Has anyone ever done a single species safari in Africa? Some of the species that I like are a little expensive and I was curious if anyone has ever done one animal hunts there. Thanks.

yup - after you've gone there and done that - the remaining animals become expensive and hard to come bu so you end up with single animal safaris. In the end it might not end up that way, cause you see something bigger than the one you have, but the trip is booked as a single animal. Eles. come to mind, bongo, sitatunga, lord derby eland, mt nyala would be others.

I really like the looks of the sable and I hear roan are a beautiful animal as well but they are both a little more in cost when compared to impala or bush buck. I know the temptation would be tough but if I brought the wife it would be easier to resisit........if you know what I mean.

After you factor in the cost of daily rates and travel expenses taking more than one animal makes a lot more sense. Such as taking a lord derby or a yellow backed duiker on a bongo hunt, you have already paid for your airfare and daily rates so the extra cost of an additional trophy fee is really minimal.jj

Basicaly I am doing that next spring - doing a 10 day Leopard hunt with dogs. With that said there will be "free" time to do other things and I want to try for Sharpes Grysbok and if the Leopard part ends early maybe a Hippo.

I made a single animal trip to Zimbabwe a few years back to hunt buffalo. I wanted a good buffalo on a 7 day trip I was not pressured to kill a representative bull early on to hunt plains game.

My last trip to Zim was for a trophy Elephant and that is precisely what I got. I did shoot some other animals but they were for Hero's Day celebration and camp meat and staff rations. Consisted of several Kudu. I was happy with the safari. I'm sitting here looking at the tusks on the coffee table and remembering the shot in every detail.

In late 2004 I spent 12 days hunting the Omay area of Zimbabwe with my buddy. Our main aim was that we both hunt buffalo and and then go after Adam's cow ele. We both got our buff bulls after 10 ys, leaving little chance for Adam's ele hunt. It was my first safari after buff, so we concentrated totally on finding reasonable buff bulls at the expense of chasing other species.

The final result is that we had a GREAT buff hunt, and now I've plenty of unresolved business back in Zim that has m planning next year's safari. At this rate, I'll need to do quite a few safaris before I am satisfied!!!

Some good replies so far. I was also wondering if there were some animls you would eat and some you wouldn't. I love eating wild game and would want to try some if I were lucky enough to bag something. Right now, if I were to hunt Africa I would want to hunt sable or oryx, a tough choice for sure as I really like shoulder mounts and I think either of these would look stunning on the wall.

Last August we were on a photo safari at Mala Mala then went to Kikuyu Lodge in the eastern cape and took a black wildebeest to addd to my plains game collection. With my wife along it was a great trip. We went on the Garden Tour after to Cape Town. I was a great trip but I have to hunt buffalo next.

M70nut the very best meat I've eaten of any wild game animal in the world is that of the oryx. I feel as though they are the only animal that age does not matter to taste. I've eaten young cows as well as 14 year old bulls they were all great.
Yes they do make a stunning mount. I have a big bull done up as a shoulder mount with his neck turned hard to his right his head laid back. I get alot of compliments on the animals in my trophy room but he stands out.

The very best meat of all African antelope, IMO, comes from an eland. I've eated just about everything I've shot in Africa, including the backstraps off my lion and a loin of caracal. (Both taste like a North American mountain lion, which is good but not the best meat in the world.) I draw the line on eating jackals or any other member of the dog family.

As for a single-animal safari, I was in Pretoria on business once and spent a day collecting a Limpopo bushbuck. Does that count?

Bill Quimby

My first (and thus far only) safari was a single animal in Zimbabwe during May of 05. I went with the intention of hunting one animal and that is what I did. Of course, that lone animal was an elephant, but we are counting numbers not tonage.



Brian

Ooooops!

I hang my head in shame. Honest. I know there is no such word as "eated." I plead guilty of sloppiness, but not ignorance.

Bill Quimby

Bill Quimby,
Too much time in So. Az. causes that.

If on a plains game hunt and not on a very specialised hunt you'll have the PH/outfitter pressuring you to take a lot more than one.

I had a safari once where I had a number of animals I was only interested in, and the PH/outfitter more than once a day, pointed out he had reserved a whole bunch of animals (un-asked for BTW) on the quota and it wouldn't be his fault if we didn't take them all and I complained later. How many times does one have to say "I don't care, these are the only animals and species I am interested in!"

Because of course he would make an additional profit on every one of those animals on the quota.

I can appreciate the reasoning because of the expense of some of the higher trophy fee animals. But do you really want to quit hunting early if you succeed two days into the safari? If you don't, I suggest you negotiate with your PH for some cull hunts, bird shoots or some smaller critters for the remaining time. Set aside an extra $1000

If your PH really hunts you hard for one species for the entire safari and you don't succeed. Remember you're walking away with a big trophy fee he's not getting. Let him know ahead of time you'll make it worth his while for putting forth a concentrated effort that still results in failure.

All the PH's that served our group this year were in agreement. Knowing specifically what animals the client wants and won't shoot under any circumstances ahead of time makes for a more pleasant safari. They don't like shooters remorse either.

I told my PH ahead of time. Steenbok were strictly off limits for me. I really didn't care how good he was. Not that I have a problem with them I just really didn't want one. So of course I had an opportunity to harvest a real good one. The conversation went like this.

PH: "You sure you don't want a steenbok?"
Me: "Yep"
PH: "Then can I borrow your bow and shoot him?"
Me: "Yep"

And so he did. It was really great. If we had not talked about it ahead of time, he'd have probably lost his own opportunity while he tried to convince me to take it.

Discuss the what-ifs ahead of time and enjoy yourself.

My leopard hunt with dogs this summer was a one animal only safari. This was my third trip for leopards and I didn't want anything else to get in the way.

i went on a leopard hunt with dogs in Botswana in 2005. after arriving in camp, while sighting in my rifle the PH asked if i was interested in any plains game. i told him i would take a kudu and gemsbok if they were a good bit bigger than the ones i had shot on previous trips. he asked how big my other ones were and we pressed on. 2 hours later(3 hours after hitting camp) i had a 54" kudu in the salt. 2 days later i got my leopard in the morning and that afternoon i shot a 45" gemsbok bull that will be the new #3 in the SCI record book. DON'T CLOSE OUT YOUR OPTIONS BEFORE YOU EVEN ARRIVE!! Jerry

"Too much time in So. Az. causes that. Double Rifle Shooter's Society"

I know, that's why I spend seven months each year at my cabin at 8,700 feet in eastern Arizona. The higher elevation, cooler weather, all those pine trees and elk, deer, and bear -- and fewer illegal aliens -- do help.

Bill Quimby

Hunts for one (or only a very few animals) arise in several ways: the hunt is primarily about cats or elephants or (fill in the blank); the hunt is of very limited duration in combination with sight-seeing; or a "collecting" hunt for one or two animals.

It makes economic sense to take the maximum number of trophies you can take on a given hunt consistent with its primary objective(s). However, expecting too much on a cat or elephant hunt is building in disappointment. On these types of hunt, you need to "take care of business" and then take any secondary species that you want and have time to hunt.

Trophy feels pale in terms of travel costs or DG daily rates. Save another year before you go, or put the air and travel on the credit card and pay it off next year, and shoot what you want while you are there (within economic reason.) Kudude

The other night I got to talking with the wife about going to Africa and was quite surprised when she said she was all for it. She has been wanting to fly fish for bone fish for as long as I have known her and this could be an opportunity for us to accomplish both our dreams. I am still thinking about hunting either sable or oryx, maybe both if I can swing it. How far out in advance can one book a hunt in Africa?

Take your wife. You will not regret it. Mine has been twice and she is more excited about going back a third time, than I am about my fifth time back.

She wouldn't let me go without her!

Yes, I have done it with buffalo, which is my favourite game animal.

If there is remaining hunting time and a chance to hunt some antelope (kudu, hartebeerst, impala...), I will normally do it, but I do not view this as strictly necessary...

Antonio

I never go for more than two animals. I hunted for an Oryx and a Kudu a few years ago. They pointed out a very nice Nyala, and I admired it, but I'm good at sticking to a budget.

This year I went for a buffalo. When they showed me the quota that went with it. (They called the hunt buffalo / plains game.) I told them I might take a a warthog, but nothing else interested me. I had previously told them, long before I got to Africa, not to waste my time hunting for plains game because I didn't intend to pull the trigger. I took the buffalo and the warthog and I'm happy. I don't shoot anything just to watch it die.

If I keep a grip on trophy fees I figure I can go on more hunts.

Another good reason to bring the wife, she will help me stick to the budget!

M70nut,

I personally think to spend your money on airfare, daily rates etc for you and your wife and then only target one animal is not good econimics. Take a short 7-10 hunt for several of the more common species on your first safari and you'll be happy. Later on when you decide that the real expensive stuff as butchloc suggested is important that is the time to focus on one animal.

Mark

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated but I really have no interest in going to Africa just to shoot a bunch of plainsgame just to say I did it. Most peple that go on safari to Africa do just what you are talking about and thats fine but I want something a little different. I'm not interested in DG game, at leats not at this time, I have all the dangerous game I can want right here in Alaska. I have 1 or 2 select animals in mind and I would be perfectly happy with either or both of them. There are also some other things I would like to do while I am there, like seeing one of the big preserves and taking my wife to the coast to fish for bonefish, i've heard that there's tremendous bonefishing there too. This might be the only time I ever get to go to Africa and I want to see as much as I can while I am there plus I can always capture a lot of those plains game on camera too. No offense intended to any and again, thanks for the advice and please, keep it coming!

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
M70nut,

I personally think to spend your money on airfare, daily rates etc for you and your wife and then only target one animal is not good econimics. Take a short 7-10 hunt for several of the more common species on your first safari and you'll be happy. Later on when you decide that the real expensive stuff as butchloc suggested is important that is the time to focus on one animal.

Mark

thats sound advice, going to africa to shoot a $2500 sable makes no sense, the economics just dont wotk, A Bongo is a different story,

what needs to be determined is WHAT do you want to shoot? then back into economics and see if it makes sense. until you figure out what it is you want to hunt the rest is just noise.

Dear M70Nut,

I have a suggestion for you. Why don't you join me and some of your fellow hunters at the One Shot Hunt Club event in Limpopo, RSA. Go to www.oneshot-huntclubsa.com for all the info. We have a charity competition hunt for impala on a 40,000 acre game ranch. You get 4 days and three nights with all meals and the hunt for $ 700. The money we raise goes for school supplies that we deliver while there. The area is close to Kruger Park and not to far from bonefishing on the coast. We also auction off single aminal hunts like a gemsbuck that can be hunted while there. You can get a great intro to African hunting for a very reasonable price, plus have access to nearby parks/fishing and up close photo opportunities.
You can catch a ride with me from the Afton House to the resort. Hope to see you there.


You can borrow money, but you can't borrow time. Go Now!

Just a word on Fly fishing for Bonefish in SA.

Very specialized, and you will need a first rate guide. Also confined to a very small part of the Northern Natal coast, where you can actually fly fish for them (in SA).

Read your PM, I have something in mind, and we do specialised fly fishing trips as well.

quote:

Originally posted by LV Eric:

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
M70nut,

I personally think to spend your money on airfare, daily rates etc for you and your wife and then only target one animal is not good econimics. Take a short 7-10 hunt for several of the more common species on your first safari and you'll be happy. Later on when you decide that the real expensive stuff as butchloc suggested is important that is the time to focus on one animal.

Mark

thats sound advice, going to africa to shoot a $2500 sable makes no sense, the economics just dont wotk, A Bongo is a different story,

what needs to be determined is WHAT do you want to shoot? then back into economics and see if it makes sense. until you figure out what it is you want to hunt the rest is just noise.

I don't want to "shoot" anything, I want to "hunt" sable and/or oryx. If your offended by my "noise" then don't read or reply to my post. Thanks.

The whole idea of safari is to have a wonderful, enjoyable and safe experience. It is your trip. Screw the economics and hunt what ever makes you tick whether it is one animal or a dozen.

My last five safaris have been for PAC or tuskless elephants. There was always a quota of some plains game available. Except for shooting a buff bull that savaged a local youth I never pulled the trigger on another animal. I didn't want to take any time away from hunting elephant.

465H&H

You might consider a couple of single-species hunts chained together. I did esentially that on my first hunting trip. Hunted specifically for Bushbuck along the Limpopo River in South Africa, hunted another area in South Africa specifically for Kudu, and then went to Tanzania for Buffalo. The airfare was booked to Tanzania, and the stay in South Africa did not add any cost for airfare, because there was a change of planes anyway.