The first time I met Roy Vincent and Doug Carlisle at SCI I had a good feeling of respect for them. I felt much better about booking with someone I could talk to face to face. Is it just me or does everyone evaluate a potential PH while chatting and hearing stories at SCI or DSC.

I have always done this. I think it is an excellent idea.

I met my PH at the Outdoor Sportsmen's Show in L.A. last January and had a "good feeling" about him and his company. Of course, having said that, I'll admit my safari's not until the end of September. I've done some homework on him and his company since then and all reviews are excellent. Referring to another thread (Big VS Small operations) his is a smallto mid-sized operation.
I consider myself as a pretty good snap-judge of character, but since joining AR I'm constantly reassessing that!

I never met any of the PH that I had the pleasure of hunting with.

But, with a nose as big as mine, I can tell those I should avoid

I never met any of the one's I've hunted with before hand. Some of them I've met, I will never hunt with though.

I met John Sharp at the SCI convention in Reno. I was so impressed with him that I booked a Zim hunt
50 days and counting) & a lion hunt in Zambia for next year!.

Prior to hunting with Pierr'e Van Tonder in 2004, he came to Southeast Georgia and I was able to take him wild hog hunting. We had dinner two evenings in a row, and became good friends. When I got off the plane in Johanessburg last May, it seemed like I was visiting a member of my family. As a result, I had a great trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I never met any of the PH that I had the pleasure of hunting with.

But, with a nose as big as mine, I can tell those I should avoid

Saeed, would you have been able to book if they had meet YOU in advance

Not if Walter was there also.

Before I booked and hunted with Mark Sullivan the first time, I got on a plane, flew down to Phoenix, and met with him face-to-face. It was a good meeting that was worth investing the time in. It paid off, and some ten years later, we're still friends and we'll be on safari together this season, once again.

I also met with John Sharp at SCI before I ever booked with him. That was another good move, and Sharp's certainly proven to be one of the top PHs I've ever hunted with, and I refer others to him to this day.

But I've also hunted with some great PHs that I never had the chance to meet face-to-face until I arrived in Africa, and I still enjoyed great safaris that were extremely successful. The secret is to book with well-known, established safari operators that have top reputations. That's the real long and short of it........

AD

Is it true that Mr. Sharp doesn't wear a shirt while hunting?


Does your wife find that distracting?

Never met any of them prior to the hunt.

500 grs., my wife sees John as the free spirit that he is, and he's been very gracious to her. She's good at rolling with the punches!

AD

Saeed, would you have been able to book if they had meet YOU in advance

Probably not, but I grow on people

500gr: Yes he hunts w/o a shirt on when the weather is hot. Like Allen says, he is a free-spirit, a true gentleman and yes I met him at CI with Allen prior to booking with him. He's been a genuine pleasure to work with, and nothing but the epitome of correctness in dealing with my wife. We leave in 12 days to hunt with him. jorge

jorge and allen,

Thanks for the comments. Actually I was inquiring whether any wives showed excessive interest in the PH, rather than the other way around.

quote:

Originally posted by jorge:
500gr: Yes he hunts w/o a shirt on when the weather is hot. Like Allen says, he is a free-spirit, a true gentleman and yes I met him at CI with Allen prior to booking with him. He's been a genuine pleasure to work with, and nothing but the epitome of correctness in dealing with my wife. We leave in 12 days to hunt with him. jorge

Jorge, good luck on your hunt and thanks for all your help! I'm 1 month behind you.

My pleasure Steve, I always look forward to your phone calls and only you, Allen and Craig B know what 300 I'll be taking.... jorge

I have hunted with 5 different P.H.s of which two I had meet beforehand.Of those two one has become a very good friend.The other is a snake bastard.I have meet many other P.H.s that all come off as some one that you could see yourself hunting with. Meeting a P.H. on your home ground at a convention,over dinner or drinks really is no indication what waits for you elsewhere.

jorge!

Good luck and have a great hunt. We will all be looking forward to hearing your report Take along plenty of deep woods off the deet really works for tetsee flys as well mossies!

CHEERS!
465H&H

Made my first trip to Africa with with John Sharp in 2002. Had not met him in person before seeing him standing outside the terminal at the Bulawayo airport. He and I traded many emails and phones calls plus the extremely strong endorsements from ALL the people I contacted who had hunted with John convinced me he was the guy. (thanks especially to Allen and Jorge here at AR for their help ) Needless to say the trip was fantastic.

Jorge - have a great trip - I'm sure you will - and say hello to John for us.

Baboon,
On the contrary although first impressions arent always correct of all the ph's that impressed me in person as being sincere were as it turned out. Since my first SCI show in 1994 I have talked with the same outfitters time and time again. Those that dont rush you and always answer your questions seem to be the ones to consider booking with.

gunny,

I agree with you it is very important to me to meet and get to know whomever I am going to hunt with, why take the chance of ending up with someone who you really don't like. Sure he could turn out bad but that has not happened in my case, plus I feel you have a head start to a great safari by developing a relationship before you go.

CFA

I've never had the possibility to meet the PH's I've used beforehand, and have had both good and bad experiances.

Therefore I now invested a lot of time on the phone (and lots of e-mails), before booking for this years hunt. The phone time was definatly worth it.

Thanks Phil, I'll have a full report when I get back. 11 days! jorge

jorge!

Asking a poll question on AR and then not telling us which rifle you will be taking is grounds for Saeed to ban you from AR. I will be sending him my request for your banishment from this forum.

465H&H

rut-roh! guess I better "fess up" but I have until next Monday don't I? jorge

But we want to know now!!!