10 days for your first PG hunt is a minimum. It's too far to travel to hunt any less if at all possible. By the time 10 days passes, it will seem like you've only been there for 3 days. It takes a couple of days to acclimate to jet lag and your schedule.

2. 1x1 is the only way to go IHMO unless it's a father/son/daughter, husband/wife, or a family hunt. The money you think your saving seems minuscule when your partner happens to wound an animal and you spend the rest of YOUR day trying to find it. It's YOUR first journey to Africa. Absorb all of it, let your PH concentrate on YOUR hunt. I emphasize YOUR because it's YOUR hunt and YOUR money and YOUR memories that matter most to you. You'll see your partner at breakfast, maybe lunch and of course dinner. You'll find more enjoyment listening to each others entirely different experiences. Plus, you'll never be in a position of "who's turn is it to shoot" or "man I wish I could have taken that shot."

3. Trophy quality. You'll find various operations; some will have "put and take," some offer "what you see is what you get" meaning they allow nature to "manage" their game, and some will offer quality trophy management. Generally, an experienced PH will do his best to find you a mature animal, and will not let you shoot something with milk on its lips. However, there are some PH's that pride themselves in producing quality game time and time again, and I've also known hunters that returned with nothing but very young trophies. They had no clue, so my suggestion is to familiarize yourself with your intended quarry to a least the point you know a mature animal from a youngster. LDK

I did a 2x1 with my son in 2007 for plains game but we both took a full bag. The deal we made was the safari was 11 days instead of 7. We also went fishing for yellowfish and toured around Kimberley for a day. I kind of disagree on the 2x1 thing, if I go again doing it with a good friend would be lots of fun, if he shoots the bigger x it doesn't really matter.

I think it depends how important the length of the horn is to you, to me it was only moderately important.

Do not go for under 10 days you will regret it. I highly doubt I will ever go back for under 12 if at all possible.

I went with the Rudman's last month and my PH told me that we don't shoot anything young, anything average or anything small.

I had no intention of taking 16 animals when I went but I did and that was on a 10 day safari with two days where I did not take anything.

Nothing I took was small. Not counting the two zebra 12 of the 14 will score at the SCI minimum level. Almost all were silver and a couple were gold. The two that did not make it were both very old and my PH told me up front they were old, past their prime, etc and I was happy to take them and knew they would not make any book and it did not matter. They are two of my favorites.

I did not shoot a kudu bull until day 9 and we figured that we passed at least 300 kudu bulls before taking one. It was incredible.

I definitely would not share a PH. I went with a very good friend and they went and did their thing and he took 14 animals and at night we would compare notes and tell stories and it was great.

10+ days and 1x1 and you cannot go wrong.