is it still possible to make a living out of hunting(legally) in Africa(not interested in becoming a PH who takes clients out to hunt) or are those days over?

has anybody here done it?

You can make a small fortune doing just what you suggest, but you will have to start with a very large fortune.

Can you clarify for me, if you aren't a ph and aren't poaching ivory, where is the revenue coming from? I'm just not sure I know what service you be providing that people or governments would pay for. The exception of course might be control work, but I'm willing to guess that it's not very lucrative, and I don't think culling is what you meant anyway.

Steffen,

What exactly do you have in mind? There are other ways to make money in the bush than being a PH, while still hunting occasionally "for the pot", but as far as I know they all involve lugging clients around.

And if the clients are not hunters, you have to drag a whole bunch of them with you in order to make enough to pay your bills...

The other alternatives I'm aware of all involve unpleasant side-effects if the law catches up with you (I've been reliably told that food is quite awful in most African Governments' detention facilities).

Of course, you could have a couple hundred thousand in your account in a year just hunting around... if you started with half a million, as Will mentions!

As Seven said above, could you clarify?

the answer is no, given your question.

Judging by most of the kindred spirits on this site, the queue at the door to Africa would be a long one if the answer to your question was YES!

Nice thought though.....

There used to be 'problem animal controll officers' in zim- It was a pretty poor pay check even before the current economic crisis. (eg a PAC officer with parks or vet dept earned about US$ 300 a month when I earned US$750, and the lads doing the culling for meat on the private ranches earned about the same as the government guys. I had a hard time comming out on my pay with no wife or kids just an MG and a Piper J3 to support )

Now a days - NO

the answer seems to be really clear, but since some of you have asked me clearify, i will.

it would of course mean that you wouldnt have a house, electricty bills, phone bills etc

doing some control work to buy ammo and other necessities, shooting plainsgame for own pot and for trading/selling, and just loafing around.

never mind, i've been reading to many books.
and i'm born 130years to late.

Safari-lawyer, I'm learning your a pretty funny guy!

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
Safari-lawyer, I'm learning your a pretty funny guy!

I will second that....... took me a while to get the joke

Steffen, check your PM box.

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen:
is it still possible to make a living out of hunting(legally) in Africa(not interested in becoming a PH who takes clients out to hunt) or are those days over?

has anybody here done it?

I really think the reply to your second question is: Not for a long period at all!

In Africa today a lot of people still make a living from hunting. You have to understand that "living' is then defined at just staying alive, at a very low subsistance level. The San [bushmen] people in the Kalahari are an example of whole communities that still make a "living" from hunting. They, and other such hunting/gathering peoples, live very simple lives: Until they die of diseases that, with half-decent mediacal care would not be life threatening at all! Can you immagine how terrible it must be to suffer from a tooth root-canal infection over and over umtil the tooth literally rots out?

No thanks for such a romantic subsistance existance for me. I rather suffer relative poverty and working as a PH, but at least have some form of insurabce against such things as acute apendicitis or toothache!

You could make a reasonable living in South Africa by working as a "cull shooter". But it takes a lot of good organisational skills o beat the competition, and a person able to make a reasonable living as a cull shooter could most probably do much better with those talents in other fields.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

quote:

it would of course mean that you wouldnt have a house, electricty bills, phone bills

Perhaps doing full time culling which is not romantic and would still not earn you much.

The whole notion of of not needing much is like those who believe that your overheads for running an outfitting business in the 'third world' are peanuts - ask the outfitters here if that is true.

Where would you live??? In a cave? No communications? How do you make your money with highly limited communication? No transport? How do you hunt and move around with your hunted produce?