Do safari camps allow a hunter to bring his own PH to their camp to perform as the sole PH? (Fully realizing a visiting PH will not be as familiar with the area as the resident PH).

Why?

I entered the world of Africa hunting at a very late age. My arthritic knees are sending me the daily message - go to Africa now as often as you can.

I am a solitary hunter (not by choice): my friends (who can afford to hunt Africa) don't want to hunt because ? - I don't know why they don't want to enjoy this adventure. I would like to hunt the almighty cape buff just once (if that's possible) before these knees give out). I'VE BECOME A GOOD FRIEND WITH MY PH IN SOUTH AFRICA.

So, as a solitary hunter I'd love to share a cape buff hunt with my good friend PH not as a hunter or observer but as my PH where the cape buff is natural & not the clean, expensive buffs in South Africa.

It can be done. On three occasions I have booked a hunt with the condition my specified hunter be used. If you realize the down side of doing this, lack of knowledge of the area, not knowing the staff etc. it can be done. I prefer to hunt with my friend and have not seen an instance yet where it was a detriment.

We sometimes have PH's from other countries accompany friends / clients on hunts. Accompany is the key word, it is illegal for a non licensed PH to conduct a safari in Zimbabwe, the law also states that he may not carry a firearm unless he is a paying hunter. Some PH's may decide to let him carry a weapon as a back up some may not. As a non citizen, he may not conduct for reward any business in Zimbabwe. He may not use his vehicle for reward etc etc. These are the laws, how they are translated are another story!

It all depends on the the PH, the leaseholder/landowner and the laws of the particular countries involved.

Cover hunting is usually perfectly legitimate and fairly common in most African countries.

boltshoter, I also hunt alone because my friends can't, or choose not to go to Africa. I have hunted a number of times in South Africa, and have developed a close friendship mwith my ph there. When it came time for me to hunt buffalo I chose to go out of R.S.A. for much yhe same reasons you give.I selected a reputable company and went alone.

Don't discount the value of local knowledge in the country you choose. A local ph will not only know the terain, and animal movements. He will probably have a working relationship with the trackers, and staff. With a ph from RSA there could even be a comunication problem. The local ph will not only be familiar with the area, he can tell you of local lore, and the flora. (stay away from that buffalo bean). All this will greatly add to the experiance.

If you want to share the hunt with your pa from RSA have him film your hunt.

You can do so in Zambia but you must also have a Zambian PH with you at all times. I have done. We did have Zambian officials show up in camp to ensure we were hunting legally with Zambian PH.

I've taken my usual PH to several different concessions run by others. In every case, the resident PH accompanied us almost every day -- and it was every day whenever we were in a country where my own PH wasn't licensed. It's always worked well, although two full time PH's for one hunter can well and truly wear the hunter out in short order.

On balance, I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience every time -- and every such hunt was very successful in terms of quality of game taken.

The only downside is that the gratuities can get very heavy very quickly. That said, it's a small price to pay for all that expert help.