Gentlemen,
Although I have been to Kenya, Tanzania on a photo safari, I really would love to go back to Africa to hunt. Being retired, I no longer have as much free cash as I did in the past. Can anyone give me some idea of what a 10 -14 day hunt for plains game would cost, and the best country in which to hunt? This is going to be once in a lifetime. What I am looking for is some idea of the bottom line. Airfare from the East Coast, licenses, trophy fees, tips, etc. In other words, a reasonable estimate of the entire cost of the trip. At this time, I have no intention of bringing any trophies home with me, (too expensive), but will shoot a whole bunch of photos. Does this seem reasonable to you experienced African hunters? Any first hand recomendations of outfitters etc. will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much
Y.D.

The price of your trip is going to largely depend on the species you hunt, and how many are taken. That being said, with airfare and all included, I would plan on spending at least 12 to 15 thousand dollars, even though you don't plan on saving your trophies.

YD,

Africa is a fabulous hunter's bargain! Way cheaper on a per animal basis than the US Northwest. Plus, you are treated like a king. It is said that the worst African safari accomodations are light years ahead of the most lavish North American Northwest hunt.

You can do a plains game hunt taking several (6 - 8?) animals including trophy fees for around $5k USD plus about $2,500 airfare. Roll in taxidermy and you can get a really good start on your African trophy room (be sure to have at least a shoulder mount on the kudu) for a total expenditure of around $10k.

We should hear from some of the outfitters on this forum re: specific pricing.

YD, you need to do it!

Poke around on the net and do some window shopping... You should be able to pick up a pretty nice hunt for $4500-6000 for 5-8 animails for a 7-10 day hunt. Try South Africa and Namibia for bargain prices...

I plan on going back next year on a 'budget'. I'm only planning on hunting 2-3 animals and stay for a 8-9 days. With airfare from the east coast... I'm pretty sure I can get it in under $4500. On my last trip, dip and ship, processing in country cost me around $1500 to get all my stuff home. I imagine you could get it done for cheaper too. I would highly recomend you have your stuff shipped home. I'll bet you'd regret it latter if you don't.

No one says you have to have them mounted... Just hang the skulls on the wall and call it done. Taxi fee's... $0...

I've only been over once (RSA) and my first safari cost me about $3500 for 9 days hunting, 5 animals, all meals, pick-up and return to the airport, delivery of animals to taxidermy place, etc. Then once I added the cost of the taxidermy, about $2000 and then $1000 for shipment back to the US, I was out about $6500. I didn't have to pay for the airfare because I was going over on business already; therefore, I did get a little break.

I would say that you can get a great 7-10 day safari with 6-8 animals in RSA or Namibia, airfare, plus taxidermy and shipment back to the US for around $10,000 to $12,000 dependent upon animals taken and taxidermy wishes.

Good luck,

You can find a 'package' with most outfitters for something like: 4 animals for $3200. Airfare: $1500 to $2500, depending on time of year, etc. If you're taking all photos and not bringing the animals home, you can add a few extra animals and still keep it well under $10,000.

something like this

preparation for trip: $200 per person
airfare................$2,200 per person
hunting fee............$300 per hunter per day
tag along fee..........$150 per person per day
trophy fees............$800 per animal shot
misc travel and hotel..$200 per person
Tip....................10% of hunt fee
shipping trophies home $1,500
taxidermy..............$800 per animal

trophy fees very widely depending on size of animal and taxidermy is the same. Having hides tanned there and shipped home is far less costly than mounts and taxidermy can cost as much as the entire trip.

a very rough number is $10,000 for a round trip and something hanging on the wall. You can't go for much less than about $6,000 and it can cost as much as $25,000 if you let it.

If you want an enjoyable hunt but don't want to mount your animals, we offer an economy hunt specifically for folks like you in Zululand, South Africa. This hunt is for less-than-trophy-size males (defined as horn length less than the typical mature length in "Mammals of Africa") or females. Daily rate is $195 and trophy fees are: BWB $650, Bushbuck $500, Bushpig $175, Reedbuck $350, Impala $150, Kudu $650, Nyala <24" $1250, Grey Duiker $100, Steenbok $175, Warthog $125, Zebra $800. There is a 5 day minimum. There are no addl licence fees or firearms permit fees etc. This is a self-catered guided hunt, cooking and refrigeration facilities provided, and tips are extra. Airfare to Richards Bay is around $2K and there is a $50 round trip airport pickup/dropoff fee. You should be able to have an excellent hunt for $5K all in. Wonderful atmosphere and interesting hunting terrain. Hunt on foot, vehicle provided for insertion/game pickup only.

You can easily get a decent 10 day hunt, with trophy fees for $5-7K, plus airfare of roughly 2,500. It does depend on the animals you shoot. Round it up to $10K total, and you will have a great time in RSA, Namibia or Zimbabwe. Those are probably the only three realistic countries for what you intend. You can't shoot leopards,lions, or ele, for that amount, but most all of the plains game can be hunted. Decide which animals interst you the most, as that will likely help swing the decision on which of the above three countries to hunt. RSA is still, hands down, the easiest, simplest, and generally cheapest African country to hunt for common plains game. That said, I would still encourage you to consider Zim or Namibia. There is great hunting in all three of these countries.
Bill

Ele hunts in Zim are dirt cheap at the moment, if you don't want to bring the tusks home.

This may be a once in a lifetime chance of an ele hunt (considering the activities of Uncle Bob and his friends). You really should consider a Zim ele hunt as an option.

mike

Aussie Mike - Shoot me a little more info on the subject if you will. Maybe I could pair that up with a Leopard? Thanks

Larry Sellers

Yankee D - I agree with most here that mention $7,500 for 10 days in RSA or Namibia. Just be careful who you book with. RSA has seen a whole lot of "wanna bees" later. Check out the references and post a few outfits names on here when you narrow down your choices and you can probably get some first hand info on them. Good luck.

Larry Sellers

quote:

Originally posted by Yankee Doodle:
Gentlemen,
Although I have been to Kenya, Tanzania on a photo safari, I really would love to go back to Africa to hunt. Being retired, I no longer have as much free cash as I did in the past. Can anyone give me some idea of what a 10 -14 day hunt for plains game would cost, and the best country in which to hunt? This is going to be once in a lifetime. What I am looking for is some idea of the bottom line. Airfare from the East Coast, licenses, trophy fees, tips, etc. In other words, a reasonable estimate of the entire cost of the trip. At this time, I have no intention of bringing any trophies home with me, (too expensive), but will shoot a whole bunch of photos. Does this seem reasonable to you experienced African hunters? Any first hand recomendations of outfitters etc. will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much
Y.D.

Yankee,
Seriously bad news! Nobobdy goes to Africa once. Seriously, come to the SCI convention in Reno in January and meet dozens of PH's. I am a firm believer in meeting the fellow you will be hunting with. (with whom you will be hunting). You WILL have a fine time in Africa.

Hi Yankee,

Our Guild has perhaps what you after; but first do know that our Guild is comprised of a select bunch of outfitters who have passed very stringent selection criteria so as to ensure that we are the source of bona fide and credible outfits.

Our outfiters offer tailor made hunts as well as a range of plains game packages, see here http://www.africanhuntersguild.com/2006BKPROMO.pdf for examples which should provide you with some information for comparative purposes.

Shop widely and carefully...it will be a great experience.

Thank you all. Now it is just a matter of doing some serious research. Hope to be going next year, or the year after for sure.
Thank you all once again

$10,000 can get you a very nice trip to Namibia, including some tourist stuff before and/or after the trip. Add a few thousand (most of it for the airfare) if you bring an observer.

YD,

You are likely to get many PH’s from a number of Hunting Outfitters, all offering to arrange your hunting safari. I decided that, rather than sending you yet another PM, which will be none-other than SPAM or an unsolicited advertising message, I will rather post my offer for all to see.

Firstly, I want to remark that I, in forced early retirement find, like you, that I now have much less cash available than a few years ago. Before retrenchment I used to do a lot of hunting, really a lot! Sometimes more than I could really afford. Now I can hardly afford and hunting, and I use my Professional Hunting activities to help satisfy my serious addiction to hunting. As a Professional Hunter I get to enjoy hunting, which I otherwise would not be able to afford. Or at least afford much less of, and I just love hunting! Although when acting as a Professional Hunter it is the client that actually takes the shot in the end, I enjoy the helping to plan the hunt, search for a worthy trophy, planning and executing the stalk, and then helping the hunter to set up for the shot, in short, everything else that goes with it just as much as if I was going to take the shot myself.

As someone with intimate knowledge of how to budget and get the best value for my own bucks spent on hunting, I now want to offer to help you to arrange a hunt of a lifetime at really good value for money-spent costs. Note: I don’t claim to offer “the lowest possible†or “bargain basement†prices – there will always be some idiot who is so inexperienced as to not know how to actually do a proper costing that will offer a hunt at a lower “priceâ€, and then cut corners to try to make some profit despite an incorrect costing. If you hunt with me, my biggest profit is the “free†thrill and enjoyment of actually helping you to do your own hunting and getting you in a position to take a good trophy. Unfortunately I’m not really in a financial position to sponsor hunters, and I have to at all times at least cover my costs. Against this background I now claim, and IMHO justifiably so, to offer you value for money hunting that cannot be bettered!

Please do yourself a favor and visit http://www.mclarensafaris.com/Planning/Planning.htm and read through the whole long-winded story of how to plan your own budget safari. I really believe that by doing it you will be in a better position to understand and judge or evaluate any offers made by a number of Hunting Outfitters.