quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
On my hunt in 2010, I was booked for a management Ele..cow without calf, broken-tusk bull, etc. When we arrived, those permits were not available, only a tuskless cow. If you've hunted Africa early in the season, you know that with the heavy foliage, you can be 25 feet from an Ele and still not be able to determine if it's a cow or bull, let alone, a tuskless, and then without a dependent calf. Pretty much a waste of a trip.

A booking agent I know well has stopped arranging hunts with HHK, due to similar switches in expected versus received hunts.

Biebs,

I have shot several management elephants in Zimbabwe. One thing I learned is that a management elephant is not a sure bet to be available when you arrive. If an outfitter has an elephant on quota he can guarantee it for you but not so with a management animal. A management elephant is one that is allotted to the Safari Area for rations for the Park's staff. It is up to the local Park's Warden to decide when and who can shoot it. If some other operator gets there before you and offers more money or if the staff needs the meat before you get there, it may not be available. Safari Operators should let you know about this when you book. I also think that you need to get a guarantee in writing that the animals that you book for will be available and what will happen if it isn't.


465H&H

465, it would be nice to know such things before booking the hunt. I've just moved on to other outfitters. I've also learned to be quite suspect of any outfit that is owned or run by a South African, but operates in Zim, Moz, Tanzania, etc. NOT to say that there are South Africans who don't run legitimate hunting operations in other countries, but I'm just very wary of such arrangements.

Beibs, it appears the hunting industry is not much different than US politics. It is not the base F*ck up it is the Cover up that does them in.