I did a search on this forum already but, Does anyone know why is there such a significant difference in the price of Trophy fees mainly for Cape Buffalo and Sable (two trophies I really want) They are significantly more pricey in South Africa than other places, not to mention a few other animals, is it due to the number of animals available? I do like the convenience of flying into S.A. and hunting there...is that the reason?

Cape Buffalo I believe is because they are considered disease free, whatever that really means. I have heard that it is very costly for it to be disease free. See more about it in the South Africa Buff thread in this forum. Probably more of a supply and demand issue especially for sable. Just remember that in South Africa the animals belong to the landowner and he sets the prices, the government is not involved in it.

They are mostly on private land. They are expensive to purchase/raise.

Also, one can generally required to hunt a lesser number of days to dangerous game hunt in the RSA.

The RSA isn't a cheap place to hunt dangerous game.

Disease free? So In Zimbabwe or Tanzania, I'm basically taking a chance at shooting cape Buff there?

I did see some nice Exceptional Sable in the Limpopo, However the $7500 trophy fee made me think twice, I was really thinking about taking one, but the wife would've went through the roof!!! I was told they are cheaper in Zim. and when I checked they were significantly cheaper! I'm really thinking about just dropping the $7.5K for one....CK

Trophy fee is a lot lower. Daily rates are a lot higher.

plus outside RSA most sable hunts are 10-14 days at a much higher daily rate. at the end of the day, a sable hunt in RSA is probably cheaper, as long as you don't mind a high fence operation.

quote:

Originally posted by AKsheephunter:
Disease free? So In Zimbabwe or Tanzania, I'm basically taking a chance at shooting cape Buff there?

I'm pretty sure the disease free means no diseases that could create epidemics among the cattle and sheep being raised there, not so much diseases directly transferable to humans.

So with that saying, because the Sable in South Africa is under private land ownership, do I have a better chance at getting a really huge Sable in S.A. rather in Zim?

Disease free means the Bovine's have been checked by a Vet for Bovine TB, Hoof & Mouth etc., and certified to be free of the diseases that can transmit to Cattle. The cost of buying a starter herd of Cape Buffalo, innoculations, fencing, medicine, Vet, etc., is astronomical. Thus the higher price. However, if you compare the total price of hunting Buff in other countries, it all averages out in the wash, and in some cases, it is cheaper to hunt in RSA. You want a "wild" experience? Take a permit hunt in and around Kruger Nat'l Park. You want really wild? Come hunt with me in the Zambezi Delta of Mozambique. Be prepared for hot, humid weather, lots of Buffalo to choose from and real wild. Mosquito's the size of P-38's and ring worms the size of night crawlers. (just kidding) Hunt only costs $7,500 but the license and trophy fee is $3,300. Plus charters and assorted fees. Not for the budget minded Hunter necessarily, but wild enough for the $$$ and a great adventure. In the end you'll find high trophy fees on specialty trophies in RSA: Sable, Roan, Suni, Red/Blue Duiker, Vaal Rhebuck, Nyala, Elephant, Leopard etc., but excellent prices on many plains game animals; but fewer logistics, imports/exports and an overall good, enjoyable hunt void of Malaria and other serious diseases. That however, is the draw. Hunts where dangers lurk behind every tree, under your cot at night, in your boots and over the next hill. Man thrives on adrinalin Any questions? Just ask.
Good hunting,
David

quote:

Originally posted by AKsheephunter:
So with that saying, because the Sable in South Africa is under private land ownership, do I have a better chance at getting a really huge Sable in S.A. rather in Zim?

Yes, you pay for what you get. It is not a dead certain hunt......the one area we hunt have so many Sable that the young bulls form bachelor herds, and when they reach maturity they of course break up and go single. There is 80 Sable on this ranch.....

Sir, I have to be carefull here, as we do DG hunts in Namibia and Zimbabwe as well. We work in association with some friends in these countries, and the cost hunting with us is the same as you would book directly with them....

What I can tell you, is that a Buffalo hunt in South Africa will work out the same as in any of the other countries that are well known Buffalo destinations, all cost considering. Less money of Tanzania is your destination....

And you can hunt them with me in a hunting area that are 10 000acres or bigger(I'm the guy conducting the hunts David refered to in the Greater Kruger National PArk)

Throw a Sable in, and the picture change. The best Sable I can do is about $7000.00 trophy fee for a +-40"er. So your Buff hunt is $15k all inclusive and the Sable is $7k, brings you to $22k.......That is about the price I saw for a 1x1CBuff to Tanzania the other day. These prices are an example, not a quote.

The good thing about SA also is no charter flights, very good Taxidermist on your doorstep after the hunt. You will get your trophy out, no if's and buts there. The same cannot be said about some of our neighbours, save Namibia and Botswana.

Your wife will also be comfortable in a very "plush" camp, and she can be entertained during the day.....if you want to bring her along.....

I do these hunts, and you are welcome to engage me into correspondence at info@infinito-safaris.com

www.infinito-safaris.com

I have 30 prices for sable listed in my database of trophy prices listed by Hunting Outfitters on their web sites. The lowest is $ 3600, and the highest is $ 15500. Quite a difference!

There are 21 Hunting Outfitters that quote sable at between $ 6000 and $ 8000.

Why such a big variation in published prices? Don't really know, but for many trophy species the ratio of highest price listed to lowest price listed is 4 to 6! Why should one HO charge 5 times as much as another? Better hunting experience? Bigger trophies? More greedy? Can speculate but simply don't know.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

No less than 11 Hunting Outfitters list trophy fees below $ 7000.

Andrew, surely you must know why there is such a big difference in Sable prices?????

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew McLaren:
I have 30 prices for sable listed in my database of trophy prices listed by Hunting Outfitters on their web sites. The lowest is $ 3600, and the highest is $ 15500. Quite a difference!

There are 21 Hunting Outfitters that quote sable at between $ 6000 and $ 8000.

Why such a big variation in published prices? Don't really know, but for many trophy species the ratio of highest price listed to lowest price listed is 4 to 6! Why should one HO charge 5 times as much as another? Better hunting experience? Bigger trophies? More greedy? Can speculate but simply don't know.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

No less than 11 Hunting Outfitters list trophy fees below $ 7000.

In South Africa, I presume these prices are??

Would like to meet the Game rancher that sells Sable for less than $5k

Much has already been said but I would just like to point out that sable are a marquis or royal animal. What I mean by that is that sable are one of the very few examples of "plains game" that literally change the entire pricing structure of a hunt. You can't just add sable to any hunt for trophy fees only. You would think that hunting dangerous game like elephant, buff or leopard would allow you to add a sable for the TF only...not so! It changes the daily rate.

If I were going to hunt sable (and I have researched it) I would look at 3 places...from cheap to high end would be Cawston Ranch in Zim, one of several places in Moz, or if money was no object it would be one of a couple places in Zambia. I would really like to hunt them in Zambia but I just can't justify the expense for the chance at a few more inches of horn.

To my fellow Alaskan, I would suggest you pick up an excellent book that will answer many of your questions about Africa hunting in general as it identifies each region of Africa where hunting is allowed, the hunting regs, fees, points of interest, etc. It's called Safari Guide 2007-2008 by Safari Press. It's well worth the money (about $70). I refer to it frequently.

I guess this might be a stupid question, But do you guys foresee, the prices of Sable/Cape buff going up drastically within 2 years time? I just don't want it to double.

I have seen the prices increase pretty much every year but not drastically. But I really guess it all depends on which the wind is blowing to be able to predict.

quote:

Originally posted by AKsheephunter:
I guess this might be a stupid question, But do you guys foresee, the prices of Sable/Cape buff going up drastically within 2 years time? I just don't want it to double.

I hunted Zim for trophy Ele and Buffalo in 04' and had two buffalo liscenses for a daily rate total of 14K for 17 days of hunting. I have the same hunt booked right now for nearly 19K for 17 days and only one buffalo.....so unless the economy crushes the rich and stifles the demand for hunts (which if you went to the convention, agets and outfitters dont have enough hunts to meet the demand right now) the prices are only going to go up....

There are guys on here that know way more than me about the chance of prices going up. I am just stating an observation. I do know that @ 5 years ago I could have bought a full bag hunt in Tanz for 36k daily rate and now thats 65k +. If you have the money to do it now I wouldnt wait, or if you could book the hunt now and the outfitter hold the current prices for you to hunt in two years. I have found that most outfitters will do that for you on daily rate but cannot promise that on trophy fees, especially in campfire areas of Zim where the trophy fees are set by the chief. Hope this helps you out.

Thanks for the info. Silwane, I'm scheduled to go next Summer with my 11 year old, we are going for Kudu,and Bush Buck, and I have a score to settle with a nice Gemsbok, I might as well throw in the Sable ($7500, OUCH!!!) I'll work on the Buff the year after,or so.

I have learned some new things on this thread.

If you're in this for the long haul (and it sounds like you are trying to be) then I would strongly suggest hunting species where they are endemic. For example, gemsbok ought to be in hunted in Namibia or Botswana. Sable ought to be hunted in Zim, Moz, Zambia, etc.

When you start adding species that aren't local to the area, you will always pay more on average than hunting them where they are naturally located. These animals have to be relocated and that's expensive and then there's the cost of keeping them alive until the hunter can get there. The exception would be if this is a one time trip and you're trying to do it all but that can be a mistake also.

There's nothing wrong with hunting in RSA. I would just consider moving around if you want other species and you will certainly see some different places in the process. That's what really gets into your blood after awhile...traveling to Namibia next year so I'm seriously thinking about a Damara's dik dik just because they aren't available elsewhere naturally.

If you read some of those who are well traveled like Craig Boddington and Peter Flack you will see that they learned these lessons the hard way and now they are paying big bucks to go back and do it the way they should have done it before. Just something to think about.

Whatever you do, if you come back for buff, try to see a different place and shoot your buff in another country. You're from the Brooks for goodness sakes...go hunt somewhere without fences.

Yukon D., I see what you are saying, but I have not been able to hunt all over the world, Until I just retired Last July after serving 24-plus years in the USAF (Eielson), You guys have been hunting a lifetime, and have many trophies, And I just did my first ever African Safari last month (A childhood dream) and at 43 years old, I don't feel I have much time while the prices are down, I have Mongolia,and New Zealand set in my sights in the future and have saved for this stuff for 20 years. I am not rich by all means, and with the state of our economy, like stated from the others," do it now while you can" I'm gonna. The reason is, I have a hunt already paid for next summer with my kid, why not do it then, right? believe me, I'm gonna hunt Africa time and time again until my dying day, so believe me the next time , won't be my Last! I will take your advice in consideration, your right about endemic species, And I do want to hunt them in their natural environment. Believe me, I'm new to this, and I'm still learning from you guys, thats why I'm on this every day....Chuck K.

With the cost of fuel rising on a monthly and even weekly scale, this is going to effect all of us. Flights are being cut; baggage restricted and more costly. Airfare is nearly a $1,000 more than two years ago in some destinations. I'm getting notice from some Outfitters, they are paying $9 per gallon for gasoline, and some have already announced price increases and trophy fees for next year. All due to the rising cost of fuel. The domino effect is here. Everything is going up, just look at your grocery bill. Plan ahead.
LDK

$9 per gallon!!!...is that the price of gas in S. Africa right now? I know it was higher, but didn't know it was that high. We did alot of driving all over that country.

AK, no, in Australia. I think it's around $6 in RSA, but that's subject to change anytime. Keep in mind, the boys in RSA didn't sit on their fanny's when "we" the super powers pulled the rug out from under them and stopped shipping them oil/gas during Apartied. They used an old German trick and refined fuel from coal if I remember correctly. They always have a plan, and generally good ones. Meanwhile, any rising cost in fuel's will push everything else up in cost. This is effecting Outfitter's just like everyone else. The sky isn't falling, but the cost of living is rising. Supply and demand coupled with the world's economy will dictate hunting costs, and at $16K for Alaska Brown Bear; $14K for Alaska Moose, I consider a multi-species safari in Africa a bargain. And speaking of our dear State of Alaska, I'll be there in two weeks just so I can gorge on King and Dungeness Crab Just recently, King went from $9.95 per pound to $16.50 per pound here in Music City. What the hell's that all about???? Oh, I forgot.....fuel costs are rising
Good hunting,
David

quote:

Originally posted by infinito:
Andrew, surely you must know why there is such a big difference in Sable prices?????

Charl,

Sure I know why there is such a big difference: the highest is high, AND the lowest is low! That makes for a big difference!.

But at the risk of showing everyone exactly how stupid I am, I’ll admit to not really knowing why the highest is so high, and why the lowest is so low? Please show everybody how dumb I am and tell us all. I’m sure there are others just as ignorant as I am, but just too clever to admit that they don’t know exactly WHY? So please explain in simple terms so that even a dumb oaf like me can understand?

These are from web sites of South African Hunting Outfitters.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

A bit of local perspective: Game ranchers (I'm not one, just a normal, paying hunter) pay around $16k each for disease free buff & $10k each for sable in order to establish herds. These are game auction prices. Petrol prices in SA are around $5/ gallon.

Even local hunters complain about massive differences in game prices. It pays to shop around - & ALWAYS get references.

Yeah, my PH told me the landowners pay more for the animal than a hunter that comes in to shoot it, I've yet to figure that one out.

I take it there is no such thing as "surplus sable" on any concession?

quote:

did a search on this forum already but, Does anyone know why is there such a significant difference in the price of Trophy fees mainly for Cape Buffalo and Sable (two trophies I really want) They are significantly more pricey in South Africa than other places,

Because every Sable and Cape Buff in RSA has a name on high fenced propertys.

Seloushunter