I just bought my first safari at an SCI banquet. I will be headed to Limpopo Province and the Eastern Cape this July or August. The hunt includes kudu, zebra, gemsbok, blue wildebeast, springbok, blue duiker and blesbok. i will probably add a few more for fun. This has been a dream of mine for a long time.

I have been mostly a bird hunter lately, growing tired of traditional deer hunting in NA. However, I bought a .375 H&H to try and change up my passion for deer hunting and it helped me realize it was time to head to the Dark Continent. I shot two whitetails and a pig with the .375 this past year, only pushing me further toward an African hunt. Once I felt the bids were right, I bought the hunt. Now I know that will be the cheapest part of the trip.

Enough of an introduction; I am sure I'll ask some newbie questions between now and the hunt.

Ask away mate.

That's a good combo for a first safari....

Congrats on your first hunt. It will probably be difficult for you not to return again though. Africa is a tough bug to shake...and I'm not talking about malaria or HIV!

Feel free to ask questions but I also suggest several hours of browsing through the search function. You will find a tremendous amount of info there. If you ask something that has never been asked here before, there is a buzzer that goes off...but it's been years since that happened and I don't even know if the buzzer still works.

DCS Member,
Congradulations, you've started a journey that most members here will tell you never ends. The best safari you'll ever have is the next one, and the one after that and the one after that and the - oh you get the picture.

Warning!! Warning!! You are about to exhibit addictive behavior!!

Congratulations and welcome to AR. Be sure and take your wife with you! Africa is an experience that is best shared!

quote:

"Africa is undoubtedly a most fascination wild mistress. She gets a tenacious hold on most persons; bewitching, magnetic, that is almost irresistible, and once experienced, is NEVER lulled into forgetfulness."
May French Sheldon 1891

“And so if you meet a hunter who has been to Africa and he tells you what he has seen and done, watch his eyes as he talks, for they will not see you. They will see sunrises and sunsets such as you cannot imagine, and a land and a way of life that is fast vanishing. And always he will tell you how he plans to go backâ€
Author: David Petzer

"If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"
MacD37 AccurateReloading.com

quote:

Picture of Rusty

Posted 19 March 2008 12:22 Hide Post
Congratulations and welcome to AR. Be sure and take your wife with you! Africa is an experience that is best shared!

Gonna be like the first hit of the crack pipe...

Say good bye to any hope of accumulating any money from here on out. Unless you were born extremely wealthy or have been super successful, you will always be short on money for guns, trips, taxidermy fees etc.

Have a great time.

H Kittle

Read alot, dream alot, shoot alot before you go. In fact, that's what most of us do all day since that first African safari. We also talk alot as you can see.

Thanks for all of the comments. I will use the search feature often. I also plan to reread some safari books and some of my Wilbur Smith books.

No wife, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to go. I am probably going with my father. He has been a few times.

Yes, I know it will forever eat up any disposable income. I already have enough of those obsessions: quail hunting, restoring a Land Cruiser, women...

One book that I highly recommend is the Safari Guide 2007 by Safari Press. It details the various countries and game to be chased. Lots of good details that are very time consuming to research yourself and all in one source. Good stuff. Also, African Hunter II is a great book that is an overall survey of African hunting.

Read everything you can, but especially this site.{AR}. It is full of info and if you have any questions post them, there are not to many shy folks on this site. It was a tremendous resource for me and still is. Warning, Africa is more addictive than you can imagine as you are hearing. I haven't been on my 08 Safari yet booked in August and I am planning my 09 trip. My taxidermist is an employee now and I have to put them down as a liability of assets on my financial statement. Start looking at house plans that will accommodate more mounts, hides, skulls,guns, etc. You will understand what everyone is saying when you return, I thought I understood before my first trip,,, nope, didn't have a clue. Go have a blast! drwes

Hunting with your father is great and beats the H*ll out of having a wife. Oh I should have said having a wife on safari.

+1 on hunting with Dad. Done it three times and wouldn't trade those memories for anything. Dad didn't freak when elephants dined near our camp as did my wife.

Who are you hunting with in the Eastern Cape?

As I have read in a similar post, a guy is taking a .375 because it is an African caliber. I want to do the same and also take a 7STW or .300 variation. I don't mind overkill, hence the .375 because it 'fits.' Is there any problem with this?