Jdollar,
You are correct about the Delta flights. I was wrong. I did check Deltas schedule two months ago and it did not show a daily flight on Sunday or Wednesday. I do not know if this is due to Deltas problems or to ATLs issues. I also know that over the past year they have not consistently adhered to their 331 day standard. If I offended you, I apologies. This is one of the reasons why Doug takes care of my flights for me.
As for the quote you posted, these are not my words. Most of the issues I have had were with Agents/Salesmen talking hunts that they did not know themselves. False promises and expectations. In my naive, misspent youth I believed many of these guys. All but one of them is out of business and half for over twenty years. My first guided hunt was booked thru an agent 30 plus years ago and the dozen or so hunts that fell short of expectations were not “messed up hunts†as sevenmagltd posted. They were just “not so great hunts or hunts I was blantly mislead about†as I wrote. I have been on over fifty hunts and the Agent assisted ones are just a small percentage.
I am sure I do not know sevenmagltd and I do not know his motivation to personally attack me and my family, but it was not honest. I am most assuredly the smallest agent on AR and I generally do not advertise except locally. I only have one outfitter so I made it one of the best and any slam against me or him is unfounded.

Earl, the motivation to respond was based on your first post where you bad mouthed numerous folks to make yourself sound like an expert then turned around and said you had been on a dozen bad hunts. My post was simply an observation of your intial post. FYI,If you will go back and read my post, nowhere did I mention your family.
When you start bad mouthing classes of people on this forum you better be able to swallow their responses. Get over it and move on.

Sevenmagltd,
The only class of people I knocked was bad agent practices. They hurt our industry and all of us agents, from the biggest to quaint outfits like mine feel it. And no, I was not referring to anyone on AR., Period. Neither was I trying to make myself sound like an expert at the expense of others and despite your insistence, I have never been on a bad hunt. Can we call this matter settled and move on?

I would be happy to see this thread moved back to the topic. I have stated my present position as far as my planning and future booking of my personal hunt in Namibia.

It has been an interesting information search.

I started assuming I would end up hunting RSA and now have moved on to Namibia. I have found an outfitter (family owned and run with the PH being the husband) that exactly fits the criteria I had in mind at the start.

I read posts that suggested I should get a booking agent so I would have a representative here in the USA to protect my interests from potential problems that could occur across the world from where I live. That certainly makes sense when you think about it.

So far in my research of booking agents I have found that I may need someone else to protect me from the actions of particular booking agents. Apparently some may protect their own interests more than their clients. I’m sure this is a very small percentage and I trust I could ferret out those worthwhile of my attention

I think at this point, rather than spending the time researching a whole other layer of representation and since I am confident I have found what I want in a location and outfitter, I don’t think I will involve a booking agent in this hunt.

That is not to say I will not use the services of a well researched and highly regarded booking agent in the future for other hunts. I will be as careful in that choice as I have been in the choice of the outfitter in Namibia.

I would like to thank all that have offered information and help to this point and all those that will be answering questions I run into in the future.

If anyone else cares to offer a tidbit I have not thought of please feel free to chime in.

Thanks
Jim

I called Gracy Air today and everything that has been said in praise on this board is accurate.

It seems if I use mileage the fee is $300 for all booking, paperwork, updates and tracking. I would call that well worth it.

One thing you should be aware of if you use milage for tickets to Africa. If you want to come back earlier or later than your scheduled date you will have to pay the full fare for a return ticket.

465H&H

quote:

Originally posted by 465H&H:
One thing you should be aware of if you use milage for tickets to Africa. If you want to come back earlier or later than your scheduled date you will have to pay the full fare for a return ticket.

465H&H

Thanks for the tip.

Jim,
Sounds like you are on the way to a great Safari. You will need to visit customs well in advance and get one of these. http://forms.cbp.gov/pdf/CBP_Form_4457.pdf Best of luck and post some pics when you get back.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Earl:
Jim,
Sounds like you are on the way to a great Safari. You will need to visit customs well in advance and get one of these. http://forms.cbp.gov/pdf/CBP_Form_4457.pdf Best of luck and post some pics when you get back.

Thanks,

I already had a copy. Seems the hardest part at this point is waiting for 2010 to arrive.

I went back and re-read every post in this thread that I started the beginning of March. It's been an interesting "journey" up to this point. I am still booking with the folks in Namibia but I am also looking at Buffalo in Zim to coincide with the timing. There's also been a few other twists I won't go into.

It's been fun researching this. The hardest part is waiting until 2010 but booking that far ahead has given me ample time to have this trip evolve into something greater than I first anticipated.

Frostbit
Just as a heads up. I have recently started advertising. Within a few weeks of putting our name out there I have been contacted by a host of shady characters with no background claiming to be booking agents. I always respond with a request for a company mission statement and list of current clients and never seem to get a reply.
I think if it were up to me I would go with the guys out here on the forums who expose themselves here completely.

That said, in your case with your level of research you are almost 100% safe and should make your decisions based on that. Worst case you always have the Professional Hunters Association in the country to help you if anything should go wrong in the host country.
Good luck
Ian

quote:

Originally posted by Vlam:
Frostbit
Just as a heads up. I have recently started advertising. Within a few weeks of putting our name out there I have been contacted by a host of shady characters with no background claiming to be booking agents. I always respond with a request for a company mission statement and list of current clients and never seem to get a reply.
I think if it were up to me I would go with the guys out here on the forums who expose themselves here completely.

That said, in your case with your level of research you are almost 100% safe and should make your decisions based on that. Worst case you always have the Professional Hunters Association in the country to help you if anything should go wrong in the host country.
Good luck
Ian

I got a PM on here from someone with only two posts offering to book the Zim hunt. My radar went off on that one.

The person has not replied to my reply so I would imagine they are perhaps on your "list".

I'm very confortable with the Namibia folks. I have talked with about a dozen people who have hunted with them and about 5 hunters who hunted with the PH in countries other then Namibia for dangerous game. All reports are excellent.

I haven't read all of the posts. However, I thought I would comment.

I just got back this afternoon from a few days in Zim. At 3:45 in the morning on the second day, I was woken up and advised that my remaining hunt was cancelled. I got on the phone with the booking agent. He got it resolved.

The good booking agents know the areas and the ins and out of the local areas. Personally, I wouldn't book without one.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I haven't read all of the posts. However, I thought I would comment.

I just got back this afternoon from a few days in Zim. At 3:45 in the morning on the second day, I was woken up and advised that my remaining hunt was cancelled. I got on the phone with the booking agent. He got it resolved.

The good booking agents know the areas and the ins and out of the local areas. Personally, I wouldn't book without one.

So you finished your hunt at the same location? Must have felt "strained".

Long story.

Every time I do it myself a problem develops. I did my own arrangements with a lovely couple hunting in SA. By the time my hunt rolled around they were in the process of a divorce and a battle over property rights. I have had several hunts adjusted due to circumstance changes by my booking agent of choice and things worked out. There have been major fires in the Matetsi area of Zimbabwe affecting hunting. I know a good booking agent would have alerted you but had you handled it yourself what would you do. The use of a good booking agent is the best bargain you can find in African hunting and no I'm not an agent! Not using one reminds me of the old saying about a lawyer representing himself.

The operative word is "good" or "honest" booking agent.

There are many out there and several post on this forum. Do your homework and you should be fine.

Hey Big Earl,
Tell me what species and what unit in AZ your trying for? BTW we use a bonus point not preference point system here. I may have some advice on how to increase your odds. Im not an outfitter or agent, I just cant get draw here for nothin either.
Steve

Frostbit
I think you are doing exactly what you should be doing. And that is research. when someone spends the kind of $ we are on hunting in Africa, time and devotion are required. yes, I am a booking agent for very select areas and do not try to impress people otherwise. If I have a client that comes to me or asks about a particluar area that I dont have experience in or knowledge of, I simply refer them to someone that I know and I trust, that has that expertise. And yes, most are small 2 man operations, and some are bigger. But like I said, research is key not only for the hunting area but for the right outfit that will handle your needs and put your needs first. I will be the first to tell that I think Wendall is one of the best. I have seen him first hand in Africa hunting with clients and looking after them, he would put your needs first as would I. Some I would prefer to not even associate with. But your are doing the right thing and if you feel comfortable with it, then thats all that matters!

BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR HUNT!

Wendell- You would not recall me, but we met at last years SCI Show in Reno. Do you restrict your bookings only to the outfitters you work with regularly? Or, will you try to arrange something with an outfitter which a prospective client might want to use? For example: a prospect learns, or has a recommendation, which he checks out and wants to use. What is the general practice of booking agents in such cases?

Frostbit- Last year I had a wonderful hunt with Gerd Liedtke, Okandura Nord near Karibib, Namibia. Took 58" Kudu, 15" Springbok, vey nice Mtn Zebra stallion and Oryx. Messed up the stalk on great steinbok. Other game available but I was not interested. I did not use booking agent for this hunt. Like you I did my own research, narrowing down to four outfitters. Checked out all references and and finally decided on one and was not disappointed. I must say that I was impressed by each one and the final choice was not easy. I used Gracy Travel for air trans and would again. I am retired so I had plenty of time to research. The whole point is ; you can do it yourself. And, you do not have to pay high fees; my hunt was very affordable. When doing my research I found a wide range in fees. Having said this, there are risks which have been amply reported here. Namibia is a very stable West African country with a very well developed and organized professional hunting industry. However, my experience does not mean that everyone will have the same result. If you are doing it yourself know what the pitfalls are and protect youself as best you can. You have to decide if this is best for you. There are some African areas that I would definitely want to rely on a booking agent. I have had both good and bad experiences with booking agents. I think it depends on what you are going after, where, whether you have the time, inclination and skill to research and develop the trip yourself. As for bookimg agents, this you also have to do a lot of research and develop trust- and use your gut instict. Most of the booking agents here seem to be very ethical guys and I would start with them if that was the route I decided upon.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Just so you know Earl, Mark IS a booking agent.

So is Wendell Reich. I've had very good luck with him. Everything was as promised.

I have great respect for the booking agents who post here and put the names of their companies behind each post. That said, I did my own due diligence and booked with Karl S. on my own for my first African hunt.

Why? Karl was prompt with references and they all fully supported him. He has a great rep here on AR. And, finally, he seems like a great chap to give my wife a life memory of her first hunt.

I would do a search on this site for reports on hunts that didn't go so good and see what the response from the booking agent was. Some will really open your eyes. On my first safari a couple years ago I used a booking agent and other than hold the money didn't really do much. I got more information off this site but there was still a few thigs that it would have been nice to know. I plan to go back in a couple years to Zim or Tanzania, I probably won't use a booking agent next time.