I know its hard to take Rhino but I was just wondering after I read Elmer Keith's Safari book that he took all of them on one hunt.I was wondering how much such a hunt if even possible would cost these days.You use to could kill all of the Big Five on one 45 day hunt and it was around $6000 in 1969.You should see the trophy fees in this book.A 21 day hunt was $3,150 which is awesome.

$6000 was a lot of money in 1969.

In 2005, $6,000.00 from 1969 is worth:

$31,955.28 using the Consumer Price Index
$25,867.69 using the GDP deflator
$34,432.30 using the value of consumer bundle
$33,423.10 using the unskilled wage
$51,640.72 using the nominal GDP per capita
$75,903.72 using the relative share of GDP

In 2005, $3,150.00 from 1969 is worth:

$16,776.52 using the Consumer Price Index
$13,580.54 using the GDP deflator
$18,076.96 using the value of consumer bundle
$17,547.13 using the unskilled wage
$27,111.38 using the nominal GDP per capita
$39,849.45 using the relative share of GDP

Today it would cost:
Buffalo-7days 9,000
Lion & Leopard-21 days-80,000 plus trophy fees:5,000(?)
Elephant-16 days- inclusive 34,000
Rhino: dart: 10 days-8,000+

Total:136,000 (guess-timate) for these animals only, at a good price on the first try! Kudude

It's still easily possible but the dictates of fair chase hunting would probably mean at least one change of area/country etc. - Probably more.

Prices of course would depend enormously on areas and countries chosen. These two factors would of course also dictate the duration of the hunt.......

Got all 5 during 2005 safari. Involved much extra traveling vicinity Botswana/RSA/Zimbabwe.

Suspect quite a few on this board have done it.

kudude,got a quote on a 7 day buff hunt and that 9000 turns to over 20000 when you add air travel,fees,etc...

Black rhino can no longer be hunted.

OOPS. Yes they can.

But at an astronomical price - $125 G ?

i'm 3/5 but have seen all 5 in the wild not in a ranch in SA, it took along time just to see the black rhino, i cant find a leopard yet to shoot but i have seen them, then I'll be 4/6 and thats good enough for me, i wouldnt shoot a black rhino unless it was a veeeeery dangerous situation

I think a hunter with some luck could actually take the Big 5 if they could live with a rhino dart for about $75,000. If the hunter needed to hunt the very best areas holding the biggest trophies and wanted to kill a rhino (white) in the wildest area avaiable I think you could pump $200,000 into a safari easily.

Personally I have taken 4 of the Big 5 and I just can't afford the $50,000 plus necessary to hunt a rhino in the area I'd want to hunt one so I don't think I'll every have all 5.

Mark

This has been there on the AR before, but new people do come along.

Been there and done that over 30 years ago when the world was different, but not on one trip, never even made that a plan. Black rhino were still hunted then. I guess the whites fill the bill, but the dart doesn't do itfor me.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
kudude,got a quote on a 7 day buff hunt and that 9000 turns to over 20000 when you add air travel,fees,etc...

Good point. My 10 day Cape buff hunt for 2 buff, was $12,950 USD. By the time I got home the actually expense was $25,000 CDN (and the exchange rate was the best its been in over a decade). I am looking at another $2000 or so when the two sets of buff horns finally arrive.

That $136,000 quoted by kudude is realistically much higher if you look at total cost accounting.

The price of African safaris has far outstripped inflation. I am sure it is entirely a function of supply and demand though.

Cheers,
Canuck

Personally, I think that if there is a "Big Five" any more, it is comprised of elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo and hippo (but the hippo only if stalked and killed on land - to shoot a hippo in water is not the least bit dangerous).

IMHO, the rhino (whether black or white) can no longer be considered a dangerous game animal.

We might as well repopulate the Big Five by nominating the tyrannosaur to replace the rhino, since these days the former is as likely to be encountered in a truly wild state as the latter, which is to say not at all.

Rhino were never so dangerous as stupid, in any case, which - when coupled with the absurd values that certain Asians and Arabs place on their horns - is why they are nearly extinct.

Rhino were dangerous primarily because they were numerous, and virtually blind and brainless, and when encountered (usually unintentionally), they would as soon attack as retreat.

Nor were they particularly robust. They were routinely and easily turned when they charged, and by all accounts were and are quite easy to kill.

It is a shame, nonetheless, that they have been reduced, as a species, to their present state. I would hunt black or even white rhino, if past conditions could be replicated, but sadly that will never happen.

To hunt them now is to shoot them, as with fish in a barrel, and is not for me.

Well said Mike... I will never get the big five... For I have no desire to shoot a rhino have been as close as 30 feet from a white rhino and it had no idea we were that close...Hope to get a lion in the near future and my quest will be fulfilled.. If not I am still satisfied, I have been to Africa..

Mike

I have a friend who took all of the big five in the 70's. He freely admits that he could not do it today, from both financial and practical considerations.

quote:

We might as well repopulate the Big Five by nominating the tyrannosaur to replace the rhino, since these days the former is as likely to be encountered in a truly wild state as the latter, which is to say not at all.

Mrlexma,
I understand what you are saying but still wanted to point out that you can come across totally wild black rhino in the nrthern blocks of the Selous - North of the Ruaha and Rufiji rivers. I have PH friends that have done so while out hunting. An incredible experience for sure You can´t hunt them though

I've got my buff, and a bull hippo which I consider the replacement for the rhino. I'm going over in August for my elephant, and may add a leopard, as I still want a hyena, and we'll be placing baits, and we had a lot of leopard hits last time.

The lion will probably have to wait until the kids finish college.....

Mich, I'm not saying there aren't any. I saw a big as life black rhino myself once deep inside Etosha.

It was amazing, like going back in time. I felt like we had won the lottery.

But as for my remarks above, I believe in the old adage concerning such chancy things: Your odds of winning are the same whether you play or not.

Its a shame there are not Rhinos like there use to be.They were quite a pest when Teddy Roosevelt and his son went on Safari.I hope that some how they can stay around .I heard there were about 12,000 white rhinos and about 3000 black ones.They are selling some at auctions to spread them to more ranches.I watch an awesome show on pbs of all channels.They showed all the beneifits of darting rhinos of all things.It was an awesome show.

While generally I agree, there are those situations that do get out of hand with even a white rhino.

About 13 years ago, I took my oldest son (who was 10 at the time) to Africa for the first time. To make a long story short, we followed 2 rhino for hours. We stalked them as they lay down in the shade. I shot the rhino in the shoulder as he lay there. My thoughts at the moment was that it was like shooting a dead cow. How wrong I was.

It didn't take me long to get over those thoughts. The rhino got up and came straight for us. I was calm and thought I would turn him by shooting him in the chest as he got closer. I shot and hit him hard but he did not stop. My second shot was at 8 feet. Trust me, I was no longer calm. I brained him the second time. I still have the skull with the bullet hole in it. Plus I have this on video somewhere.

Two years ago I took both of my sons to Africa. One of the places we hunted was where the first black rhino was shot a year or so ago. A place called Mauricedale. We saw several (less than 10). One day while we were eating lunch, one of the trackers was walking around for some reason. I heard this noise then a scream. I looked up to see a black rhino chasing after this tracker.

On this same trip, there was an Asian client that proceeded to shoot a white rhino in the foot at 25 yards. He refused to follow. This rhino charged the PH and got close enough to knock him down. The PH finished the rhino off as the PH was on his back after being knocked down.

Both places were very large. One could walk all day without ever getting to the other side or seeing a fence.

It is certainly possible to shoot a rhino in a very small enclosure, they are not all that way. Nor are they all mild mannered as you can see from above.

And by the way, I have taken all the big 5 as follows:
Rhino 1
Leopard 2
Elephant 2
Lion 5 (Plus 2 that I have helped finish as they were running off)
Buffalo 28 (Not all trophies)

To go along with what Larry said I don't think that a white rhino on a large property is the none sporting affair it often is described as. I was on the Mkuze Game Reserve last year with a very experiencd Spanish client. He shot a very nice rhino after 5 days of all day tracking. He described the hunt as equally as sporting as hunting elephant in the forest of Cameroon. He also said the hunt on Mkuze was far more challenging than hunting elephant in Botswana where he takes 4 each year.

So what I'm saying is that a white rhino hunt is not a slam dunk in the right area.

Mark

Great post larryshores!

This last hunt, outside Hwange, we saw black rhino tracks and trees marked (sprayed) with their dung multiple times, and word is that there is one hanging out with the cape buffalo which we were into on a few occasions. I am sure we could have tracked one down, but then what. I have the other four, and doubt that I'll ever shoot a rhino, and frankly given costs these days don't need to.

How about Mr Black Rhino at 25 yards -- and there I stand with only sharp sticks -- while bowhunting in Hamibia

I agree with Larry and Mark on rhino. My rhino hunt was not a walk in the pasture either, as we hunted with Ally Robins on his huge reserve in Zwa-Zulu-Natal. I have taken all the Big Five, but leopard, which I hope to take this year. I understand that the Big Five, plus hippo and croc, make up the Magnificent Seven. I'm just one off from that too, until the leopard is taken.

If there is a place on earth where rhino (be they white or black) are truly wild (rather than captive bred and released, and therefore acclimated, more or less, to the sight, sound and smell of humans), where they are not restricted in range by electric or other fences, and where they therefore can be hunted like wild and free-ranging elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo and hippo, then I have not heard of it and would be obliged for the information.

Mike,

I'm not trying to start anything with you but it would seem that your feeling is that any of the "Big 5" animals taken On a fenced property are not legitimate contenders for the "Big 5" designation or their taking is somehow diminished by the fact that there was a fence somewhere restricting their movements. If you feel that way it is fine and your personal perogative but I think folks that have killed buffalo, leopard, elephant and even lion in areas like the Save Conservancy and Lemco would vehemently disagree with you. In the same vein I think a white rhino killed in the jungle of Mkuze is a worthy trophy indeed. The rhino you hunt is not pre-measured, put there for you to shoot, a hand fed pet or anything but a wild animal. The hunts bare no resemblance to ranch hunts where you know the rhinos score before ever huntintg him.

Regards,

Mark

Mark, my point is a simple one. I believe it is by far preferable to hunt truly wild, free ranging animals, especially dangerous game animals.

It is still possible to do that with the Big Four, and hippo besides.

It is not possible to do that with rhino.

Therefore, rhino are compromised. There are no truly wild, free ranging rhino that can be hunted. Rhino, as game animals, have been so compromised that they hold no interest for me. They have been so compromised that only by extreme stretch and strain can they be called game animals at all, much less dangerous game animals.

To say or maintain otherwise is to miss my simple point. And simple though it is, it is no small point to me.

I never answered the question posed. I have killed four of the Big Five, plus a hippo on land. Never a rhino.

I was born too late, so J.A. Hunter killed my rhino (and about a thousand others) by proxy.

Lion, leopard, buffalo on the big 5, add hippo and croc. I often think about the fact if I had saved all the money I spent hunting plains game I could have added elephant and rhino to that list and have more room in my trophy room.

I have been blessed to have taken the Big Five since 1999. MUFASA

Read Teddy Roosevelts Safari book.They shot Rhinos like rabbits that charged out of the bush at them.Even Elmer Keith got charged a few times in 1969 by a few of them.Yep the onld Africa thats wild and free is disapearing before our eyes.I hope that there are still some pieces left in the future.Its awesome to read the old hunting books.Thats why they say John Pondro was last of the ivory hunters also.It was a large trade at one time.The humans and cows have changed the land scape.There is still alot of Africa left but its disapearing quickly.Thats why I am glad there is so much intest in Africa from hunters if not there would not be any left.