Editorial: Donation Hunts
Since I can remember, many outfitters in Africa have been unhappy with the Donation Hunt concept. PH Associations in Africa have lobbied the big US hunting clubs for minimum standards and rules but nothing’s really worked. Donation hunts are here for good. However, if both parties know what they are getting into, it can work really well.

It can be great way to promote your operation and it is a way to raise money. And with Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, SCI, nearly 200 SCI chapters, DSC, DSC’s Chapters, Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain, Wild Sheep (that’s not even all the hunting industry has to offer), there are loads of places for outfitters to offer hunts. Then there are all sorts of school, community, and a gazillion other associations all trying to raise funds where hunts are offered.

Some outfitters donate 50 or more hunts annually. It’s their marketing strategy – and for them, it works.

All I ask is that you, as hunters, know exactly you are buying. Not only with the hunt but during and after the hunt. Otherwise, there can be a misunderstanding and your experience could be compromised.

The outfitter is:

Showcasing his safari operation, at the very least. That way your experience and word-of-mouth promotion is going to help for years to come, assuming you had a great experience.
Hoping you hunt more than what you bought, so he can make some money on the other game. If you are just buying the accommodation, check the price of his game.
Earlier this year, a hunter in Nashville came to me at our booth at the convention to complain about one of our Africa Dawn members – said I should remove them. I asked him to give me the facts from his side so I can look into it – because we have removed members over the years – but he didn’t supply anything. A few months on, this same gent was at Afton, in the midst of a 5 hunt, (yes 5) back-to-back safaris all with donations he had bought, proudly, for pennies in the dollar. A professional donation-hunt buyer.

I saw first-hand how difficult he was. Nothing could please him. He was with another Africa Dawn Member this time, and this time, I got the story from the other side. Difficult, difficult, difficult. Left ZERO gratuity for anyone and moaned throughout his hunt. At Afton, he did the same. We’re in the middle of winter and I asked, “Chuck,” let’s call him Chuck, “did you sleep well?” “No, I was so too hot!” What? Did you not take the duvet off then, Chuck? Complaining comes naturally and the hunting forums were made for these folk. They complain about an outfitter and their one-sided experience has no right of reply from the outfitter – and that contributes to what people think. It’s wrong.

On the outfitter side – here’s something I found out recently:

There is one (well-known) outfitter in the Eastern Cape (with a base in Namibia as well) that offers free hunts at the major shows. Currently he offers a safari for ONE EURO. I kid you not. Unsuspecting hunters take up this offer, not seeing the fine print. And here it is.

He forces you to use his own in-house taxidermy operation. Forcing may be too strong a word because you can Dip & Pack the trophies and export them if you want to have them mounted abroad. But if you want them mounted in South Africa – with a taxidermist of your choice – well, sorry for you. He does not offer a salt pit, a place to keep skinned and salted hides for another taxidermist to collect. And if you want to use your own taxidermist of choice, you’ll have to pay him to do the Dip & Pack regardless, which is a complete waste. If there is going to be the full processing and mounting done in a South African taxidermy shop, why do you need to pay an additional Dip & Pack fee on each animal?

Subtle – but an effective business model for him if you like being held hostage.

Every now and then, my inbox has just the best mail. Thank you Piet van Rooyen for sending this month’s wonderful hero pic from beautiful Namibia of Mountain Zebra on a mountain. Does not get much better than this.

Until next month.

Richard Lendrum

Good editorial, pretty accurate, too. I've bought quite a few donated hunts, at several different organizations fundraisers (mostly DSC) and have had only one bad experience, which happened in the Limpopo at an oufit that was in the process of going out of business. Partly my fault for not doing due diligence.
I hope donated hunts are here to stay as this seems to be the least inexpensive way for a hunter to experience Africa for the first of hopefully many hunts.
I know a couple of guys much like the one described, buy up lots of donated hunts as cheap as possible and then bitch about the outfitter, the camp, their PH, the trackers, the lack of game, etc., but they will buy a couple more donated hunts come the next convention season. Always going to be that sort of person, but on the other hand, I know quite a few more guys that believe in supporting these organizations and bid in excess of the stated and (very often inflated) value of a hunt, and some of these guys even donate hunts.
As Richard mentioned, there are a few outfitters who donate cheap ass hunts and then try to beat every nickle they can out of the donation buyer with ridiculous fees for almost everything imaginable (soft drinks, liquor, set gratuities, etc.) and there are a lot more outfitters that go way above the terms of their donation. I currently have two hunts that were donation hunts bought before the covid fiasco, both outfitters are still honoring their donation several years after the donation, which to be honest sort of surprises me.

I agree with K. Evans that this is a good editorial.

I thought about a donation or auction hunt for my first trip and then decided against it because I wanted to be able to specify exactly what I wanted. For a follow-up trip, I can seeing bidding on a donation hunt.

It is all about going into the auction with your eyes open, doing your due diligence, and appreciating the donation to the organization.

Similarly, when I was deciding on my hunt next year, I had proposals that had low day rates but higher per animal trophy fees. Conversely, some outfitters had higher day rates but lower trophy fees. It is all about doing your math, understanding what you are getting, and hopefully having the time of your life.

who in the hell in the east cape are you talk about. With those details it would be good to tell everyone so they dont get burned.

Agree. Truth is the best preventative medicine for unsuspecting hunters.

Donated hunts are the lifeblood of SCI and DSC. You, as buyer must do due diligence though.

The first African hunt I ever went on was a donated hunt. The Matetsi Research Office donated the animals and Rosslyn Safaris donated the camp, crew & PH. It wasn’t an auction or bid situation, they needed a specific computer system and would give whoever bought them what they specified, a 21-day full bag hunt. The only animal not included was a lion, unless I cared to extend to 28-days.

I ended up hunting 24 days with Roy Vincent on Deka in 1983. Still, to this day, it was the best hunt of my life. I Should have extended to 28-days. If I had the first game animal I’d have shot in Africa would have been an old, heavy maned lion we saw in the first couple hours of my hunt.

It was a pretty grand experience for a 24-year old kid!

I've been to a few banquets where donated hunts to Africa were auctioned. All were short duration, 5 day hunts that included a few less expensive animals like Impala and Blesbok. In every instance I asked to see a list of the outfitters trophy fees for other animals and daily rates since I planned on adding extra days. It was never available. That caused me to pass on bidding.

quote:

A few months on, this same gent was at Afton, in the midst of a 5 hunt, (yes 5) back-to-back safaris all with donations he had bought, proudly, for pennies in the dollar. A professional donation-hunt buyer.

This above is ridiculous.

I am not a fan of donated hunts as all it does is conflict with the expectations of both parties. The hunter might have no money and not want to "buy" anything additional. The Outfitter is likely expecting that through their kind donation, the hunter should buy more animals. Who is correct?

Personally, I believe that "donated" hunts should be for first-time hunters. Those that have been to Africa many times and search out "bargains" are likely not the clients the Outfitter wants. Maybe I am incorrect in this thinking.

My first trip to Africa was a "Donated" hunt. This was years ago and when I arrived, I planned to spend an additional $6,000. After I left, I believe the amount about tripled. Of course, the outfitter wanted me to spend more and I do not blame him.

I think that organizations that solicit the Outfitter to donate to these types of hunts end up doing a lot of harm, to both parties, in my opinion. Maybe I am wrong.

I still keep in contact with this Outfitter after all of these years and he often discusses his operation. Years back, he had a client that had hunted with him on more than one occasion. This client would find out where this Outfitter was "donating" hunts and then go bid on them and try to buy them. I find this odd.......

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
The first African hunt I ever went on was a donated hunt. The Matetsi Research Office donated the animals and Rosslyn Safaris donated the camp, crew & PH. It wasn’t an auction or bid situation, they needed a specific computer system and would give whoever bought them what they specified, a 21-day full bag hunt. The only animal not included was a lion, unless I cared to extend to 28-days.

I ended up hunting 24 days with Roy Vincent on Deka in 1983. Still, to this day, it was the best hunt of my life. I Should have extended to 28-days. If I had the first game animal I’d have shot in Africa would have been an old, heavy maned lion we saw in the first couple hours of my hunt.

It was a pretty grand experience for a 24-year old kid!

And immediately after you Roy had me.

Poor sod he has been suffering us ever since!

I have had a few donated hunts including one in Africa. I upgraded to add more time and game and had a great safari. Due diligence was done beforehand and there were no surprises.

I had a great experience with a donated cape buffalo hunt in the APNR. I added a croc and giraffe and brought a friend who hunted buff and hyena and some plains game. Everyone won and I am going back next week for buff in Lataba and a lion with the same outfitter. my friend has been back with him 3 times

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
The first African hunt I ever went on was a donated hunt. The Matetsi Research Office donated the animals and Rosslyn Safaris donated the camp, crew & PH. It wasn’t an auction or bid situation, they needed a specific computer system and would give whoever bought them what they specified, a 21-day full bag hunt. The only animal not included was a lion, unless I cared to extend to 28-days.

I ended up hunting 24 days with Roy Vincent on Deka in 1983. Still, to this day, it was the best hunt of my life. I Should have extended to 28-days. If I had the first game animal I’d have shot in Africa would have been an old, heavy maned lion we saw in the first couple hours of my hunt.

It was a pretty grand experience for a 24-year old kid!

And immediately after you Roy had me.

Poor sod he has been suffering us ever since!

Roy is a slow learner!

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by DLS:
The first African hunt I ever went on was a donated hunt. The Matetsi Research Office donated the animals and Rosslyn Safaris donated the camp, crew & PH. It wasn’t an auction or bid situation, they needed a specific computer system and would give whoever bought them what they specified, a 21-day full bag hunt. The only animal not included was a lion, unless I cared to extend to 28-days.

I ended up hunting 24 days with Roy Vincent on Deka in 1983. Still, to this day, it was the best hunt of my life. I Should have extended to 28-days. If I had the first game animal I’d have shot in Africa would have been an old, heavy maned lion we saw in the first couple hours of my hunt.

It was a pretty grand experience for a 24-year old kid!

And immediately after you Roy had me.

Poor sod he has been suffering us ever since!

Roy is a slow learner!

Possibly every year at the Tanz PH Association annual meeting, Roy offers this as a donated hunt... and no PH's offer to take it up.
You end up with Saeed and Walter as the hunters....

My first African hunt was an auction purchase. I am pretty sure I would not have been so soon at that point in my life. The price was ridiculously cheap, but added my father, days, and animals.

I also found AR in order to prepare and learn.

On the flip side, I work for an Argentine wing shooting operation. Not just as a booking agent, but actually on the ground doing whatever is needed. I spent a total of three months there last year.

In a given year, we donate what may equal $100k to the various organizations. Our business model is a little different, as our donations cover up to 20 hunters. Shells are obviously extra cost.

It is hard to compare the auction client to the regular paying clients. Assholes are assholes, and good guys are good guys. Some guys that get to “tag along” can be the greatest and become repeat clients later. Some “famous rich cats” make you cringe when they are on the calendar.

My first African hunt was a donation hunt. I had a great time and went back for more.

I thought this morning about a donated hunt I bought from an SCI chapter event. The hunt was a bird hunt at a very nice hunting resort for two hunters. I invited the guy that had facilitated the donation to be the second hunter!We had a great time, shot lots of birds and both the chapter and the resort made money.

My first safari was a SCI donation in 1996. Lighted the fire and 17 safaris later, it still burns.

Have you seen ads on Guns International from JD OUTFITTERS, free safari with every gun purchase!! 5day 3 species with Kuche Safaris, SA!!

Go figure!!

I bought one of these donated hunts at a P&Y convention. I knew the outfitter, and knew his price sheet. I figured with daily rates and the cheap animals offered it was worth around $2500. I got it for $800. Then I added two days to the 7 day package, and shot an additional 8 animals at their trophy fees.

I had a great time.

Couple years later I wanted to pull the trigger on a Spanish ibex hunt at auction at P&Y, but there was a lot of grey area, and the outfitter wasn't there, and I was afraid of hidden costs. So even though the auction price was insanely low, I passed it up. Probably a good thing.

I think they can be alright if you know what you're getting into. . .