I have never been anywhere to hunt and I want to actually experience that thrill of an African Hunt. I really want to do a multiple hunt for the common trophies, but want to do it at a low cost. I don't make much money and can't afford a first class hunt.

Does anyone know of a good way to get a good hunt at a cheap price?

MT-
you can find some good deals on South African (referred to as SA or RSA) plains game hunts which are very reasonable; also Namibia. Do your homework and try to filter out all the bullshit you read on AR and only pay attention to the good stuff (about 5-10% IMO).
Good Luck.
DAve

Check out http://www.tonydacosta.com but do it fast, Tony and Sylvia are retiring the end of this year. I've hunted with Tony twice and have been very pleased with the concessions, game and professional hunters. Good luck in making it happen!

That would depend on what you consider as cheap. I'd be wary to book with an outfitter that offers "cheap" hunts as those who do often don't live up to the expectations. The hardest part of hunting in Africa is getting there but once you get there you want to be sure that you aren't disappointed with the services, ammeneties, game quantities etc. The most affordable way to hunt would be to find someone who'd like to hunt with you and book a 2 X 1 hunt with a reputable outfitter. Feel free to contact me directly and I'll see what I can do for you: chris@rifleandreel.com

RifleandReel


Question - - Why the huge difference in trophy fees,
example: Cape Buffalo $3,650.00 to $10,000.00

quote:

Originally posted by Widowmaker416:
RifleandReel


Question - - Why the huge difference in trophy fees,
example: Cape Buffalo $3,650.00 to $10,000.00

Widowmaker,

I copied and pasted this from the FAQ section of his web site.

Why do the trophy fees for Cape Buffalo vary so much?

Hunting Buffalo in South Africa is generally more expensive than in other African countries. The biggest reason for this is that hunting is (for the most part) not allowed on government land in South Africa and the majority of hunting is therefore conducted on privately owned land. On the upside, South Africa has a very good infrastructure - offering many attractions other than hunting - and it is possible to travel by road to most of the hunting areas where Buffalo are available. Although trophy prices for Buffalo in other African countries may be less expensive, the cost of air charters to these hunting areas need to be added to the trophy prices. This substantially increases the total cost of the safari.

"Unfortunately, much the same way life is, in hunting there are no bargains to be had. The best concessions are held by the best outfitters, who in turn attract the best professional hunters. The strong demand for these top-hunting areas, coupled with their relatively short supply, dictate that they are the most expensive. It is only through bitter personal experience that one learns that it is only the very rich who can afford to book cheap trophy hunts!"---Peter Flack

quote:

Originally posted by MThuntr:
I have never been anywhere to hunt and I want to actually experience that thrill of an African Hunt. I really want to do a multiple hunt for the common trophies, but want to do it at a low cost. I don't make much money and can't afford a first class hunt.

Does anyone know of a good way to get a good hunt at a cheap price?

Namibia and RSA are less expensive but - you get what you pay for. THere is no "good cheap hunt" out there just like there is no such thing as a good cheap used car.

You are always better off paying a little too much and getting what you expect rather than paying too little and getting less.

RhSim sums it up quite accurately. But let me explain a bit more about the varying trophy costs:

There are some exceptions but most of the Cape Buff that are available for hunting in SA are on privately owned land. In other words, they are bred and kept on private land and either sold for hunting directly to foreign clients (if the landowner is also a registered outfitter) or are sold to outfitters who in turn advertise hunts for these animals to hunting clients. The exception to this are the few outfitters that have hunting rights in national parks and game reserves. Because buffalo is such a sought-after species and because South Africa is an ideal travel destination due to its excellent infrastructure when compared to other African countries such as Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique etc, trophy fees for buffalo have sky-rocketed in recent years. For this reason, you can expect to pay between $9,000 and $12,000 in trophy fees and add to that your daily rates (usually minimum 5 days) of between $550.00 and $1,000 per day.

In Mozambique for example, trophy fees might be as little as $2,500 per animal and 5 day Buffalo hunting packages are sold from $6,500 upwards (excluding hunting licenses and firearm importation fees). But if you're going to use a SA-based outfitter, you would typically fly out of SA to Mozambique by air charter which would add another $4,000 - $5,000 to the cost of the hunt so you'd be in for a total cost of anything between $11,500 and $14,000. Although you might be able to get away cheaper when hunting in other African countries, you need to consider that the fixed cost associated to air charters etc. is not refundable. So if you end up not getting (finding) the animal you were looking at getting during your hunt in another African country you might end up saving on the trophy fees but your fixed costs (which is not refundable0) are the major expense.

If on the other hand you opted to hunt in South Africa and ended up not getting your trophy animal, you'll only pay your daily rates and not al the additional costs of air charters etc.

Which is the best option? Truly I don't know, hence the best way to go is to use a reputable outfitter in all instances.

MThuntr,

Let me put it another way... My first trip was piggy-backing with a well known handgun hunter to a DeBeers-owned preserve near Kimberley, RSA. It was a 7-day PG hunt that was advertised to cost $350/day rate + trophy fees & VAT. It cost me about $1,500 in airfare from Columbus, OH to JIA, another $350 on a domestic flght to Kimberley. We hunted all 7 days and I took 5 good animals for $2,950 in trophy fees. It was not a "fenced hunt" and required a lot of stalking, running, walking and patience. With skull mount/flatskin taxidermy and packing/shipping from LifeForm Tax., the whole hunt with mounts on the wall came to $8,800.00 rounded off to the nearest $100. That's not "cheap" and the animals I took were all trophy quality: 40" gemsbok, 12" warthog, 17" Blesbok, 23" Impala & a 15.5" springbok. That was my first "taste" and well worth every penny.

MThunter, shoot me an email... one fellow Montanan to another... clarkivan@yahoo.com

I just got back from RSA a couple months ago and had a great time, took some very nice animals and in the end it was quite affordable. With my limited amount of experience I woudn't say that you could do much of a trip for less than $4000 and get many critters though, well many desireable critters.

Last year I spent months emailing and faxing hundreds of outfitters in Namibia looking for affordable / wild hunting. What I discovered was everybody with a good website tapping into the US market charged a premium $275-$450/day. When I contacted outfitters that only have email or fax, I found some of them to be very affordable ( $150-$250 a day) I also have learned its better to ask what animals they have available on their ranch, Instead of telling them what you want to shoot. That way you can decide if they are right for you,

My wife and hunted and toured all around Namibia for 21 days our total costs were Daily rate $5507 + $ 4066 in trophy fees for 12 animals,
Total =$9573

With a little research, you will not have to pay top dollar to have a first class hunt! A good place to start is the NAPHA web site.

I will have to check out all of the PM's that everyone has left. I appreciate all of the great advice from all of you. From what it sounds its not so much the price of your hunt its the quality of the hunt, although price is a factor. All I can say is that I'll have to put some money away and save for a couple more years. That way I can afford a good hunt or even have the money to piggyback on hunt with a small group

MTHuntr - Try this outfit, they don't have their specials listed yet but usually have a four animal plains game hunt with RT airfare from Atlanta or NY for $4,000. That includes everything but taxes, gratuities and shipping and taxidermy (includes daily rate and trophy fees). http://www.mafigeni.co.za/

MThuntr:

Different people have different perspectives on this, but you can REALLY increase the HUNTING return on your African hunting dollar by taking pictures and leaving the trophies. In many cases, the trophy prep, shipping, and mounting nearly equals the cost of a safari, if you shoot a lot of plains game. Some people wouldn't think of not having dead heads on the wall, others, like me, don't think it's worth it. It's your money and your choice. Just a thought, YMMV.

If I was looking for a attractively priced good general species plains game hunt I would look first at Namibia and then at South Africa.

MThuntr
I recommend you contact Graham Hingston at http://www.hhksafaris.com

Tell him want you want to hunt and listen to his advice.