Has anyone ever booked a safari through Cabela's?
Thinking of a PG trip, leaning towards Namibia.
If so what did you think?
KC

Although I have not personally booked with Cabelas, I have heard from several people that the personal service expected was lacking.
It seems many AR members have booked with Wendell Reich for Namibia hunts and have been pleased. www.huntersquest.com Best of luck.

KC,

I attempted to bok a hunt through Cabelas years ago for Mongolain Maral Stag. Needless to say, I didn't go.

I got back from a great hunt in Namibia, earlier this year, with Mike Kibble of Progress Safaris. Took some outstanding trophies, best of 5 hunts I have been on to Africa.

We hunted 2 years ago with Hentie Van Heerden from Windhoek. Had a great time and prices are reasonable. Animals are excellent. email..vhsaf@mweb.com.na. He may have a website by now. Try Van Heerden Safaris. You can book directly with him.

I booked my one and only Namibian PG safari through Cabelas. First, the hunt was great. I took 14 animals. Fred Burchell, the landowner and my PH was a joy. However, I didn't get what I was promised. Cabelas brochure said there were both blue and black wildebeest available. Cy Angeloz of Cabelas said you'll have plenty of time to tour nearby Etosha Park cause the game is so plentiful that you'll be getting your quota in a hurry. Fred said he tried for over 2 years to tell Cabelas that there were NO wildebeest at all. They never changed the brochure or any of the documents that are filled out beforehand. Also, Hartmanns mountain zebra were supposed be in good supply. We saw nothing but tracks and hunted hard for 5 days. That's when I found out we had to sacrifice 1 day to travel to get to his other ranch 900 miles south. The brochure said blesbok were available. Not so. But plenty of springbok. So Fred let me shoot 6. I settled for a 'planted' plains zebra as none are normally found in the semi-desert east of Keetmanshoop.

I wouldn't book with Cabelas again on a dare! In fact I tore up their after-the-hunt satisfaction sheet and told them in no uncertain terms that they should remove my name from their customer list. No more catalogs, ever. I can get whatever else I need from Bass Pro Shops or elsewhere. I read on these pages that Cy has moved on to a Texas deer hunting outfitter. I wonder how many clients he has lied to in the last year?

My recommendation is to book with one of the many agents here on AR. I didn't find this place until 6 months after I booked with Cabelas. But I'll know better next time.

Since 1996, my regular hunting partner and I have booked one Matetsi lion safari and ten North American hunts through Cabela's. If you don't mind being treated like a number, having many mistakes and misunderstandings as to the details, and dealing with frequently changing agents, often with poor attitudes, go with them. I will never use them again and not because they are particularly egregious but because I've found much better service with smaller, personal consultants. After all, what can be expected from McDonald's?

Between the my partner and I, we had some great hunts, some ok hunts, and a few stinkers (for whitetail) but I don't think Cabela's had anything in particular to do with that, they just proffered the outfitters and some were good, some were bad. Despite the triumphs, it slowly became apparent that they really don't know what they're doing - or worse yet, cared.

Personally, I think the Cabela's booking agency is a scouting mechanism for Dick and Jim. Send a bunch of "sucker" clients to see what it's really like and cherry pick the results for themselves.

Just my 2c

I've booked four hunts (pronghorn, elk, Dall sheep and buffalo) through Cabela's including the latest, this year, in Zimbabwe. All hunts were as advertised, perfectly planned, and executed. Question the motives if you hear otherwise. I deal with Ed Beattie. I will contact Cabela's regarding all future hunts I plan. I've hunted with others in Africa and had good luck, but Cabela's is a name I trust.

On the elk hunt one of the hunters (from Alaska) was a complete pain-in-the-ass, as was his wife. I suspect they would blame their problems on Cabela's. Since I was there I know otherwise.

KC,

If you don't mind me asking, why would you want to book through Cabelas?

Doug

Doug,

I don't mind a bit.
I went on their website to look at some tent stoves and wound up looking at some of their hunt packages. I have been doing quite a bit of research lately on PG safari's, and the prices for the Cabela's hunts seemed pretty good. What I didn't like was that they did not list what company and or PH you would be hunting with.
Before I looked any further into it I thought I would see if anyone here had any experiences with them.
My experience with Cabela's has been great in the past. In fact I consider Cabela's to have the best customer service I have ever seen. Just interested if that same service held over to the hunt's.
KC

I haven't booked with them, but I did call and ask some questions about some of their hunts. They did tell me who the outfitter was.

From what he told me, and from what I've read here, one of their outfitters (Inyathi Hunters) may be losing their Matesi concession.

My only real experience with them was I called and requested some brochures and references for 2 different trips I was considering. The brochures were never sent. I called them and the lady apologized and said she would send them right out. Some brochures arrived, but not for the trips I had asked about. Seems they are a volume agent and from what I have found one can book the same exact hunts with the same outfitters with smaller and hopefully more personal agents.

I have boked one North American hunt with them several years ago. Not a great hunt, but reasonable. There are too many other great booking agents for Africa to consider using Cabela's. Whether I used Wendell, Anne, or Atcheson's in the future, I wouldn't use Cabelas. Not because they are really awful, just that there are better out there.
Bill