Have been fortunate and have hunted a lot in Africa over the years. Have three countries left to enjoy hunting in. Was hoping to go to Zimbabwe this year, but i see that some of the hunters on AR are having trouble getting their trophies out and back to the USA. Is that their fault or is it the chronic condition i have noted, over the years from government issues???

got my buffalo skull 4 months ago- 7 months after i shot it. i guess it depends on who you hunt with.

I went in June and my buff skull and cape are supposed to ship this week.

USF&W, CITES, and Zim Govt are the three players in the current set of import problems. The hunters, not so much.

If non-CITES animals are on the menu, there's nothing to worry about.

I think it depends on who the outfitter is. I have never had a problem with getting my trophies from Charlton McCallum. In fact, from a cash flow perspective, I would not mind if they took a little longer to ship them.

tHere is a current thread about sable getting out of Zim. Non-cites animal. Not arguemenative, just dont need the drama

Chifuti Safaris has clients trophies ready to ship between 7-9 weeks from safari completion. CITES animals cause zero delay if the paperwork is right.

I shot an elephant in March in Zim with CM Safaris, my tusks were here in October. No worries there. 2009 trophies took less time, no CITES animals, perhaps.
My 2006 trophies, all plains game, with another Zim outfitter, took a year an a half. That was, in all fairness, before Zimbabwe dollarized, and everything was in short supply. You will love Zimbabwe.

Choose your outfitter and area carefully and use Andy Hunter to handle dip and pack and export. You won't have any problems.

www.chipitanisafaris.net/pack&dip.htm

Hunted with Charlton McCallum Safaris in June. Received my shipment last week including a Leopard and Sable. No problems. Will not hesitate to go back with them as I plan a return in Oct 12 and Mar 13. Depends on who you go with I suppose.

I hunted with Chifuti in August and already have my buffalo and impala hide/horns back. Mozambique seems to take an excessive amount of time to get your stuff back from. I hunted there last year and still have not received my buffalo trophy, although I did get an email about 2 weeks ago stating they were ready to ship.

Depends on the outfitter. Some only collect the trophies at the end of the season and ship them all together.Geat if you hunted in NOV but a Biatch if it was MARCH

For a dozen years I've read about problems with hunts, security, etc., in Zimbabwe, but I've never had a problem.

As said above, book with the right folks (as I apparently done ten or so times with HHK) and you get good hunts, trophies to you promptly and a great value for your dollar.

I'm also with Mike... with the trophies being shipped so quickly, I'm just beginning to recover from paying for the safari and along comes a bill for shipment, taxidermy, etc.

JMHO.

I have hunted with HHK in Zimbabwe four times now. I have not had any problems with getting my trophies in a reasonable time. How fast you get 'em depends upon who you hunt with.

Finished my 3rd hunt with HHK about 2 month ago.
I got the informations that the trophies have been delivered to Bulawayo about 3 weeks ago.
I expect to receive my trophies (including a leopard) in about 2 months.
It was my 7th hunt in Zim with different outfitters and I never had any problems.

Leonard,
I have hunted with John Greeff, Buzz Charlton, Chifuti Safaris and Martin Pieters and have received all of my trophies in a timely manner (well for Africa anyway).

I have hunted cites animals both with Gary Hopkins and Jonny Hulme and no problems with importing to Europe or USA despite im not american.

Have a great trip

Are these folks (Maple Freight) pulling my chain, copy of email response when I inquired about my trophies from a hunt with Dudley Rogers in 2009.

Thank you for your e-mail. The export permit is still at National Parks awaiting approval. The National Parks head office in Harare is busy with negotiations with the US Fish & Wildlife regarding the new regulations. At the present moment, we are not sending any clients trophies containing leopard, elephant or crocodile until the problem has been rectified.

Maple Freight took forever and triple charged for dip/pack what my PH had already done for $375. They refused to export his dip/pack and wouldn't crate two hunters together. Big rip off and took nearly a year to export. I requested my Zebra be shipped raw and I was billed for a Zebra rug. Nothing but problems. CMS, Zambezi Hunters, Chifuti, etc won't give you problems. Andy Hunter is THE man for individual export, but if your hunting with top outfits, they will take care of everything. LDK

quote:

Originally posted by lb404:
tHere is a current thread about sable getting out of Zim. Non-cites animal. Not arguemenative, just dont need the drama

All animals in Zimbabwe are CITES. All require CITES export permits. Impala to Elephant. CITES export has nothing to do with CITES import on our side.

Or at least they used to be. Zim laws could have changed, I am sure I will be corrected if I am wrong

There is currently 8 leopards being held by U.S Fish and Wildlife and they are threatening to return them to Zimbabwe. This is not an outfitter problem, but a problem with the way Zimbabwe fills out the export CITES. This is a new development that started just a few weeks ago. Barbara at "The Hunting Report" has been warning hunters of this problem for a few months now, and U.S Fish and Wildlife has started enforcing their new requirements without notifying or ensuring that the other countries understand the changes. This has caught other Countries off guard as well! I was told by a Life-form(SA) rep that they have multiple leopards ready to ship, but will not do so until the changes are clarified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. There are people currently working on the 8 leopards hung up in customs and I hope this problem is resolved ASAP. Laura at D&L Custom Brokers(Chicago) tells me this problem only pertains to Zimbabwe at the moment, but the ripples are being felt regarding the leopard in other Countries. If you have a leopard that is ready to be shipped contact Laura at D&L or your customs broker to ensure that the paperwork is correct. Again this is not outfitter specific!