When you do your safari hunts, do you look at it as 'I've spent a lot of time and money and I'm not leaving until I've got the animals I've come to get' or do you look at it like a vacation and 'what happens, happens'?

On some domestic hunts I very much want to "reduce to possession," the intended game. While moose hunting here I certainly enjoy the hunt, but as I also sort of like a full freezer, I also really want to fill my tag. Running and training my bird dog is very important to me, so whether hunting game birds here or in the lower 48 I want to fill my daily bag limit as that mean real experience for the dog.

Last time I was in Africa, (also the first time,) I don't think I was concerned at all with filling my tag so to speak. I was so awe struck with the flora and fauna that the taking of game was great to be sure but not the only interest. I'll be back in Africa for the second time in a month with my gal and her daughter along. It seems more important to me this time to make sure they both have the same experience I had last time and hopefully we can expand on that. Sure, I'd rather have a hunt that was sucessful in part because we were able to take game, but that is only a part of my trip I think. A shopping list of game to take I do not have and will not consider.

I look at Safari as both, but not from the standpoint of being either so laid back that I could care less or so driven that I can't enjoy it unless everything falls into place. I believe that, for me, there has to be some balance, with both being a part of it.

quote:

Originally posted by bluefin:
When you do your safari hunts, do you look at it as 'I've spent a lot of time and money and I'm not leaving until I've got the animals I've come to get' or do you look at it like a vacation and 'what happens, happens'?

'what happens, happens' and if I ever get the other way I'll be disappointed with myself. I think you miss a lot of the enjoyment of the whole experience if your trophy centered. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with hunting hard and giving it my best and I do, but the trophy or trophies aren't why I go. I go for the experience and they can come as they may. Hopefully if I've done my homework what will come will be what I wanted and if it isn't it's not the end of the world.

Brett

'what happens, happens'

I normally have to reassure my PH nad calm him down when it is getting close to the last day and we haven't put everything in the salt I was/am intrested in that year. One spring we hunted duiker, klipspringer, steinbok, bushbuck, and caracal. We managed four of the five with the duiker coming on the last morning. We hunted everyday and passed up some shots; I would have been just as happy with one of the five as with all five.

I have to agree with Brett; if I begin to see it as a 'must happen' exercise, I'll probably stop hunting.

Colin

I think all hunts regardless of locaton need to be a mixture of the two. I tend to put all my efforts into the planning and drive the outfitter/PH mad with detailed questions. Once I arrive I kick back and take it as it comes.

I'm not bothered what I shoot or if I shoot. Maybe that is because of the amount of game we have available to us at home. When I'm on vacation the only thing that I must have access to is a cold beer at the end of the hunting day, and good company to enjoy the surroundings with.

If i can see the guide or PH is dong his best then everything else is a bonus.

The one thing that does drive me nuts though is if after my detailed planning the guide is obviously trying to take us for a ride or being intentionally deceitful about our hunt. this happened to me once in Argentina and although I would go back there to hunt it ruined what should have been a great trip with my father and my brother.

At the end of it the guide just couldn't understand it when I told him that I didn't care if we didn't shoot anything as long as we hunted hard and well.

FB

There are some true gentlemen working as outfitters and PH's. If you go with them you won't be disappointed and you will enjoy their company as well. Why turn it into anything else? Because if you do hunt with these gentlemen and still don't like it, the problem is in your head.

There are less reputable outfitters and PH's out there, but if you can't find a decent one through AR then there is no hope for this website either.

I agree that it is a combination of both for me. I think unless you are ultra wealthy, you are going to care whether or not you take some animals. Now for me, I usually have one or maybe two key species that I am interested in on a hunt, and then just want to relax and see what comes along as far as pg goes. It isn't going to ruin the trip and leave a terrible memory in my mind if I don't take my key animal (after all it is hunting), but I would certainly be disappointed, especially if the price tag is high. If it was an all PG hunt, I think it would be a very relaxed affair for me. It was last year when I hunted with Roger. I really wanted an eland, but I was ready to hunt all targets of opportunity with no stress.

I will be disappointed if I do not shoot a leopard this month, but I guarantee I will have a great trip and a lot of fun no matter what. All the pg hunting will be a relaxed affair.

Now in N Am, where most hunts are one species...if I put a lot of time in, hunt hard, and don't get an opportunity at that one animal, I might get fairly upset unless it is a whitetail. I am going to AK in Sept to hunt br bear and moose. If I kill a bear, I will be ecstatic, the moose would be a bonus. If I don't kill a bear, I will be very disappointed (only because that is one of those absolute dream species for me) even if I kill a moose.

i think you'll find it changes as you get older. when you're younger getting the game is #1, but after you've done that and been there, you attitude changes. first to a vacation release mode, then to a just damn glad i can still to this and i really don't care if i never pull the trigger

I had the goal of getting my big 5. I put pressure on myself on hunts until finally after 5 years and 8 trips I completed the goal. I hunted by myself trying to reach the goal. I will never go again by myself. Now I can enjoy Africa more. Not that I did not enjoy it before but it is different. Wish I had know about AR in those early years could have saved myself a couple of those trips.

Increasingly it seems that we encounter clients that see safari as a project. Go to Africa, kill ABCDE animals, get ABCDE animals mounted, hang ABCDE animals on wall, impress friends and associates. People that see safari this way miss the point in my opinion. Just being in the bush is a wonderful experience in and of itself. To miss this wonder because everything is not in the salt is a real shame.

If you have done your research and picked the best area, a good safari operator and good dates you need to relax and let your safari unfold as it will.

Mark

quote:

If you have done your research and picked the best area, a good safari operator and good dates you need to relax and let your safari unfold as it will.

Agreed.

First and foremost it is a vacation for me. Things happen as they unfold, don't all ways get all the animals on my wish list but that's why it is called hunting. Then there are the animals of oppurtunity that seem to all ways present themselves. Not actually hunting that animal but you come accross it and can not pass it up. Just let things happen as they will and enjoy yourself that much more.

Man ,there were some good posts on this thread ! Gives me faith in hunters !! I agree that to most of us it is a combo of the two. Unless you are very well healed and multiple trips for major species like Tim's Grizz ( I was the same way until I got mine on trip 3) are not a strain on the wallet, we all can feel a bit down going home
without our much desired critter. But there is a big difference between "down and defeated." I really enjoyed the comments and hope everyone comes home this year with the trophy you are after...but I don't see any suicide attempts in the works if that is not the case. Best of luck to all,a really good thread.

I would also fall into the categotry of those who view a local hunt differently than an expensive and long-saved-for international hunt. When hunting here in the US, my main "goals" are spending time outdoors and with family, but I am also grocery shopping. We eat very little store-bought meat in my family-- by choice-- so if we don't manage to shoot a lot of meat by the end of the year, we are disappointed.
Hunting in Canada or Africa, on the other hand, is much more of a vacation to me. As with others, I have an animal or two which I want to take home, and will work hard to get them. But if after everyone has done their best to accomplish that and it doesn't happen, I have been disappointed, but certainly not grief-stricken. For me a trip out of the country to go hunting is as much about hunting as seeing new places and learning about new cultures. I most definitely do not go hunting to "collect" trophies.

To me, the hunt is about the entire experience. Sure I want to succeed in taking the trophy, but not to the exclusion of all else. It is a wonderful world out there, especially the African bush, I hope that I never lose the ability to sit back, gaze at the southern cross, and appreciate just being there.

It's a mix of both for me too. I try to have a small list (2 or 3) of animals that are the primary targets, and plan enough time to get them. It usually happens that I get those and have time for just going along and seeing what Mother Africa and Goddess Diana offer.

Mine is a mix but I still lean more towards 'business'. I do everything I can to make myself ready from being in decent shape to having good gear. I expect to at least have opportunity. That's why I pay 'professional hunters' - for that opportunity.
I haven't ever had a problem in Africa. And only once in Alaska in the time I've been hunting big game.

Believe me, I consider this a project. It starts before the last hunt is over. Area? Species? Potential outfitters? Lots of research on AR. Emails are exchanged. Videos and books studied.
Finally, a decision is made, and a hunt booked. More studying. Loading and shooting. Maybe a new rifle. (Of course there was almost as much time spent researching this and making decisions.) Now starts the excercise program. Work schedules are negotiated. Travel arrangements made and changed. Thanks, Kathi! More loading, shooting, and studying. Shopping and, as the big day approaches, packing and repacking.
Is it a project? You bet. Once the safari starts, however, it morphs into a vacation, almost miraculously. Filling the bag isn't the point. Along with the vacation, however, the seeds for the next hunt begin to germinate.....

I look at it a bit different these days, I don't care that much if I don't collect a head of game I am after anymore, the part I like is sitting by a fire in good company, PH or guide that really know his stuff and drink a little single malt while listening to Lions off in the distance or Elk Bugling. To me those things are priceless.

A hunting trip to Africa would be both pleasure and business for me. On my plains game hunt I had a few animals that I wanted but told the PH I was open to anything he thought was a good representative animal. There was alot less pressure on that hunt by being flexible and taking animals as they came along. I think on a Big 5 or specialized hunt I would feel more pressure to get the target species. Not getting something would be tough but it would give me something to look forward to on the next hunt.

Greg

Yes, agreed. For me, it is both business and pleasure.

But one must never allow the business to crowd out the pleasure.

All I need is an honest opportunity, with good, hard working companions, and I will be happy.

My signature line answers the question for me.

I beleive value for money is an important factor.

No matter what the size of the Safari it is an outlay in time and money for the client. Number of animals or size of trophies can be irrelevant if one great experience or animal compensates. All my five trips to Africa (the last two hunting) have been different and left a different impression on me.

There will always be number crunchers who count off inches or heads of game. There will always be tourists and tyros and experienced bushmen looking to add to their hunting experiences.

Value for money is a perception that must be the hardest thing for an outfitter or P/H to assess and provide.

This is a very timely subject for me. In 2007 I almost decided to quit going on safari because I stressed so much about the details.

On my first 2 safaris in 1996 & '97 I was blissful and had no specific goals, just a great adventure. Then for some reason I turned into a scheduling, organizing maniac that had prescribed goals. I, definitely enjoyed myself, but the travel stress turned the "comings and goings" into a "not so enjoyable" part of the safari. I worried about everything...luggage arriving, guns arriving, SAPS, insurance, charter connections, trophy quality. All the "what ifs". I wanted to be prepared for anything and everything. Which I was, but at a high price to my enjoyment factor.

This year I'm determined to just roll with things the way I did in my early years. I will do the best preplanning I can do, but I am committed to let go of everything once we board the plane.

Thanks for posting this topic. It reminds me to relax and enjoy.

We'll see if I can really do it, D. Nelson

quote:

I worried about everything...luggage arriving, guns arriving, SAPS, insurance, charter connections, trophy quality. All the "what ifs". I wanted to be prepared for anything and everything.

I can relate to that. I've been putting a trip together for three people, and due to circumstances beyond my control, I got stuck with planning the whole thing from soup to nuts, working with my outfitter.

I am definitely concerned that things won't come off as planned, but once they close the airplane door on the first leg, I'm just going to let it go and enjoy it as much as I can.

I go on safari and love every minute of it... I enjoy all that Africa has to offer... The flora and the fauna, recognizing what one is looking at and knowing there habitat... Chasing buffalo and loving every minute of it...
Doing what I enjoy hunting and being in shape to hunt hard and long...
The antics of camp and the staff...
Yes, I look forward to making the shot, but just to be there is also fullfilling ones dreams...

Mike

For me it is both, with defined time lines.

The bussiness part is over the minute we agree on the location, animals and price.

From then on the ball is in the outfitter's hand. And as far as I am concerned, it is entirely up to him to deliver a comfortable camp, plenty of food and drink, and try his best at finding the animals we have agreed on. He has to make sure all the relative licenses are ready before I arrive, including rifle permits and hunting licenses.

I sure would not like to arrive at the airport without my rifle permit being read, nor arrive in camp and not have the hunting permit ready either.

After my hunt is over, I don't want to hear that my PH has not been paid for the hunt he conducted with me for months after wards, despite repeated requests from the PH.

That is the business part.

Once I know all the above has been taken care of, I leave home with nothing on my mind except to have fun, and enjoy everything that the safari entails.

I have been very lucky, as I have been hunting since 1982, with several outfitters and PHs, and everything has worked liked a charm.

In fact, I look forward to my next hunt before the one I am on.