I began planning my first hunt to Africa over a year ago and I returned from my hunt in Namibia on Monday. During my planning, I relied extensively on information on this forum and I am taking this opportunity to share my experience with the hope it may be helpful to others.

First, I decided to go to Namibia as the climate, terrain, hunting opportunities, and price appealed to me. I reviewed internet sites and decided to book a hunt with Astra Hunting Farm in Namibia. I decided on Astra as it is located in open country that is categorized as camelthorn savannah and my preference was to hunt in open country rather than in the more dense cover found in northern Namibia. Other factors that influenced my choice were that there were no charges for airport pick-up and delivery,the daily rate was very reasonable at $170 euros/day, the trophy fees were reasonable, the deposit of $500 was minimal, the website specifically emphasized fair chase hunting, and trophy preparation was included in the prices.

I forwarded my $500 deposit to Astra and confirmed my hunting dates for the end of September and first of October of 2002. I am an experienced bird hunter but a neophyte big game hunter. I researched rifles and since I am left handed I decided on a Browning A-bolt 375 H&H with a Boss. The recoil did not bother me as I found it equivalent to shooting a 12 guage shotgun. I then bought all kinds of stuff that I ended up not needing including a laser range finder and a snipe pod. I purchased electronic hearing protection that enhanced normal sound but suppressed noise in excess of 85 decibels. The earmuffs made me look like a geek, but they were very effective and I used them and they were a good investment. I researched ammunition and played with a variety of factory ammunition and settled on Federal ammunition with 300 grain Trophy Bonded bullets and PMC ammunition with 270 grain Barnes bullets. My rifle regularly shot both the Federal and PMC ammunition well. Additionally, I played around with Ballistic Tips and GS Custom bullets in reloaded ammunition and my rifle shot these bullets well.
With regard to airfare, I shopped around at discount travel agencies and negotiated roundtrip airfare of $1385 from Houston to Windhoek via Amsterdam and Johannesburg. I visited U.S Customs with my rifle and secured a Form 4457, used the internet to secure a South Africa Police SAP 311 Form as I decided to pick-up my rifle in Joburg and carry it to my connecting flight to Windhoek, and used the internet to secure a Namibia Firearm Import/Export Permit. Additionally, I decided to carry my trophies home on my flight and I researched the Code Of Federal Regulations and determined that Houston was a not a designated port for importing trophies. Consequently, I applied for and secured an exception permit from U.S. Fish & Wildlife that allowed me import my trophies into Houston. Additionally, I secured USFWS Form 3-177 that needs to be completed when importing trophies into the U.S. I reviewed the Department Of Agriculture regulations and determined that the skulls had to be free from meat and tissue and that capes had to be flint cured.

After completing my preparations, I flew to Amsterdam and checked with the gate agent in Amsterdam to make sure my rifle was aboard my connecting flight to Joburg. It was not and they worked frantically to have the rifle brought over from security to make sure it was on my flight and came aboard the plane before take-off and advised me that my rifle was aboard. After arriving in Joburg, I was escorted to the Firearms Office at the airport and was provided with an import permit and I then took my rifle to the connecting flight to Windhoek. After arriving at the Windhoek airport and clearing passport control, I went to an office with a rifle logo over it and gave the officer my Namibian Firearms Import/Export Permit and he completed a form and let me go with my rifle.
Thomas Goldbeck who owns and operates Astra was waiting for me at the airport and he helped me with my bags and drove me to his ranch. It was about a 45 minute drive to the ranch. I arrived at the ranch and found the ranch to be very nice as everything was very orderly and clean. The ranch has a nice pool and the grounds are well maintained with lots of plants and flowers. My room was much nicer than I expected in that is was extremely clean and the bathroom had tile floors and walls and both a shower and a jacuzzi size bathtub.

I arrived on a Saturday and left the following Sunday. During my stay at Astra, I took an Oryx, Kudu, Springbok, & Hartebeest. Game was very abundant and I was finished hunting by Wednesday. This was fair chase hunting that involved stalks consisting of crawling on stomach and crawling on my hands and knees to get within range. We made an effort to get close and all my shots were under 200 yds. The game was skittish and took off if it got wind of us or saw us.
Thomas has a great eye for game as well as a sense of humor and a great deal of patience. He did a great job during the entire hunt. For meals, we had bread, jelly, and sausages for breakfast, a very good hot meal for lunch, and lunch meats and bread for dinner as well as left overs from lunch. I had Oryx Steak, Kudu Steak and other meals that Sabine Goldbeck prepared and they were very good.
After I had finished hunting, Thomas secured export permits and veternarian certificates for my trophies and he prepared the skulls and capes so that they could be imported into the U.S. I loaded the items in a duffle bag and I passed the U.S. Fish&Wildlife and Dept of Agriculture inspections with no problems and I am ready to head to the taxidermist. It cost me $80 in excess baggages and a $95 U.S Fish & Wildlife inspection fee to get my trophies into the U.S.
In summary, I had a great hunt at a first class operation for a very reasonable price and I was able to legally bring my trophies home at a minimal cost and without problems. If you would like to contact Thomas or Sabine, they can be contacted at astra@iafrica.com.na Before I left, I gave Thomas a deposit for next year and I will return next year.
I hope this information is helpful to others planning a trip to Namibia.

Congratulations on a sucessful first safari Todd!
Did you take some pictures that you can post for us to enjoy?
Thanks!

Todd,
Excellent report. Appreciate the detailed information regarding the permits and bringing your trophies home. Well done!

Todd

Sounds like you had a great hunt. I do have one question, why were you charged a $95 inspection fee? I have brought hunting trophies (including cites controlled species) from Namibia through Atlanta the last two years and have never been charged a dime by USF&W.

Jason

Thanks for the responses. A relative went with me and took photos and videos. When he sends the photos to me, I will attempt to post them. With regard to the $95 Inspection Fee charged by U.S. Fish & Wildlife, they are entitled to charge the fee because I brought the trophies through a non-designated port. Also, I wanted to mention that Astra has approximately 50,000 acres available for hunting and they only take one group of hunters at a time. As a side note, a highlight of my trip was seeing two young cheetah playing around. However, mama cheetah spotted us and the group disappeared real quick. My thanks to everyone on this forum as the information secured from this site was very helpful in planning my trip.

How big is your duffle bag? I can't imagine getting kudu/oryx horns in a duffle. Sounds like you had a great trip.

Todd,

Congratulations on your safari.

Regards,

Terry

Todd,
Great report, what is the web sight for Astra Hunting?

Thanks for the responses. With regard to the duffle bag, I bought the biggest one I could find which was 40" long. I was skeptical that I would be able to carry the heads and horns back in it, but I did not realize that Thomas would take the horns off the skulls. After the horns were off, I was able to get then in the duffle bag by putting them at an angle and getting some stretch out of the bag. With regard to Astra's web site, I have not been able to access the regular site in english; however, the following site is in german, but you can hit the translate button and get the basics:http://brackwede.de/jagd.htm
When I was in Namibia, I mentioned to Thomas & Sabine that I experienced trouble accessing their website just before I left. They checked on it and seemed to think it was OK so I will let them know that they might want to check again.

Congrats! I went to Namibia for my first African hunts in September. Have you posted the details of the hunts? .. pretty plz?

J Brown,
Jason, looks like you aren't the only one who has done the impossible. Maybe some of these guys might pay attention now. AND it very well appears to not only be legal but easy and far cheaper than what I will be experiencing.

Toddj. Thank you for your very well thought out post and all those details. I am copying it and putting it on my hard drive and on a disc in case the computer crashes. It is a gem.

Thanks for the responses. I am glad the information was helpful. I will sit down this week-end and provide more details with regard to the actual hunting part of my trip.

Thanks,

Todd

I am taking this opportunity to share more detailed informaton about my Africa hunt.

Day 1: Thomas picked me up at the airport and we arrived at his ranch at about 3.30. I took a short break and we checked out my rifle by shooting it off a padded rest on the truck and shooting it off his shooting sticks. The results indicated that my gun was still sighted correctly after traveling. We took a drive climbed a hill and watched Kudu, Oryx, and Hartebeeste on the plain below the field. We came off the hill and drove around taking a tour of the area and saw more game and tried to stalk one Kudu, but ran out of daylight.

Day 2: We headed out in the field about 7.30 and walked through the savannah, but did not get within range of any of the animals that we saw. We then drove for a while and saw lots of Oryx, but they were in open country where we could not approach them. We then went to the airport to pick-up a non-hunter friend who joined me for the hunt. After returning from the airport, we headed out and soon spotted a cow hartebeeste that was lame and we decided to cull her. She was lame, but not stupid and we did not get close enough for a shot. We continued walking through the savannah and spotted an Oryx and worked our way within about 150 yards. Thomas positioned the shooting sticks and I just got my rifle on the sticks when he bolted. We hiked over to the next road and Thomas's driver/tracker picked us up. As we were driving to a new location, we spotted an Oryx and crawled behind bushes on our hands and knees until we were under a bush about 100yds from the Oryx. We kept the shooting sticks low and I tried to locate a clear shot around the bush. I was on the Oryx and just squeezing the trigger when he bolted. I made the only major mistake of my entire trip and pulled the trigger. I hit him behind the heart, but did not hit any vitals. We tracked until it got dark and got within 300 yards, but I missed.

Day 3: We continued our search for the wounded Oryx and spent the morning tracking without finding him and eventually losing the trail. We then moved to another location and located another herd of Oryx and we determined how they were moving and waited for them to cross within 150 yards in front of us. We watched them as they crossed an opening between the brush in front of us. However, they were bunched and did not stop moving so I did not shoot. We went back to the ranch for lunch and headed out in the afternoon. We stalked to within 150 yards of a large Hartebeeste bull. Thomas had let my friend follow us and video tape our hunt. My friend is not a hunter and I was surprised Thomas let him stay close to us in the field as it made Thomas's job more difficult. Thomas did a great job and was very patient and kept his sense of humor. However, on this occasion he had told my friend to stay back behind a bush. We had the shooting sticks up and I was putting my rifle on the sticks when for some unknown reason, my friend stood up and began pointing his video camera. Needless to say, the bull took off and Thomas controlled his temper, but gave my friend a stern lecture.
Day 4: We headed out and spotted a heard of Hartebeeste followed them until we spotted a herd of Oryx. We determined the direction they were moving and moved into position to ambush them. We found a small bush on a knoll and waited and waited until they moved into range. We spotted a nice bull and I started tracking him while he was to the left of the bush we were using for cover. He kept moving and kept bushes between us to I could not get a shot. Finally, he crossed in front of us and was to my right. He stopped and I hit him with a good shot and he went down. Thomas estimated that he was about 14 years old and he was missing one eye and was a great animal to harvest. We headed back to the ranch and had lunch. After lunch we climbed a hill and spotted a heard of Hartebeeste and walked down the hill and stalked to within 150 yards. Hartebeest were not a focus of my trip so I took a cow that needed to be culled. I shot her through the heart and she went down and the meat was appreciated by the ranch help.
Day 5: We spent the morning searching for Kudu and saw lot of young bulls and one very large bull on neighboring property, but did not locate a shootable bull. After lunch we went in search of Springbok and located a herd. We spent two hours following the herd and crawling from bush to bush. Additionally, herd began mingling with the ranch livestock. Finally, I got a clear shot at the herd buck. I hit him a little far back, and he swayed back and forth for a period of time and then fell over. He was a very nice buck. We went back to the ranch and then headed out to continue our search for Kudu. Just before dark we spotted a big bull and began following him. We approached from behind and his rear was facing us and he presented a tough shot. He turned a little and looked back. I was on the shooting sticks and really did not think about bullet placement. I had spent hours reading Robertson's The Perfect Shot before I left on my trip so maybe I subconsciously put the bullet in the right place. As soon a I pulled the trigger, I saw him flip completely over and actually recall seeing his legs in the air. We walked over and I put another shot in his neck just to be certain. Thomas estimated the bull at about 50 inches and I was very pleased with my first Kudu.

Day 6: We relaxed and helped my friend take game videos.
Day 7: We went into Windhoek and picked up export permits and veterinary certificates so I could bring the capes and skulls home. We had t-bone steaks at a nice restaurant and the cost of a nice t-bone with the trimmings was less than $5 US.
Day 7: We did a little bird hunting and relaxed
Day 8: Relaxed in the morning and caught my flight home. Nothing lost on the flight and cleared Customs, USDA, & US Fish & Wildlife with my trophies.

Website For Astra Hunting Farm In Namibia:
In October I wrote a description of my hunt at Astra in Namibia. It was a great experience and I am providing the website for Astra as it can be hard to find using the search function. It is:
http://.astra-jagdfarm.co.za

Thomas provided my name as a reference on his website and I can assure you he runs a first rate operation at a very reasonable price.

Thanks,

Todd

Website For Astra:
I forgot the www in my previous message. The address is: http://www.astra-jagdfarm.co.za

Todd, thanks for the info! Both sites display information but the one with the WWW takes you to the English version. You obviously did your homework and therefore enjoyed a great trip. Would you do anything differently? Now that you've been back for a while, how do the trophies taken compare to other areas you considered?