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. Coming from the corporate world there is an annual review 'The ease of doing business'. It rates how easy it is to set up a company in various countries around the world, Customs and duty regulations, licensing, entry etc etc and publishes an annual results list. How would that be in terms of global hunting? How easy is it to book and arrange a legal hunt? How easy is it to travel into a country on a hunting trip? How easy is it to enter a country with hunting weapons or own weapons in a country that you hunt? Are there gun license charges? Do they charge USD 1/- per bullet import duty? Permit and conservation charges? Poaching? Trophy export paperwork and permits? Country infrastructure. Et cetera et cetera .... What would your Top 3 countries be ( with or without your home country) for the "Ease of going hunting?" from start to finish with or without a booking / travel agent ( your option), drawing of Tags, ease of obtaining and actually seeing the trophies that you want to hunt, cost, travel in/out - the whole experience from soup to nuts? My top 3 from a global perspective - 1/ Namibia - easy booking, well regulated, simple zero cost travel in and out with weapons, good quality trophies, no hassle, NAPHA and reasonably priced hunting, no language issues 2/ Hungary - also easy booking, simple paperwork, gun friendly, fair prices, history of quality hunting, trophy export straightforward and cheap. Language can be a minor handicap but only minor in my book. Trophy charges based on weight or length irritates me but I can get over it. 3/ New Zealand - great hunting, easy entry / exit with guns, great Fishing and Hunting culture, easy to book, may be not the cheapest but good value for money in my book. Just a long long ways away from the rest of the world (unless you are Australian!) Any body else want to share thoughts of your Top 3? . "Up the ladders and down the snakes!" | ||
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For non-residents the "gun friendly" United States is anything but. It takes weeks of waiting and bundles of red tape to import your own hunting weapon. Add to which you must pay a steep price for a non-resident license and must be licensed in every state in which you wish to hunt -- all of which states vary from one another in seasons and bag limits. Most, if not all, will require you to hold a hunter safety certificate, which may or may not be available to you in your home country. Even transiting the U.S. to go to Canada or South America involves massive red tape regarding your hunting weapon, most especially if you would like to lay over in the U.S. and spend some of your money here. We really owe it to our counterparts in Europe and other places of hunter origin to make it easier to come to the U.S. and hunt. | |||
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Stonecreek, I have had the pleasure of hunting in your delightful country on three different occasions, and I really mean it was a pleasure to hunt there. I think you do the USA a slight disservice in describing the entry procedure as onerous. Yes, there is procedure to undergo to obtain permits in advance but all are quite dooable if approached in a planned way and I have never experienced undue delays in obtaining anything I required. By comparison Canada is slightly easier but the difference is not immense. For additional perspective I would rate entry to Namibia and Zimbabwe as pretty close to Canada. I have not hunted any draw species, only species for which outfitter tags were available and certainly costs of those were much higher than resident costs but I expected as much so there was no shock factor. On the other hand I would do anything to avoid transiting the USA with a firearm as I believe that can be complicated. My single negative firearm related experience in the USA was in Houston early this year where I struck a resentful TSA inspector who certainly regarded me as some lower life form. However I was heartened by the Customs officer who dealt with me politely, professionally and promptly. Overall my largely positive experiences would not deter me at all from again visiting the USA to hunt with my own firearms and in fact that is exactly what I am doing in February 2019. If there is a dark side to USA officialdom it would have to be any dealings with FWS. I won't go into detail except to say it involved a Cites permit and a ridiculously long wait. Anyway, I should answer the OP's question while here. Of countries I have hunted my rankings are; 1) Namibia 2) Canada 3) Zimbabwe Cheers Hunting.... it's not everything, it's the only thing. | |||
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Agree completely with 30-06 king. If a person wants to hunt private, high fence property in the US, they need do nothing more than pay for it. At the same time, there are numerous opportunities for inexpensive, public land hunts with a small amount of planning. Yes, a few states make drawing tags difficult but that does not really differ from other countries for specific, well managed, but limited species. | |||
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If one utilizes a service, generally the hassle is minimal regardless. I don’t consider fees part of the hassle, but I can see why one could. For me, so far the easiest have been: Canada Zimbabwe Tanzania Zambia The worst have been Cameroon Australia South Africa (with the 1 year CBP form requirement now...used to be in the easy category) To me getting photos, sending off passports via couriers, and having to get new documents (requiring going to government offices out of town) that you don’t have to get except to get the permit are hassles. The behavior of officials is so spotty that I can’t call that the issue- my worst dealing with customs folks has been in Canada (searching through my entire luggage because “Americans always bring handguns in illegally “), Australia (can’t find the guy), and of course, our friends in Atlanta with delays and computer checks that are not really required by law) | |||
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I've always wanted to hunt Tanzania, but the cost of charter flights and having to pay a few hundred dollars to bring your rifle in for a week or so has always been a show stopper for me. I don't mind paying a fair price for good service, but getting reamed just because they can just goes against my grain. To me, Zimbabwe has always been the best value for money for hunts in relatively wild Africa. The only problem with that country is the way the shipping costs for trophies has skyrocketed. JMO BH63 Hunting buff is better than sex! | |||
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In my experience Mexico and Cameroon were very easy as was Canada when we drove up. I understand folks recently have had a difficult time in Cameroon. Maybe not everybody has the same arrangement with the officials that was in place when I went. Entering and exiting Canada last year was a goat rope through the Toronto airport. This year my guys used a meet/greet and sailed through with no hassle. Using a travel agent that understands travel with guns is key in keeping your trip angst free. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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How long ago were you in Cameroon Mark? Getting guns in is expensive and time consuming including sending your passport to Paris so they can take a train to Brussels and get your gun paperwork. Around $1000... wouldn't do it again on a bet. I hunted there in '15 and again in '16. On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! - Rudyard Kipling Life grows grim without senseless indulgence. | |||
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Russell, It was in '07 so awhile back. We arrived as a party of 4, gave our passports and bag tags to the meet/greet guy and stood around talking for 20 minutes. Our guy returned with all our kit and whisked us off to the hotel. Leaving took a little longer but the meet/greet guy got us through with no hassles. We had three hours before our plane left. We were traveling with our PH who had a break in his schedule. He spoke to the police and we went through security, got our hand luggage x-rayed, walked around security and went to dinner in town. On our return to the airport we walked around security and went to the gate. Quite different from what folks seem to have experience recently. Mark MARK H. YOUNG MARK'S EXCLUSIVE ADVENTURES 7094 Oakleigh Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89110 Office 702-848-1693 Cell, Whats App, Signal 307-250-1156 PREFERRED E-mail markttc@msn.com Website: myexclusiveadventures.com Skype: markhyhunter Check us out on https://www.facebook.com/pages...ures/627027353990716 | |||
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Yes, it seems that certain Zimbo shipping agents and companies have decided to gouge the Americans again. I had ONE(1) Eland trophy that needed to be exported from Bishopstone (near Beitbridge) to the Limpopo in South Africa in order to be shipped with a Cape Grysbok that I had shot on the same double safari (South Africa/Zimbabwe). This was merely for a simple eventual dip and pack to the U.S. of both trophies. It was nearly 2K in fees just to get the Eland horns, skull and hide into South Africa! Once there, the South Africans also wanted to join in the feeding frenzy in order to send it up to my PH Charl van Rooyen, until I screamed foul to Charl who helped put a stop to it. F--king ridiculous!  | |||
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I do not completely agree about the comments on Hungary. While I do not complain about trophies to be paid according to length or weight (much simpler than the crazy CIC "points" used in other European countries) I have to point out that the Hungarians try to squeeze hunter's money with several tricks. You have to pay for: - every time you enter the hunting grounds - local licence (even if you have a European Firearms Licence) -jeep kilometers (rather expensive: €1/km = €1.6/mile) At the end you have to add an average of €300-€400 to the estimated cost of the hunt. It is not tragic if you know the mechanism, but I find rather unpleasant to be harassed like that. | |||
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ofbiro, I agree with you on a lot of that but for instance there are a lot of Hungarian outfitters that do offer very reasonable all in hunts for roe, red and boar w/o the kms and extras. We did a simple 4 day 3 roe buck hunt two years ago west of Gyor and it was EUR 1.400/- all in and that really was everything bar tips. Charlie . "Up the ladders and down the snakes!" | |||
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Great thread idea Charlie ______________________ DRSS ______________________ Hunt Reports 2015 His & Her Leopards with Derek Littleton of Luwire Safaris - http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/2971090112 2015 Trophy Bull Elephant with CMS http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/1651069012 DIY Brooks Range Sheep Hunt 2013 - http://forums.accuratereloadin...901038191#9901038191 Zambia June/July 2012 with Andrew Baldry - Royal Kafue http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7971064771 Zambia Sept 2010- Muchinga Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4211096141 Namibia Sept 2010 - ARUB Safaris http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6781076141 | |||
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I would rank Namibia as being the easiest, followed closely by Zimbabwe. I have had issues getting my rifles into Canada and Mexico, I always end up getting them into the country, but it is a hassle. I was born in Libya and I was going hunting in Mexico back in 2004. I showed my US Passport and the official wanted to know where Libya was, I told him it was in Texas and he went ahead with my paperwork and cleared my rifle. ____________________________________________ "Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchett. | |||
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I recently returned from a hunt in Zambia, and while their process was a bit cumbersome and took 10-15 minutes entering and leaving, I thought it was pretty straightforward and in all cases the Zambian police were friendly and polite. I simply had to Remove my guns from cases so they could confirm serial numbers and confirm the caliber and quantity of ammunition matched my permit. Everyone was cooperative and I never had any feeling that anyone was seeking a bribe or any other ‘tip’. They did what they had to do and sent me on my way. LaVerne of Muchinga Safaris was especially helpful in both instances, as she clears all of their hunters, arriving and departing. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting Travel Forum Ease of hunting countries?
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