hi
is there any age limitation for becoming PH in Africa? can a 70 + man brcome a ph and do ph examin?
regards
YES

quote:

Originally posted by yes:
hi
is there any age limitation for becoming PH in Africa? can a 70 + man brcome a ph and do ph examin?
regards
YES

YES

Depends on which country you are asking about

There were a couple of lads on the zim Proficiency exam this year who were over 50. I think they both slep for a week after it finished and they struggled to keep up with the pace...

hi Ganyana
can you describe the examin? what is so difficult? the guy i know he is old , but he can walk dosen of miles with back pack and rifle and shoot the claybirds with rifle a cool old guy what more he needs to know and do?
regards
yes

I'm more curious about this too. my stepfather is retired but bored, I told him that he needs to move to Africa and become a professional hunter, he's talked about hunting africa forever. I think as a PH is the only way he'd ever get the chance.

Red

quote:

what more he needs to know and do?

Track like a bushman or an Apache, know all about every living creature and plant in Africa, be able to speak and deal with the native Africans, and negotiate through the African governmental BS.

of all those things you mentioned . he can mange except the last one(nogociate with african governement sounds the most difficult thing

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

what more he needs to know and do?

Track like a bushman or an Apache, know all about every living creature and plant in Africa, be able to speak and deal with the native Africans, and negotiate through the African governmental BS.

Ganyana- I heard that the Zimbabwe PH test was the hardest and most conclusive. I also heard that if liscensed in Zimbabwe then you are eligible to hunt in other African countries on your Zimbabwe license. Is this correct and could you explain the procedure of the testing and what is involved? How long is the process?
Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by yes:
hi
is there any age limitation for becoming PH in Africa? can a 70 + man brcome a ph and do ph examin?
regards
YES

I like the idea of a 70 year old guiding me on a DG hunt. Especially if things go really, really badly, as I'm pretty confident I'd be able to outrun the old codger!

Pegleg,

I'll leave one of the Zim guys to comment on the course etc but will say that the Zim course is widely acknowledged to be one of the best, if not the best courses available.

However, the Zim licence does not automatically allow the PH to operate anywhere else without fulfilling whatever criteria is required by the other, individual country.

Mozambique is probably one of the easiest countries to get a licence but even there, one has to pay a fee and provide other licences and/or proof of experience.

A lot of other countries also have some kind of requirement for residency but have an arrangement where the PH can pay a fee and get a temporary residence permit.

This might help: http://www.shakariconnection.c...-hunter-article.html

Zim PH exam....

Takes a minimum of two years.
a) Write leaners theory exam- 4 papers, each of 3hr duration, Firearms, Law, Habits and Habbitats, General.
b) Get a job - whilst serving your apprenticeship shoot a minimum of five dangerous game (lion, Elephant and buff) and accompany a minimum of five sucessful lion/leopard hunts.
c) Pass Advanced first aid certificate (two weeks total training time)
d) Pass shooting test - details in terry carr's african info section on the forum
e) After you have completed all of the above and served a minimum of two year apprenticeship you come to the 'interviews'- an Oral exam - pannel of examiners from both National parks and industry. Main aim is to ensure candidate doesn't waste his money coming on the final exam and fail. Questions on trophy judgement, tree id, skins , how to etc.
f) If the interview pannel are satisfied that you have a fair chance of passing the proficiency exam, you are invited to attend.

Proficiency- You have to set up a camp, host an examiner as if he were a client, provide meals, drinks etc for the examiners, supply vehicle, fuel etc. You would normally be asked to shoot an elephant or a buffalo, demonstrate proficiency in tracking, skining etc. Build a blind and bait in either a lion or a leopard- we have hyaena on quota which can be shot if you need to check a candidate on skinning or whatever (have baboon for the same reason- man are the fingers a pain!). So over the course of less than a week, you and the other three in your 'group' get to shoot, skin and recover a whole bunch of big game- you are not allowed staff to assist in skining and recovery- and at the same time you have to run the camp etc. Makes for 18-20 hr days, coupled with alot of walking and physical hard graft (building a blind out of natural materials isn't exactly instantaneous let alone re covering a couple of ele's short handed - and constantly being pushed to hurry up.

Generally the older guys coming on the exam are all ex farmers or whoever who were members of the Zimbabwe hunters association (the Citizen hunting Association) and have 20-30 years of occasional big game hunting as back ground. They still have to do the two year apprenticeship though- citizen hunters don't have to think about 'clients'!!!

Where the zim exam falls a little short is on hunting plains game- it is primarily focused on big game.

But of cource- the truth is that a PH begins to learn his job the day somebody gives him a license and he takes out his first client

I reckon having them set up a camp is a great idea as it's very often ignored elsewhere and a vitally important art form...... As for having 'em skin a hyena, well that's just sadistic!

thanks for the replies and all information' it sounds to be a very easy task for an old timer .
kamo gari where is your respect for old men ??? men are like wine older they get more valuable they become

Steve...it isn't just the hyaena that is nasty...I had one candidate who was lazy and abusing his camp staff. He had obviously only ener stuck his head into a skinning shed to watch the regular men at work (and this was before the interviews were used as a screening process so we had much larger groups - of which 3/4 were going to fail). Soooo

When he had (eventaully finished his elephats feet, I wondered over with another scrounged from a different group and told him he needed some practice- and not to split this one down the back. I wanted a seamless waste paper bucket. His jaw nearly hit the ground.

6 hrs later when he had nearly finsied I came back with another foot and told him I wanted it done in under 4 hrs. As I walked away he snarled 'You C&%t'. I spun around in time to see one of the other parks examiners (a big Shangaan called Madau) floor him with a slap and say 'That is Mr C... to you Boy'- The title stuck for several years even after I had left parks

PS- I wasn't educated- I went to plumbtree, and had years of careful schooling in being a sh%t

Mate, I'd rather skin a dozen elephant's feet than one hyena or open a flatdog's stomach.

The stink of either is simply appalling to me. I'm so concious of hyena stink, I always try to have the client shoot one as close to camp as possible so I don't have to sit in the truck and smell the bloody thing for any longer than necessary.

Some years ago, we shot one halfway up a kopjie and to get it down, I put my belt round it's neck and carried my end of it that way whilst the tracker and mgeni carried the other end. The belt was only on the animal for about 20 minutes but no matter how many times I had it washed, that stink was still there. In the end, I threw the bloody thing on the fire!

quote:

flatdog's stomach

That is the only smell I had ever experienced that one can actually TASTE!

Especially after he had laid up for a couple of days!

Saeed,

Dead right and once that stink is on your hands or clothes, you just CANNOT get rid of it!

I usually try to drop it off at the skinning shed and then make myself scarce!

quote:

I spun around in time to see one of the other parks examiners (a big Shangaan called Madau) floor him with a slap and say 'That is Mr C... to you Boy'- The title stuck for several years even after I had left parks

Ganyana....

You say you went to Plumtree....with the way you spelt Plum(b)tree, my guess is you were in Lloyd House ??????

Gaul! Harold Westwood said I would never amount to anything with my spelling "#!¤%&

My poor PH friends!!! it seems your are suffering a lot from your hard work i totally understand you. the question was not for me because i do not like job and working
i am the follower of an old arabic preverb that says: work is a dirty thing some body else should do it

A PH is truly a jack of all trades. He needs to know how to do every job that may come up.

I have the highest respect for the guys who can do the job well.

And I have hunted with a PH past retirement age. He was (and still is, several years later) physically able to do what it takes to get the job done, and that's the key.

But time catches all of us eventually.

Sten Cedegren and John Northcote both carried on guidng buffalo hunts until they were 80. Both were old school Kenya PH's. Sten died last year but John is still lurking around Harare(at 87)...he is actually fit enough and has good enough eye sight to take a plains game hunt if he wanted to..pitty he's so deaf..otherwise I suspect he would still be hunting!

quote:

As for having 'em skin a hyena, well that's just sadistic!

Bloodnut told me once when he was in boot-camp to be a Selous Scout that they had to shoot a baboon hang it in a tree for a few days then cook and eat it!!!

Now that is sadistic!

How much does a good PH in Zimbabwe get paid?

quote:

Originally posted by Indy:
How much does a good PH in Zimbabwe get paid?

No where near enough!!!

465H&H

Zim PH...standard going rate is $175 per day...For PH, His truck and his tracker (and any othr crew that he cares to bring). Obviously if the PH books the hunt he gains the commission.

ganyana
i hope you are paid in USD and not in ZIM$ for that hard and dirty job

What's a flatdog, a baboon?

Croc

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
Zim PH...standard going rate is $175 per day...For PH, His truck and his tracker (and any othr crew that he cares to bring). Obviously if the PH books the hunt he gains the commission.

So maybe he could hunt 200 days per year. That's $35,000. Deduct truck expenses and trackers and you get maybe $20,000. What do tips average? Maybe $1400 for a 14 day safari, which would be another $20,000 per year for a net of $40,000 per year. (That's US$, not Zim$.)

Is that about right? I suspect that's maximum and the average is somewhat lower. Then there are income taxes, I presume.

Indy...if you want a wife...better stick to 150 days a year.

It is also an 'age applicable' comment - the younger guys (say under 35) can run from one hunt straight into the next. Many average 200-220 days a year actual hunting - bearing in mind that there is usally a day's driving before and after each hunt (which you are not paid for although decent operators will give you the fuel) So a 200 day season really means 300 days on the job.

I find I need at least one day at home between hunts to sort kit, do repairs, pack, catch up on some sleep etc. If it is a new area or one I haven't hunted in a while I want to get there a day early if possible to scout and get my bearings and feel for the game etc...

Zim isn't like tanzania where the PH pretty much stays in camp for the season- Zim PH's usually shift concenssion between hunts- even if you are working for one operator the whole season. (Didn't use to be like that but is getting more so)

Ask Judge G about the age of his PH in Zim, that should settle it.

You also have to deduct the relevent licensing costs which vary from country to country.

In Tanzania for example, (which to the best of my knowledge is the most expensive by far) by the time you've paid everything such as TALA and PH licence renewal etc, you're looking at over US$6000 for the season.

A final question why you guys need to skin a hayena? or a wild dog? do you eat such meat? whhy a PH should learn to skin a such a dirty animal?
yes

För att folk vill ta hem trofén, och jag skulle inte vilja flå en hyena

hej
heyena är väl ingen trofee. vem f.n vill ha en uppstoppade heyena hemma ?? dessa PH kilar verkar vara lite mazo

quote:

Originally posted by yes:
A final question why you guys need to skin a hayena? or a wild dog? do you eat such meat? whhy a PH should learn to skin a such a dirty animal?
yes

Hyenas get skinned for the same reason any other animal does, for the trophy.

As for eating them........ nooooo chance!

Some people like to eat Lion and Leopard etc but I personally wouldn't touch it with a bargepole because they're naturally full of all kinds of nasty parasites etc due to their habit of eating pretty much anything.

Whenever a client of mine has opted to eat that kind of thing, I've always had the chef cook me something else instead.

http://www.artistryofwildlife.com/

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

flatdog's stomach

That is the only smell I had ever experienced that one can actually TASTE!

Especially after he had laid up for a couple of days!

I had to remove and clean the skull of a 15" (Australian) one that had been in the water for 5 days. None of the other staff would come near me and I tell you it took me about 3 hours and I was dry retching the whole time. I dont know how to describe the smell..