I have two Nephews I really care about and enjoy. One is very avid bow hunter, very fit, and energetic. The other shoots a rifle well but has little hunting experience.

I have toyed with the idea of the three of us traveling to Africa. I would likely just observe, and feed off the excitement I see in their eyes at the wonder of their first ever Safari.

The limiting factor is time and the archery aspect.

I wouldn't want them hunting a high fenced area and I know how difficult the success rate might be for archery. They likely couldn't swing more than a 7 day hunt because of work and family.

Being "organized" as Steve Ahrenberg calls me (I think he really means anal), I am looking at maybe 2019 at the earliest.

I would very much like them to have the opportunity to also experience "wild Africa" even if that means a side trip to a game park.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Cheers
Jim

Jim,

If the one is an avid bow hunter, he already knows his success rate is restricted by it.

Go to a free range hunt, so both get the experience and allow the bow hunter to decide what is more important, a good bag tally, or using his choice of gear and acknowledging that his brother will likely take more/bigger examples, but that he did it his way.

Most outfits can cater to bowhunting to some extent. Let the nephew choose how he wants to go about it... maybe he would rather use your double instead, it depends on what he wants to do... let him direct it once you explain the situation.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Jim,

If the one is an avid bow hunter, he already knows his success rate is restricted by it.

Go to a free range hunt, so both get the experience and allow the bow hunter to decide what is more important, a good bag tally, or using his choice of gear and acknowledging that his brother will likely take more/bigger examples, but that he did it his way.

Most outfits can cater to bowhunting to some extent. Let the nephew choose how he wants to go about it... maybe he would rather use your double instead, it depends on what he wants to do... let him direct it once you explain the situation.

All good points!

Frostbit

As a keen bowhunter myself, I second crbutler's advice. Even free range areas have opportunities to set up tree stands or ambush points not to mention stalking options. It is critical that the outfit/PH that you chose has bowhunting experience which extends beyond simply shooting from a blind at a target 20 yards away. A PH who is passionate about bowhunting will make the young man's experience far richer than one from the whack 'em and stack 'em crowd. There are many great operators in RSA and Namibia that tick the right box.

JCHB

Whilst not Africa but an Australian buffalo hunt for "some" Water buffalo would be a great option with a heavy bow or double.

Thor Kirchner is a very fine bow hunter in his own right and at Munyamadzi has guided with 100% success on Buffalo, Hippo, Hyena, Kudu and a host of plains game.

He is youthful but very energetic and experienced.

You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

I'll chime in with a quick observation. 2019 is 2 years out. With that much advance notice there is a decent chance that they can arrange a few more days off. I suspect 10 days hunting would ngreatly increase the odds of success for the bowhunter. IMHO I'd try to get the longer time option if at all possible.
I think its great to take them to Africa. It would be a tip that they, nor you, would ever forget. I hope it all comes together for you. Bruce

I just spent a few days at Sci talking to various outfitters. Since I am not a bow hunter did not ask about that but I would be very comfortable booking with Kowas in Namibia or Crusader in South Africa. The Strauss family are great people and they filling dates for 2018 at this point I believe. Andrew at Crusader has a vast variety of game in 4-5 huge unfeneced areas and would be a great trip.

Good luck, lots of great options

quote:

Originally posted by Gillettehunter:
I'll chime in with a quick observation. 2019 is 2 years out. With that much advance notice there is a decent chance that they can arrange a few more days off. I suspect 10 days hunting would greatly increase the odds of success for the bowhunter. IMHO I'd try to get the longer time option if at all possible.
I think its great to take them to Africa. It would be a tip that they, nor you, would ever forget. I hope it all comes together for you. Bruce

Great advice on the time element.

Andrew,

Thanks for the Thor recommendation. I knew he was a bow hunter but had forgotten.

The 10 day suggestions all make sense. The one nephew owns his own ad business and could swing it. The other nephew is an Arborist and only gets two weeks vacation a year so the 10 day trip would eat up his entire time. That would mean no time left for a family vacation with his wife and son. No, having the family come with is not an option. This is about a guy only trip.

I appreciate all suggestions. To make matters more difficult I don't think Alex, the bow hunter would be content hunting from a blind at a water hole.

Cheers
Jim

One of my clients took his son to South Africa as a graduation present. The son took 8 animals with his rifle (first trip) while dad took a Warthog and an Impala with his bow. He said he made 40 stalks during that 7 days (On 25,000 acres of private land) and although he only took two animals, it was the best experience of his hunting career. You won't have any problem finding good places to bow/rifle hunt for your nephews, sorting out where to hunt will be difficult choice.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:


You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

You volunteering Mate?

Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

How do they conduct their archery hunts?

Or, have your nephew put the bow away and buy a 4-bore. Joyce can teach him how to shoot it!
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

How do they conduct their archery hunts?

From permanent blinds near waterholes.

It's tough to do a typical rifle stall hunt with a bow in Africa.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

How do they conduct their archery hunts?

From permanent blinds near waterholes .

It's tough to do a typical rifle stall hunt with a bow in Africa.

Mike

Nothing wrong with that but it's not what Alex would enjoy. He doesn't even do the tree stand thing when he hunts in PA.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

How do they conduct their archery hunts?

From permanent blinds near waterholes .

It's tough to do a typical rifle stall hunt with a bow in Africa.

Mike

Nothing wrong with that but it's not what Alex would enjoy. He doesn't even do the tree stand thing when he hunts in PA.

I am going to tholo sometime this year. I will check on it.

But if he plans to stalk and hunt African stuff you should talk to ph earlier. I would expect a very low success rate.

I think it's like 50/50 in the save on a 10 day hunt to get a buff by stalking with a bow. The plains game are far more jittery.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

How do they conduct their archery hunts?

From permanent blinds near waterholes .

It's tough to do a typical rifle stall hunt with a bow in Africa.

Mike

Nothing wrong with that but it's not what Alex would enjoy. He doesn't even do the tree stand thing when he hunts in PA.

I am going to tholo sometime this year. I will check on it.

But if he plans to stalk and hunt African stuff you should talk to ph earlier. I would expect a very low success rate.

I think it's like 50/50 in the save on a 10 day hunt to get a buff by stalking with a bow. The plains game are far more jittery.

Mike

Thanks Mike. The first two Impala I killed in the Niassa Reserve were both within bow range. My Leopard was 19 yards and Joyce's 17 yards, though both were from blinds over bait.

When I was in the Brook's Range hunting Dall Sheep, at base camp before heading in I had the pleasure of talking with an Alaskan Bow hunter that is very well known. He's one of the few people that have been successful taking a Marco Polo with a bow. I made a statement that went along the lines of not understanding how he could get within bow range of so many animals. He answer was very simplistic.

"Leave your rifle in camp"

On that hunt Brett and I got within 19 yards of a sub-legal ram. It's not easy but it's doable.



Alex is not about easy, he's about the experience and failed stalks hold their own level of success.

Cheers
Jim

Was that Jack Frost by chance?

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Was that Jack Frost by chance?

Bingo! We have a winner.

Dennis Dunn was also in camp. He was after Caribou working on his second North American 29 with a bare bow.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:


You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

You volunteering Mate?

Absolutely and Joyce and I can be monitoring your activities from the river bank with a couple of bottles of her favourite bubbly.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:


You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

You volunteering Mate?

Absolutely and Joyce and I can be monitoring your activities from the river bank with a couple of bottles of her favourite bubbly.

No Joyce I'm afraid. It's a guys only gig.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:


You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

You volunteering Mate?

Absolutely and Joyce and I can be monitoring your activities from the river bank with a couple of bottles of her favourite bubbly.

No Joyce I'm afraid. It's a guys only gig.

With no Champagne then we would have plenty of money for beer.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:


You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

You volunteering Mate?

Absolutely and Joyce and I can be monitoring your activities from the river bank with a couple of bottles of her favourite bubbly.

No Joyce I'm afraid. It's a guys only gig.

With no Champagne then we would have plenty of money for beer.

You drink beer?

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:


You will probably need a second PH on that trip won't you Jim?

You volunteering Mate?

Absolutely and Joyce and I can be monitoring your activities from the river bank with a couple of bottles of her favourite bubbly.

No Joyce I'm afraid. It's a guys only gig.

With no Champagne then we would have plenty of money for beer.

You drink beer?

I have been known to celebrate the odd monumental occasion but only once before breakfast.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Tholo Safaris in Botswana would be an option. They are set up for both .

How do they conduct their archery hunts?

From permanent blinds near waterholes .

It's tough to do a typical rifle stall hunt with a bow in Africa.

Mike

Nothing wrong with that but it's not what Alex would enjoy. He doesn't even do the tree stand thing when he hunts in PA.

Jim, see if you can get to talk to Jason at Tholo. I hunted with him at Kanana. I would be very surprised if he isn't open to stalking for archery. Especially if everyone is on the same page and knows the chances of success are diminished some. Sounds like your nephews aren't the types to worry about bag limits anyway.

quote:

I wouldn't want them hunting a high fenced area and I know how difficult the success rate might be for archery. They likely couldn't swing more than a 7 day hunt because of work and family.

If you're looking at South Africa or Namibia (the two least expensive, most convenient, and safest countries in Africa in which to hunt) then you'll have a hard time finding a hunt which isn't at least partially high fenced. Some game farms have as little as two or three thousand acres under fence and are primarily "put and take", which is totally unappealing.

However, some game farms are tens of thousands of acres, the animals are all native-born and bred right there on the range, and are as wild as animals get, fence or no fence. In fact, some of the large acreages in southern Namibia are so large and the fences in such disrepair that animals come and go as they please. The original fences were more to control the breeding and successful re-introduction of some species rather than to contain them for "easy" hunting.

My son and I hunted on such a place in southern Namibia in 2007 and were very pleased with it. The "fenced" pasture was 23,000 hectares (over 56,000 acres), while the unfenced (or low fence) adjacent area was 33,000 hectares, or about 81,000 acres. Altogether, that's 214 square miles! We took about half of our 20+ head of game on the low-fenced acreage.

We were rifle hunting, but this outfit also offers bow hunting, both from blinds at water holes and by free-range stalking.

In addition to that, they are really nice people and their facilities are comfortable and private. Check out http://www.farm-nomtsas.com/

Save Valley is always a good bet.
Most PH's who do bow hunting in the Save use the walk and stalk...
That what its all about is it not!



Hope you find what you are looking for.

quote:

Originally posted by Phillip Smythe:
Save Valley is always a good bet.
Most PH's who do bow hunting in the Save use the walk and stalk...
That what its all about is it not!



Hope you find what you are looking for.

Thanks Phillip.

Cheers
Jim

Jim,
The Bubye Valley Conservancy would be an excellent choice. Take them there and hunt with Nigel Theisen. It will be a successful hunt and a great experience for all.

Email me if you want to explore more: ledvm@msn.com

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Jim,
The Bubye Valley Conservancy would be an excellent choice. Take them there and hunt with Nigel Theisen. It will be a successful hunt and a great experience for all.

Email me if you want to explore more: ledvm@msn.com

Thanks Lane

Jim:
My Son and I hunted with Hentie van Heerden in Namibia a few years ago. Had a ball. He is a bow hunter and will do it any way you want. He has access to thousands of acres/low fence. He has a net site, Van Heerden Safaries. Tell him TJ from Alaska said hi.
Good luck, have fun!

quote:

Originally posted by TJ:
Jim:
My Son and I hunted with Hentie van Heerden in Namibia a few years ago. Had a ball. He is a bow hunter and will do it any way you want. He has access to thousands of acres/low fence. He has a net site, Van Heerden Safaries. Tell him TJ from Alaska said hi.
Good luck, have fun!

Hentie is a good bugger and an excellent PH.