The above was sent to me by Dr. Don Heath for posting. If anyone is acquainted with any of the persons mentioned in the letter, they should have those persons get in contact with Tristan Peacock to see how this can be sorted out. Mr. Peacock's email address is zimhound@mweb.co.zw

This may highlight the concern about doing business with an unregistered operator.

[I have resized the photo - T. Carr]

Dan,

Could you please size this so as to be readable. Thank you

Greg

Dan & Don,

Does this "green meanie" translate to Nuanetsi Hunters is holding trophies ransom, or what?

And what was the Lance Ayliffe relationship with Nuanetsi?

jim

Another bankruptcy maybe????

I know Lance. At Reno last year, he represented himself as a principal in Nuanetsi Hunters and referred to Nuanetsi as "his" area - assertions I was skeptical of.

Lance lives in South Africa. My impression is that he is a freelance PH who buys quota in various countries and conducts the hunts. In the past few years he was fairly active in Cameroon and Tanzania, in addition to RSA.

quote:

Originally posted by HunterJim:

Does this "green meanie" translate to Nuanetsi Hunters is holding trophies ransom, or what?

Actually, I think Zim law prohibits export of the trophies if the hunt has not been paid for with foreign exchange and deposited into a Zim bank, so if I am right about that, then Nuanetsi Hunters could not ship the trophies out right now even if they wanted to since Mr. Ayliffe has not paid for the hunts yet.

Whooo-wee sure makes me glad to have delt with my PH's group....ZERO problems!

Hope this works out for Mr. Cabela et al.

JW

btt

I know a guy on that list, what does he need to do?

DTH

DTH

As per the Hunting Report all people on the list need to contact Tristan Peacock who was the contracted houndsman. zimhound@mweb.co.zw.
or call 011-263-14-228.

Regards,

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by DesertTrophyHunts:
I know a guy on that list, what does he need to do?

DTH

Yes! Please tell him. And please have him contact Mr. Peacock per the message above.

Just talked with his secretary and he is well aware of the situation and doing everything possible to get his trophies out of Africa.

DTH

Dan is right, with zim law as it stands, without the money being deposited, in hard currency, there can be no export of the trophies. The director of National parks cannot over rule that one, so somebody has got to pay up.

Tristan is a darn fine houndsman- why he is making an effort here I don't know, but perhaps he enjoyed the clients?

I met Tristan on my first safari and was very favorably impressed with him...too bad he wasn't my PH.

I later talked to him after he got his hounds and have considered a leopard hunt with him and still hope to put something together. He did send me a CD of some of his hunts including the one he did with Dick Cabela and his wife .... some very impressive looking cats.

I was suprised he also takes archery hunters on his hound hunts. The CD does have a sequence where the client puts an arrow into a nice size leopard which immediately turns and comes to settle the score. Tristan stops the charge with a single shot from his double rifle which I believe is a 9.3x74R.

From THE HUNTING REPORT E-MAIL EXTRA



Earlier this week, I told you that Nuanetsi Hunters, a safari company in Zimbabwe, had begun to distribute a letter indicating that safari fees had not been paid on nine safaris conducted through that company by South African PH Lance Ayliffe. At the time, I had not been able to reach Lance Ayliffe to get his side of the story. Well, I have now reached him.

Seems Ayliffe admits freely that he owes money to Nuanetsi Hunters. However, he disputes the amount, saying the total is roughly $18,000, not roughly $30,000 as Nuanetsi claims. He says he has demanded repeatedly that Nuanetsi give him a detailed account of the sums he has paid and the sums still owing. Until he receives that documentation, he says he will pay nothing to Nuanetsi Hunters.

"Please tell the hunters involved in this mess not to re-pay these fees," Ayliffe told The Hunting Report yesterday. "I am a man of my word, and I will make this thing right."

Here at The Hunting Report, I am not quite sure what to make of Ayliffe's claim that he will make this matter right, as some of the hunters with trophies stranded in Zimbabwe describe behavior on Ayliffe's part that makes it appear he has been avoiding phone calls and/or refusing to deal with aggrieved clients. Adding to my concern is word we just received from Pierre Guerini in Cameroon that Ayliffe also owes him $15,000 for safaris he conducted through Faro West.

Confronted with this information, Ayliffe conceded that he owes Guerini money. "I acknowledge that debt, and I have sent Guerini a promissory note," Ayliffe said. He went on to say that he had put his house in South Africa up for sale, and he was going to use proceeds from that sale to square his accounts with the hunting community. After that, he said he was going to quit hunting.

"After 27 years, I'm through with hunting," Ayliffe said. "And I am not going to go out owing anyone money."

I urge anyone with trophies stranded in Zimbabwe (there should be none in Cameroon, as Guerini says he is going to ship all trophies, even those caught up in his dispute with Ayliffe) to keep me posted on what happens. I have been told the trophies are in a secure location and in good condition.

The conflict, I should note, points up the peril involved in dealing with professional hunters who take clients to countries other than their own, where they have no hunting areas themselves but only loose agreements with safari companies. To be sure, Ayliffe operated this way for more than two decades without creating problems for his clients. In the end, however, it appears an all-too-familiar pattern has emerged - namely, clients have had their trophies held as ransom in a dispute between the host safari company and the professional hunter.

The sure way to avoid this problem is to avoid doing business altogether with professional hunters who operate out of their home country on a freelance basis. The next best way is to demand that the freelance professional hunter put you in contact with the host safari company. Payment amounts and methods need to be agreed upon by all three parties, preferably in writing. - Don Causey.

quote:

The conflict, I should note, points up the peril involved in dealing with professional hunters who take clients to countries other than their own, where they have no hunting areas themselves but only loose agreements with safari companies. To be sure, Ayliffe operated this way for more than two decades without creating problems for his clients. In the end, however, it appears an all-too-familiar pattern has emerged - namely, clients have had their trophies held as ransom in a dispute between the host safari company and the professional hunter.

The sure way to avoid this problem is to avoid doing business altogether with professional hunters who operate out of their home country on a freelance basis. The next best way is to demand that the freelance professional hunter put you in contact with the host safari company. Payment amounts and methods need to be agreed upon by all three parties, preferably in writing. - Don Causey.

I hope you are all paying attention out there.

quote:

- namely, clients have had their trophies held as ransom in a dispute between the host safari company and the professional hunter.

This shows a bit of ignorance on Mr. Causey's part, as the trophies are not being held ransom. It is Zim law that prevents them from being shipped, not any sort of ransom demand.

500Grains

I believe his point is that no payment to the Safari Company equals no payment to the Government.

Briefcase Professionals I believe someone called them.

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
The sure way to avoid this problem is to avoid doing business altogether with professional hunters who operate out of their home country on a freelance basis. The next best way is to demand that the freelance professional hunter put you in contact with the host safari company. Payment amounts and methods need to be agreed upon by all three parties, preferably in writing. - Don Causey.

Good advice.

Then imagine having yet another party, an agent

Client - Agent - Freelance PH - Outfitter - Concession owner ???????

On the other hand having a domestic agent means getting the trophies out is HIS problem in these circumstances.

1) Ask to see the TR2 form at the begining of the hunt. It should be stamped by parks showing that the hunt is authorised and names the company responsible for banking the money and exporting the trophies, and also names the Professional Hunter.

At the end of the hunt, You have to sign the TR2. If you are in anyway unsure about the hunt, ask that it be completed properly before you sign it. By the end of the hunt, it should show animals killed/wounded- and the fees that the safari company is actually charging for those animals. It also shows the daily rate the safari company is charging and all other financial info. ie you can see how much the agent/free lance PH is marking things up.

Better yet, don't count on ever seeing trophies from Zimbabwe. It is a great place to hunt, but a hell on earth trying to get trophies. Crooks, lies, delays, money wasted and outrageous shipping fees. Americans are cash machines who reside 8000 miles away and can be screwed over at will with little recourse to the small or independent operators. Take photos and save yourself the stress or only hunt with companies who have a reputaion to protect and are so large screwing you out of your $$$ isn't worth their time.

Perry

I've watched this thread develop and now feel compelled to caution those here that "paint with too wide a brush." specifically, the comments based at "suitcase PHs" the current "nom de guerre" akin to the Salem witch trials of the 17th century. There are some very good small operators out there, I happen to hunt with one and others here have also. Yeah I've seen all the guff about written contracts and big name outfits, but you know what? a contract won't help you much if the guy is a real crook and wants to fleece you.

Safari hunting is a very competitive business and if you are dishonest and or consistently don't deliver the goods, word will get out and you're done as a PH. I've never had ANY problems whatsoever, quotes and actual paid price are always within pennies of each other and well "trust" has been much velified here but I will continue to rely on it. I think the problem lies when a lot of folks who post here are always trying to "angle" a cheaper price or kow somebody who knows somebody, etc. The bottom line is do your research, PAY what the hunt is worth and the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor that you won't get bent over the rail and made to sing "Mary Had a Little lamb." jorge

quote:

Originally posted by PWN375:

Better yet, don't count on ever seeing trophies from Zimbabwe.

I haven't had any trouble at all getting trophies out of Zim.

But perhaps some good advice would be to book direct with one of the many reputable and legitimate operators in Zim rather than going through a booking agent in the RSA.

I found the rate for shipping trophies from Zimbabwe to be less than the rate for fewer trophies from South Africa two years ago. While I dont feel the work is as good as Life Form, for the difference in cost there is no bitch.

Copies of all documents were given to me and the PH followed up on the trophies as they progressed. He even raised a stink with the shipping agent who forgot to put the hyena skulls and skins on an export form. We recieved all the correct paperwork in time for USFWS and recieved a refund on some costs.

The hunting industry is a sellers market and many are not too concerned about repeat clients. Go with a great outfit and pay the price and you wont be sorry. Even then things could happen and the best intentions go south. I have been very fortunate to deal with excellent outfits in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. My hunting partner has been screwed in Alaska and Canada and almost in South Africa.

Deal with honest people. Do research. Have a contract. Follow up.