quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Let's talk about the high cost of moose hunts shall we?

Thirty-two bucks for the tag and a tank of gas. In hunting, location is everything.

For a Canadian, practically everything in Africa is about half of it was when I first started pricing these things out seriously. As long as our dollar hovers somewhere near the US $ I feel like hunts are half price.

I would like to look at this issue quite differently.

I do not think that inflation matters much. It is mostly about international markets, exchange rates and demand. The outfitters will charge as much as they can get on a sustainable basis.

If inflation is to be considered, then I would look at the local rates that are charged from local hunters!

Do biltong hunters really pay 65% more (compound inflation of 5% over 10 years rounded) now than they did 10 years ago?

Do local station staff really earn 65% more now? What is the real buying power of the Rand now?

I do not have the facts but I would be really interested to see those figures / information.

The real dilemma as I see it in the US is the US economy. In the 90's the US economy was strong and it was easy to make enough money to afford a Safari. This stayed the same until 2008 where it abruptly changed at least for the working upper middle class Safari Hunter. It has not returned yet. Today...I spend much longer gathering the money between hunts than in late 90's early 2000's.

Quite coincidentally, I recently came across my 2005 price list and compared it to this 2013...

Daily Rates 2005 - $350pd / 2013 $450pd

Baboon $120 vs $125 (6%)
Blesbok $350 vs $400 (14%)
Bushbuck $700 vs $1,000 (43%)
Bushpig $350 vs $450 (28.5%)
Duiker $250 vs $350 (40%)
Eland $1,500 vs $2,200 (46%)
Hartebeest $900 vs $1,400 (55%)
Impala $300 vs $350 (17%)
Kudu $1,200 vs $2,000 66%)
Nyala $1,900 vs $2,000 (5%)
Oryx $950 vs $1,400 (47%)

According to my calculations this constitutes an average increase in trophy fees of 33% on the animals listed over an 8 year period (or an average 4% increase per year). My daily rates increased by 3.5 percent on average per year over the same 8 year period...

A loaf of bread sold for ZAR 3.00 in 2005 - it now costs ZAR 13.00... I filled my truck's fuel tank for R450 in 2005 - it now costs me double that... I bought a 2 year old used pick-up for ZAR 135,000 in 2005 - in 2010 a similar vehicle cost me ZAR 210,000 and in 2012 it cost me ZAR 275,000.

All things considered I don't think prices increased all that much. In fact, I think quite the opposite is true.

In 2000, 10 of us went to South Africa for plains game hunting.

I think we were charged $75 per person per day.