Just received this from Johann Calitz:

"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has presented itself to us.

As you know, CITES only issued 5 permits for black
rhino in South Africa for 2005, which said permits all
expire on 31 December 2005. According to reliable
resources, it is unlikely that CITES is going to renew
or issue further permits and chances are that we may
not see a black rhino on a permit for quite some
years...

Be it as it may, the owner of one of these priced
trophies offered it to me at a much reduced price of
$150,000, which include the following:

*
Daily hunting rates for 5 days (including luxury
accommodation, meals, drinks, PH with vehicle, camp
and field staff's services, field preparation of
trophy and transport thereof to shipping agent);
*
Permit and trophy fee for 1 X black rhino,
*
Transport from Johannesburg International
Airport to the hunting area and back (travel time
approx. 3 hours);
*
1 X Rifle hire for 5 days;

Air charter fees, observer rates ($250/p/day),
plainsgame, packing, dipping and shipping of trophies,
export permit fees, ammo/cartridges, gratuities and
expenses of a personal nature is NOT included in the
above.

I attach a photo of the trophy animal herewith, which
was taken in May 2005.[I can send the photo, which is
a rather large file, FD]

Because the landowner dropped his price considerably
from the original asking price of $200,000, there is a
huge interest in this rhino. He wants a deposit of
$75,000 to confirm this safari and the hunt MUST take
place/be completed before 31 December 2005. He will
deal with this strictly on a first-come-first serve
basis and he is not prepared to keep the permit for
anyone without a deposit. There is a large variety of
plainsgame on the ranch and prices are available upon
request.

The balance of $75,000 is due and payable on or before
the commencement of the safari. Our standard terms
and conditions as set out in our price lists will
apply.

We would suggest that such a hunt takes place any time
from the 10th of NOVEMBER to the 24th of DECEMBER
2005, during which time we will have a registered PH
available. If the hunt can take place before the end
of NOVEMBER 2005, then Johan will be available to
conduct the safari in person.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you have
anyone interested, as I doubt if this rhino is going
to be around for long.

Looking forward to hearing from you!"

Any takers?

Frans

Sounds great, just what I was waiting for.

I will fax you a check asap.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Sounds great, just what I was waiting for.

I will fax you a check asap.

Oh, no. Don't fall for that! Make him fax you the cash!
Dave

Darn, you are on to me.
How about - I have some friends in Nigeria that are trying to get money out of the country - send me your bank account info and we will take of the rest and you get a 10% cut of the money! What a deal!!!

Um , do they come in any others colors ? Black will not match the living room decor .

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:
observer rates ($250/p/day)

This seems a bit silly doesn't it? A bit like selling someone a new Ferrari and charging $50 extra for a nice keychain.

JMHO,

JohnTheGreek

On pg 16 of the November issue of Sports Afield (which btw contains a few very entertaining articles ) these rhino hunts are mentioned.

One Thormahlen mentions he figures a "market-related" price for these hunts to be $100-$150k.
He doesn't mention how much he charged the American hunter that took the first one.

And I agree on the little extras like observer fee. If you are charging $150,000 for what may be a "4 or 5 hour stalk" (see said column), I suppose you could feed the observer and change his sheets free of charge.

Whether or not an observer fee is fair or not must be judged on a case-by-case basis. E.g. I work with two outfitters in Alberta that have the transport by small plane (holding two plus pilot) into camp included in the price. If these guys have to schedule an extra flight because an observer is there (e.g. to get another hunter in), the costs for that need to be recuperated somehow. But there seems to be a large degree of randomness in the setting of these observer fees.

Frans

First Black Rhino Is Killed
(posted August 01, 2005)

The first of five black rhino authorized by CITES to be sport taken in South Africa has been shot on a private game ranch in Mpumalanga Province by an American hunter. The client has asked that his name be withheld. The professional hunter was Peter Thormahlen of Thormahlen & Cochran Safaris (peter@africatrophyhunting.com). You can see a photo of the rhino by clicking on the hyperlink below.

Reached by phone this morning, Thormahlen said the rhino measures as follows: front horn - just over 20 inches in length, with a base of 24 inches; back horn – eight inches in length with a 22-inch base. If those approximate figures turn out to be accurate, the rhino would rank about 14 in the Safari Club International Record book.

The all-in cost of the rhino hunt, Thormahlen says, was $150,000. He says another rhino of the same approximate size is available on the same property for $125,000. The property where the rhino was taken is said to measure about 500 hectares (just over 1,200 acres).

Word of the Thormahlen rhino being taken for $150,000 has apparently created a scramble among safari operators and agents who have been circulating hunt offers for as much as $195,000. Two agents we spoke with were at first incredulous at the low prices, especially the offering price ($125,000) of the second rhino.

The relatively low level black rhino hunt prices have reached is due in large part to uncertainty over US import of black rhino trophies. The South African hunting community already knows that revenue from the hunt of this first black rhino, and the four subsequent ones, must demonstrably contribute to rhino conservation before the US Fish & Wildlife Service will allow imports. Conservation Force’s John J. Jackson, III, has offered his assistance to any American client who hunts a black rhino and wants to clear it for import into the US. Jackson can be reached at: 504-837-1233.

Concern about the importability of this trophy should not be allowed to overshadow the importance of what has happened. Our congratulations to the client, to Peter Thormahlen and to the South African hunting community at large for bringing this game animal back in sufficient numbers that hunting can resume. – Don Causey, President/Publisher.

1200 acres seems to be a bit small for a rhino and his buddies.

quote:

Originally posted by Frans Diepstraten:
On pg 16 of the November issue of Sports Afield (which btw contains a few very entertaining articles ) these rhino hunts are mentioned.
...And I agree on the little extras like observer fee. If you are charging $150,000 for what may be a "4 or 5 hour stalk" (see said column), I suppose you could feed the observer and change his sheets free of charge.

Really? The November Sports Afield? Interesting articles? And who could have written those? Congrats Frans!

I TOTALLY agree that many observer rates are completely justifiable...remote locales increase costs by quite a bit when a person is added to the trip. It just can't serve a company's long run best interests to nickle and dime a guy who is dropping $150K on a hunt though, can it? Hell, if it were me (which it ain't obviously), I would make damn sure the guys life was as easy as possible as I'm sure this sort of customer is used to having people cater to him a bit. If the costs necessitated it and the market would bear it, by God I would arrange it for him... $175K including arranged first class airfare for two, observer rates, first rate video documentation of the hunt, side trips after the fact to wherever the customer wished etc. Hell, for that kind of money the PH should polish the clients shoes for the trophy photos if he wants! Anything else is like saying "Well, gee....you know we had to drive to a more distant taxidermist with your trophy so you need to pay us an extra $150 for fuel costs".

Best Regards,

John

For this kind of money, there should be no additional charges for anything and lots of extras thrown in. Do these people think we are easy marks and full of dollars and no cents(sense) ?

gas57:
I think you figured it out.

I wouldn´t shoot an animal that probably has a pet name and has been watched intensely it´s whole life.

Too much like hunting somebodys dog.

It would be hard to shoot "Spike the Rhino". The game keepers would all be crying.