The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Thoroughly confused - Which hunt is best?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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As we get closer and closer to Reno SCI, there is a very real possibility that I can place my deposit for a DG hunt in 2009 (with the 375 H&H and 450/400 Ruger #1) or in 2010 (with a new DR in 450/400 and Ruger as backup). A 10-day hunt would be best, but an affordable (read cheap here  ) 14-day one would be possible. Working for hourly wages doesn't put a lot of play money in the coffers very fast.My conundrum is this; the only animals I really want to hunt anymore for trophies is a buffalo (or 2), a PAC or tuskless ele, a bushbuck, and a nyala. I was able to take 40+ PG and a leopard in Namibia on my last two 15-day trips there. Trying to put the hunts together for multiple species in the same area is driving me crazy! Have at least 40 hours of Internet time and more bookmarks that I can count! The more I work at it, the more confused I get. I guess my question for all of you more experienced hunters is this: which one to try to put together, and the best area/outfitter? 1. Tanzania for 2 mature buff in the Selous? 2. Zimbabwe for 1 buff and a possibility of PAC/Tuskless? 3. Mozambique for a buff and maybe get a chance at bushbuck/nyala? Any help or info would be appreciated. Thanks. | ||
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Blank I can only properly answer for #3 - Mozambique. You'll get Buffalo, Bushbuck and Nyala on a 10-day hunt. And more! Send me e-mail on jsa@mweb.co.za Johan | |||
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I would pick a hunt in Mozambique. Just because I have never been there. BTW I would shit can your desire for a double rifle  especially if the purchace of one is going to limit your ability to go hunting. I am just a regular guy with a wife who is a full time Mom and 2 little ones, I have a mortgage and bills just like everyone else. I make way under 100K a year. However I have hunted Africa twice. I have about 12 PG on the wall and a buff. I am going back as soon as the kids are big enough to bring along.I love doubles but really.......you don't need one. Spend that money on a hunt. | |||
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I think you first need to decide what criteria you want to apply to making your decision. You use the word 'best' - by that, do you mean cheapest or do you mean best quality? - You'll get one or the other but you won't get the best quality at the cheapest price. Another option you haven't mentioned but could maybe consider is a split destination hunt. For example, a PAC Elephant hunt in Zimbabwe or Botswana combined with a hunt in Mozambique or South Africa. You might also consider factors such as political situations and toughness of hunting in different areas and/or countries and how happy and/or capable you are with those factors. You'd probably be well advised to wait until the new licence arrangements for Tanzania are announced as well. They may well put bushbuck and one or two others on the shortest licence. Not an easy decision to make though. | |||
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Blank For option 3 take any of the areas around Marromeu and you will get a good buff and very good Nyala and Chobe Bushbuck. Coutada 10 Bahati Coutada 11 Zambezi Delta Safaris Coutada 14 Nyati Safaris For Coutada 10 Johan books Hunts he post here, for coutada 11 Bird and Game hunters Africa and for Coutada 14 Guy Withall from Roger Withall Safari books hunts. There are no legal PAC or Tusk less elephant hunts in Mozambique! Happy Holidays | |||
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zimbabwe will give you an excellent buffalo hunt , most outfitters are in the 900 to 1000 per day for ten days and you will get some plains game aswell ...add a tuskless and the daily rate will go up some and you may have to add a few days depending on the outfitter . sounds like you have a lot of plains game trophies , i would look at the ele cow and buff ...lots of real up close experience , yopu will be among them every day in truly wild and classic hunting areas ...no fences zambezi valley , matetsi , etc ... as stated before mozambique is great but no cows or pac. "The greatest threat to our wildlife is the thought that someone else will save it” www.facebook.com/ivancartersafrica www.ivancarterwca.org www.ivancarter.com ivan@ivancarter.com | |||
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Tanzania can get quite expensive when you add in all the extra fees. I think I would go Mozambique. I would also be very careful that you do not get caught up in the excitement of SCI and book on an impulse. Also while SCI is fun, the cost of your SCI trip is likely to equal a grand or more. I would let a high quality booking agent do all the leg work for you and save my SCI money to offset airfare. Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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IMO "X" days hard hunting for a single animal covers things better - i.e. ...the last thing I would like to find myself in Africa, is being under pressure to shoot something as fast as I could just to hunt something else  ...so instead of taking one BIG hunt that would cover "them all", I would take 2 or 3 shorter ones and dedicate them to a different species/areas/times... | |||
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Mozambique is out for a budget hunt....the charter alone will eat up a chunk of your budget and dailies have gone up this year, by quite a bit. Same applies to Tanzania. Even more so. Zimbabwe is the clear choice here. You can get pretty much anywhere in Zim without a charter. The daily rates and trophy fees are the lowest in all of Africa. Easy to get in and out. When you consider the availability of PAC ele, this pretty much seals the deal. And if you want to do buff as well, there are plenty to be had. However, PAC ele are mostly taken in the early part of the season and deals on buff are restricted to the end of season. So to be sure of a good PAC bull and a good buff, we suggest Mar-May, 14 days @$700, plus trophies $4K and $2.5K respectively. To get an even better deal on daily rates, you can book a last-minute late-season hunt but then your PAC is iffy. So for late season, we rather recommend a tuskless/buff combo. Prices are never published until late in the booking season, by definition. But expect to save quite a bit on daily rates, trophy fees are $2750 and $2500 respectively (we don't discount the trophy fees late in the season, these are fixed by agreement with Parks or the local Community). There is a third option: We have offered, in the past, a "poor man's" DG hunt, comprising a tuskless ele and a cow buff. Last time we offered these they were $11K for 10 days incl. trophy fees. If anyone is interested I can check for pricing/avail for 2008. BTW, plenty of bushbuck in Zim as well. Nyala not so. Russ Gould - Whitworth Arms LLC BigfiveHQ.com, Large Calibers and African Safaris Doublegunhq.com, Fine English, American and German Double Rifles and Shotguns VH2Q.com, Varmint Rifles and Gear | |||
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Your help and suggestions is/are appreciated. Replies to those who have PM'd. It is terrible to want do it all, and not be able to do so. While it has cleared some things up, it has also helped muddy the waters on others. Time to start bottom-lining everything, and see where my heart really is, on the available hunt options. | |||
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Blank, As postgraduate student I had a Professor who often said (in another context) that: "This problem is so difficult that if you think about it and you don't get thoroughly confused, it shows that you are not thinking clearly!" I do hope that these words of wisdom places the fact that you are indeed facing a very difficult problem in some better perspective for you. Keep on thinking clearly to get thoroughly confused and keep on asking advice and sharing thoughts, and you WILL come to a crystal clear solution. In good hunting. Andrew McLaren | |||
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Since you asked, my advice is not to spend money on another rifle and invest all you can afford into a buffalo and tuskless ele hunt in Zimbabwe. | |||
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Mokore safaris seems to offer what you require no matter which way you go. I believe they hunt Zim and Moz and drive between the two. I love the road transfers. I have no aversion to flying but love the sights, sounds and smells of africa. I also constantly fight the fever for a double but at my age a scope is much better than irons. Saeed seems to use a scope exclusively with no irons at all. This makes a lot of sense. (just take an extra scope) | |||
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Blank, I would suggest you visit with Buzz in Dallas or Reno. I think he is "the man" when it comes to tuskless elephant hunting. Perhaps he could put it all together for you. Tuskless and buff no problem and I think you could get your bushbuck and nyala in Lemco. One country, minimal/no charters. I could be wrong, but certainly worth checking in to. | |||
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I think no one can really answer the question but you. Everyone has a different ideal hunt. If trophies in the house are important to you, a tuskless/PAC hunt is not ideal. If close dangerous game experience is more important than tangible trophies, a tuskless hunt is a great experience. Like Bwanahile, I hunted with Charlton-McCallum Safaris, although I hunted with Buzz's partner Myles. I had an exceptional hunt. Once you figure out what type of hunt you want, check the hunt reports here, contact safari operators, and check references. Going to DSC or Reno to meet people in person is a great suggestion. ------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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Since starting to think about this hunt, and posting my question, I have continued to do my research on everyones suggestions and whatever else I could dig up. Just looked at Buzz's ele DVD again and several others on buff. My hunting partner's video on trophy ele in Zim was interesting, and any other clips of big guys in many countries, etc. I am certainly leaning in that direction, and know that it would put my "fun meter" on tilt for sure. There are specific guys I plan to see in Reno and visit with extensively. Might have to slide to 2010 to do it full justice, but I think doing it right should be the priority on this one. Charles: As my wife likes to point out, I have a house full of trophies already, and a life-size leopard, eland, and waterbuck still being finished. A bushbuck and nyala would certainly be deserving of a place of their own, but that is about all. So no, this hunt will be more about the hunt and experience, and that would be prize enough. Like they say "Scars heal, but memories last forever." | |||
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I think some of the scars from my last trip may be with me as long as the memories, but as I tell my wife "Chicks dig scars." (I have to tell her that because apparently she does not agree...)------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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