It has been two months since my return from Zimbabwe, and I have thought long and hard as to whether I should post my experience or not. Most post's are from hunters with great experiences and memories to last a lifetime, and I truly enjoy their reports. My experience was not so great, but I will post it with the hope that it may help someone in the future. I had contracted with HHK to hunt in the rugged and beautiful Chirisa concession in central Zimbabwe for twelve days this past September. My objective of the Safari, other than having a great time, was to harvest a Leopard, Eland, Bushbuck, Warthog, Impala and two Hyena's. I arrived in Bulawayo, passed through the famous Quanset hut termnal, and was met by my PH Scott Bailey. I spend the night in Bulawayo at the Muskateer's Lodge, and the next morning started on the six hour drive to Chirisa. I had spent the past year reading any and all books on Zimbabwe, and monitered the daily new's via the web. I wanted to see as much of the country as possible, and driving through the bush to Chirisa would be my medium. During the six plus hour drive to Chirisa, I asked Scott many Questions about Zimbabwe, Chirisa, past client's and some of the well known PH's that many AR members have had great experiences with. Scott hated Zim, all past clients were idiot's, and he had nothing positive to say about any of the PH's. At this point, red flag's started to pop up in my brain, and with each kilometer, my enthusiasm started to wain. We finally arrived at Chirisa and were greeted by the staff. I would be staying at Nyati camp situated atop a cliff overlooking the Sengwa river, which was now dry. The view was breathtaking, my hut very nice and the staff hard working. The next day I sighted in my .416, and with all in order, we went hunting. I was the only hunter in camp and the entire concession, the size of Rhode Island, was ours. My main objective was Leopard. In Chirisa, hunting is only allowed during daylight conditions, and artificial lighting or timers are strictly prohibited. This was the way I wanted to obtain my number one animal and was looking forward to the adventure. About a half an hour from camp, we spotted a small herd of Impala, with a mature male, and stopped the vehicle. I was handed my rifle, quickly chambered a round, and were after the Impala. After we walked about ten minutes, it was obvious that they were gone. Scott stormed out of the bush, and as we approached the cruiser, he yelled at me that I was too slow in loading my rifle and that is why the Impala were gone. I slowly and calmly informed Scott that I was here to have a relaxing Safari and that I would not tolerate his tone. I also informed him that I did not appreciate him constantly yelling at the trackers, and wanted it to stop. Needless to say, we drove in silence for a while. At dinner that night, I brought up the incident with Scott, and again informed him that I was here to relax, have a good time, and that obtaining the tropy at any cost was not my objective. Scott agreed, we shook hands, and moved on. The next day we checked previously hung bait's and hung a few new ones. Towards the end of the day Scott was back to yelling at the staff and making me wish I were somewhere else. I felt I was spending most of my time trying to calm Scott down, and keeping the trackers encouraged. Day after Day, the atmosphere was the same, the abuse continued, and the team was fragmented. After the failed stalk of the first day, we stalked no more. It is day nine, no shot's fired, no trophy's in the salt, my spirit's low, and then Scott threatens to beat the trackers. I decided it was time to talk to the camp manager, Mr. Steve Collins. I gave Steve the situation report, that the team was totally fragmented, the staff all hated Scott, and I was tired of the tension. We decided to confront Scott together and to see if we could salvage the Safari. With Steve present, I told Scott why I was not pleased and gave him many examples of his unacceptable behavior. When I asked him why he thought he had a right to beat the staff, he informed me that they worked for him, and he would beat them if he wanted. Scott then stated "And if I do beat them, what are you going to do about it!" That was it. I calmly informed Scott that in order to be a good PH, you need to be cool, calm and collective. I told him I felt he possesed none of these qualities, and that he was fired. I asked Mr Collins to place Scott in another camp, as I did not want him near me, angry, and with a firearm. After a few radio calls to HHK in Harare, I was offered another PH. At this point, with only two day's to go, I had totally lost my hunting spirit, and was finished. On the charter out I was asked by the pilot what had happened. After a short version of the story, he was not surprised. He told me that another HHK PH took exception to Scott's attitude a year earlier, and that Scott beat him so severly, that he had to be hospitalized. I was met by the office manager of HHK at the Bulawayo airport and gave him the details. I finally arrived home in the States and waited two weeks to see if HHK would contact me. Nothing. I wrote to Graham Hingeston, with whom I had originally set up the Safari, and gave him the full report. Graham apologized for Scott's behavior, and offered a full refund, which I accepted. I asked Graham if Scott was going to be hunting for HHK again, and was told no, but he may hunt HHK concessions with his own clients if he wants. Scott Bailey is still listed on the HHK website as a HHK PH. I feel HHK is a good company and goes to great length's to make your safari a good one, especially in the current political climate, however, to keep a PH in employ, with a record of past violence, is a liability at best. I was fortunate to meet John Sharp in Bulawayo, and based on his very good reputation, and talking to several of his clients, will be booking with him in 2006.

I'm glad you received a refund, but I would not have waited nine days to complain to management.

This PH sounds like a bad character; you should file a formal complaint with the ZATSO amd the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters Association.

George

Sorry to hear about this mess, but you handled it properly. Sounds like Graham did the same.
Good luck on your next trip.

Sorry about the ruined safari.

SCOTT BAILEY

Scott was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 1974. He conducted his primary education in Northern Transvaal, South AFrica and completed his senior schooling in Bulawayo. He began hunting at age 11 on a family farm in South Western Zimbabwe. Scott entered the safari industry aged 19 as a photographic guide in Zimbabwe, Zambia & Botswana and finished apprenticeship in Matetsi. He received his PH license in 2000 and has hunted in the Matetsi area until joining HHK in 2002.

Regards,

Terry

I'm genuinely sorry to hear that MauMau.

It seems like the choice of PH was a major problem. Whether it was your choice, or HHKs suggestion, I obviously don't know. As good a company as HHK is (and I think this is borne out by the fact Graham offered you a refund), it sadly does happen that client and PH do not gel. In your case, it certainly sounds like Scott Bailey was a disaster waiting to happen, not least since your camp manager sided with you.

But there are other cases, where it is not so clear cut whether the PH or the client is at fault, or whether the personalities of the PH and the client simply don't match. These things also happen. I researched HHK PHs for a (hopefully?) upcoming trip, and got less than positive feedback on individual PHs. But the overwheleming feedback was positive, I hasten to say.

Conclusions: really sad your dream trip did not go as planned, great you were offered a refund, there is never any guarantee that you'll get along with your PH, but mostly it is not a problem.

I would personally not put too much stock in the HHK website still including Scott in the PH section. As important as websites are, Zim is a country where update of a website might not have the same priority as the day-to-day struggle to survive.

- mike

What a nightmare! It sure sounds as though your PH was a certifiable head-case. Sorry to hear about it.

Glad to hear, though, that HHK did the right thing. That won't repay you for your airfare or other incidentals, or for the miserable time you had, but it is at least some recompense, and was the right thing to do.

You have also done the right thing by posting this report. Perhaps others will be able to avoid this guy in future, and be spared your experience.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad trip, but I am glad to hear that HHK stepped up to the plate with a refund. That does not give you back your two weeks out of your life or your airfare and incidental expenses, but hopefully your next trip wil rectify things with a great hunting experience.

Sorry tho hear of the bad time you had with your PH, HHK did the right thing by giving you the refund. But what a way to completly ruin a "great" time!

The best to you on your next Safari with John Sharp! I've heard good reports on him!

Mau Mau,

A sad affair indeed.

But I'm glad to see that HHK stepped up and gave you compensation, and it's a good thing that this negative experiance has been brought to our attention so that others avoid this PH in the future.

I hope things go better for you next time.

It is sad to see a report like this, a dream that turns in a nightmare. It is not acceptable.
The ph gets paid to do his job properly. One of his jobs is to treat the client properly and behave himself infront of the client and also treat the staff with respect. If he got a problem with the staff he must sort it out somewhere else. The client is paying a lot of money and the ph must go out of his way to make that trip as memorable as possible.

Yes it is true that everybody doesn't get along 100% with everybody, but it is still expected from the ph to treat the client in a friendly manner and act cordially. I call it good manners.

Mau mau, I am really sorry you had such a bad trip, may your next trip be the best you ever dreamt off.

Mau Mau,

Sounds like a nightmare. Glad to hear that HHK gave you a refund, and thank you for the heads up about Mr. Bailey.

Sorry to hear about a bad hunt. Its hard to make up for lost vacation time with a refund but at the same time it is nice to hear that they had the integrity to make it as right as possible in the end.

In 5 trips I had 4 great PH's and one bad one. You did the right thing by firing him, we made the mistake of sticking it out for the whole hunt. Kudos to Graham and HHK for doing the right thing.

Thanks for posting reality Mau Mau.
It sounds like your PH had a big "personality " problem right from the start ,when picking you up. All folks handle stress differently.
PH's dont only have to cope with us "clients" but with their own life.Sometimes they dont see that theirs is after all a service industry.

Meaning,providing a (paid) service to the client.

I am glad you got the reimbursement of the safari,although that would not be your total loss by any means.

I believe the employer,in this case HHK,is and should be responsible for your fiasco.
Reimbursement is fine ,but not getting close to the total loss.

Mau Mau

Thanks for the negative hunt report on your safari.

We need the negative ones as well as the fun positive ones on these forums.

You must have a lot of patience dealing with that fellow for nine days and also no game on the ground. Were you seeing game or was the place mostly devoid of game?

Good luck on your next safari with John Sharp and I am sure it will be enjoyable and this one can be written off to experience.

Maybe taking Larium has this guy all ---ked up..

No one should have a guy like that around...A major liability...

Mike

Mau Mau, thank you sir for your post. It provides a lot of food for thought in the planning of my first hunt.

I think this is what a quality safari company does when a client is not happy with his hunt. The client received a full refund, and did get to spend the time in Africa, do some hunting, do some shooting (hung some new leopard baits), and spend nights around the camp fire with a full staff at his disposal. Hopefully this helped to make up for the unpleasant experience with the PH.

Thanks for the post. This is very good information.

Yikes, definately not a PH I want to hire.

Thanks for your candid report.

I am glad that my post may help others, and agree that both positive and negative experiences are a part of life. Nitro, there was in fact plenty of game seen, but mostly game that I already had and was not hunting. Had I been hunting Buffalo or Elephant, I could have been done in two days with a 50# Ele and a 43+" Buff. However, as we all know, if I actually had them on license, I would have seen none. As mentioned before, we only did one failed stalk, and I did not shoot one animal the entire time. The baits that we hung I purchased for a $1.00 a lb. from the massive camp freezer, as Scott did not want to waste time hunting them. HHK did the right thing in the end and I am looking forward to returning to Africa next year. In life, everything is relative. I am blessed with so many good things in my life, that I truly consider this event as no more than a minor blip on the radar screen.

Thanks for the report. Glad the experience hasn't soured your desire to go back again or become more than that blip on the radar. Damn glad it wasn't you first trip.

JPK

Mau Mau, sorry to hear about your bad hunt. I hunted with Scott in 2002 for a trophy bull and tuskless elephant. We hunted for 30 days and took two tuskless cows. We passed up 7 bulls in the 40 to 50 lb. range as I wanted one 60+ lbs. I found Scott to be a good elephant hunter that hunted hard for me. I thought he was a little surly at times but all in all he was ok to hunt with. He did get chewed out by another PH from HHK because the camp cook was feeding the female game scout for favors and the waiter was emptying the wine bottle every night. I thought he was a little soft on the help at that time. Sounds like he went way over the other way. I heard last year that Scott got into dodo with HHK and wan't hunting for them. I guess Graham gave him another chance and he muffed it.

465H&H

quote:

Originally posted by MAU MAU:I am looking forward to returning to Africa next year. In life, everything is relative. I am blessed with so many good things in my life, that I truly consider this event as a minor blip on the radar screen.

What a great attitude. I feel exactly the same way. In the scheme of things, this stuff is a drag, but we are richer for the exerience if we just keep our head screwed on straight.

A bad hunt in Africa beats a good day at the office..for me anyway.

Mau Mau,
I too will echo thanks for a candid hunt report and want you to know that you did do the right thing by posting the details. This area of the AR forum exisits for this type of information, IMO. We tell the good and the bad for other hunters to use themselves when planning trips to Africa. The plain, unvarnished truth is what we seek, not to villify others with, but to help fellow hunters avoid the catatrophes we run into from time to time in our travels. And for an idea of trophy quality and quantity in a particular area, camps, food and PH's and their gear.

HHK made your hunt right which is admirable and wins points for them in my book. I think we are also now all too aware of the name Scott Bailey and will avoid his services like the plague! I wonder where he will pitch up?

Most hunts are trips of a lifetime...sometimes not, and we need a service like the one Saeed provides here to make all who are interested are aware of the good, bad and ugly. Thanks for your report and good hunting in the future!

MauMau,
To borrow a line from the commercial - Man you must be really gellin'. That's really refreshing, as on this and other forums the tone seems to favor "scream and rant." You have expressed your concerns well (to our collective benefit) - and established yourself as a class act!

Thank you.

Unfortunately things can sometimes go terribly bad. My experience with HHK was nothing but first class and my PH Ade Langley was as hard a working PH as I have hunted with and while there was an occassion to let the trackers know that their job performance was not up to his expectations, he did it in a proper manner and moved on. The staff respected his remarks and performance improved (although frankly I hadn't noticed any deficiency).We were very successful in our hunt. I am very pleased to hear that Grahman (HHK) made it right with you and he impressed me as a man who would do just that when I talked with at SCI 2004/05. Good luck with your future hunts.

Well I guess it is time some one with a different experience with HHK speaks up.

In Sept I hunted with Bishopstone Safaries in Zim. and hunted their property in SE Zim for Leopard without luck.

We then traveled a day to the Omay and hunted out of the Manyuli camp sublet and operated by HHK. There was no camp manager and the staff was poorfly supervised to put it mildly. The only communication from the camp was a twice daily radio call which was never answered. The only person that came to camp was the poaching control manager and he and his brother were more interested in doing their thing than caring about the camp.

The PH, who was not in the employ of HHK, left a bit to be desired. I also had to have a conservation with him ie I came to have an enjoyable hunt not to have a heart attack while their.

I do plan to stop by the HHK booth in Reno and have a talk with them. Just my experience.

Was your hunt with Bishopstone or HHK? Was the move to Omay part of the original plan?

It would appear that someone needs to kick the shit out of this punk! I cad assure that a good
" attitude adjustment " would work wonders.