And Jeff while you have your checkbook out...send a donation this way too...similar symptons as the President of the Fulson Foundation...

"...overstressed, underpaid TV producer..." wishing to get back to speed on his sporting clays game. Almost had made it to Master Class...but was demoted me to "B" class because of inactivity.

Sorry Marc....Fulsom cleaned me out...But the updside is that I do get to be his caddy!

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Wemmer:
They may not rely solely on the income generated, but I'll bet it is well worth their trouble to conduct sport/trophy hunting on their farms.

Jeff

No, it is not really. The income makes the operation a legal, trading entity and therefore the IRS will allow it to be viewed and treated as a "going concern". That means substantial tax write-offs and yet another exclusive playground for the "rich & famous" - which is OK as it is theirs, they can do what they like. And they usually do some eco-tourism stuff as well, you know, game vieweing, birding, hiking trails, and so on. Allowing commercial hunters such as all of us is way down on the list and rarely a priotity. You know, the game reserve idea. The surplus game is simply caught and sold on auctions once or twice a year, where it is bought up by small ranchers to drive their (often) put-and-take operations. As I have mentioned, no small ranch can produce enough shooters in a quick enough time to be financially viable. They have to stock from other sources. That lovely kudu you were so lucky to find next to the fence? Yes, you were lucky as it presented a good, clear shot. Every body doing high fives? Yes, that one. Could have been dropped off on the ranch yesterday ...

The African trinkets, wood carvings, woven stuff, coloured fabric with the popular ethinc patterns (probably made in China), bottled honey and Coke in the "farm store" is one easy way of getting the local community involved in the process. Community involvement is the big thing nowadays, as the masses cannot be excluded to benefit from anything these days. The income from that, again, is a drop in the ocean and insignificant.

quote:

And I'll be the wealthy farmers that have well organized operations are getting the best ROI of the lot.

No, they probably make the most cash - but not necessarily the best ROI. Just do the math. How much do you have to earn per day to have a decent ROI on an investment of, say, $50m over the duration of the hunting season? For a 10% ROI this comes to a nett profit of nearly $30k per day non-stop for 6 months - for the moment forgetting about interest, taxes and depreciation for the moment. Unlikely.

I'm not guessing ... been there, done that and got the T-shirt!

Jeff Do not misspell the name on the check, it's FulsoNNNNNNNN, not M.

Sorry Dave....Oh, BTW, the check is in the nail!



JW

I just went ahead and faxed my check to Dave - gets there quicker....

Attaboy DC !

None of that chickenshirt fax stuff, I PM'ed him one just a minute ago.

Rich

I would wish it would be the PH, which is why even though I am not a rich bastard I tip Him well...

He does the hard and dangerous work...

I think I'll send Dave some $ just because everyone else is!

What are the paydays for Rann and others who were "bought out" of their Okavango concessions? You might not call that "Getting Rich" but it wasn't chump chande either. It seems anybody who generates windfalls in this industry is accomplishing that through control of real estate.