Lately there has been quite a bit of discussion regarding the difference between agents, outfitters, PH's etc.
I think the topic has been covered very well by those in the know.
I have a question that will take the topic a step further.
Can the group compile a comprehensive list of true booking agents?
These are the few I can think of off the top of my head:
The Detail Company
The Hunting Consortium
Jack Atcheson & Sons
Please tell us of others and provide links to websites wherever possible.
Also, let's hear some opinions from those of you who have used them.

Great idea.

I would like to take that further, and ask for:


1. Top Ten Booking Agents by SIZE (employees or volume of hunts)

2. Top Ten Booking Agents by REPUTATION

3. Top Ten Booking Agents ON THIS SITE


If you would please give your first gut feel on this, I will track it in a Word Doc. and have T. Carr post it when it is done.

P.S. The best people to answer these three questions are probably the Top Ten Booking Agents on this site. Let's be thankful that we have them posting here and sharing this information with us.

Guests

You might also want to know the following as well, the booking agents/consultants mode of operation

1) FULL BLOWN Company/Booking Agent:

Those whom have a (number of staff) and services and whom operate basically on a 24 hours basis in a commercial office / building

2) The STAND ALONE Consultant [ONE MAN BAND]

Fulltime, OR part time with another job.

A couple of names that immediately spring to mind as [ TOP NOTCH ] longstanding consultants in the industry with first hand & vast Africa experience are

Atkinson Hunting Adventures - Ray Atkinson / personal services is his forte

Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd - Steve (Shakari) Robinson - personal service is also his forte

RE: [ Balla-Balla Safaris ] South Africa & Zambia

I ( Peter Bird ) South African born, lived in Africa for 30+ years, personally fall into the ONE MAN BAND category.

Consulting & Booking since 1997.

Simply and clearly,

I work from HOME FULLTIME and ( totally independant ) in a converted bedroom/office and BOOK ONLY for my brother Alan Bird the owner operator of Balla-Balla Safaris incorporting two private hunting ranches in Limpopo Prince RSA offering all plains game and Leopard on a ( ballot cites permit ) situation

AND a deep bush private hunting ranch [ Dendro Park ] in Zambia ( Southern Kafue Park Region ) offering mainly cape buffalo with other Zambia plains game as add on species. Leopard sable & Roan on 14 day only hunts as well

I DONT book perse for [ any other companies ] BUT I do offer referrals and ideas if we personally cant fit a clients requirements.

From time to time other [ Outfitters, PH's and even Companies] DO contact me personally with a requirement to accommodate their ( personal clients ) to hunt our RANCHES, particularily for cape buffalo hunts in Zambia, as we have the ( most cape buffalo ) in a totally private ranch ownership situation in Zambia than anyone !!!

I have not yet heard of any bigger cape buffalo herds on other ( totally privately owned ) ranches in Southern Africa, but stand corrected if anyone knows of another ranch operation that has !!!

SO in summary ...

I book exclusively for [ Balla-Balla Safaris ] BUT ALSO from time to time liase with other booking agents/consultants on a case by case basis whom contact me direct if they have a client they cant satisfy themselves via their normal outlets.

If my brother Alan Bird or our PH Dene Bird are contacted direct they then refer the request ONWARDS to me to take up the consultation & booking.

Therefore, although I work (totally independant) to all intents and purposes I am PART of the COMPANY ... I also do the general marketing and webmaster services for Balla-Balla Safaris and all other internet related technicalities. I liase directly with my brother Alan Bird the ranch owner/opertor on all bookings made.

The company (family operation) comprises myself Peter Bird in NZ, in SA my brother Alan Bird & wife Jessie, daughter Carol Bird, Alan's son & our SA & Zambia registered PH Dene Bird & Dene's girlfriend Joanne Bezuidenhout whom is a SA registered PH. We also have the PH services of Joannes father Louis in SA and other Zambia PH's on a case by case basic if we have 4x2 hunt and need a second PH

MS WORD - COMPANY PROFILE DOCO - Feel Free to download for you personl referance files if you want !!

Have a great day and good hunting

What I would be most interested in hearing about is what Peter refers to as a "Full Blown" booking agency with staff and offices etc.

Thanks for the input Peter. As usual it was insightful and comprehensive.

I've never seen the "Detail Company" or "The Hunting Consortium" on here?

Balla Balla, when you say private lands do you mean high fenced areas ?

Chuck Wagon

Essentialy in Africa / or Southern Africa particularily, there are different scenarios pertaining to the hunting property or areas where clients might hunt, all have their pro's and cons BUT at the end of the day the client will chose what fits in best with his perception.

High Fence as you term it / OR as in Africa they are called [Game Fenced Ranches] essentially are private hunting ranches mostly owned by Companies Collectives or private individuals.

South Africa has the largest number of these game ranches ( approx 9000 ) in Africa as farmers whom previously used to have cattle have found that commercially the game industry is far more viable nowadays than cattle farming. Having said that there are many many wannabee (fly by nighters) whom have gone under because it is an extremely costly and difficult business to be in UNLESS one has a lot of game experience, some reasonable capitol investment backing and MOST IMPORTANT the right staff and in particular the PH as an operators reputation can rise and fall on the performance of the PH.

The reason a lot of Operators fall over in the main is because they DONT KNOW the industry and it's pitfalls, and they want to do it on the cheap out the back of a (bakkie) so to speak. What has occured in SA is many wannabees have done a PH cource within their regional province, bought a bakkie and gone on thei meery way seeking out properties or concession areas to ply their trade AND they dont have the back up both in manpower and resources to offer clients an ongoing service.

There is a saying in SA that all you need to do is (shake a tree) and see all the PH's fall out of the tree. There is an oversupply of people trying to make it in the industry.

Concession areas allocated for hunting by the government or regional wildlife bodies in the main are vast tracks of unfenced areas / some do have distant boundary fences BUT essentially these area are hunted by many different Operators/Outfitters/ PH's whom have applied for licences and take client to hunt within. So unlike private ranches there can be more than one hunting party within at any one time or multiple client grouops coming in and out. Some areas can become shot out as the term goes and one has to rely on the Booking Consultant/Operator etc to have this knowledge. Of cource hunting ranches can also be shot out and therin lies the dilemna and again it ALL comes back to whom you book with and that the facts are conveyed truthfully to the client prior to hunting.

The client also has a responsibilty as some hunters belive that HUNTING is like shopping in a supermarket, you just write down you list of goodies and go into the bush and shoot them all. Hunting is not like that, animals dont just line up in rows to be shot, some ares one needs to work hard and in fact might not even get the animlas they want, but that is the joy of the hunt and the stalk.

Some hunters have gone away totally happy without getting their trophies as anticipated and some are pissed off, the true hunter appreciates that hunting is MORE than just fullfilling the bag of trophies, he will learn from the experience and return again and again to take up the challenge.

Steve (Shakari) Robinson might possibly tell you a story or two about some of his clients from days gone by whom returned without a tropht at all BUT totally satisfied with the hunt

Happy Hunting

Regards, Peter

Damn Peter, but you've got a good memory! I'd forgotten all about that.

About 100 years ago I had a client who booked a hunt just with the sole intention of taking a single, but very good kudu.......We hunted on Peter's place near Pietersburg which is jam packed full of BIG BIG kudu.......and we must have looked at almost single every one. It's always the clients final choice whether to shoot or not and this client was the most particular client I've ever come across. Some of the Kudu were too wide or too narrow at the points, some were too narrow in the curl and some just weren't quite big enough or quite perfect enough.........we had a great hunt overall and plenty of very exciting stalks......did the client pull the trigger on a kudu?.........nope.

Having said that, it was a very enjoyable hunt on a good area with a nice camp and great company.........and despite not taking a kudu the client went home very happy indeed.

I've since done lots more hunts for different species with the same client and that same insistance on only taking the very best and most perfect trophy can sometimes be frustrating, but never, ever boring!

One of the best things about how I earn my living is the wonderful variety of people I get to meet.

My Post got hijacked! Damn!
Oh well. Anyone have anything to add about actual booking agents in the U.S.?

Wise 1, let's not let that happen!

Again, let's compile a list of booking agents:

1. Top Ten Booking Agents by SIZE (employees or volume of hunts)

2. Top Ten Booking Agents by REPUTATION

3. Top Ten Booking Agents ON THIS SITE


If you would please give your first gut feel on this, I will track it in a Word Doc. and have T. Carr post it when it is done.

P.S. The best people to answer these three questions are probably the Top Ten Booking Agents on this site. Let's be thankful that we have them posting here and sharing this information with us.

Wise 1 & Canadian Lefty

First of all my apologies for hijacking your thread!

I'm not sure what you're suggesting here. would you like forum members to nominate agents/outfitters for knowlwdge/experience etc or do you want the agent's/outfitters to give a description of how and where they operate etc?

To do the latter without specific invitation would smack of the hard sell.........and that's not my style.

Wise1

I plead (guilty as charged) for highjacking your thread.

You know you can never trust an agent to keep on track, he has a wandering mind by nature as he has had so many experiences with different clients that it is hard not to tell a story every now and again (-:

I promise to keep taking the tablets and hopefully keeping quite for a while.

Let the thread continue on the subjest in question ..

Regards, Peter

quote:

---

Originally posted by shakari:
...would you like forum members to nominate agents/outfitters for knowlwdge/experience...

---

For me, this is a YES.

I would like to have forum members rattle off the names that come to mind of booking agents that fit the categories that I mentioned. Maybe say a couple of words about them.

For example(dont know if I am right:
Largest by size
Cabelas -high volume , avg. reputation, best for x type hunts
Bass pro shops - etc..
Jack Acheson & sons- very large, family run, good reputation, best for x type hunts...
Etc...

Best reputation
xyz
abc
tgif

Ones on this Site of good repute
etc..
etc..
etc..

And continue down the list...

Wise1, One excellent booking agent and a frequent poster here is ggrod. I have used him several timjes and he has been extremely helpful in both planning and execution. Greg Rodriguez, mombasa trading company, www.mbogo.net

Wise1,

I would like to take the opportunity to put Adam Clement's Safari Trackers on this list.

I will provide the information that I know and you can use it for your list as you see fit.

Adam was born and raised in Tanzania. He took his first Buff at age 7 and lion at 14 yrs. He is a licensed professional hunter as well as the ownwer of the business. He hunts now only a few times a year, as he is tending to his business around the clock. This is his livelyhood and is a full time business (2100 sq.ft.)located in a business park in San Antonio Texas. He has 4 full time employees there.

Adam has hunts in 8 different countries and books for 12 outfitters. Some of the concessions he has ownership of and uses several of the same PH's that the has for a few years. He has told me in the past that he has approximately 1100 + - clients to his hunts. Repeat clients are his main stay while others are finding out about his operation. He has been booking and doing hunts since 1994.

Safari Trackers is about QUALITY, VERASITY, and HONORING their word. For example, they are in the process of buying new tents and safari trucks,(14 by next year), for most of their Tanzania camps. He has gone through some rough experiences with some outfitters and has either cut ties with them or has bought them out.

I am aware of two incidents that Adam made good some money issues that some clients had been given the 'Safari Shuffle' on, unknown to Adam at the time. He made the money right, out of his own pocket, and it wasn't his doing, but they were his clients and he felt responsible. They are happy and still hunt with him. He has worked dilligently to upgrade where it was needed and keep the quality of the hunts above standard.

Adam is personally involved with his hunts and is not a 'Corporate Factory' that is just doing business. He and his staff are professional and knowledgable about each and every aspect of your hunt, not just someone in the office. Even though they are not in the field with you, they are with you every step of the way.

I personally don't feel that his web page is as good as it could be, in that it dosen't do this organization justice.

Most people here have their favorate agents, PH's, outfitters, etc., just as I do. I just ask that anyone shopping or wanting to try someone different, give Adam's Safari Trackers a look. It is always wise to shop and compare, looking at the WHOLE picture.

Adam Clement's Safari Trackers, Inc
(866) 698-0077
ADAM@SAFARITRACKERS.COM
www.safaritrackers.com

I hope that this has provided you with the type of information that you are looking for.

All the best,

Sam
eclemmons@hotmail.com

Wise1,

Please excuse the addendum:

Right after I finished I realized something that I needed to say in reference to Adam's constant strive for quality.

He has put a limit on his PH's that any lion taken must be 5 years old or older. None of these scruffy, small maned guys.

In many of the areas that he has in Tanzania, he has self imposed a lower quota on the allowable buff. This is done in order to grow a bigger quality herd of bulls. Now by doing this, he has limited the amount of hunts that he will be able to sell for a few years. Quality, not quanity.

Another rule that he has set for his PH's, is if they tell you to shoot an animal and it turns out to be a female or a finable animal, the PH pays the fine. How refreshing is that?

Kwa heri,

Sam

Sam,

Adam has a very good reputation in the industry, but I hope you won't mind if I correct you slightly when I tell you that all the stipulations you mention except the taking of only 1 Buff per hunt are actually Tanzanian law rather than any rule that an agent may impose.

The taking of 1 Buff on a 7 day licence is not particularly uncommon in some areas (in Tanzania) and most of the areas that do allow the client to take whatever number of Buff as are stipulated on the licence have plenty of Buff anyway.

I'm only posting this so that forum members are not accidentally misled. It's not a criticism in any way of you or Adam.

Guys,

I see that this is not working too well.

Instead of compiling a list of booking agents, it seems that we are giving positive reports on a few agencies/PHs.

While this is fine, it is not as useful as a solid list of largest, most reputable, ones on this sit etc.

IMHO, I just don't want this to end up as a thread to place your add as a booking agent.

Thanks!

Steve,

Thanks for the comment.

I was refering to the total number buff allowed for a concession. For example, if 100 are allowed per year by the government, he is only going to take say 65. This is being done as a conservation effort to build the buff herds in several areas. This is just an example and I don't have the numbers for each concession that this is being done in.

I also find it very refreshing that the PH is paying the fine or bribe for finable animals that he tells a client to shoot. This means a lot to clients, as I'm sure you can understand. I feel that it sets a very high standard for the reputable companies in the industry to match.

Take care and I hope you're in the bush soon.

Sorry if I was misleading.

Cheers,

Sam