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One of Us |
In times past only the well to do seemed to enjoy safari life. There seems to be more of a blue collar influence in the industry now. I admit that I fit into the latter catagory. Do you think that this is why things like tipping and sundry fees are more important topics to hunters now than in the past??? | ||
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I would definitely agree with you, people who work for a living are concerned with the bottom line and getting hit with extra fees or tips they did not budget for make a difference to how well the trip is enjoyed and reflected upon in years to come. LostHorizonsOutfitters.com ---------------------------- "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas" Davy Crockett 1835 ---------------------------- | |||
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One of Us |
The age of cheap air travel has made safaris far more accessible to far more persons. In the past it involved catching a steamer or ship, spending up to a month there and a month back again. Plus the hunt. If it takes two months sailing, you probably are going to want to visit for two or three months. Safari hunting, plus the social scene. Making it four or five months in total. Only the serious rich and/or idle could contemplate being away for three to five months. Nowadays 20 hours on a boring airplane and one is in "deepest darkest" Africa. If only we had modern airplanes and East African full range safari licences costing 300 pounds ..... | |||
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Well the reason Hunting in Africa is affortable for many is the fact that it don't take a month of traveling to get there and another month to return. Nor its the hugh numbers of people needed for the old foot safari days. The Airplane is what has made the Safari with in reach of just about anybody who really wants to go. As for tipping and the such, that is aways a subject of debate. Giving the PH who dose his best for you a few hundred dollars is a good thing. Giving the Camp staff some thing extra for a job well done is just plain good manners. leathermans seem to make the Camp staff happy. | |||
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Evem in Raurks days they had airplanes and landrovers. I feel that the marketing of safaris especially in South Africa has been towards the once a year out of state big game hunter. If you go on a guided hunt in the western states your spending four grand or more for a seven day elk hunt. Skip a year and you have enough to go to Africa and you dont have to draw a limited entry tag. Once you have been there you you will find a way to get back. I sold my boat to finance my first buffalo hunt. I still think it was a good decision. | |||
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As a semi blue collar worker I would say that marketing has played a big part in the increase of hunting. I dreamed of Africa for years but never thought I could go due to costs. With the help of this board, a few emails, and a trip to Dallas SCI I learned that it is affordable and well with in the average Joes budget. Of course some of us may never go on a 30 day Ele hunt or 100k + rhino hunts but we can go shoot a decent bag of plainsgame or even a leopard every year or three.. | |||
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cheaper air travel,more leisure time,safari companies competeing for American hunters dollars all contribute to more " blue collar' safari hunters....I for one am glad to see it! Though the "snobbish Colonial East African stereotypes " must be squirming in their smoking jackets that yet another "stuffy ole white collar" playground has become the grounds for the masses. wyn | |||
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I have to laugh, when at the range getting ready for an African safari,listening to a guy say he wishes he could afford to hunt Africa. The conversation takeing place in front of his new Linclon Navagator that he paid $50K for,which will be in the junk yard in five years, with a picture lieing on the seat showing his $25K bass boat, while he is unpackageing a plastic REMCHESTER rifle he bought at K-mart for $300. This simply tells me his priorities are missplaced! If he had bought that same Navagator used with 25, 000 miles on it he would have saved $25K and still had the car he wanted. If he had bought the Bass boat used, he could have bought it for $7,or$8K,saveing another $17K, and still had the boat! That's $42K gentelmen, and that $42K will buy a damn nice Safari, and not in the fenced pens of RSA, but in real African hunting destinations like Tanzania, Zambia, or Botswana! I'm sure this guy didn't pay cash for those toys he bought, so if he can finance those, he can finance the Safari. The color of one's collar has nothing to do with his being able to hunt Africa! He made the Linclon, and bass boat happen, why not the Safari? There are those who wish things would happen, and there are those who MAKE things happen! The guy who doesn't go to Africa is in the wish group! ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
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Being white collar educated with a blue-colar job, I now work in the construction industry, not uncommon in Montana. I often get asked "How did you afford to go to Africa?" About half the time the guy asking is puffing on a smoke and dreaming about a beer after work at his favorite watering hole. So, I give them a math leason: One pack of smokes per day, even at $4 each is over $1400 a year, in some states it would be $2000. A couple of beers at a tavern runs about $3 to $5. That will probably put you out about $1000 a year. So that's $2500 a year not counting weekends, this is where it gets fun. I had my crew report on how much they spent over a period of weekends, average about $60 per weekend, some as low as $30 and a couple of real party animals blew over $100. So, weekends add up to about $3000 on average per year. Now, if we add smokes, $1500, after work brews at $1000 and partying at $3000, humm, looks like $5500 pissed away every year. Two years about covers my last trip... To get what you want you must know what it is you want. | |||
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I totally agree with Mac. Even if I didn't like to hunt I wouldn't blow money on cars; they just don't do anything for me. The thing a lot of people don't understand is that hunting, be it in Africa or elsewhere, produces a lifetime of memories, trophies, pictures, trinkets, and other things. It isn't just a two week vacation. | |||
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I pretty much lucked into hunting in Africa.My first R.S.A. plains game hunt cost me $2,000.00 out of pocket for three weeks.That did not include my taxidermy.Last trip I will spend more on taxidermy then what the two week safari cost.Yes I am still hunting in R.S.A. for plains game.I figure I will hunt R.S.A. only a couple of more times before I go to Tanzania for buffalo. Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war; That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial. | |||
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I agree it is all about ones Priorites. My wife and I, without a dought, fall in the middle class but we've now been to Africa twice and have a deposit on a third trip for 2006. I mostly don't bring it up when meeting new people, I don't have photos on my desk at work or wear it like a badge, but I have a couple of friends who just seem to love to tell people "Mark here has been to Africa". When I finally do tell someone one of the most heard comments is you must be rich. My reply is NO, if we were I wouldn't be working here we'd be in Africa. The simple truth is our income is middle class but the diffrence is we don't owe every dime we make! In fact our monthly budget is only about 45% of our income. We don't live in a big house, yours is about $100k and we owe far less than that on the mortage. Up until last year we both drove older cars. When I finaly bought a newer one for myself, sure I looked at the new $40k Chevy trucks but I don't get up at 5:30 each morning and go to work to pay for a truck. So in the end I bought a '04 S-10 with 7,000 miles on it for less than half the price of a new full size truck. I don't smoke, I brown bag my lunch 95% of the time, we don't pay $80 per month for cable TV, we don't have 10 credit cards and the list goes on... In short we don't make the money some of our friend do but we're not slaves to a life style either. We live each day within or below our means so we can do what we love which is to LIVE our lives! Neither of us want to be 80 sitting in a chair and wishing "if we'd only have". Our plan is to look back, simle and say this is what we DID, together. ______________________ | |||
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I think you guys have it right. My wife and I don't buy new cars (our newest one is a 1999 Ford Ranger). We live in the house we bought in 1965 for $14,100. My wife is a very low maintenece model. She buys her clothes at the used clothing stores. For that matter, so do I. I have been on 42 hunting trips since I retired in 1994. Two of them were to Africa. Sure I spend money on hunting. I don't spend it on anything else, save the occasional bottle of single malt. One of my former teaching colleagues told me recently that he needs to do some work on his house, but he has to pay down some debt first. I almost laughed out loud. We have been debt free since 1985. I have no idea why the idiot retired with debt hanging over him. Oh well. He always has two new cars in the carport. Priorities. THE LUCKIEST HUNTER ALIVE! | |||
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Mark, you have that right. The saddest thing is when someone dies wishing he had done the thing he wanted to do most. You and I won't die that way, my friend. THE LUCKIEST HUNTER ALIVE! | |||
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patrkyhntr, he probably got an increase in his take home pay by retiring. | |||
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Interesting!! my 89 toyota has 354,000 miles on it but I would rather spend ten days in Africa than drive a new duramax. Isnt it great having something to save your money for. | |||
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Once our combined incomes made it possible for me to stop paying bills with my Army Reserve check, that all went into toys and trips. Today my military retired income does the same thing. We eat well, spend far more on books than on movies or DVD's, drive our vehicles 'till they damn' near rust through and don't feel the least bit deprived. I've been to Africa three times, hunted DG twice and am going again in '06 for some unfinished business with a zebra. Yeah, priorities. Part-time jobs help, too. Sarge Holland's .375: One Planet, One Rifle . . . for one hundred years! | |||
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Everybody here has it right. It has to do with your priorities. There is a country song on the radio right now that has a line that goes something like “I have never seen a luggage rack on a hearseâ€. Those words are so true. I don’t make a pile of money. I am just a young farmer. But the wife and I have decided that Africa has to happen. And thanks to everybody here at AR, we figured out how. We have made a budget and are starting to plan for the trip. This time next year we will have decided on the exact destination, and will have put the deposit down. But it comes at a cost, no we won’t be driving new vehicles every couple years. But we each have a newer vehicle ’01 and ’02. Which by the end of this year are fully paid for. That means the Africa account grows a little fast each month, starting in January. We also decided that we don’t need to take that exotic holiday each winter. That gives us a minimum of $4000.00 for each winter get away that we don’t take. Each little thing starts to add up. We are excited every time the Africa account statement comes. The account that is actually making us money, and is removed from our regular accounts. As I tell everybody that asks, it is all about decisions. And what we can live with and without. Graylake | |||
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If I didn't hunt, I am sure I would be a wealthy man by now. If I calculated all money paid for guns, ammo, diesel to go to the ranch, um ... cost of ranch ... trips to Africa, trophy fees, shipping fees, taxidermy, well, the list goes on. I am sure I would cry knowing where my money went. I wouldn't have it any other way though. | |||
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I'm not exactly blue collar, but I still have to prioritize my spending. I'm actually using one of those cash advance checks from a credit card to pay off my upcoming trip, but I budgeted it out and it should be paid off by the end of this year, as well as starting a savings for the next one in '06 or '07. Caleb | |||
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gunny: you make a good point,as do all of you. I am a med. ret E-5 and worked in Texas Prisons for 25 yrs. Wife teaches school. Not rolling in dough . My Truck is a 95 etc but we have gone to Europe 10 times in 10 years because we do with out the BS. And NOW it is my turn. My wife who dose not hunt said I can go to Africa every other year because we know what is important to each other and spend little. She did buy me a kimber 45 for Christmas and added 2 rifels.So now i am booking my 1st BIG hunt.people who say they can not while driving a new lincon don't want it enough. Mabey it best as I want to share a camp fire in Africa with someone who wants to be there as badly as I do. Any of you gents would be welcome at that fire anytime. Gene Semper Fi WE BAND OF BUBBAS STC Hunting Club | |||
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WELL DONE SIR! That is one of our short term goals. Some days I think if we'd have put off Africa another year or two how much closer we'd be. On the other hand we'll get there and Africa sure has been fun. ______________________ | |||
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Most folks can hunt Africa today and I love that, I wish every hunter could do that at least once in his life, and most, who really want to can, just follow Macks advise, drive that old car for a couple of more years, sell some of those unneeded guns...Its just a matter of priority... I love sending those who tell me "This is a one shot deal im my life, a life long dream" that makes my day to just be a part of that, and I have been many times, it beats a 50 inch buffalo all to heck in my books..."It's my thang" Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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One of Us |
first trip I ever went on was a trophy horesback moose hunt in BC, Canada. Sold two rifles and worked part time for 3 months to scrounge that $ together ($2500 back then was a ton of $ to spend on a hunting trip), never regretted it...those moose antlers still hang in my den...the wife is long gone | |||
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shouls have said THAT wife is long gone | |||
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One of Us |
I once had a member who consistently claimed an African safari was not for the 'common worker' and out of his price range. I pointed out to him he had FOUR very large safes stuffed FULL of rifles, several hundred he claimed. If he just sold off a few of these he should easily be able to go to Africa. I also wonder why anyone needs "five .375's and four .458's". Note I said "needs". Surely one or one of each is ample, and could then be used three times as much. Whenever I buy a new rifle I think, "Do I really need this?" The price could be a cape buffalo trophy fee. Puts it into perspective. However we shouldn't get carried away with ourselves. A 21 day Tanzanian safari is definitely out of my price range. I would have to re-mortgage the house to do it. I plan to hunt more than 3 weeks in the next ten years. Some guys are fantatical hunters too but just don't earn enough, especially if they are not earning US$. Wage rates are higher in the USA than most of the world, and what a "blue-collar" worker earns in the USA in US$ can be what middle management earns eg in Australia. I still think the average guy if determined can do a plains game safari however. BTW a '95 car is a NEW car in my view. | |||
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One of Us |
The biggest hurdle is getting there the first time. I admit that in 1994 when we went on our firt safari things were a little cheaper than they are today. I also admit that I used Russ Brooms 416 on my first trip because I couldnt afford both. When ever I buy a hunting related item I too compare its cost to the trophy fee on a cape buffalo. | |||
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I've taken two buff and who knows how long it will be, if ever, that I get a third. No problem, the idea behind hunting Africa is to hunt Africa! This trip is more plains game and the one after will be as well. So? I like hunting plains game . . . and it gets me to Africa for less money! Sarge Holland's .375: One Planet, One Rifle . . . for one hundred years! | |||
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One of Us |
Gunny, I think the allure of Africa is growing in most hunters. Things are changing rapidly throughout the world and people want to go and do and see while they ca. For me Africa was just a far off dream until last year when my father went on his first trip and although he spent far more than I will it showed me that it is possible for the Blue Collar person to enjoy the spoils of the dark continent. I am a college student that guides fishing trips in the summer on the South fork of the Snake River, and now in 48 hours I am making my first safari. David | |||
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Having been a gun dealer for over 30 years, I am 100 % in favor of everyone owning 4 safes full of rifles. That way, I can go to africa in their place. | |||
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Personally, instead of hearing folks say how they can get by on less, I like to hear people talk about how they are doing things to make more money and have true financial freedom. Unfortunately, thise stories are very, very rare. | |||
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Financal freedom is getting to go every year!!! | |||
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Thankfully the owning of masses of guns here is impossible. I have the shotguns and psitols kept here a grand total of 4 at the moment and the full bore rifle stuff keep in africa (2 gun battery 30-06,416rig) All the time i have free i sepend on planning, saving or working towards my next hunt. 2004-2005 year, my first year of hunting africa, i took kudu,wildebeest, impala, blesbok, baboon,duiker,ostrich, hartebeest and i'm already paid up on zebra,black wildebeest and eland. hahahah power to the people, everyone should try and get on safari at least once in their lives. (you know they'll come back!) tm "one of the most common african animals is the common coolerbok(or coleman's coolerbok). Many have been domesticated and can be found in hunting camps, lodges and in the back of vehicles." | |||
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My philosophy of life is I can do ANYTHING I want - I just can't do EVERYTHING I want! Focus on what's important! | |||
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You know, I was thinking the same thing. Why in the hell would you want to stay blue collar. The time and effort spent pinching pennies would be better spent upgrading your salary. Some people would rather drive nice cars and have a house full of guns then go to Africa. What's wrong with that. To each his own. | |||
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I get the feeling that given the chance to spend 50K on a Harvard MBA or go on a lion hunt, some readers would take the lion hunt. It might be the only time they would ever go. And since all the booking agents say it isn't getting any cheaper, damn the torpedoes! I have said this before, but hunting, and in particular Africa, showed me you aren't going to go every year "working for the man." So that is why I took a chance and started my own company. And I am glad I did it. I would recommend that anyone who is thinking about it, do it. Taking 40k (or some other amount) and investing it in a business is a far better way to hunt in Africa on a long term basis than going on a 21 day hunt. On the other hand, I also know that I could not have done it without Ms AZW making serious quid. And not everyone is in that same boat. Many have kids and other responsibilities. So while I would encourage anyone to start their own business, I sure don't think less of anyone who has not, and would encourage them to pinch the pennies if that is what they have to do. And while I am always interested in success stories, I gag when a guy insinuates that he is a better example of a human being because he made his first million before age 30. some of my best hunting memories have come at the deer shack in MN, where the hunting is free but the friendship is priceless. | |||
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This thread reads like a chapter out of THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR. THE LUCKIEST HUNTER ALIVE! | |||
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I am in the EXACT same place as AZ writer. My current job is decent by almost any standard, but I can't do what I want to do with it. I SERIOUSLY considered going Marco Polo hunting this year. I have already hunted in a lot of the US and on 4 continetns and 5 other countries. I have a bad case fo the sheeep and goat bug, which sure ain't cheap (a lot more expensive than Africa). Instead of going to Tajikistan this year, I am starting my own business. After a couple of years I will be able to go Asia every year, as well as chase the other species in Europe and the other North America species. The ONLY reason i am writing this here right now is to hopefully motivate some one to take control of their life and realize the only security they will ever have is what they make for themselves. THe only way they can have true flexibilty and just about the only way they can make real money is to own a business or three. And if you have any grand ideas about how I started in life, I have had 15 operations (and tons of lingering health issues) and grew up poor (just 7 years ago I was still living in a house trailer that literally had holes in the roof, walls, and floor). This is in NO way meant to brag or talk abotu what I have done and will do. I hope to motivate at least one person to move up to the next level in terms of freedom and income. FInd a way to have the money to have the big house, big car, own a lot fo custom guns, and go to Africa (or Asia, Europe, NA, where ever) at least once a year. It can be doen. I am doing it and I promise you my circumstances started below many, many on this board. So write down what you want otu of life on paper, study it, then make a plan to get what ever your wildest dreams are! | |||
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I've read that book Have you read or heard Dave Ramsey? ______________________ | |||
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