Hello All,
Does anyone have any suggestions on areas and PH's for an Ele. hunt I would like to do in Botswana? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I've had other profesional hunters of some standing refer me to Johan Calitz. Then I've also heard from another that he is pompus and condecending. Either way, no matter who you pick it is probably a good idea to meet them at one of the shows before putting down your deposit.

I would contact http://www.africansports.co.za/ if I were you. Speak with Mike (owner/ph) he is an excellent ph, the area is in the Chobe and has lots of elephant and a beautiful camp on a waterhole. Was there last year on a pg hunt and we saw 50+ pounders on a daily basis without even looking for them. If you have it Mike is the PH guiding Brittingham on Quest for African Game 2 for Elephant and 3 for lord derby eland. Great guy. You will hav a great time and his prices are more reasonable then Calitz.

Another option is Kgori Safaris, one of the smaller, lesser known outfitters based in Maun. Earlier this year I spent a night at their concession, “Kwatale†which is just a couple of hours (at most) from Maun and borders the Moremi Game reserve. Well in excess of 1000 square miles, it is hunted by just 2 PH’s; Owner/PH Jim Van Rensburg and PH Wilton Raats. The Van Rensburgs go back to Voortrekker days and Wilton was a problem animal control officer for some 25 years up in the Caprivi before he turned to guiding others. Both have vast experience hunting elephant and all DG. American Jack Franklin, who is also involved in the operation, had an account of a magnificent lion hunt they had at Kwatale published in the July ’06 issue of the African Sporting Gazette.
They have good elephant, particularly in the early months of the season. They’ll be at both Conventions in January. I’ll be booking my first Buff hunt with them.

S.

I hear Bot's is the highest price country for elephant hunting in AFRICA.

If you don't mind that good for you!

If you want to look at less costly operators I know a guy who has hunted successfully five times for BULL ELEPHANT with www.tshabezisafaris.com.

The guy owned a store, Rangemaster Outfitters in Indiana. Also see www.nwitimes.com/clients/rangemaster/

i hunted leopard with greg butler safaris( based in Maun) in the kalahari and after a successful hunt we moved to another of his concessions bordering the Moremi game reserve to take pictures. this concession also bordered a photo only concession and was jammed with elephants. the camp was absolutely fi rst rate as was the staff. etc. we saw lots of bulls every day on his concession as well as the surrounding area with a lot of them 60 plus pounds.also saw a lot of lions, buffalo and plains game he can be reached at thi email address-sls@info.bw good luck with your plans

Greg Butler Safaris has some excellent elephant concessions. They took about 22 nice ones this season. I can help you with the information and booking. I train/ship the cougar dogs from Idaho to be used in his leopard hunts and then go over and handle the dogs during the hunts.
Jerry Meyers
Jerry Meyers Expeditions
208-865-2449

Try Mark Kyriacou: MK.birdsaf@worldnet.att.net
Mark has consessions in the Delta and has been around for a long time. He tends to be a little lower than the big guys in Botswana. I've hunted Buffalo with him, PH was Glen Munger, and plan to go back in 2008.
You can beat Botswana's prices, especially in Zim, but you won't beat the experience of hunting in Botswana.

TerryR

Thank you all for all of your input. I have a few emails out now, just waiting for responses.

I hunted with John Abraham who is the owner of Madubula Safaris in RSA. He and Calitz go way back and he was able to arrange an ele hunt for me the last 2 weeks of the season out of Calitz's Ivory Camp. I shot the 126 bull I saw. It had ivory of 77 and 76 pounds. It's a good camp but the luxury camp is Quokqre(sp). It's where the ESPN hunters stayed while I was at Ivory. I believe the later you can hunt the better. Most of the big bulls come in from drier areas following the water into the Delta. Generally, later is drier so more elephants.

Don't overlook Namibia, there is some good hunting in the North for elephant and you won't be mortgaging your house to pay for the hunt. (Botswana is about 3x the other countries, it's only for those who care a lot about ivory and don't care much about money).