As we are starting to plan for our African Trip I am a bit overwhelmed by choices so I thought I might ask the experts. I am primarily interested in SA due to the facilities that are available. A lodge with a pool etc. would be our preferance. My wife will be an observer unless there is an option to allow her to hunt for a day. Side trips and photo safari's will be an important part of this trip. I hope to get a day of fishing in as well. My target animals are Gemsbuck, Kudu and wildebeast. I would certainly like to hear about any reccomendations any one can make. I saw on a website that I would need to register my gun with US customs before we leave. Can someone please explain how the process works ? Does anyone just borrow a gun from the outfitter ? Is that legal in SA ? Its not my first choice but it would seem to simplify the trip for just a plainsgame hunt. Thanx in advance.

Customs registration is not required, but it is a darn good idea..Its sole purpose is to prove ownership of the goods you have by serial number...It is a form 4457..You simply take the firearm, camera or whatever to the nearest US Customs Service at your airport or port of entry and they will issue you the form free of charge and its good for a lifetime....

For the animals you list I normally send all my clients to RSA where we hunt on large holdings and have the facilities you require..Side trips and fishing are available. Normally the PHs wife will take care of any needs your better half might want such as shopping and sight seeing...We would normally allow your non hunting spouse to shoot a couple of animals and still charge her a observer fee. I hope this addresses your concerns.

oops, yes you can borrow a rifle or shotgun, bring your own ammo.

Chuck,

FWIW, most safari hunting takes place during the southern hemisphere's winter. Unless that pool is heated (extremely unlikely), you aren't going to be taking any swims.

You don't HAVE to register your firearms with U.S. Customs; you can carry the bills of sale instead. You need some proof that you had the guns prior to leaving the U.S. The 4457 form is simple to fill out, and there is no charge.
Or, simplify your life and borrow a rifle from the outfitter (easy to do if you are right-handed).

I enjoyed hunting with Rooipoort Safaris, which is owned by the deBeers (the diamond mining and marketing company). Classic, tented camps, exclusive use of the 110,000 acre property, and excellent trophy quality.

George

CW,

You will need to fill out a Form 4457 for the weapons you take. Easy to do and should not take too long (depending on where you live). You can "rent" rifles from the outfitters but many/most of us are as passionate about our guns and we are about hunting. I went to the Eastern Cape last May and hunting with Kikuyu Lodge. Had a great time, good hunting, good food, and good facilities (thatched chalets, pool, etc). Shopping and Addo elephant park is close by. Another outfit with a great reputation in the area is Blauukrantz Safaris. I flew into Cape Town a few days early and really enjoyed the city. Without question, you will get a lot of good suggestions on where to go. Good luck!!!

CW-With that wish list of animals you should consider broadening your search to include Namibia.As mentioned on other threads, you can go direct through Frankfort to Windhoek. There should be PLENTY of Namibia info on old threads.

Thanx for the input guys. Man, there are so many places in SA it will make your head swim. One of the big reasons for the consideration of renting a firearm is that I will be useing frequent flier miles on Northwest. Likely we will go through Holland. I guess I'm just thinking life would be a whole lot easier for the side trips and travel not to have to be lugging a gun case around. One of the things my wife has always wanted to do is the hot air ballon ride. As much as I want to hunt a buffalo this time I think I need to focus on other things as well as hunting. Hopefully this will get the big boss hooked on Africa ! I initially considered Namibia as a first choice because I really wanted to hunt free range animals Vs the game enclosures. I'm fine with the high fences as long as its fair chase and not put and take hunting in smaller sub areas of a ranch. Mostly the lodges look very nice in SA and I want her to feel safe and comfortable on this trip. My wife does hunt so it would be perfect if we could get her out to take something but you know shopping is at the top of that list too. ( There goes my buff hunt !)

I have hunted RSA once and am not an expert. However, I researched my hunt heavily - looking at 20 plus outfits. You have about 5000 different outfits to pick from, so, there is no one "best" outfit. I hunted with Tollie's African Safari's out of East Somerset, just north of Port Elizabeth. I took 3 other families, with 8 shooters and 6 non-shooters. Great experience, best we each had ever had. Check out www.safari-in-africa.com for pictures and details.

I am headed back in 2006 for the "mini 10" to get Vaal Rhebok and others.

CW
Being your first time to Africa you may want to consider hiring someone like A2000 to take you through checking your guns with the SA cops. You can download the forms necessary and have everything ready for an agent who will meet you off the plane. Cost is about $75.00. IMHO worth it for first time visitors.

Better to get the Form 4457. Although you can use other forms of proof of ownership when returning to the US, the South African Police are familiar with the Form 4457 and it will make your life a lot easier.

From the PHASA website:

"Firearm / Ammunition Allowances and Specifications

1. No more than one firearm per caliber and 200 rounds per firearm will be permitted. No ammunition for other rifle calibers will be permitted."

So you won't be permitted to import any ammunition unless you have a corresponding rifle.

Regards,

Terry

Are there laws that would prevent me from buying ammo in SA for the gun or is it so hard to get that the outfitter wouldn't be able to provide it ?

I think that advice regarding taking your own ammo will assure that you have "premium ammo" at factory specs, available to you. Otherwise you are at the mercy of whatever they have available. You can buy ammo if you bring a rifle in but I don't know how it would work if you do not have that temporary license.

I've hunted with and highly recommend, Bethaven Safaris in the Eastern Cape. They would easily meet your needs and are quite convenient to get to from Port Elizabeth. They are close to a variety of shopping and sightseeing opportunities for the wife and the lodge is very nice and includes a pool [though as someone mentioned it will be rather coolish there for any swimming!]

They have large acreages and a separate ranch dedicated to Bow Hunting only, if that is of any interest.

It is a small family run operation with personal service and an extremely professional hunting ethic.

I always tell everyone that they should also spend some extra days in the country touring if at all possible. It's really quite reasonable and a beautiful place. I recommend Cape Town, The Garden Route, Wine country... oh I have a very long list!

If you want more details PM me! I'll be glad to give any help I can.

Good Luck,

Les

Well...now look at the Ammo Import string for conflicting details = this will require some planning on the outfitters part to find the ammo you want ahead of time!

Has anyone ever heard of John X safaris ?

quote:

---

Originally posted by ChuckWagon:
Has anyone ever heard of John X safaris ?

---

I have seen them mentioned here. If you do an advanced search on the exact phrase "John X Safaris" you should find a little information. Maybe someone with first-hand experience will speak up.

Hi Charles,

John X Safaris is run by Rick Van Zijl - he is a very successfull and busy outfitter in the Eastern Cape - here's the URL to his website

http://www.johnxsafaris.co.za/

John probally puts through the most hunters per outfit in the East Cape each season. Hope this helps

OK Scratch John X. Too many negative reports. I think at this point I can say I want to scratch anything in the eastern cape. I am interested in the Northern province as a side trip to Kruger national park looks very nice. One other thing I really hope to do on this trip is take a side tour to Victoria falls.

If you want to do side trips you will be better off using the outfitters riffle. The PH will know what ammo/caliber will work for the animals you want to shoot(he might even have the caliber of your choise). You will not have to worry about storing your weapons when touring. When comming to Africa remember to HAVE FUN.

CW- Contact Ray Atkinson and have him hook you up with Hannes Swanepoel, my Dad and I met him in Cleveland last week and he is a supper guy. I was originally going to hunt with him as his camp is right next to Kruger, as luck would have it Pierr'e ran a special on daily rates in Kwa Zulu Natal and I'll be hunting with him.
Anyhow I have a feeling I'll be hunting with Hannes in the future, the people who's house we met at went last year and had 2 lions roar for 2 hours right in the middle of camp!
Good Luck Joe

CW,

Check out www.huntingadventures.net

Don_G, myself and a few other AR members hunted with JJHACK at Landelani Game Lodge in 2002. The pictures are here...Landelani 2002

I am sure JJHACK (a member here, other contact info available at the website above) could set you up with exactly the kind of experience you are looking for, including photo safaris, side trips, etc, etc.

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

---

Originally posted by ChuckWagon:
OK Scratch John X. Too many negative reports. I think at this point I can say I want to scratch anything in the eastern cape. I am interested in the Northern province as a side trip to Kruger national park looks very nice. One other thing I really hope to do on this trip is take a side tour to Victoria falls.

---

ChuckWagon,

Of course you'll get a lot of suggestions, but I thought I'd pass this along.

Check out:
http://www.gametrackersafrica.com/
and
http://www.mabelingwane.com/
(Mabelingwane is part of Game Trackers Africa)



I will be hunting with Mabelingwane (Game Trackers) in August 2005 in the Limpopo Province. This will be my third time to hunt with them. (I went in 2000 and 2002.)

-Bob F.

you can't take ammo into RSA unless you also have a firearm of the same calibre with you...But if you book with a good outfitter, they'll tell you exactly what you can and can't do and take care of all the ancilliary arrangements.....if you book with the wrong company it's a different matter.

I'm still debating that idea. No question I would much rather have my own gun. But wouldn't it be possible to just order premium ammo from Cabelas and have it delivered to the lodge so I never have to handle it ?
Thanks to everyone for all of the help. I really appreciate it. I honestly had no idea there would be this many choices and things to think of.

ChuckWagon,

Having amo delivered to the lodge where you are to hunt will only be legal if the lodge owner has a rifle in the same caliber. With the new firearms act no-one is allowed to be in possecion of ammonution in any caliber for which he does not have a license.

You can readily buy your own ammo from anywhere with the temporary import license that will be issued to you at the airport. Just arrange with the outfitter beforehand that you wish to go from airport to one of the bigger gun shops in Johannesburg, or wherever. But make sure about the availability of the ammo you require. Most regularly used calibers like 300 WM 3006 etc are readily available here. But new ones like the WSM's are not.

In good hunting, and enjoy your planning!

ANdrew McLaren

Chuckwagon,
Give me an emial, I would be priviledged to arrange you a hunt across the road from Kruger Nat.l park....Check out my web page for Big 5 Safaris and take a look at the warthog, Kudu, Eland, Impala shot on a 5 day quick trip....

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for the help here. I have been bombarded with PM's from outfitters and lodges trying to sell hunts. Many of theese "members" I have never seen or heard of. I have even had someone "dare" me to get a qoute from them ......LOL. It's a been a real trip already looking at the web sites. I want to really thank all of the regular members Plus Ray and Ann for the help so far.( everyone knows Ray's a bit irregular ! ) I'm still trying to find time to wade through all of theese web sites. Looking at all the sites has been helpfull in determining what we want.
So far we know we want to hunt Limpopo. We want to take a tour to Victoria Falls before the hunt followed by at least one day of a photosafari game tour such as Kruger NP although I understand there are better places in the area to view game. I guess what we want to do is the open top jeep thing like on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom...Showing my age here ! I am not interested in any tent type lodges this time. Looking for a first class deal and not the least expensive hunt. Big Kudu and Gemsbuck are a must. I do NOT want to hunt from a jeep. Looking for a real hunt, no put and take etc. that will be enough of a challenge but not as tough as mountain climbing. There also must be a decent program available for observers. Shopping, Elephant riding or anything new short of bungee jumping. lol
The two that peak my interest so far are Mafigini and Mabelingwane. Thanks to everyone for all of the help once again.