My Ph was Wayne Edwards, a Zimbabwe National. You can see his info at www.hhksafaris.com. He is an excellent hunter, tracker, and worked very hard while doing my Safari. He is also a fun guy to be around. We had a blast every day. My main goal on a hunting trip is to have a good time, and I surely did. Part of the responsibility of a good time depends on you the hunter, and surely on your relations with the PH. My instructions to the PH [and to Ian the videographer] was that I wanted everybody to have as much fun as I was. I think is is safe for me to say that we all did. Many people on this forum have spoken about having an "understanding" with your PH on such items as trophy quality, when he shoots, etc. My "instructions" to Wayne were the following. We talked about my previous hunting experience, I stated I had never been to Africa before and would depend on his expertise. Most of the time the Hunter and PH might not have time to "discuss" the trophy quality of an animal before the oppertunity of a shot is lost. So I told him "If we see something I need to shoot, just say "shoot". I said I do not want to shoot a "dink" [i.e. a real small one], but if something looks like a good represention of the species then I trust your judgement. I said it is your job to decide which ones to shoot, my job to hit them. I also explained that I have no preconcived mythical minimums, you know the area and the local size of the animals, if we have a shot a decent trophy then lets "do it". We also talked about when he should shoot.
My instructions to him were again simple. I have a double, If I make two bad shots, or we are about to be injured then shoot. He has been a PH for 14 years, I told him if he thought he needs to shoot then shoot. I stated to him you are the Professional Hunter do what your instincts tell you to do. After about 5 days of hunting he told me that this was the most relaxed non stress Safari he has ever done, as he did not have to second guess himself based on our initial conversations and on how we were communitating while hunting. After a couple of days in the field I felt as if I was hunting with a bunch of my buddies. Things could not have been better. At one point of the hunt we were looking at an animal from a distance, about 2 miles away, one with a substantial trophy fee], Wayne had the binos on him and said. "Take a look, you need to make a decision." I replied I do not need to decide anything, if you think he is big enough lets go." Wayne simply said "Get your gear."
Every animal I took on this hunt was a challange in either the stalk, the shot, or most of the time both.
But most important EVERYBODY had FUN.
I can highly recommend Wayne Edwards as a Ph you can have an excellent time with.

N. E.:

Congratulations on a great hunting experience. That sounds like my kind of atmosphere for a safari. I imagine the PH's see plenty of people who take themselves much too seriously.

Rick.

Congratulation and good to have you home...

Hey! How about 'N E 450 No2 Safari: The Photos'?

George