I am planning a plains game safari to Africa - probably Namibia - first time hunting Africa although I have hunted North America for many years. I am interested in a walking type safari rather than a vehicle/ranch type hunt. Does anyone do those for plains game anymore?

You can certainly elect to walk and stalk on any number of properties in RSA or Namibia. Not all, as some PHs won't do it. Or they may say they will but when the time comes they will try to steer you back to spot and stalk from the vehicle.

I work with 2 guys, one in Namibia and one in RSA/Zululand who prefer clients who want to walk. In fact my colleague in Zululand does not allow hunting from or near vehicles. And he has a tented camp so the whole thing has a nice old-time ambience.

Having said that, both destinations are fenced, as are all RSA properties and most of those in Namibia. If you are looking for an open concession, we can do that in Zimbabwe for you. Note, however, that open concessions are the exception in Africa today and many of the operators who pay steep fees to lease them prefer clients who want to hunt dangerous game. They have a few short months to recoup their lease payments so they are much more interested in clients who are going to hunt dangerous game at $800 or 900 per day, and are going to bag $10K plus of trophies, than they are in folks who want to walk around for two weeks at $450 per day and bag maybe $5K worth of trophies. Yes, it's harder to find plains game in an open concession than on a fenced ranch. In Zim in particular, the PG has suffered from poaching. But even in countries where poaching is limited, the game moves with the seasons and you can walk all day and not see the species you are hunting. Kind of like elk hunting here in OR!

And yes, daily rates in concessions are typically quite a bit higher than ranch hunts...for the reasons outlined above, plus the cost of getting everything into and out of these more remote areas.

Now if you really mean what you say, there is a self-guided hunt in a national park in Burkina Faso for PG where again, hunting from vehicles is prohibited. There is no PH on this hunt, just a local tracker/guide. You will walk 15 miles per day. And you need to speak French. Similar hunt in Cameroon. These are both N Hemisphere so hunting season is Jan-April.

Namibia is often painted with the same brush as South Africa which causes me some irritation. Yes there are many game ranches, guest farms or cattle farms that conduct trophy hunting however Namibia is roughly 800 000km2 in size with Communal conservancies and government concessions in addition to the ranches and such.

Namibia in my humble opinion has a lot to offer hunters who would like to hunt open areas. The tented camps in many of these conservancies are out of necessity as opposed to ambience.
There are currently 23 conservancies in Namibia that have hunting agreements with professional hunters/outfitters. Some of the 23 total are a group of 2-4 conservancies that have agreements with one outfitter/safari company.

More to the point of a walking plains game safari, there are a number of Namibian outfits that would accomodate hunters without misleading them. Many of them will tell you that the vehicle is used to cover the area given the large hunting areas or to get to a good hunting spot where you can walk to your hearts content. If need be there are areas where you can walk right out of camp and start hunting. The considerations once something is shot is that meat has to be delivered to the communities before it rots and vehicles are needed here for transportation purposes.

Admittedly there are limited if any places in Southern Africa that can be called true wilderness, however if you want to hunt and experience vast open areas with genuinely free ranging game, Namibia is the answer.

Again in my opinion, we are often caught when a hunt becomes a race as opposed to an enjoyable hunting experience and challenge.

Vaughan are you around to call or be called in the next little while?

Corax,

If you really want to walk I can arrange that on 1.3 million acres in the Kalahari. The hunting is excellent for all indigenous plains game animals plus the sand grouse shooting is fabulous. As I'm sure you realize you will not see the country or game that you might by doing the typical Land Cruiser spot and stalk but I'm sure you'll have a great safari.

Contact me anytime if you'd like further details.

Mark

Thank you! It looks like I have some homework to do.

I did a lot of walking with Claude Thorburn last year (claude@iway.na). He'll hunt however the client askes, but enjoys going out on foot before dawn.

Dean