Any PH or booking agent has a truck load of funny stories, some not so funny, a Safari company has to deal with the good and bad the best he can. A good PH can handle about any situation..Not only is he a good hunter, a good tracker, knows his game, he is also a statesman, a politician of sorts, and has the patients of Jobe...All PH smoke, most don't expose the client that doesn't smoke to it..Most clients can shoot well enough, if not they get shooting lessons on a crash course and their guns are sighted in by the PH..There are those who cannot shoot and have a bad safari of course, and those that have an attitude but not many..Its hard to have a bad safari, its easy to have a bad hunt in the USA for elk, deer, bear etc..lots of bad outfitters out of control. Africa is well organized and the PH are trained and licensed for the most part.

That said, most of the bad deals are far and few between IMO..but if your in the business, You will have a bad client on very rare occasions has been my take on the subject.

Bottom line? Its just like any other business.

I hope I've never been a "bad client", but over the years, I've done my share of bad shooting and not being able to keep up with a PH 30 years my junior, one of whom was a former professional athlete. But the rifles are sighted in and if the shot is off, it's on me. It's happened, but there's usually a quick follow up.

quote:

.... not being able to keep up with a PH 30 years my junior, one of whom was a former professional athlete.

Michel?

Gentlemen, reading this thread it seems that some people are fortunate enough to have their first hunting experience be an African safari.

I don't think that is cause for ridicule, when they arrive having little experience with hunting or shooting rifles - rather, good on them!

Fulvio,

I'm only a couple of years older than Michel.
This year he put me with Micah Du Plooy, who is about 30 if that and played rugby. In the mountains, no less. We had a great safari though. Micah was great to hunt with. He carried my buffalo skull out of a steep drainage choked with thick brush on his back and still beat me up by a wide margin. He also carried my bushbuck all the way back to camp from the bottom of the Panini river, at least a couple of miles.

Had an Italian here, some years back, complained to the Guides association about his outfitter not doing enough for him to bag a Black bear. Turned out the guy insisted on sitting in a tree stand over a bait, with his wife. No shortage of bears showed up, but she'd start screaming, every time one approached the bait.

Grizz