Great information.....

Glad you have posted this here, and glad to see the NRA is pointing this out too.

Strange that when I raised this very point a while back, a prominent cheerleader for SCI get very upset about it.



"You are a responsible hunter. You practice with your chosen hunting firearm to a level of competence, you are a member of the NRA, you renew your hunting license every year and you take your craft seriously. You consider poaching reprehensible and wouldn’t be caught dead participating in an illegal hunt in any way imaginable. Then one day you book a dream hunt in South Africa. This is one you’ve been saving your pennies for and you’re heading over with a few of your buddies. When you get there your outfitter, being the good guy that he is, says he can save the group some money on shipping trophies. That’s good news to your ears as this is an expensive hunt, and any savings is a good thing. So, you and your friends hunt and at the end of your safari, your outfitter fills out only ONE hunting register (hunting license) in the name of only one hunter, and puts everyone’s animals on one registry. His promise to you is that by shipping all trophies in one box, to one destination, you will save significantly on shipping charges. However, what he’s conveniently not telling you is that you will be violating the Lacey Act (a U.S. conservation law that prohibits the sale or trade of wildlife that has been illegally hunted, transported or sold).

Worldwide hunting laws require a license to hunt legally. If your outfitter completes the license in the name of only one hunter (for the claim of saving you money), the others in the group who have not hunted legally are, therefore, poaching by definition. Ignorance of the laws will only take your defense so far. The outfitter pockets the license money that is literally a part of every hunting package sold. But those without licenses aren’t the only ones committing a crime. The license holder signs a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Declaration for Importation or Exportation of Fish or Wildlife (Form 3-177) where he/she signs “under penalty of perjury that the information furnished is true and correct,” making him/her an accessory to poaching. No one walks away unscathed if caught, though you did not intentionally break the law. The mistake will come at a cost much greater than your supposed saving on shipping charges.

This is an epidemic in the hunting industry and very prevalent in South Africa in particular. To make matters worse, most U.S. brokers and taxidermists turn a blind eye to this all too common illegal practice and are blatantly assisting the hunter in breaking the Lacey Act, which is a felony. Unfortunately, much of the industry is complicit and some of the unintentional consequences are providing ammunition to the anti-hunting, animal rights extremist community. To them, hunter equals poacher, so why prove them right? It’s too far to travel and too expensive to get caught in this web of illegal activity. Why ruin a great experience and the subsequent memories? Make sure that your license is actually your license at the close of your safari.

The effort to draw attention to this growing epidemic is being spearheaded by Robert and Rosella Quartarone of Safari Specialty Importers, an outfit that deals only with the disposition of your trophies and making sure they get to you efficiently and legally—and that you remain stress-free in the process. As hunters, Robert and Rosella actually have skin in the game and want to protect your hard-earned trophies and prevent you from falling into this trap. Safari Specialty Importers is advocating on behalf of the hunter for his or her protection. A pound of prevention beats a ton of legal fees."

In Zambia it is one shipment per hunting license. No bulk shipments allowed.

Good effort from Bob and Rosella, and from the NRA. As expected from SCI.

quote:

Originally posted by ijl:
Good effort from Bob and Rosella, and from the NRA. As expected from SCI.

Do not compare the NRA to SCI!

SCI has been turning a blind eye to all sorts illegal activities participated in by many of their award winners.

All one has to do is check the names of the crooks masquerading as professional hunters who buy farm animals, transport them somewhere else and have some stupid so called “hunter” fly over and shoot it.

Next it is recorded in the silly SCI RECORD BOOK.

Do not expect anything positive from SCI!

Let me get this straight. One hunter, one license, one box. One fee from Everyone involved.
2 hunters, 2 licenses, one box. One fee from Everyone involved. Poaching? Illegal?
2 hunters, one license, one box. One fee from Everyone. Poaching. Illegal.

Seems to me 5 guys should be allowed to ship together if all 5 have a license.

Ski+3
Whitefish, MT

Very strange.

Getting trophies from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Tanzania, numerous times, several of us had everything in one shipment.

Names and license numbers are on the import papers, but everything comes in one shipment.

Let me address each scenario:
1. 2 hunters, 2 sets of export documents, (non family) one box = NOT illegal, however, let me make clear that if FWS identifies an issue with any of the hunters in the single crate, it means an issue with all of them hence the additional storage accued for all involved instead of the single crate for the single hunter where the issue is identified. Any savings by putting everyone in one crate is an illusion. If anything, the savings is only in the crating which is nominal.

2. 2 hunters, 1 license = illegal

3. 5 guys CAN ship together if they all have their own permits

quote:

Originally posted by SkiBumplus3:
Let me get this straight. One hunter, one license, one box. One fee from Everyone involved.
2 hunters, 2 licenses, one box. One fee from Everyone involved. Poaching? Illegal?
2 hunters, one license, one box. One fee from Everyone. Poaching. Illegal.

Seems to me 5 guys should be allowed to ship together if all 5 have a license.

Ski+3
Whitefish, MT

Sound information save for this sentence:

The outfitter pockets the license money that is literally a part of every hunting package sold

There is no "license money" payable in South Africa and therefore no "license money" that can be
pocketed.

Most hunts in South Africa are conducted on land that is exempt from ordinary game laws which means there is no requirement to buy a license to hunt ordinary game animals.

There are a few exceptions like when hunting TOPS animals e.g. Common Reedbuck where a permit needs to be bought for the hunter prior to the hunt. Or Baboons and monkeys which require a hunting license. These permits and licenses are issued in the client's name and is specific to X number of animals so for every Reedbuck or Baboon that gets exported there needs to be a separate permit or license. You pay a fee for every animal on the permit so there is no money to be saved or pocketed by buying permits in the name of one individual as opposed to two or more.

Whether you apply for two Reedbuck permits in the name of one person or two Reedbuck in two separate individuals name, you still have to buy and pay for two permits.

Below is a linkt to "Farmer's Weekly" (the South African publication) written by Gerhard Uys:

https://www.farmersweekly.co.z...hunting-and-the-law/

This clarifies the law for hunting in South Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by ChrisTroskie:
Sound information save for this sentence:

The outfitter pockets the license money that is literally a part of every hunting package sold

There is no "license money" payable in South Africa and therefore no "license money" that can be
pocketed.

Most hunts in South Africa are conducted on land that is exempt from ordinary game laws which means there is no requirement to buy a license to hunt ordinary game animals.

There are a few exceptions like when hunting TOPS animals e.g. Common Reedbuck where a permit needs to be bought for the hunter prior to the hunt. Or Baboons and monkeys which require a hunting license. These permits and licenses are issued in the client's name and is specific to X number of animals so for every Reedbuck or Baboon that gets exported there needs to be a separate permit or license. You pay a fee for every animal on the permit so there is no money to be saved or pocketed by buying permits in the name of one individual as opposed to two or more.

Whether you apply for two Reedbuck permits in the name of one person or two Reedbuck in two separate individuals name, you still have to buy and pay for two permits.

I wondered about this....for standard plains game hunts on private ranches (high fence mostly). I don't specifically recall any licensing and certainly no issues. I find it an aweful big stretch to apply Lacey act violations. That's "looking for a crime" IMO and I wonder how in the world they would even question this in the first place

If you pull the trigger you have hunted....If you hunt in Texas (high fence) for deer you need a hunting license. The Lacey Act only comes into play when you import trophies into the USA without the proper documentation (ie Export Permits for EACH hunter) The way to obtain the export permits, is by submitting the PH Register to Nature Conservation. They will do the validations to make sure the hunt was legal and then issue the export permit(s).

If people are in possession of ammunition for which they are not licensed, they transgress Article 90 of the Firearms Control Act, Law 60 of 2000. The maximum punishment is a 15-year jail sentence, or a fine of R150 000,” he says.

A hunter should also remember that these can be imposed per item. For example, if he or she is caught with 20 rounds of unlicensed ammunition, the punishment could be multiplied by 20


Seems a little harsh and stupid, seen from here.

Grizz