Firstly, let me say that I do not like being negative, and I certainly do not enjoy filing this report. I do feel a responsibility to write this, so hopefully I can help save someone else from the same fate as me.

So let me say, that my “leopard hunt” with Karl Stumpfe was unbelievably bad. Karl, broke our contracted agreement in numerous ways, and lied to me so many times, I can’t even count them all. I am attaching the section of Karl’s contract that shows what he would provide at the bottom. Also, for the record, I had a cameraman with me from ESPN to promote Karl, and I was paying to hunt (at a discount). We had a lot of money invested in the trip with 2 airfares, cameraman costs that are very high, hunt costs, etc.

As some of you know, Karl tried to cancel my hunt 2 days before I was to leave. He said he had other clients from Russia spending more money than me, and he had a PH quit him, so he was going to drop me to go hunt the other guys. After we talked and I reminded him that my contract stated that HE would be my PH for 10 days, not someone else, etc. Karl then called and said that he hired another PH for the Russian hunters, so he could do my hunt.

So Karl meets us at airport, we have a problem with cameraman’s work Visa, but we get that worked out and go to camp. Around the campfire, we talk about the hunt, and Karl tells me…
If it is OK with you, I will stay with you until you kill a cat, whether that be day 2, 4, 8 or 10, and then I will run up to the other camp with the Russians. – I agree, wanting to be helpful, and after all , this hunt was all about the leopard.

Karl also says…I have plenty of good PG places lined up. You can kill a couple 2 ½ curl kudu, mt zebra, gemsbok, etc. with no problem, and it will be places where we can usually get 100 yards or less, for good footage.
So things sound great…

Day 1 – Check leopard baits. It is cold and cloudy, so Karl says PG hunting won’t be any good, so we sit around camp virtually all day. It clears off and we take a ride in afternoon looking for gemsbok on the ranch we are staying on, where getting within 200-250 yards of any animal on the ground is incredibly hard as it is mostly wide open plains.
Day 2 – Check leopard baits. Go to town and drop off cameraman’s passport to get Visa taken care of. Karl had told me there was a free range ranch with huge springbok about 20 minutes from the ranch where we were staying and we could hunt it on the way back. He said the trophy fee was 3 times what he quotes me (from $100 up to $300) because of the quality and landowner, but I agreed to the price. (had no idea this was the start of a trend). We went to Karl’s house 3 times that day, he worked on the computer for other clients, we went for a long lunch, and basically pissed around all afternoon, and then Karl said, “sorry guys, we won’t have time to stop and hunt springbok.
Day 3 – Check leopard baits. Finally we go hunt springbok. To disclose the truth…I missed a ram. Then we got another chance, and I killed a monster 16” ram with almost 7” bases. Things were good. We drove around “our” ranch in the afternoon, did no stalks. We had fun joking and telling stories. Then that evening, Karl informs us that he is leaving us the next day to go hunt with the Russians. He is leaving us with the leopard dog guy, who is also a PH and owns our ranch. He says he is also leaving his tracker ,Godfried ,and cook, Rose, with us. I am not happy!
Day 4 – Check leopard baits. Karl leaves us in morning. We drive around looking for PG with Godfried. As soon as we get back to camp, we see Godfried and Rose packing to leave. Karl had called and had them go up to Caprivi with him. Karl told me he had everything lined up for the PH he was leaving us with (let’s call him PH X ) to be able to take us to the other PG areas where we would hunt kudu, zebra, etc. and the terrain was good for stalking and filming.
Now I will relate some things Karl told us before he left either riding around in the truck or at the campfire. 1) He said that when they hunt leopards over bait, that 80-90% are killed at night with a light, which is illegal – he said as long as there was no video camera around, that’s how they do it 2) Speaking about the “problem lions he has and was selling here – up near the gemsbok park, he told me there was a big resident male with huge mane, but it was radio collared and was off limits. He said he was hoping to dart it, get rid of the collar (or put it on a small male), and then go in and kill the big male as one of the “problem lions” 3) He told me he was hoping to find a big tusker in one of his northern concessions, make it charge, and then he could kill it as “self defense” 4) he told us the ranch where we were staying and doing most of the hunting was 17,000 acres. The owner told us it was 6,000 5) Karl said there were 2 female leopards, one big male and 1 130-140 lb male on our ranch and they were hitting the baits regularly. The owner said there was one big male who occasionally walked the ranch border, and he had hit a bait once 2 months before- and one small female who hit often. He said there were no other leopards around that he knew of. 6) Karl said he had baits on 2-3 other ranches in the immediate vicinity and had guys checking them and they would call if there was a hit. PH X said this was total B.S. He also told us there were much better places to leopard hunt 7) PH x said Karl had not told him about having any other PG places lined up for us to hunt, and Karl told him to just keep driving us around the ranch.
Day 5 – Checked leopard baits – drove around to hunt PG on our ranch.
Day 6 - Checked leopard baits – drove around to hunt PG on our ranch. I had asked every day of we could go to the other PG spots after checking baits. Finally, that evening, I called Karl and asked about this. He tells me that PH X is lined up to take us for kudu. PH X said his “kudu” place had been hit hard by rabies, and we likely wouldn’t see any mature bulls there. I told Karl this and pressed the issue. He said he would organize for us to go to one of his places the next day.
Day 7 - Checked leopard baits. Went to Karl’s other ranch about 2 hours away. PH X had been on the property once in his life, 3 years ago. As we pull up to the property, Karl sends us a text telling us that the following trophy fees apply (I will also show what the trophy fees were that were in my contract). As you can see, he raised the prices quite a bit on everything. I was still going to shoot kudu and argue about the trophy fees, but we hunted all day and never saw a mature bull. BTW…Karl’s cook Rose was in this camp – so she never went to Caprivi. We highly suspect that Karl didn’t go hunt Caprivi. We think that the Russians were moved to this camp 20 minutes from Windhoek, and Karl was there with them.
Kudu – from $600 to $750
Mt Zebra – from $500 to $1200
Eland – from $1000 to $1500
There were others quoted – all at much higher prices than originally in contract. I did not shoot anything.

Days 8- Checked baits – went to PH X’s kudu ranch – no mature bulls. We call Karl and ask where my cameraman’s VISA is. Karl said he would have it picked up by day 5. He said it was all taken care of.
We do not believe him. Karl says it is all at his house. We ask for him to have someone bring it out half way to the ranch and meet us with it that night. He says OK. 3 hours later, he sends a text saying that he has the Visa, but not the passport. He says he will get it all the next day, and have Godfried meet us with it at the airport upon our departure. We cannot chance this…

Karl tells PH X he has a plan for us to go hunt PG somewhere the next day and he wants us to stay in Windhoek that night. He wants to bring in one of the Russians the next day, take him around the ranch with the leopard dogs – and act like he is hunting him for leopard – because that was part of the hunt he sold him. He said the Russian wouldn’t know that baits needed to be checked first thing in the morning, and if they found any kind of tracks, they could turn the dogs out, act like they just didn’t catch the leopard, and the Russian would think he had been leopard hunting. We refused to leave the ranch for this…

Day 9 – Checked baits – hunted our ranch for PG – nothing. We have PH X’s girlfriend in Windhoek go to pick up cameraman’s passport/Visa. It is not done, but they tell us no one has called or been in to check on it. It will be done the next morning. We decide we will go get it ourselves, or cameraman is stuck in Namibia. (so we have proved everything Karl has told us about it was a lie.) He tells us on day 9 that he has it taken care of again…

Day 10 – we are in Windhoek when passport office opens at 8 am. Have PH’s X’s tracker check baits. We tell them we are not leaving office without passport. It takes until 11 AM to get it picked up. Still at this point (and office closes at 1PM – Karl has never checked on the passport/visa) We eat lunch, do some shopping, I stop in NAPHA office to get contact info for filing an official complaint, and make it back to ranch for last evening of PG hunting.

That evening, I talk to Karl on phone, tell him exactly what I think of how he treated us, and told him I expected a full refund. I confronted him about most of his lies, and he tried to come up with lame B.S. stories over and over, that weren’t even good lies. He lies so much, he can’t keep them all straight. He calls PH X back and says he will refund my money, but he can’t have anyone at the airport the next day with the cash. PH X told him he had until Monday July 27 to have the money in my account.

We left for home the next day. I sent Karl an e-mail with my bank info, but I have never heard back from him, and don’t expect to.

A few side notes of interest…
*When Karl left us with PH X – He didn’t leave enough food for us – took his cook, etc. PH X had to do much of the cooking, and he was not supplied to feed us.

*PH X told Karl that he would not run dogs for him any more because of the way this whole thing went down. Eyedoc from AR is scheduled to do a dog hunt with Karl starting next week. Karl told PH x that that was OK, he would just do it as a bait hunt. That isn’t what Eyedoc paid for, and again, Karl kills 80-90% of his leopards over bait illegally at night. I am sure Karl wouldn’t tell Eyedoc this until he arrived in Namibia, but I called Mike. Karl’s other dog guy from South Africa was in bed with pneumonia and had a ripped hamstring while we were there, and he was calling every day asking Karl for the money he was owed for past hunts – so I am sure he isn’t going to be working for Karl in the near future.

*When PH X drove Karl to town to leave us on day 4, Karl got a call from a South African booking agent and client who just landed in Namibia for a leopard hunt. PH X said Karl told them he would call them back shortly. When he got off the phone, he was scrambling to find something, somewhere, and someone to take this client on a hunt, as he had nothing lined up for him.
Here is a copy of what Karl was to provide per his contract…you can see that he broke various parts of this – mainly that he would be my PH for the whole trip and changing trophy fees in mid-hunt.

Hunting Contract between
NDUMO HUNTING SAFARIS NAMIBIA_ and__
_Tim Herald____________________________________________
The client* (see name above) and Ndumo Hunting Safaris Namibia, agree to the following terms and conditions of this contract. (The Contract)
The client will hunt with Karl Stumpfe as PH, at any of Ndumo’s concessions.
The client will be met at Windhoek International Airport, on the 11th of July 2009, and dropped off no later than the 22nd of July 2009.

Trophies
The following game may be hunted at indicated prices:
Kudu US$ 600
Eland US$ 1000
Gemsbok US$ 300
Springbok US$ 100
Bait springbok US$ 50
Bait gemsbok US$ 200
Mtn zebra US$ 500

Any other animal not listed, can be negotiated directly with the clients professional hunter.

This is a special package deal, the total cost of package will be US$ 6000, of which a US$ 4000 deposit has been paid. It will include the following:
* all dayfees for time stated
* trophy fee for 1 leopard
* dog handler fee
If leopard is not killed, the package is reduced to $3000, plus plainsgame trophy fees.

Day fees
The dayfees payable for extra days over and above the package, will be US$ 400 per hunting day per hunter.
A fee of US$ 200 per non hunting day/ traveling day per hunter will be charged.

The following will be included in the hunting dayfees:
Services of a Professional hunter.
Accommodation, meals and drinks as indicated below.
Services of camp staff, trackers and skinners where necessary.
Transport while hunting.
Field preparation of trophies.
Administration, tagging, storing of raw trophies until local taxidermist takes over.
Delivery of trophies to local taxidermist for dip and pack.
Cost of hunting licenses or hunting permits.

Now…If I do not receive a refund for what I paid Karl by Monday…I plan to go to The Hunting Report, NAPHA, The Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, SCI, booking agents, and every hunting operation I can contact in Namibia.

It is a sad situation that whether it be from greed (Karl taking on too many clients so he can take all the money he can) or whatever his reasoning, that he treats clients as such. When we were with Karl, he was a fun guy to be with, had a great personality, and would be a pleasure to hunt with if he did things right. He obviously has a lot of big game experience, so he is a waste of PH talent. We would have made multiple TV shows to promote Karl, and I had 2 magazine articles already lined up to help promote him as well.

You know, we all look forward to that African trip once a year (I know some more and some less frequent). We love safari, and it keeps us going all year long- the anticipation, preparation- etc. We wrap so much of ourselves into that one trip a year, and when you get screwed like this- it is more than money. It just takes a lot out of you.

This was the hunt you hear about and always hope that doesn’t happen to you. I hope by writing this, I save someone from going through the same thing I did.


I have contacted NAPHA and The Hunt Report and filed a complaint.

Damn, sorry to here that.

It's one thing not to get all your animals due to hard hunting but when It's because of this type of behavior it becomes hard to swallow.


Having said that we need to hear the other side of the story if there is one.

Tim, gosh what a disappointment. I know how excited you were to be hunting leopard. Sorry the experience was so bad. Talk to Buzz and Myles about seeing if leopard is a possibility in Zim. The one thing I am confident of, they will give you an honest assessment.

Are there any lessons learned for the rest of us -- anything that you think in retrospect might have avoided the meltdown?

Sorry to hear about the hunt! Karl is going to have to have a tall ladder to get out of this hole.

Wow, this is an incredible story of a hunt gone wrong. I know there are two sides, or more, to every story, so would be very interested in reading anything Mr. Stumpf would care to write on this website before drawing a final conclusion,but I do have to say that if even 50% of what Tim says is accurate (and we have no reason to think otherwise at this point) then this has to be one of the worst safaris imaginable. If what Tim is saying is accurate, then this PH needs to be boycotted, prosecuted and have his license suspended, if not outright revoked.

Let's see...we have violation of game laws per PH's own comments, breach of contract, fraud (possibly to Russian clients as well), and I'm sure a few other things we can come up with, again IF these comments are accurate. Sounds like Mr. Stumpf is lucky he wasn't on Tim Herald's license.

Incredible, simply incredible. Why would someone who has had a good reputation here on AR and in the hunting community, throw it all away for alleged greed, lies and misrepresentations? If true, that is sad and highly unfortunate in my book. Under the circumstances that you have outlined, if it is true, I do hope that you prevail. If nothing else, Karl now has a monster on his back and he will have to work very hard to convince people otherwise.

quote:

Are there any lessons learned for the rest of us -- anything that you think in retrospect might have avoided the meltdown?

There is certainly no excuses for what happened on this trip - it cannot be called a hunting trip by any stretch of imagination!

By the sounds of it was a nightmare one could never wish to be part of.

I have a question though, the prices agreed on seem to be lower than normal, am I correct in noticing this?

Sounds like what we run into three years ago in Tanzania with Usagu Safaris who are still in business according to their Web Site.
I hope you filed a report with the folks @
Hunt Report. It will be interesting to see what your complaint to NAPHA results in?
Keep us posted.

80 to 90% of leopards shot with Stumpfe and bragged about here and elsewhere are illegal and were poached. Somebody is embarrassed.

Guys,

There are always 2 sides - no doubt. Karl was in a tough position having other higher paying clients in another camp, but he still left me.

Of course, all of what he told me person to person is easily denied, and he is denying it.

Saeed - Yes the prices were discounted by about half because we were filming for TV, and that was a discount for potential advertising.

SG Olds - He said 80-90% of leopard shot at bait were at night. I think most of his cats are killed with dogs - during the day. But of his baited cats, that is what he told me.

Mike - as for "Are there any lessons learned for the rest of us -- anything that you think in retrospect might have avoided the meltdown?" - All I can say, is when Karl told me before the hunt that he needed to go hunt with the other clients and wanted to cancel - and then he called back and said it was all worked out - it should have been a big red flag. We had so much invested in the hunt already and he said it was all worked out and would be fine - so we took him at his word and went.

I have filed a report with NAPHA and The Hunt Report as karl has told me no refund will be given.

Wow!

Tim,

Sorry to hear about your problems. I got the same problems from another shitty company in Namibia a couple of years ago.


Dont trust all the "braggers"
and most important, you get what you pay for.

Thanks Tim, for reporting the bad and ugly of African safaris. I didn't find anything good about it.

This report might rival the sheephunter vs. PVT, Ray Atkinson fiasco a few years ago. He got royally screwed too.

I'm waiting for Chester, the Harrisburg, PA attorney, to show up to defend Karl.

WOW! guess I could say I'm shocked, to say the least

I'd a thought you'd have gotten a squarer deal than that considering he posts here, and he is getting the video advertising, etc.......

Ya just never know.

Mad Dog

By the way, that was one heck of a great springbok, but one hell of an expensive springbok hunt!

Tim,

You want to really do the thing right? Put it on TV and in magazines.

Onefunzr2 - He has already threatened me with lawyers if I posted here and with Hunting Report. I am only telling the truth, so it wories me none. Plus my cameraman was there - so I have a witness and he is 100% in agreement with me on how it went down.

SG - I wish I could. No one would buy the story for mags or run it on TV. Nothing negative...

I am not out for revenge. I just want to warn everyone about this guy...

I feel really sorry for you Tim.

If I can ask Saeed a first and last favour, can You push hard for Eyedoc, a real neat Top guy, being reimbursed or being offered a 100% guaranteed safari for his ele bull and record leopard? I am devastated for I do appreciate Eyedoc.

First off, my hopes of having a fair "trail by internet" is not high. But anyway, here are some of my observations. Also, I had a great time with Tim and his cameraman for the 5 days we where together, and would not have suspected sometihing like this from him. If I offend anyone, even Tim, I am sorry, but this is the way I saw it:

quote:

Firstly, let me say that I do not like being negative, and I certainly do not enjoy filing this report. I do feel a responsibility to write this, so hopefully I can help save someone else from the same fate as me.

So let me say, that my “leopard hunt” with Karl Stumpfe was unbelievably bad. Karl, broke our contracted agreement in numerous ways, (the only one that I know of, was that I will be your PH. We agreed on the phone before you came that it might be neccicary) and lied to me so many times, I can’t even count them all. (You opinion) I am attaching the section of Karl’s contract that shows what he would provide at the bottom. Also, for the record, I had a cameraman with me from ESPN to promote Karl, and I was paying to hunt (at a discount). We had a lot of money invested in the trip with 2 airfares, cameraman costs that are very high, hunt costs, etc.

As some of you know, Karl tried to cancel my hunt 2 days before I was to leave. He said he had other clients from Russia spending more money than me, (never my words, I told you that I had some issues with a PH not working for me anymore, and that that is creating a huge problem form me, and if we cannot postpone your hunt, or that I will refund you, and you come later anyways.) and he had a PH quit him, so he was going to drop me to go hunt the other guys. After we talked and I reminded him that my contract stated that HE would be my PH for 10 days, not someone else, etc. Karl then called and said that he hired another PH for the Russian hunters, so he could do my hunt. (At this point, we agreed on 2 points:
1 I leave as soon as the cat is killed
2 I can leave if the pressure are too high on the PH hunting with the russians
So Karl meets us at airport, we have a problem with cameraman’s work Visa, but we (NOT WE, me and Ken) get that worked out and go to camp. Around the campfire, we talk about the hunt, and Karl tells me…
If it is OK with you, I will stay with you until you kill a cat, whether that be day 2, 4, 8 or 10, and then I will run up to the other camp with the Russians. (That is a lie, we agreed to above on the telephne before you flew here.)– I agree, wanting to be helpful, and after all , this hunt was all about the leopard.

Karl also says…I have plenty of good PG places lined up. You can kill a couple 2 ½ curl kudu, mt zebra, gemsbok, etc. with no problem, and it will be places where we can usually get 100 yards or less, for good footage. (a couple of 2.5 curl kudu? Tim, you are lying, and you know it.)So things sound great…

Day 1 – Check leopard baits. It is cold and cloudy, so Karl says PG hunting won’t be any good, so we sit around camp virtually all day. It clears off and we take a ride in afternoon looking for gemsbok on the ranch we are staying on, where getting within 200-250 yards of any animal on the ground is incredibly hard as it is mostly wide open plains. (Open? did you not mention how thick it is?)Day 2 – Check leopard baits. Go to town and drop off cameraman’s passport to get Visa taken care of. Karl had told me there was a free range ranch with huge springbok about 20 minutes from the ranch where we were staying and we could hunt it on the way back. He said the trophy fee was 3 times what he quotes me (from $100 up to $300) because of the quality and landowner, but I agreed to the price. (had no idea this was the start of a trend). (I mentioned that we have shot very good springbok there before, then you asked can we go there. I said no, as the prices are so high, and you asked what is high. When I mentioned it, you said if you have a good chance at a 16 inch ram, you will be willing to take it at that price. No trend at all, as the majority of places we hunt on, I had deals with the landowners to do the hunt for that price.) We went to Karl’s house 3 times that day, he worked on the computer for other clients, (while we were waiting for the cameraman's passport, as you where with when the lady told me that she might make a plan today still. BTW, the drive to town, and back, as well as the lunch, and the exorbant 20US$ that she charged for the typing, where paid by me, even though it was clearly not my choice to go to town for the day.) we went for a long lunch, and basically pissed around all afternoon, and then Karl said, “sorry guys, we won’t have time to stop and hunt springbok. (after the lady phoned me and said nothing can be done, and that she has handed in the passport, and that it will probaly take a few days.)Day 3 – Check leopard baits. Finally we go hunt springbok. To disclose the truth…I missed a ram. Then we got another chance, and I killed a monster 16” ram with almost 7” bases. Things were good. We drove around “our” ranch in the afternoon, did no stalks. We had fun joking and telling stories. Then that evening, Karl informs us that he is leaving us the next day to go hunt with the Russians. (You have your dates a little mixed up, I am pretty sure I only left on day 5, but anyway, I did inform you long before that, even before you left the US.) He is leaving us with the leopard dog guy, who is also a PH and owns our ranch. He says he is also leaving his tracker ,Godfried ,and cook, Rose, with us. I am not happy! (Then why on earth did you not tell me then, Tim? Only your cameraman said he is sorry to see me go, but also adds that he understood.)Day 4 – Check leopard baits. Karl leaves us in morning. We drive around looking for PG with Godfried. As soon as we get back to camp, we see Godfried and Rose packing to leave. Karl had called and had them go up to Caprivi with him. Karl told me he had everything lined up for the PH he was leaving us with (let’s call him PH X ) to be able to take us to the other PG areas where we would hunt kudu, zebra, etc. and the terrain was good for stalking and filming. (I did orginise that, but it seemed that PH X was not too interetsed in leaving his own ranch. For that, and for hiring him, and for not being able to continue the hunt with you, I am truely sorry, and if I could have it any other way, i would have. But you where not intereted in anything other than to start a campaign against me, so be it.)Now I will relate some things Karl told us before he left either riding around in the truck or at the campfire. 1) He said that when they hunt leopards over bait, that 80-90% are killed at night with a light, which is illegal – he said as long as there was no video camera around, that’s how they do it (you know as well as I do that I was referring to the hunting industry in general. Please find one single client that has done that with me, and I will give you an elephant hunt) 2) Speaking about the “problem lions he has and was selling here – up near the gemsbok park, he told me there was a big resident male with huge mane, but it was radio collared and was off limits. He said he was hoping to dart it, get rid of the collar (or put it on a small male), and then go in and kill the big male as one of the “problem lions” (I said that as the owner himself has put on the collar, he wanted to get rid of the collar, as it was not functioning anymore, and that the best thing would be to dart this lion and aanother young male and swap the collars. 3) He told me he was hoping to find a big tusker in one of his northern concessions, make it charge, and then he could kill it as “self defense” (You know as well as I do that is also a big lie. You also know that I recently had to shoot an elephant in self defence, and that the whole episode still haunts me. When we where at the taxidermist, I jokingly said something along the lines of the only way I will be able to afford an elephant like the one on display (a replica of a 100 pounder), was if he charged me) 4) he told us the ranch where we were staying and doing most of the hunting was 17,000 acres. The owner told us it was 6,000 (Yes, because it is 6000 ha, and if you do your math, that is around 15 000. Maybe you should also educate your new best buddy, PH X on the difference between acres and hectares. I thought it was 7 000 ha, thus around 17 000 acres, but do make an issue over 2000 acres.) 5) Karl said there were 2 female leopards, one big male and 1 130-140 lb male on our ranch and they were hitting the baits regularly. The owner said there was one big male who occasionally walked the ranch border, and he had hit a bait once 2 months before- and one small female who hit often. He said there were no other leopards around that he knew of. (I was stating what the owner said to me, and what I have seen there on prevoius occations.) 6) Karl said he had baits on 2-3 other ranches in the immediate vicinity and had guys checking them and they would call if there was a hit. PH X said this was total B.S. (Well, I can go and show you or anyone interested where your other baits was.)He also told us there were much better places to leopard hunt (Whould that be the Khomas region? He specifically told me he is tired of breaking his car and dogs there, and that their area is just as good as the rest for hunting leopard. What about the cat that the close neighbour could not kill, even after chasing it for the whole day with dogs?) 7) PH x said Karl had not told him about having any other PG places lined up for us to hunt, and Karl told him to just keep driving us around the ranch. (again, a lie which I will take up with him, but also hearsay, as is all the other nonsense you are quoting him as saying.)Day 5 – Checked leopard baits – drove around to hunt PG on our ranch.
Day 6 - Checked leopard baits – drove around to hunt PG on our ranch. I had asked every day of we could go to the other PG spots after checking baits. Finally, that evening, I called Karl and asked about this. He tells me that PH X is lined up to take us for kudu. PH X said his “kudu” place had been hit hard by rabies, and we likely wouldn’t see any mature bulls there. (Not what he told me, but anyway, if he told me that I could ahve amde another plan.) I told Karl this and pressed the issue. He said he would organize for us to go to one of his places the next day.
Day 7 - Checked leopard baits. Went to Karl’s other ranch about 2 hours away. PH X had been on the property once in his life, 3 years ago. (another lie. He hunted there for me with a group twice in the last 3 seasons, and I have the photos and the clients (from AR) to proove it.) As we pull up to the property, Karl sends us a text telling us that the following trophy fees apply (I will also show what the trophy fees were that were in my contract). (I recieved a text asking for the cost prices on the ranch, and tried to phone PH X. failing that, I text back the prices, also saying shoot anything except the zebra, as I am willing to take the knock on anything else but the zebra is full price). As you can see, he raised the prices quite a bit on everything. I was still going to shoot kudu and argue about the trophy fees, but we hunted all day and never saw a mature bull. BTW…Karl’s cook Rose was in this camp – so she never went to Caprivi. (I had her trasnferred there, as some of the Russians wanted to come down adn shoot PG.) We highly suspect that Karl didn’t go hunt Caprivi. We think that the Russians were moved to this camp 20 minutes from Windhoek, and Karl was there with them.
Kudu – from $600 to $750
Mt Zebra – from $500 to $1200
Eland – from $1000 to $1500
There were others quoted – all at much higher prices than originally in contract. I did not shoot anything.

Days 8- Checked baits – went to PH X’s kudu ranch – no mature bulls. We call Karl and ask where my cameraman’s VISA is. Karl said he would have it picked up by day 5. He said it was all taken care of. (see the photo attached below, if there is anyone willing to translate what the text says in English, this was received by me from the agency that did the visa. I send my driver to pick it up and take it to my home, but also phone this lady about the passport. she then says it is only the approval that is at her office, and not the passport. I orginised with my wife to pick it up, the next day, but am phoned and told that PH x's girlfriend picked it up. I NEVER klied about the passport, I went out of my way to get it for a person I considered a friend, and was misquoted and made a lyer by someone that does not have the decency to listen to someone else on a telephone. If that lady said no one contacted he with regards the passport, she is the one lying. BTW, which one of the 2 did you speak to?)We do not believe him. Karl says it is all at his house. We ask for him to have someone bring it out half way to the ranch and meet us with it that night. He says OK. 3 hours later, he sends a text saying that he has the Visa, but not the passport. He says he will get it all the next day, and have Godfried meet us with it at the airport upon our departure. We cannot chance this…

Karl tells PH X he has a plan for us to go hunt PG somewhere the next day and he wants us to stay in Windhoek that night. He wants to bring in one of the Russians the next day, take him around the ranch with the leopard dogs – and act like he is hunting him for leopard – because that was part of the hunt he sold him. He said the Russian wouldn’t know that baits needed to be checked first thing in the morning, and if they found any kind of tracks, they could turn the dogs out, act like they just didn’t catch the leopard, and the Russian would think he had been leopard hunting. We refused to leave the ranch for this… (If he said that, he is clearly lying. It is a good thing he is 120km away from me at the moment, as I am not in a happy place because of all the apparant lies. I will take it up with him, as well as some other issues.)Day 9 – Checked baits – hunted our ranch for PG – nothing. We have PH X’s girlfriend in Windhoek go to pick up cameraman’s passport/Visa. It is not done, but they tell us no one has called or been in to check on it. It will be done the next morning. We decide we will go get it ourselves, or cameraman is stuck in Namibia. (so we have proved everything Karl has told us about it was a lie.)(See photo again, I tried my best to orginise the passport, and without my effort, your cameraman would not have made it into namibia or out again, and you know it.) He tells us on day 9 that he has it taken care of again…

Day 10 – we are in Windhoek when passport office opens at 8 am. Have PH’s X’s tracker check baits. We tell them we are not leaving office without passport. It takes until 11 AM to get it picked up. Still at this point (and office closes at 1PM – Karl has never checked on the passport/visa) We eat lunch, do some shopping, I stop in NAPHA office to get contact info for filing an official complaint, and make it back to ranch for last evening of PG hunting.

That evening, I talk to Karl on phone, tell him exactly what I think of how he treated us, and told him I expected a full refund. I confronted him about most of his lies, and he tried to come up with lame B.S. stories over and over, that weren’t even good lies. He lies so much, he can’t keep them all straight. He calls PH X back and says he will refund my money, but he can’t have anyone at the airport the next day with the cash. PH X told him he had until Monday July 27 to have the money in my account.

We left for home the next day. I sent Karl an e-mail with my bank info, but I have never heard back from him, and don’t expect to.

I have send you an email as soon as I returned, which was a few hours ago.*When Karl left us with PH X – He didn’t leave enough food for us – took his cook, etc. PH X had to do much of the cooking, and he was not supplied to feed us. (I sent extra food with him when he drove with me to town to come and get his vehicle, and also told him that if he needed anything else, that he should get it or phone my wife to get it.)
*PH X told Karl that he would not run dogs for him any more because of the way this whole thing went down. (Up to now, he has not done that. But luckily he is not the last person with dogs, and eyedoc's hunt is taken care of. And if any of the things you said he sai are true, he has no need to tell me that, as I will not want to use him again for a mouse hunt.)Eyedoc from AR is scheduled to do a dog hunt with Karl starting next week. Karl told PH x that that was OK, he would just do it as a bait hunt. (another lie, either by you or PH X) That isn’t what Eyedoc paid for, and again, Karl kills 80-90% of his leopards over bait illegally at night. (nother lie, please back up this story, as you are sreading lies without proof.) I am sure Karl wouldn’t tell Eyedoc this until he arrived in Namibia, but I called Mike. Karl’s other dog guy from South Africa was in bed with pneumonia and had a ripped hamstring while we were there, and he was calling every day asking Karl for the money he was owed for past hunts (He is working for me at this very moment, thank you very much.)– so I am sure he isn’t going to be working for Karl in the near future.

*When PH X drove Karl to town to leave us on day 4, Karl got a call from a South African booking agent and client who just landed in Namibia for a leopard hunt. PH X said Karl told them he would call them back shortly. When he got off the phone, he was scrambling to find something, somewhere, and someone to take this client on a hunt, as he had nothing lined up for him. ( I am getting tired of typing this, but that is another fabrication/ lie. Who might that have been, as I have no idea.)Here is a copy of what Karl was to provide per his contract…you can see that he broke various parts of this – mainly that he would be my PH for the whole trip and changing trophy fees in mid-hunt.

Hunting Contract between
NDUMO HUNTING SAFARIS NAMIBIA_ and__
_Tim Herald____________________________________________
The client* (see name above) and Ndumo Hunting Safaris Namibia, agree to the following terms and conditions of this contract. (The Contract)
The client will hunt with Karl Stumpfe as PH, at any of Ndumo’s concessions.
The client will be met at Windhoek International Airport, on the 11th of July 2009, and dropped off no later than the 22nd of July 2009.

Trophies
The following game may be hunted at indicated prices:
Kudu US$ 600
Eland US$ 1000
Gemsbok US$ 300
Springbok US$ 100
Bait springbok US$ 50
Bait gemsbok US$ 200
Mtn zebra US$ 500

Any other animal not listed, can be negotiated directly with the clients professional hunter.

This is a special package deal, the total cost of package will be US$ 6000, of which a US$ 4000 deposit has been paid. It will include the following:
* all dayfees for time stated
* trophy fee for 1 leopard
* dog handler fee
If leopard is not killed, the package is reduced to $3000, plus plainsgame trophy fees.

Day fees
The dayfees payable for extra days over and above the package, will be US$ 400 per hunting day per hunter.
A fee of US$ 200 per non hunting day/ traveling day per hunter will be charged.

The following will be included in the hunting dayfees:
Services of a Professional hunter.
Accommodation, meals and drinks as indicated below.
Services of camp staff, trackers and skinners where necessary.
Transport while hunting.
Field preparation of trophies.
Administration, tagging, storing of raw trophies until local taxidermist takes over.
Delivery of trophies to local taxidermist for dip and pack.
Cost of hunting licenses or hunting permits.

Now…If I do not receive a refund for what I paid Karl by Monday…I plan to go to The Hunting Report, NAPHA, The Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, SCI, booking agents, and every hunting operation I can contact in Namibia.

It is a sad situation that whether it be from greed (Karl taking on too many clients so he can take all the money he can) or whatever his reasoning, that he treats clients as such. When we were with Karl, he was a fun guy to be with, had a great personality, and would be a pleasure to hunt with if he did things right. He obviously has a lot of big game experience, so he is a waste of PH talent. We would have made multiple TV shows to promote Karl, and I had 2 magazine articles already lined up to help promote him as well.

You know, we all look forward to that African trip once a year (I know some more and some less frequent). We love safari, and it keeps us going all year long- the anticipation, preparation- etc. We wrap so much of ourselves into that one trip a year, and when you get screwed like this- it is more than money. It just takes a lot out of you.

This was the hunt you hear about and always hope that doesn’t happen to you. I hope by writing this, I save someone from going through the same thing I did.


I have contacted NAPHA and The Hunt Report and filed a complaint.

Tim, as stated earlier, I am sorry if your experience was not what you have hoped for. My opinion in the matter will stay between us, on why you are behaiving in this way. If all what you have stated is true about PH X, I do owe you at least something. A lot of what you have stated could have been resolved by better communication. There I am also partly to blame, but I had a very high pressure hunt with the Russians, (who flew back earlier today), that may have closed my eyes for any other problems. What I did do wrong, was to not spend the full time with you, but we did agree verbally on that before the start of the hunt. And yes, I did quote some prices higher, but on very specific areas for very specific animals. I wish that I could have stayed the whole time, but we agreed on me leaving because f problems with the other clients. This has been a very hard 2 weeks for me, and it has tought me a few very important lessons, the biggest one being that if you cannot do it yourself, do not get anyone else to do it. I also told you that I would make it right with you, but you refused to listen to me at all, and just went on a tangent, trying to damage my reputation. I have tried not to get personal in above, but have to say this: either you are exaggerating/ lying, or PH x has some explaining to do.

As I have booked Namibia for leopard in 2011 reports such as these concern me. I cannot imagine the disappointment with your safari. As many have already stated there are two sides to every story and at some point we will probably know both. Assuming the contract was reproduced accurately Mr Stumpfe should have been the PH for the hunt. That alone says a lot about the situation. Good luck with this.

Karl,
I am glad you responded, instead of hiding like a lot of people may have. That say's a lot about your character. Unfortunately, I had a similar experience in Zim a few years back. For all my troubles, I was offered 2 days free hunting and TF’s if I came back. Which I never will. What do you plan to do to, to correct the situation?
I agree as a small business owner it is very easy to over extend yourself and assume other people will treat your customers the way you would have.
Good luck to both.

quote:

Originally posted by jbderunz:
I feel really sorry for you Tim.

If I can ask Saeed a first and last favour, can You push hard for Eyedoc, a real neat Top guy, being reimbursed or being offered a 100% guaranteed safari for his ele bull and record leopard? I am devastated for I do appreciate Eyedoc.

And what has Saeed got to do with all this?

Please explain.

Mr. Stumpfe,
I too think it is commendable of you to reply on here, and do beleive that there is more than one side to a story. I like to see your direct responses to some of the points/issues that Mr. Herald brings up. Your credibily, at least in the eyes of many who may read this thread, or on THR, depends in large part upon how you handle this situation. You have an opportunity to demonstrate your credibility and character here, and I certainly hope that you take advantage of this opportunity. If what Mr. Herald says is accurate, what do you intend to do in order to make it 'right?' If what Mr. Herald says is not accurate, what is his motivation? The two of you obviously see this issue from vastly different perspectives.

It'll be most interesting to see how this ultimately is resolved.

Just plain ugly all the way around...

A small little sample of proof that I was not lying. Here is 2 photos of my cellphone with the message still on it that the agency that was orginising the cameraman's passport has sent to me. Anyone that can read Afrikaans (or this vrsion of it), please translate for the benefit of those that cannot. The second pic is of the full number to proof where it was snt from:

To all that has asked the question:
Until such time as I have sat around a table with PH x, I will refrain form saying anything further. I really thought that me and Tim could have resolved this differently, as I did think we became a little more than client/ PH, but I could be mistaken. Tim's motivation is not for me to discuss, but I do have my opinion. If however what Tim has written about PH x, and what BS he quoted me saying, etc, I will be open for a discussion with Tim. If not, well, I cannot yet say how I will respond, as a lot of damage has been done to my name. People knowing me, and having hunted with me before hopefully will aslo come to the party.
Once again, I did make the mistake of not hunting with Tim the whole time, and whatever side of the story anyone believes (my side that we agreed upon that, or Tim's side that we did not), that part I will address, and make some form of compensation/ allowances for that.

And just to clarify, I have started to include NAPHA in my emails with Tim, even before he has let me know that he filed a report with them. Also, I never threaten him with lawyers, I just stated that this is a 2 way street (esp. with US lawyers), and that he should make sure of his facts.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by jbderunz:
I feel really sorry for you Tim.

If I can ask Saeed a first and last favour, can You push hard for Eyedoc, a real neat Top guy, being reimbursed or being offered a 100% guaranteed safari for his ele bull and record leopard? I am devastated for I do appreciate Eyedoc.

And what has Saeed got to do with all this?

Please explain.

Saeed

I am afraid that my lack of mastering English has lead to a misunderstanding.

I don't infer at all that you could be responsible. Not my style to be be obnoxious

Karl S is(was ?) well estimated and trust by the forumites. I think that the reason for Karl to be a prosperous outfitter is mostly thanks to this forum and your hospitality that built his reputation and that consequently he owes You very much.
I think that no other people than you can ask him to post his point of view ASAP and force him to provide Eyedoc with a perfect safari
Thanks

I don't speak Afrikaan but German can help

Call mother..

jule, maybe a first name?

hie es : today is, or here is?

......paper will be ready

All I can say is that I do not agree with Karl's responses.

Granted- some of my info during each day was relayed from Karl through PH X. I have no reason to believe that PH X would lie to me about any of that. He had nothing to gain, and I do not either. He has something to lose because he said he has quit running dogs for Karl because of all of this - so in essence - he is losing income by terminating their relationship.

I don't have 2 days to argue every point here. I stand by my statements. One last thing I will say is that you say above you paid for the cameraman's visa costs, etc. They wouldn't take US $ - so you paid. Kenneth promptly paid you back for all the Visa fees and HE bought us all lunch to thank you for fronting him the $. So you did not pay for his costs.

That being said, some of this stuff Karl told me personally - and I guess it is a "he said, he said" type deal. My word against his. The one thing I have is that much of this was all witnessed by my cameraman. He is 100% agreement with me. He does not post here, and I would not ask him to enter this arena.

Even if some of the problems came through messed up communication from PH X (and again, I believe him and he had no reason to lie to us) - The main point of all of this is that I was left after checking baits for 1 hour the 4th morning of a 10 day hunt by my PH and Outfitter. I never agreed to this. He told me that he would leave me only after I killed a cat - nothing about pressure from the other camp. I would have never agreed. What happened with the Russian group was none of my concern. I simply believed Karl would be there through the duration of the cat hunt. He is why I booked the hunt.

I am sure most of this grew out of Karl being over extended, but who overextended him? I have absolutely no reason (or the imagination) to make all of this up - and in this much detail. I will stand by my report.

I hope that by posting this report, Karl works double hard for eyedoc (to prove me wrong or something) or that I prevent someone else from going on a hunt when Karl is over-extended.

quote:

please translate for the benefit of those that cannot

Its text-talk shorthand, should read -'Bel maar as julle hier is paspoort sal gereed wees'

= 'just phone if you are here, passport will be ready'

This whole situation stinks.

Tim,

Thank you for taking the time to post your unfortunate story. I too share your pain of a much anticipated hunt turning upside down.

There are two side to the story (obvious), but at the end of the day your PH needs to be focused on your hunt's success. Clearly, it was not so.

To hunt Africa, we spend good money, and more importantly time. Then months of anticipation. We know we are offered only the opportunity, no guarantees. But some things should not be left to chance - like (y)our hunt being a PRIORITY.

Life is too short to hunt with outfitters who will not.

Better luck on your next hunt.

Man what a damn unfortunate incident. I was seriously looking at elephant with Karl for 2010. I have been conversing with Adam Clements and Wendell Reiche as well.

Karl is off my list forever and whatever.

Sorry you got screwed. The customer is always right well mostly, but come on you cant screw up this bad by accident.

Jeff

Tim, I sympathize and empathize as I have been there too.

I do not know Karl or Tim, but anyone who has been half way around the world and had the rug jerked out from under them knows the powerless feeling that goes with it. A contract means nothing. You find that someone's word means nothing. The same folks who promised you the world on the Reno or Dallas show floor are suddenly telling a different story. It sucks, big time.

I think one of the problems in this specific situation is the uncertainty of a leopard hunt. Take a country like Namibia where there are not a ton of leopards PLUS most are saavy from having been hunted by ranchers, and you are dealing with a hunt that is marginally sucessful, even on the large, well managed Namibian properties. Put dogs on the track and you increase the odds substantially, but you are not looking at better than 50-50 odds in most ranching country and on most smaller properties.

While I can 100% understand a guy not getting his leopard in Namibia, the real dilema here is the lack of PG and lack of time in the field hunting PG. Who has ever gone to Namibia and come home with one springbuck. The lack of leopards should have left lots of time for PG. Shooting one springbuck over ten days is an unmitigated disaster. PERIOD.

The contract calls for a $3000 refund if no leopard was taken. Has that amount been refunded? Crediting that amount or refunding it, to me, is an absolute must for Karl if he stands behind his contract and the hunt that he provided.

Eyedoc, I sure am sorry that you are hearing all of this shortly before your departure. The days just before leaving, to me, are precious. The anticipation, the planning, the excitement, the daydreams. I know your guts are churning. I hope you have a great trip with none of the problems Tim experienced.

I am sorry for all involved.

Bummer, would not want to be in this situation.

Could an agent have helped on this?

Second, I learned never to try and do things at once or work with someone who does. I nearly booked a Namibia hunt with a guy that appeared to do this.

Third, no response to the discussion on illegal leopard shooting, lion darting and elephant shooting. Those are a bit serious.

Fourth, you get what you pay for in life. There are no "deals" out there, especially on this a hunt. If prices were below "market", then you take risks regardless of the TV aspect.

Hmmm sounds very familiar to me. A PH with a "great personality", and "many satisfied clients" and a client complains- and the client is a liar. The only thing missing from this thread is the onslaught of Karl's satisfied customers maligning Tim. Or Tim being outed as a cross dresser. Perhaps that is coming.

There may be another point here. Not all hunters are the same. Many are quite happy with a PH that objectively engages unscrupulous behavior, BS flying, while another hunter will not put up with it. OR a PH has done good work on many occasions, but because of financial pressure, cuts corners and drops the ball.

There are so many guys who work hard and perform well, hunters need to support them.

I wouldn't count on anything from NAPHA- they can only "persuade" their members, unless there is a clear violation of hunting regs, and then only after the Ministry has acted.

You know, tigers never change their stripes- so this sort of thing will continue with some PHs.

I know eyedoc is a great guy, I hope he is not going to get burned here...I only know the information posted in this thread, but it seems most of Tim's points have been turned aside by Karl as either lies by Tim or lies by PH "X". Namibia seems to be the wild wild west when it comes to lies, counter lies, lack of responsibility....if PH X is so bad- why did Karl hire him for the hunt- and for the previous hunts? Was Karl deceived, wronged and maligned? Or is he just a really bad judge of character?

I am also put off by Karl's response that he was...busy...overextended...made mistakes- man, this is his business, and Tim's vacation of the year...a higher standard is owed here. Instead of a great leopard and great film, Tim is home fighting for refunds, hearing himself maligned by Karl as a liar (so it seems)...when all he wanted was to be a good client of Karl's and receive what he paid for- a leopard hunt.

Very sad....

I agree with 404, especially his last 2 points.

Karl, you sure seem to have "screwed the pooch" on this one.

This is just too HEAVY...