I've been told the best place to hunt in Africa is Botswana. Is that true? I'm specifically interested in plains game and buffalo. I have no need to kill an elephant or lion.

Having only hunted in Botswana I am not qualified to say if it is the best in Africa. I can say that I have found it to be a wonderful place to hunt. I have been to the Okavango Delta 3 times, once for Buffalo and plainsgame, the other two for plainsgame. It is a spectacular place to hunt. I'm not a numbers guy, but I was happy with my 40 inch Buffalo. Impala, lechewe, tessebe, warthog and kudu are plantiful there, as are zebra and leopard and elephant and hyena. Lion also but at astronomical prices.
Plainsgame and leopard hunting on private ranches is growing. In 2005 I hunted a ranch near Ghanzi on the edge of the Kalahari. Kudu was fantastic, zebra, ostrich, gemsbuck, eland, wildedeest, and sprigbuck were plentiful. The ranch hunts are a good bit cheaper than hunts in the Delta.
Camps tend to be traditional tented affairs. The country is stable, english is one of the official languages and the people are wonderful. The down side is that you will pay a little more for a hunt in the Delta. One thing to keep in mind, in Botswana, a 7 day hunt means 7 hunting days, day in and out are not counted even if you do some hunting on those days. In fact I shot my Buffalo on day zero.
I just set up a buffalo and plainsgame hunt for 2008 for myself and a couple of friends. I considered Zim and Namibia (the Caprivi) but in the end booked in Botswana, 10 days in the Delta and 4 on a ranch near Ghanzi. $15,500 2X1.
I'm happy with it.

TerryR

You might want to decide first on what you want to hunt. It's easier to focus once you've decided on your preferred game. I recommend a primary list, then a secondary list of game. The secondary list will just be a backup in case you don't find or take one or more of your primary animals. You'll already know the cost (trophy fee) and have made up your mind about taking it on a secondary basis. Once you have your list, you'll be better mentally equipped to inquire how many days you'll need to accomplish your hunt. With that done, you can check prices in Botswana or other countries. Hunting can be poor to fantastic in any of the huntable African countries. Unforeseen factors and Murphy's law play a role. Generally, you should have a great trip if you do your homework and seek enough information. You may or may not take all the game you seek, but that's hunting. I would imagine the experience will be very rewarding by itself. You will find those here on AR that have hunted all over Africa. Most will have their favorite, some will like all of it. Sort out what you want to hunt and it will begin to fall into place. Investigate not only your arrival and hunt, but getting your trophies home in a reasonable amount of time. As TerryR spoke of, the Delta can be higher in total cost but it is an excellent area for certain game animals. Lots of great Lechwe. Good hunting, LDK

quote:

Originally posted by Ackley Improved User:
I've been told the best place to hunt in Africa is Botswana.

Whoever told you that is a master of sweeping statements, and those should always be viewed with a great deal of scepticism. One of the first questions you should ask him or her, is how many other African countries he or she has hunted and on what do they base that opinion. The next question should be what species has he or she hunted in all those countries.

Botswana is good for some species in some areas sometimes - but the same could be said of a lot of other African countries. Also what does 'best' mean? does it mean highest rate of success, cheapest, biggest? etc............

its amazing how often you hear statements like that. usually from somebody who was there only once, but has become a self acclaimed expert based on that one trip for a week or two

I have been to the Okavango Delta and, I have to say, it is the most beautiful place I have seen in Africa. I also just returned from a hunt in the Kalahari with the same guy TerryR hunted with. That was a great experience as well.

Botswana the best? Like Shikari said, that is a bit of an overgeneralization, but I will say there are some fine areas to hunt in Botswana. They do have good Buffalo in teh Okavango, but quota is limited and you should plan about two years out.

Here is my Kalahari hunt report.

Kalahari Hunt Report