I'm interested to get in touch with opportunities to participate in some culling hunts in Africa, for whatever species are allowed and wherever.

Is this possible ? Are these hunts price-wise ?

Any info is welcomed !

Tks!

Gustavo

I get the idea that some game farms are doing these on a "once-a-year" basis as needed and particularly in RSA. Or else include a couple "culls" to clients that they like and who are paying for a lot of trophy animals.

I've also seen a couple cull hunts show up at auction at recent SCI Chapter Fundraiser events. The Detroit Chapter had three such shoots included in their auction; a Namibia gemsbok cull, an RSA springbok cull, and a RSA 25 assorted animal cull shoot.

I've done this type of shooting and it's different than trophy hunting. Yes, it's tremendous shooting experience. But it requires a reverse mind set in picking out the least trophy animals to shoot. And precise, neat shooting is mandatory. If you are doing serious culling it also takes it's toll on the rifles.

If you really want to get on some fast action cull shooting, consider Australia. You really develop an appreciation for rifle set-ups that work under extreme conditions. I had one experience there where I fired over 100 shots as fast as I could, using a M700 Remington converted to use 20-shot M-14 magazines.

Matt Norman:

Yikes, that Aussie shoot sounds like fun. How did you get onto that? Was it guided or were you visiting and got invited? Costs. I wanta go......waaaahhhhhhh

I went with Bob Penfold (Hunt Australia) in 1999. Shot over 2200 rounds of .308 ammo in 4.5 days. I haven't had any contact with Bob for nearly a year, so I'm not sure what he's doing now. Some people don't like him but he did right by me and everything was delivered as promised. There are several Australian outfits that offer this type of stuff.

WOW, 2200 rounds!! I’ll bet a lot of donkeys bit the dirt. That must have been a heck of a shooting experience. I had a chance to talk to Bob and the Dallas Safari Club expo in 2001. His wife seemed nice but I was in a T-shirt and it seamed to pain him to talk to me. I have heard from several people that if you don’t have your checkbook in your hand he is not all that interested.

There is no doubt that he has got his s&#t together and offers some great hunts though. I have not heard anything negative on that end.

Good hunting.

Q,

Hey Matt that isnt bad for six donkeys!

Truthfully, tell the guys what the body count was. It was quite impressive.

[ 03-08-2003, 02:40: Message edited by: Mike Smith ]

606 donks, 4.5 days (and yes, an accurate tally was kept). It was September and getting hot so they were congregating by the water points. The biggest mob we culled out at one sitting was 67. That shooting lasted for about 15 minutes. They want no "half hunted" survivors to escape.

Donks are tough and are overbuilt. Brain about the size of a baseball in an oversize head. If you didn't hit brain or spine, they weren't going down for awhile. Per Bob Penfold, if you averaged three shots per dead donkey that was exceptional. At the first shot it turned into a real free-for-all; donks running in every direction. First shots were usually at about 125-150 yards. After that it was all the way out to 500 yards. We gave anything still wiggling a "finisher" for humane purposes, and that accounted for some of my shot total.

We were on a ranch of about 2 million acres. We made 100 mile trips each day, often cross country. There had been an estimated 30,000 donks in the area. The number taken in about 2 seasons of shooting was nearly 11,000. They increase at about 1/3 a year. There are no natural predators nor any winter kill. There is absolutely no market for the meat. They are a detriment to the cattle ranching.

I can say this about this type of shooting; you will learn more about field shooting in that short time than 25 years of big game hunting.

Matt Norman: That sounds interesting. What bullets did you use? You mentioned the brainshot, but was spine shot aimed at the neck or the body? Which one was the preferred shot, brain or spine? How about hearing protection? I know from experience, that if I was to shoot ten rounds with a .308 in one day, my hearing would be damaged permanently.

I've read that the donkeys' meat was used for making dog- and catfood, but obviously not anymore.

[ 03-09-2003, 13:50: Message edited by: LD100 ]

I saw an add for bob penfold recenly. Jim Shocky had an artile about hunting the worlds buffalo, and used bob for OZ. I think Bob Kern, books there now.
wayne

LD100,

To answer some of your questions, we used PMC factory ammo with 150 grain SP. Bob stocked that in .308 or .30-06. It would have cost cosiderably extra to have something else flown in (the distances involved in the Outback are considerable).

Brain shots were first choice on standing targets, but once it turned into a melee with running targets at 175 yards makes shoulder shots were more do-able.

This guy has a pretty good deal on a cull hunt. Check out his web page. 29 animals and air fare for one price.
http://www.luxuryhunts.com/Africa/africa_hunting_specials.htm

Maybe we could export some wyoming wolves down under for donkey control. I will check with Ed Bangs.