Hello,
I guess the question is kind of simple, where would you hunt buffalo and kudu,where would be the "best bang for the buck" so to speak?

You'll be able to do it in Zim, but you need to be aware of the shortages and political situation. - If you're happy with that, you'll get good prices there..... BUT make very sure indeed that you book and hunt with one of the reputable operators up there. Someone like John Sharp, Roger Whittal, Ian Gibson, Andy Hunter or Buzz Charlton. - Zim is full of dodgy operators and more are getting in every year. You also need to be aware of the Lacey Act (if you're American) and it's implications. - As I said though, stick to the rules and you'll get a good hunt at a good price.

Namibia is another option, but it won't be as cheap as Zimbabwe...... but neither will it have the drawbacks of Zimbabwe. Pick the right area and the right company and you'll have a great hunt. - make sure the area you're hunting is unfenced if that's what you want. - The country has both fenced and unfenced hunting areas.

Botswana will be good but expensive and as quota is soooo limited, you'll probably have to book at least 2 years in advance. Bots also has both fenced and unfenced areas, but most of the fenced areas are buffer zones and don't have any Buff on them for that reason.

Mozambique will be good and prices probably somewhere between
Zim and Botswana/Namibia - but remember the hunting there is usually pretty tough and if you're not fit, look elsewhere. If you book in Mozambique, I'd advise you to stick to hunting the coutada areas.

Tanzania will be very good but very expensive as the kudu only features on the 21 day licence. - However that same licence allows you to take 3 Buff plus one each of the following: Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Croc Hippo and a whole lot of plains game. - Tanzania incidentally, has more Buff than all the east and southern African countries put together. (According to the Frankfurt Zoological Society). - This option will be the most expensive of the options I've mentioned, but (IMO) it'll also be the wildest.

With any country in Africa, I'd advise you not to book purely by the cheapest price. You'll get what you pay for - or more precisely, you won't get what you don't pay for. Quality always comes at a price..........

Thanks Steve,
In your opinion where would the proper area be in namibia?
What if an ele was added into the mix?

The tanzania one is only a dream at this stage, I would imagine the cost there would run to 6 digits? that definately won't fly at the supper table.

I'm not really that experienced in Namibia - you'll find a few guys here that know it a lot better than I do. - One name you might consider as one of the best up there is Vaughan Fulton and I'm sure a lot of forum members will agree with me.

21 days in Tanzania is gonna be expensive - around US$50K - US$65K for a good area and camp and if you go to one of the dream areas, close to US$100K - all plus trophy fees etc. - It's the most fabulous hunting experience though. - You could always either hunt your kudu elsewhere and then go to Tanzania for the Buff or else forego the kudu and replace it with some other plains game. - No matter how you look at it, Tanzania is always gonna be a good but expensive option.

Elephant, well it depends on what you want. There's a lot of options. Zim will be cheap and if you stick to one of the better operators, you'll get a good deal. - but you need to think about how you feel about taking cows etc. Personally, I don't agree with that, but it's your money and your hunt.

Yet another option is a plains game hunt combined with PAC Elephants in Botswana. - Where you'd also get your kudu and a whole lot more. We offer that deal incidentally. If you do a search here, you'll find details. - fee for the Elephant is US$5K and that's on a no shoot, no fee policy. - We only allow mature bulls to be shot though.

Hope that helps.

I just checked out your website, That pac elephant looks very interesting. How could a buffalo be added to that trip?

If money were no object???

TEXAS



Brian

Notlim,

I can't help you with Buff on that hunt as the Tuli Block is a buffer zone and hence has no Buff and we only have a smallish operation in the delta and quota sells out about 3 years in advance. - So far in fact, that we don'r even bother to put it on the website. You could either have a two destination hunt or two seperate hunts.

Allout

If money were no object, I'd take you to one of the best camps and areas in Tanzania. They pay all the game fees but only take half the quota and the camp is unbelievable. - Everything from persian carpets to silver service dining.

The Elephants are massive, the Buff are stunners, the Lions like something from MGM and the Leopards like Lionesses........ but it'll cost you around US$100K plus trophy fees etc and you'll have to book at least two years in advance with no guarantee that prices will stay the same. We haven't put these areas on the site until now, because one needs to book so far in advance - but that might change in 08 or 09. (the site, not the bookings!)

Notlim,

We can help you out in any of the following countries.....Zim, Namibia and South Africa.

If you want to contact someone direct in Namibia, I would suggest Karl Stumpfe from this forum. He is a top man and a great DG PH. He also respects the price issues.

Johan from Bahati adventures, also an AR member, will help you out with Mozambique, and the price should be in the same region!

You will look at about $16 k all incl.

Hope this helps...

You are more than welcome to e-mail me at info@infinito-safaris.com

Regards

Charl
www.infinito-safaris.com

Forgot to mention it, but these areas only accept 21 day licences and bookings. You can leave earlier if you wish but you still have to pay for 21 days at least.........

quote:

You also need to be aware of the Lacey Act (if you're American) and it's implications

Steve,

Could you expand on this?

You'll find full details, including lists if you do a search here, but in essence (as I understand it) the US Government publish a list of people who they deem US citizens are not allowed to do business with. In the case of Zimbabwe, it's pretty much anyone in the Zim Govt and anyone who has illegally taken land from the white farmers etc.

I'm not sure of the exact penalties, but I believe it includes siezure of trophies, heavy fines and possible imprisonment.

Alternatively you could do a search on the US Government websites.

quote:

Originally posted by notlim:
Hello,
I guess the question is kind of simple, where would you hunt buffalo and kudu,where would be the "best bang for the buck" so to speak?

Assuming all went well with the elections this spring, I would probably go to Zimbabwe. There are lots of good people there as Shakari mentioned. You could do a combination Caprivi/Conservancy or ranch hunt in Namibia to get the buff and kudu. Vaughan Fulton could put that together I believe. Wendell Reich books for Vaughan.

I have hunted in Namibia with Classic Safaris but not in the Caprivi -- others here can give you their assessment of the buffalo odds and quality. I hunted Zimbabwe but not for these species, although I saw buff and at least one kudu bull while looking for tuskless. I hunted with Myles McCallum of Charlton-McCallum Safaris.

OK now it's my turn to sell you on our hunts.

Zimbabwe is head and shoulders above all other destinations in terms of value for money in a DG hunt, and esp for buff, ele, leopard and sable. Namibia's quotas are very small and sold out well in advance. Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania are much more expensive. South Africa has no free ranging DG and it's not cheap for these species. Ele are VERY limited in RSA and sable are as expensive as buffalo.

The "negatives" associated with Zim (and quoted above) are really overblown. As long as your PH is licenced in Zim (and the rogues are mostly South African), you won't have any problems at all with the legality of your hunt or exportability of your trophies. You can shoot a tuskless cow in Zim if you want but the implication that only cows are shot in Zim is flat out wrong. The annual CITES quota for BULLS is about 500 I believe and there are additional permits for PAC, and again most of these are bulls.

If the US govt arrested everyone that ever hunted in Zim, there would be some gaping holes in corporate America as well as Washington. I challenge anyone to demonstrate that even ONE hunter has ever been so much as questioned about hunting in Zim.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the Kudu in Zim are as good as the Kudu anywhere else.

As in any country, there are marginal areas, good areas and excellent areas for each specific species. For the buff/ele/kudu combo, your best choice (and also the most expensive) is the Zambezi Valley concessions. Dande N is probably the best of those. Our Gache Gache camp on Lake Kariba is very good as well. Sapi (auctions) not a bad choice either.

If you want a deal, you are going to have to book an area that's isn't prime. We can do this hunt in Mukwichi for example, very good for ele but marginal for buff except late in the season when it's good for both.

Then there are the private conservancies. Hunting is superb in the remaining conservancies, never been better. With the good rains this year, it's going to be even better in the next couple of years. (BTW, there has been a vicious drought in Namibia and that will affect hunting adversely for the next couple of years, particularly kudu and warthog).