I just got back from DSC and spoke to some people about hunting dangerous game. If one starts down the path of dangerous game does hunting plains game cease to be of interest? I have been to South Africa twice and Namibia once plus spent some time in Zim. I'm curious if I make the decision to hunt dangerous game if that is all I will want to do in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by rxgremlin:
I just got back from DSC and spoke to some people about hunting dangerous game. If one starts down the path of dangerous game does hunting plains game cease to be of interest? I have been to South Africa twice and Namibia once plus spent some time in Zim. I'm curious if I make the decision to hunt dangerous game if that is all I will want to do in the future.

Yes.

Yes, yes & yes.
I found that hunting something that just might come back on me & do the same for me that I was planning for him, REALLY EXILERATING.

Yes, I am saving PG hunting for the years when I am either physically or financially unable to hunt DG but still feel the need to be in Africa.

Yes!!!!!!! I have hunted Africa twice. During my first hunt (2012), we focused on lion and buffalo. During my second hunt (2013), we focused on tuskless and croc. Booked my third hunt at DSC last week and will focus on leopard and hippo (2015).

My strategy is similar to BEGNO's strategy:
"I am saving PG hunting for the years when I am either physically or financially unable to hunt DG but still feel the need to be in Africa."

Another factor to consider is the future of dangerous game hunting. Whereas, plains game hunting should be available for many years, the future of lion, elephant, leopard, etc. hunting is in jeopardy.

Cheers

Yes, I hunted PG first trip. It was a good trip but the real hunting experience was not there. Didn't think I would go back. 15 years later I did a tuskless, buf hunt. I have been back 5 of the last 6 years and have a hunt this year and next. I think the only reason I would hunt PG only again is to take a grand child.

No, there is still a lot of beauty and excitement in trying to find that 60" kudu.

rx I still find as much pleasure in hunting a steenbok as in hunting elephant or buffalo. Thing is, dangerous game hunting tends to spoil you just a little bit but it sure does become addictive.

Yes. I can shoot deer here at home to get my plains game fix, which I do enjoy. But DG is what I dream of every day!

I think had I been asked this question before my CAR trip, I would have agreed.

I believe what happens is not so much tiring of PG but actually getting bored with the "same old, same old" nature of it.

Hunting in a different land with different people for different and exotic animals brought the fire back.

When I got on track of LDE for the first time, I was extremely excited. We closed within a hundred yards or so.

We had the concealment of an ant mound. Mike Fell was looking at them to discern trophy quality.

I will never forget the first time I looked at Lord Derby's Eland through my riflescope. What a magnificent animal, they move in fluid graceful strides. The creamy white strips against a background of tawny elegance. The enormous black neck of the bulls in the January rut. My pulse still elevates even today, just thinking about it.


So no, DG hunting (for me) is not the end. It simply defined the need for a new beginning.

Plains-game and general big game hunting will never be the same. That's not to say I don't or won't do it, but it not the same anymore.

Most African plains-game is calm and relatively dumb compared the whitetail that I can hunt at home for nothing. The numbers that can be taken does have a real appeal but when your walls are full, then what? That has led me to cull hunting for the volume fix instead, and by combining the two to culling buffalo. That trail leads out of Africa.

Yes; I have shot enough deer-like creatures in my life and now, only dream about hunting DG, which I hope to do....someday...

quote:

Originally posted by BEGNO:
Yes, I am saving PG hunting for the years when I am either physically or financially unable to hunt DG but still feel the need to be in Africa.

Well stated +1

I can understand that 'plains game' might get ho-hum - hunting put-and-take high-fenced ranches.

Whether we like it or not, practically all plains game only hunts are only available on farms.

Let us see you try to book a plains game only hunt in Tanzania for instance.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:
I think had I been asked this question before my CAR trip, I would have agreed.

I believe what happens is not so much tiring of PG but actually getting bored with the "same old, same old" nature of it.

Hunting in a different land with different people for different and exotic animals brought the fire back.

When I got on track of LDE for the first time, I was extremely excited. We closed within a hundred yards or so.

We had the concealment of an ant mound. Mike Fell was looking at them to discern trophy quality.

I will never forget the first time I looked at Lord Derby's Eland through my riflescope. What a magnificent animal, they move in fluid graceful strides. The creamy white strips against a background of tawny elegance. The enormous black neck of the bulls in the January rut. My pulse still elevates even today, just thinking about it.


So no, DG hunting (for me) is not the end. It simply defined the need for a new beginning.

Well said. Roan do the same for me.

only if the dangerous game wins

I get mor excited guiding kudu than I do guiding buff.

Not sure buff makes me sweat, a big ol kudu bull gives me buck fever and I'm not even the one pulling the trigger.

I think it depends on the individual. I guess I've hunted a fair amount of DG over the years but I still enjoy deer stalking & duck & game bird shooting as much as I ever did when I was a kid.

It,of course, absolutely depends on you alone. I personally find Kudu to be the most attractive of all African game and have shot one or more on ALL my safaris. Given the absolute choice I would hunt Elephant but really not from the danger aspect. Believe it or not danger is no attraction to me at all and has never been criterion of what I hunted. Elephants are just plain BIG. I have never killed a Lion which I really wanted to but actually I wanted a Lioness as I think they are the most attractive of the cats,far more than the male. Tried hard but never got one. I really never SEEM to get scared although I probably do and the few times I have been truly scared I certainly didn't enjoy the feeling and would not enter that condition by choice. Hunting ANYTHING in most African locales could,to me , be considered dangerous. You have no idea exactly what you are going to run into be it animal or in my case reptiles,which I am deathly afraid of. I get as much pleasure on a clean kill of a quail on rise as I do a good shot at an elephant. A feeling that I have accomplished my goal. Every man to their own choice of course.

I still get enjoyment out of hunting plainsgame. As Saeed said, most plains game hunts are behind fences but there are exceptions. We hunted one of the native conservancies in Namibia near Etosha in 2011. It was approximately 1,000,000 acres none of which was fenced with plenty of game. Saw lions, a black rhino, and plenty of sign from leopards and cheetahs. Have to say that was one of my favorite hunts ever even though we weren't hunting dangerous game.

I've gotten hell for this prior and will do so again but DG hunting, while fun and exciting, is not all it is cracked up to be in today's world. Until the trigger is pulled the stalk, tracking, etc., are no different. Most or much DG today is hunted in less than dangerous situations: from a vehicle, from a blind, use of a spotlight, or shot at a safe distance. Many today hunt DG up close and personal and that adds a bit of excitement, of course. But when I see videos of shooting buff or lion from the back of a vehicle I'm not impressed. I guess it would boil down to how you actually hunt.
I'm at the airport departing Dallas now. At the show I saw a well known PH shooting buffalo very close and throwing sand up at an elephant. He knows how to put the word Dangerous in DG.
Whatever you hunt, it will be a great experience.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Let us see you try to book a plains game only hunt in Tanzania for instance.

Tanzania is certainly not the barometer for what can or cannot be done in African hunting. I would probably argue that it is the exception rather than the rule generally. I would also politely disagree that most plains game hunts are on "farms" as thought this means "fenced" or that hunting on a "farm" is somehow worse than hunting on public ground. Just because it is private ground does not mean it is fenced or not as well managed. As noted above, MANY areas in Namibia (public or private) offer free-range plains game hunting that is absolutely unparalleled. Wasn't too long ago that Zim offered the same on some areas around Chinhoyi and really still does in areas like BVC.

JMHO

Definitley I have only shot DG since 3 years ago and have not gone back. No high fence there

I love both together. I will hunt ele and buff and take a Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Sable if offered in a heartbeat. I just want to be hunting.

When hunting lion we had to feed 2 zebra, 1 Waterbuck, 1 Puku, and 4 buff. The Bushbuck we kept for ourselves. And, of course, the lion.

Dutch

My first 2 trips to africa were to RSA hunting plains game on high fence ranches. My last 2 trips were to Zimbabwe hunting dangerous game. I can see myself hunting plainsgame again but not behind a fence.I have heard this sentiment from a number of friends who started out as i did with a ranch hunt. I have grown to love wild and different places.
Chris

I find that, as Cal says, hunting dangerous game is not always a dangerous pursuit! In fact in most cases today, it is far from dangerous if you simply shoot properly. The end draw is the (HUNTING) finding of a particular animal. I’m personally not scared by buffalo, but in tight cover what does give me concern is, will my shooting be on target if he does come from very close. It has been so far, but one never knows, that is what puts spice in the stew!

Of course how and why anyone hunts anything is simply a personal choice if legal! However shooting unwounded dangerous game at long distance or from a vehicle is, IMO, cheating them selves out of something of great value.

However, the fact that the animal you are hunting “IS” dangerous when things go up side down, is part of the mystique of hunting him and the reason I will not shoot any unwounded dangerous game at long range.

Think, for instance, you are following tracks of a Cape buffalo dugaboy group that leads into very thick jess. You follow, and find yourself surrounded with four or five bulls that you cant see but can smell, and hear the grunting, rumbling of their bellies they are so close. Now deciding to fire a shot may get you trampled! This is when the adrenaline causes a brassy taste in your mouth, and makes your hearing very acute. That is better than any drug or whiskey ever invented.

Even in a grass blind on a bait for lion. When the light is not good and lions are moving around the blind those grass walls don’t offer much protection, and you know if you fall asleep you may snore and attract the lion’s attention.

The above is the reason most folks that I know who hunt dangerous game! The fact that in most foot tracking in good bush can end in that type of situation. If it does only one time in a life time, it is worth all the times if was simply shooting.

Like most the plains game has always been side opportunity targets while looking for something else. I do like Begno’s take on the plains game, that for the most part is filler on a safari, and can be done when one gets too old, or finances get thin in retirement. In fact that has become my lot in life!

.......................................................................

Plains game hunting on ranches is fine if it is your first time to Africa or if you are hunting with your family.

To answer your question, YES!

The answer is NO. I have hunted and shot all of the dangerous game (some many times) in 8 African safaris, with 3 other African safaris being plains game only, including my bucket list plains game hunt with Infinito (Charl)all over South Africa (literally)in June of 2013. I still very much enjoy hunting plains game on large concessions, whether it is in the Bubye, or in South Africa for things like vaal rhebok, oribi, blue duiker, big kudu,etc. I'll be back in the Bubye this June/July hunting BOTH dangerous and plains game.

My main reason for returning to Africa was the fact that I didn't get to hear a lion roar or see elephant tracks in the sand.
I might go on a plains game only hunt in the future. It will be in an area where DG is present or I will not go.

quote:

If one starts down the path of dangerous game does hunting plains game cease to be of interest?

As I found out earlier this year, NO, fortunately not for me.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/9651002591

Is it "the same", NO. But it is still Africa, and it is still good.

Its all what you make it.

Plains game were created to fill out the hunting days remaining after you shoot your dangerous game.

Depends...... Hunting PG in a closed in area where no DG exists, is likened to a Ranch hunt in the US for deer or elk. Hunting in an area inhabited by DG and PG is a whole different world. While you may be hunting PG only, the presence of things that trample or bite back makes for a whole different hunt.

Having hunted PG behind fences in SA, and hunted PG as part of a DG hunt in the Selous, for me there is no comparison.

As for shooting buff from a truck, your choice. Meeting buff eyeball to eyeball at 10 Yards in the long grass or thick brush, my choice. Puts things in perspective. Still looking for the opportunity to hunt the lion, not sure if I am ready to stare down an elephant with Ivan.

Guess it depends what your definition of 'plains game' is eh? What is it?

quote:

Originally posted by KPete:
Plains game were created to fill out the hunting days remaining after you shoot your dangerous game.

. . . and, to steal a phrase from Fed Ex, when you absolutely, positively have to shoot something because you are bored after chasing dangerous game around all day.

I don't think I have been spoiled from shooting PG.

I still enjoy it, and it is a much more relaxed atmosphere to me than the usual DG hunt, but its still quite fun.

Depending on the time I have available and the money, I have no trouble booking PG only. Certain PG are every bit as interesting to me as DG. The glamour animals like LD Eland and Bongo, for sure. A good eland or Sable are exciting as well.

To hear some of you talk, you have given up on hunting in the US...

Now, hunting behind high wire with a small concession, that's different.

Thanks to everyone who has responded thus far.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Guess it depends what your definition of 'plains game' is eh? What is it?

Matt I should have been more clear: I was referring specifically to ranch hunts in South Africa and Namibia.

I am motivated by the fact that DG hunts keep getting more and more expensive and I'm about to be priced out of the market.

absolutely, so do not start DG if you ever want to be as intensely interested in anything else...

I'm getting the feeling that this might be the hunting equivalent of picking up a crack pipe.

Nothing like a near death experience to liven up the day. Ever jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

I don't do hunts with game fences. I just can't do it, North America or Africa. Fences for cattle around are ok, but not PG fences.

I have no problem with those who choose to do so, it just isn't for me.