I would like to include some sort of DG hunting when I go to Africa. Lion is my first choice, but they are a little more than I would like to pay. The leopard is affordable, but I feel most of my time would be spent looking for leopard and I would not have the opportunity to hunt a variety of Plains game. Cape buffalo seems doable, but most hunts only include the trophy fee for one buffalo and PG can be hunted at quoted prices and knowing me, my selection of PG will cost me a pretty penny. Hippo appears to be a good option. I don't see too many hunts advertised without the inclusion of cape buffalo, but I figure they can't be too expensive to hunt and one on dry land could be dangerous. What would you guys recommend for an affordable DG hunt in which some time could be spent hunting PG? Thanks for your input.

Sevens

I would suggest a 10 day Tanzania Buffalo hunt. Most packages don't include plains game, but everything is negotiable. My package included buffalo, impala, Grant's gazelle, whitebearded wildebeast, zebra and warthog. It is a great experience!

All 7 and 10 day buffalo packages in Tanzania have plainsgame on quota for trophy fees and a second Buffalo for about $1600...

Our package has Zebra, L. Hartebeest, warthog,Impala, Nyasaland Wildebeest and two Buffalo are available...

A 16 day hunt encludes most plainsgame or whatever is available where you are hunting is more correct...two Buffalo at $700 and $850....

21 day hunts include everything huntable in Tanzania basically and 3 Buffalo..

Send me your phyical address and I can send you some brochures..

Sevens



I could offer you a Buffalo hunt in the your choice of the Selous Reserve or Masailand Tanzania. If you hunt Selous you would only need 7 days to take everything on the licence and if you hunted Masailand I would suggest you allow 10 days.



A hunt in the Selous would allow you to take:



2 Buffalo

2 Wildebeest

1 Impala

1 Warthog

1 Zebra

1 Lichenstein's Hartebeest



A hunt in Masailand allows you to take:

2 Buffalo

1 White Bearded wildebeest

1 Zebra

1 Coke's Hartebeest

1 Warthog

1 EA Impala

1 Grant's Gazelle

1 Thompson's Gazelle.



Prices & details are on my website, or you can send me an e-mail and I'll use my reply button to send it to you. We have 100% success rate on all these species.



Hippo are available, but only on a 21 day licence. Alternatively, if you had a Leopard hunt, you could hunt plains game for baits.

Is Tanzania really affordable? I was under the assumption that it cost a fortune to hunt there. Can somebody prove me wrong.

Sevens

www.bigfivesafaris.co.zw

This is the perfect place from what you described. You will not find a better place to hunt in Zim than this.

I'm headed back there for the 2nd time this August.

Tim

Tanzania is not cheap, but it is quite simply the very best for a general bag of Dangerous Game. The cheapest (or perhaps I should say the least expensive Buffalo package I have in the Selous Reserve for this year is US$8500 per hunter (2x1). That includes all licence fees, charters into & out of the area, rifle import, trophy fee & Community Development Fee for 1 Buffalo per hunter, dip, pack & delivery of trophies to a shipping agent in Dar es Salaam, a comprehensive safari contract and safari pack etc.



The ONLY exclusions are additional trophy fees, alcohol, tips & hotel accommodation before or after the hunt.



Tanzania has lot's of small additional charges. We include all these in our package price, but many companies do not. So it pays to check carefully what is & what is not included. You need to ensure this is all in the contract.



Some companies also offer less expensive hunting in areas they charmingly call next to, or near or adjacent to the Selous Reserve......this translates to hunting in a Buffer Zone where Buffalo are almost as rare as rocking horse doo-doos.....so again, you need to check carefully exactly where you will be hunting. (and with whom)



If you choose the right place with the right company you'll have a fabulous hunt.....

Sevens,
IMO you received some very good information from AR members. On our first trip to Africa,my husband HAD to hunt one of the Big Five. He decided on a leopard/plainsgame. The hunt was great and he eventually got his leopard, but he always said that he missed so much of the African experience by being in the blind late into the night,constantly cheking baits, etc. He always tells any of our friends who are going for the first time not to make the mistake he did and go for buffalo on your first safari. Once you get the first one under your belt, then try the cats. We wish AR had been around when we first went to Africa to get the opinions of experienced African hunters. Best of luck on your hunt.

Kathi

kathi@wldtravel.com

Sevens:

Please read Kathi's post carefully. She is absolutely right. Go for buff on your first hunt. You will do a fair amount of walking (unless it's near the end of the dry season and the buff are forced to the few areas of water- and who wants to come 8000 miles or more to ambush an animal?). Your PH, if he's a good one, will volunteer information about the countryside, flora and fauna, (in camp because he'll probably use hand signals in the field)You will have many halts. You can look around at the countryside, realize that you are in Africa and the "rush" as the kids used to say is enormous! The Cape buffalo is as dangerous looking as a dairy cow - until he gets the idea that you mean him harm. Even then he may want to put distance between him and you -but it's when he decided that he wants a fight that,all of a sudden, you find out that you are not just out for a walk. That's when you find yourself hunting a dangerous animal. You may have no time to be afraid and you will only react. It will only be a long time afterwards that you feel pride that you reacted and handled the situation. My PH, saying goodbye at the pasture landing strip for the airplane, said something I never forgot. He was telling me about a British war correspondent in WW2 who wrote a book " Hell! I was there!". He said I always could say whenever anyone talked about Africa "Hell! I was there!". He was right and so I would urge that the first trip should not be spent in a blind. Also,at risk of ofending the real experts in this forum, i would, indeed, urge you to go for DG first. Plains game hunting is not some form of "working up" to DG hunting. It is completely different. (Many plains game are far craftier and more difficult - but they are not what it is to look at DG at close range)

Just my opinion, but I went for a leopard my first time. I think they are one of the most attractive mounts in a trophy room. You get all the plains game hunting you want while hanging and checking leopard baits. In my case it only took one sitting in a blind.

Sevens,

I would go along with Kathi also. Buffalo provide the most economical and fun hunt for the first time DG hunter. I love leopards and have been very lucky in hunting them. Others have spent their whole safari trying to get one on bait and have left empty handed. Your first safari should be sheer fun and excitement. Book a buffalo hunt and have fun.

If I can help you organize something just let me know.

Regards,

Mark

I talked to a good friend of mine who has hunted it all, elephant (both Indian and African), tiger, leopard, lion, cape buffalo, hippo and recommended I go cape buffalo. He said they are fun, exciting, and dangerous. He said to try and think of them as a big black cow to help calm my nerves. The hunt wouldn't be till 2006, but I figure find out everything I need to know so when 2006 booking season rolls around, I'll be ready to book the best date and place.

As for calibers, I was pretty bent on the 375, but was told by my friend, "The 375 is undergunned for cape buffalo. Get the 416." How much does a 416 rem mag recoil? He compared it to a 12 gauge shotgun, Said his 13 year old brother could shoot it and so could I. Thanks for the input. Cape buffalo sounds the best option.

Sevens

I would look at the specials on www.buzzcharltonsafaris.co.zw where you can shoot one elephant and 8 or 10 plains game for $10,700 total cost.

Sevens,



I agree with everyone else. Go for buffalo on your first safari. In addition to Tanzania, look at some of the outfitters in Zimbabwe for your hunt. There is nothing like hunting in the Zambezi Valley - pure Africa. In addition to Big 5 Safaris and Buzz Charlton look at HHK Safaris and Russ Broom Safaris [Keith Atcheson books for them Atcheson ].



I too would go for .416 for buffalo, the .416 kicks more than the .375, but you won't notice it that much when shooting from field positions. You will notice the difference from the bench, though. But you should shoot it from the bench just enough to get your scope sighted. From then on, all your shooting should be from off-hand and from shooting sticks.



Regards,



Terry

Has anyone hunted with Buzz? I read an article about a hunt with him and the client had a great time. I was looking at his specials and for $10,170 I could hunt for a tuskless cow elephant and variety of plains game over 14 days. The animals are mostly cows and non-trophy bulls, but hey I'd get the same rush and my taxidermy bill will be smaller. Does anyone know why his prices are so much lower, or appear so much lower? What did I overlook?

Sevens

Sevens,
I am hunting with Buzz this July. Check the specials closely. Some of the plains game and DG are females. This is a "cull" hunt. That is not a bad thing, you can shoot alot of game for a lot less money but they aren't trophies for the wall. Demand for these hunts aren't high. Most hunters won't do this hunt because of that reason BUT if you don't have the "gotta put in the record book"itis, it's a heck of a buy for the experience. You just need to know the story going in and be an informed buyer!

I'm aware some are female and others are non-trophy. That's fine with me. It helps save on cost, I can shoot more, and some animals, like the wildebeast and eland, the females still have horns. Any animal I harvest is a trophy to me.

Sevens

I like your attitude. I say "go for it" and have a great time! Buzz is a heckuva (that is a word in Texas) young PH who seems very enthusiastic. I look forward to hunting elephant with him this summer in the Dande. Zimbabwe has always been a favorite hunting country of mine. Started my African hunting career there 10 years ago this July. Making the 10th anniversary hunt back there and I hope things haven't changed too much. At least as far as the quality of the hunt is concerned.

Can anyone get Buzz's website to load?

Try this link for Buzz:

http://www.buzzcharltonsafaris.co.zw/

Magnumhunter,
Haven't been able to download his site for at least 4 days. Try e-mailing Buzz at buzzcharlton@zol.co.zw.

Take that back....tried 500grains link and got through but it looks like Buzz made a few changes to his site. Might have been down for the facelift.

Sevens:

Maybe it was only me but you don't walk around in the African bush in terror of what it will be to see your first African buffalo at close range. You're a hunter and he is what you came to Africa for. You are not arriving in Africa in some state of fear. Don't even give a moment's thought to "calming your nerves". (When the "hora de verdad",(hour of truth) as the Spaniards say, will arrive, you'll do just fine.(You really won't have much time to become afraid)

Whether 375 or 416? That's trickier. An old joke relates that someone asked why the hunter carried a 600 Nitro Express(at the time, the most powerful cartridge available) He replied " because I can't get anything bigger". You really have to balance some factors. Whatever you hear, the 416 does react harder. In fact, it has a swift "kick", whether 416 Remington or 416 Rigby. Well, so what? Well, the 375 has more of a slow "shove". The difference is in how much you want to practice at the range. Using 300 gr. loads, I found that about 20 rounds was enough for a session with the 375.(After that I was just being a "trigger puller") I would imagine that a session with a 416 would be shorter. The point is that when I went to Africa to hunt Cape buffalo, I could put 4 shots in a 6" circle shooting offhand at 50 yards. (BTW, I was 63) Bullet placement is always the name of the game in hunting. You must use a rifle that you feel totally comfortable with. (Don't let anyone tell you that you that you can't kill Cape buffalo with a 375 H&H. There's a lot of dead nyati, shumba and mzou out there to say different!)

Your choice should depend on how you like to hunt. If you can't do a lot of walking a leopard hunt might be better. If you can't sit still while being eaten by bugs and don't mind walking then perhaps buffalo hunting is for you.

I will be shooting another board members rifles in a few weeks and will find out how much power I can handle. I'm looking forward to it, will help send me in the direction of which rifle I'd like to buy. If I can handle a 416 I'll get one, if not then it's the 375 for me.

Being afraid of a cape buffalo is the last thing I'm worried about. A cow scares me more than a cape buffalo. I was charged by a cow when I was younger. My buddies thought it was funny as hell, I didn't. The cape buffalo hunts sounds like the best deal. The tuskless elephant sounds nice, but I sure would like to bring it home, but I can't.

Sevens

7's,



I too am planning my first DG hunt. Have had my fill of plains game for the time being. We leave in 6 weeks for RSA on the Zim/Bots border for a PG hunt for my HS grad son.



For the reasons mentioned, buff will be my first choice. I've been in a blind for several afternoons on previous PG hunts and didn't find it to my liking. Walking the bush is my passion, walking up on a downed animal is the end of one hunt and the beginning of another. Never enjoyed the pictures much, but having hands on these choice animals finally is a great experience. Enjoy them while you can, 'cause you won't see them for 10 months to a year... I enjoy the stalk most of all and the rush I get right before the trigger breaks...



As a teenager, we used to torment the neighbor's big 2,500 lb. Hereford and Angus bulls and jump the fence before they were on us. The bulls were meaner than hell and would charge the moment they saw us. That planted the seed to hunt Cape Buff @ an early age. Been living this in my mind for a long time.



My weapon of choice will be a 416 Rem. or Rigby bolt-action with a lower fixed power scope, probably a Leupold, and 400 gr. solids. Would prefer to book in Tanzania...



Good luck with your choices...