I am potentially looking for a PG hunt between September and October in Namibia with free range Kudu, Oryx, and Mountain Zebra as the main attractions. I can sell it to my wife easier if the accommodations are pretty nice, and it will feel like she is on vacation.

Which outfitters have the best lodges in Namibia?

I've looked into Westfalen, African Twilight, Namibia Safari Corporation, and Vieranas.

What are some other good options with nice lodging but also reasonable trophy fees? I'm not into paying for trophies on a sliding scale.

Johann Veldsman at Shona Hunting Adventures has a most magic place Tualuka in the wilderness at the banks of the semi dry Huab River.
No fences, lots of game, and true spot and stalk hunting.

http://shona-adventures.com/

Tex84, you might want to check out Jofie Lamprecht Safaris if you're looking for luxury for you wife. His camp is pretty darn luxurious, as well as good hunting.

Westfalen Safaris.....
A potential Top choice for what you ar looking for.
Contact Greg Brownlee about the whole area and options.
You are looking at 100's of thousands of acres near Estosha

All of the above are excellent. Add Kowas to the list as well. See my hunt report below for details.

Namibia is a super place to go and have not and have fun.

Tholo in Botswana is on par with these folks as well. Costs are similar.

Go, go now, go and shoot a lot!,,,

I was sold on Sebra until a Zim hunt came along for me.
http://www.sebrahunt.com/

Tholo would also be a great choice as I know Jason from his Kanana hunts if you are open to going to Bots.

I'd talk to Jamy Traut, although I have also wanted to hunt with Jofie sometime.

I'd second Jamie Traut and I'd talk to Mike Kibble of Progress Safaris...he has a terrific concession on the Caprivi.

You may want to obtain an objective outlook on how the ongoing drought has affected game numbers and habitat in the NW area of Namibia. No recent first hand knowledge but some anecdotal chatter suggests that you verify conditions. I would love to go back and hunt in the area you describe but will definitely make sure that conditions are right.

If it is possible to hunt earlier it will be cooler and (probably) have fewer snakes, all of this will make for a more enjoyable safari.

Jan Olefsa Safaris is the oldest in Namibia. He was John Wayne"s stand in in Hatari. He died last year and his Son Alex and Widow Annetta run it now. It holds to the same I standard. There is no better than This.

quote:

Originally posted by BC3:
You may want to obtain an objective outlook on how the ongoing drought has affected game numbers and habitat in the NW area of Namibia. No recent first hand knowledge but some anecdotal chatter suggests that you verify conditions. I would love to go back and hunt in the area you describe but will definitely make sure that conditions are right.

The drought has certainly taken a toll in the North West. Last year on 1.4 million acres of land only a handful of trophy quality animals were collected. This year, WWF has responded by cutting quotas by 20%. But quotas do not really matter if there is nothing to shoot and there has been nothing to shoot.

Fortunately beneficial rains have and continue to fall. I would not emphatically state that the drought is over, but we've had more rain in the last 8 weeks than the last three years combined. Grasses are returning, however, it will be another year possibly two before things are "normal". Interestingly, we are already seeing large herds of Mountain Zebra, Springbok, and Oryx return and we are seeing more Kudu as well in the North West.

In regards to free range hunting, the only place for this in Namibia is within the Conservancies. Find the operators who have concessions on communal lands. These hunting concessions are between 300,000 to 800,000 acres and there are only cattle fences in these areas. Namibia is truly the last of the wildplaces for hunting.