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I'm hunting with Ian Gibson next week, and then I'll be hooking up with Mike Payne and his family for the drive down from the Valley. I know Mikes trackers, and also Ians. I also suspect Use, my game scout from last time will be with us as well. Any suggestions on something "different" to take those guys. A friend suggested Swisher sweet Charoot cigars? Does that seem like a good idea (they smoke that nasty stuff in newspaper normally) Any other creative ideas? Mark Jackson  | ||
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I took Swisher Sweets to Namibia in 2005. I suspect most were broken down and the tobacco used for barter or in hand-rolled cigarettes, as the cigars were apparently stronger than the tracker was accustomed to. Nonetheless, he was happy to get them. The PHs probably can give you the best idea of what the guys would appreciate as gifts. This last trip to Zimbabwe I relied on cash only. Maybe not as personal, but easier to transport! ------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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Mark, You can take cigarette lighters now I believe. When I took them pre 9/11 they were a huge hit even with the non-smokers. They also are light and take up little room in the luggage. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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Still no lighters in Carry-on stuff. Was OK in checked---that was earlier this week. Steve "He wins the most, who honour saves. Success is not the test." Ryan "Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Stalin Tanzania 06 Argentina08 Argentina Australia06 Argentina 07 Namibia Arnhemland10 Belize2011 Moz04 Moz 09 | |||
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I've found that surplus stocking caps, gloves, etc. are a big hit as the trackers tend to be pretty cold natured. And cigarettes, but they take up more room. | |||
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Buy cigarettes, soap, etc. in Zim on the way to camp and pass them out upon arrival. It's cheaper than buying them in the States and carrying them with you. | |||
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Given the shopping situation in Zimbabwe lately, best check on availability in advance. ------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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true, true! | |||
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I've given trackers all kinds of things from my bag. In addition to cash (which they can always use and appreciate) I have given shirts, socks, caps, wind checkers, wet wipes, etc., but the one thing they went ape shit over once was duct tape! Hell I was just making room in my bag for souvenirs and you would have thought I gave them a gold brick. "...Africa. I love it, and there is no reason for me to explore why. She affects some people that way, and those who feel as I do need no explanation." from The Last Safari | |||
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When my wife and I went to Zim recently we only needed about a half of a bags worth of space for our gear so she filled the other bag with outgrown childrens clothes collected from friends and family. She also added some colouring books and cloured pens etc. All of the staff seem to have small families and it seemed to go down a treat. | |||
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Take rolling tobacco (important - don't forget the rolling tobacco papers) - cheaper and volume friendly than cigarettes - guys will love it (ditto). | |||
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A couple of big bags of M&M's will make you a friend or two. Regards, Inyati | |||
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corn cobb pipes are about 2 bucks and last forever great gift with loose tobacco VERITAS ODIUM PARIT | |||
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The cigarettes and candy always go over well. I also left some of my clothes when I left with a couple of those I thought went above and beyond. They were very grateful. My friend gave an extra pair of shoes he had to a wonderful tracker who literally walked right out of the ones he was wearing. One thing to keep in mind that goes a long way, is to treat them with respect and show your verbal gratitude. Also, include them in discussions when taking a break. Ask them about their families. We also spent a little time with them asking us how to say things in English, and we would ask them similar things in their language. I think it shows them that you respect them for their abilities but also for their knowledge and I think friendship even if for only a few days. IMHO Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum | |||
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Candy, clothes, tobacco and money. | |||
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Last time, I bought them Swiss Army knives, X-acto sets for the skinners, give them all my toiletries and socks and a dozen balls caps. I also brought my MP3 player and recorded a bunch of Shona tunes for them, and they would dance around with the headphones on. Use, the Game Scout was infatuated with harley's and had a million questions about them, so i'm going to pick up a biker magazine for him. Amos likes to fish at home, so i thought I'd get him a little telescoping pocket fisherman. Of course the Cigars, candy and cash will round things out nicely. Mark Jackson | |||
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You said it in the beginning Mark; they roll cigs with newspaper. Get them a box of rolling papers. That will blow their mind. They also love stocking caps, like the one's Canadian's wear in the winter. Anything in bright colors, the louder the better. Have a great hunt, David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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WHEN LAST IN ZIM I TOOK CAP LIGHTS THEY WERE A HIT. THEY CAN BE FOUND AT WAL-MART THE KIND THAT CLIP ON THE BRIM OF BALL CAPS. | |||
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Last time in Moz, I brought a half dozen $6.00 watches from Walmart. A lot of these guys don't have a watch, seems to be kind of a status symbol for them. | |||
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Eric Clapton had it right: Money and Cigarettes. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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Last trip I took a whole bunch (3 dozen) of colored T-shirts -- ones with all kinds of logos -- some of which I am sure they were clueless on but they were a huge hit. Wife picked them up at one of the discount stores for about $5-$10 apiece. The difficult thing was figuring out how to hand them out -- graciously the PH's wife helped and sorted out who got what for me. Dark colors went to the trackers -- bright colors to the camp staff. As an after the fact thought I was advised that sunglasses are a huge hit - these will go on the next trip and if I can sort it out will take several pairs of shoes for the trackers -- they could really use some new treads. OMG!-- my bow is "pull-push feed" - how dreadfully embarrasing!!!!! | |||
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I gave them lots of cigarettes, candy and I brought hats fom rmy hometown with bears and wolves on them. They seemed to like them, although they liked the smokes more. | |||
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Well, I ended up with a case of Swisher Sweets and six boxes of rolling papers (Did i feel wierd buying those!). I also got some $3.99 clip on lights, a Harley magazine for use, and a pocket fisherman for Amos. I bought iPods for Mikes kids and an RC Helocopter for Mike to screw around with in camp. Course lots of candy. This is a way low key trip this year, with just my elephant on the menu at this point, I plan on taking a lot of pictures, doing some fishing and maybe chasing some birds. Mike and his family will be upriver from Ian and I, so I'm hoping I can go spend some time with them, and maybe let Mikes kids shoot a few baboons or something. I'm really stoked this year. Mark Jackson | |||
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Yesterday in Houston a TSA guy said lighters were okay again.  Caleb | |||
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Best of luck on your hunt Mark. Those papers will be the big deal to the camp guys and trackers  I can only imagine what the TSA guys will be thinking  Good hunting, David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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Take those "Chifuti" trackers some cigarette tobacco and some papers! Really, my trackers were taking old cigar butts and rolling them up in Newspaper for a smoke...Uggh! A couple of packs of Tobacco and a bunch of papers will make their day! Also, take Gibbo some "Russels" ( )...He hates boots as those of us that know him are well aware!They also love "Leatherman" tools and other little gadgety stuff. Good luck with "Gibbo" he's one of the best....Please tell A. Dawson, et al that I'll see them in October! Good luck, Jeff | |||
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I get all sort of baseball hats from manufacturers. So I took about a dozen camo ones with me and doled them out. Nested together, they take very little room. I just stuck then on top of my rifles in the Tufpak. -TONY Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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This definitely isn't the norm, but a few years ago my head tracker was an avid reader. He favorite author was John Grisham and I had his latest book on that trip. Throughtout the hunt he was encouraging me to finish it so I could leave it with him, which I did. Other trackers since then spoke only broken english, so don't plan on gifting too big of a library. | |||
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What they need at this point is money. In Zim food has become very scarce, and Zim dollars are worthless. Trinkets and stuff are nice, but a little "extra money" would be more appreciated. I know of many cases wherein the camp staff hocked caps, cigerattes, lighters, and "stuff" for dollars at the pawn shops at cents on the dollar... Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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Yes, Always remember Cash is King. Global Sportsmen Outfitters, LLC Bob Cunningham 404-802-2500  | |||
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I know of one situation where cigarette papers were left but not used. They just preferred the newspaper! I left money, candy and then my personal hat to my tracker (Taka), which I gave to him immediately after shooting the elephant in appreciation for his hard work. I also learned some Shona phrases for appreciation and used them often. _______________________________  | |||
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I knew about the usual list of stuff (hats, shirts, knives, etc.), but opted for a different approach. I got on the net and found a low ball price for about 10 of those no-battery wind up flashlights. I think that they came to about $7 each. I gave one to everyone that was involved with my hunt directly (truck staff). The native staff in my camp pretty much sat around in the dark by firelight in their little attached village and I knew they would never be able to get batteries for a real light. Anyway, they seemed to enjoy the gift (once it was explained), but then again for all I know they sold it on their first visit to town. "I envy not him that eats better meat than I do; nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do; I envy him, and him only, that kills bigger deer than I do." Izaak Walton (modified) | |||
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