I am pleased to offer, in my personal capacity the hunt as below. Anyone who wants additional information can contact me by any means: My e-mail address is andrew@mclarensafaris.com , or call on my cellular (mobile) telephone at + 27 82 654 6474 or by fax at + 27 86 550 1256 or by snailmail at P.O. Box 31, SOUTPAN 9356. South Africa. More general info about Andrew McLaren Safaris availabe on my website at http://www.mclarensafaris.com


Americans all know the famous quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, …..” This past weekend I really thought about what I can do for South Africa? One thing that is very obvious: Get as many as possible foreign hunters here! Considering how much I have enjoyed guiding foreign hunters, like ChetNC and many others, I decided that in future I will also share my own hunting camps with a foreign hunter of the right type.

Only a very special type of hunter should, or will want to, take up this offer. I invite such a person to join me not so much as my client, but as my hunting partner, on what I regard as a typical South African hunt. You will really be able to say that you have experienced hunting in South Africa exactly as South Africans hunt – but with due consideration to ensure that your hunt is legal and proper in every respect, even though you are not a South African!

Planning: In keeping with the principle of how two or more South African hunting buddies would operate, you and I will plan this together: As equal partners.

Accommodation: Basic offer is: Pick you up at Bloemfontein airport and we go straight to my fully loaded Toyota Land Cruiser. Then we set off to drive for a few hours to the farming area where we are going to hunt. Where that will be has yet to be finally decided, but all animals to be hunted will be true free ranging and not retained at all by the normal 4 ft high sheep/cattle fencing on the property.

On arrival there we first scout for a place to make camp. Yes, you will be expected to help decide where to, and actually help to pitch a tent or two and set up camp. There will be nothing, but really NOTHING there! We bring everything that we need for a few days’ living in the bush, even water. No TV. No electricity. No running water. No flush toilets. No people. No town lights. We go into a really remote area to set up a true hunting camp there. Just to set you at ease: I do have adequate camping gear to ensure that you will sleep in a very comfortable and warm bed, dry inside a good tent. Amongst the ‘luxury items’ to be brought along will be canvas camping chairs, folding table(s) and a deep-freeze/fridge. So we will have ice and cold beer as well! So, although camping, it will not require ‘roughing it’ too much. All meals will be cooked on an open fire or on a gas stove.

Trophy Animals: As said, typically I do not hunt behind high fences: Not that there is anythingwrong with that, it is just a cost consideration. No ‘guarantee’ on trophies that were recently released from captivity as many (if not most) foreign hunters gets to shoot. The only guarantee is that you will hunt in true ethical manner by walking from camp in search of truly wild animals in a terrain where they are well adapted to. The fact that I will not go and spend my precious few days annual hunting at a place where there are not some desired species in good numbers, is your only guarantee about trophies. Typically, in planning such a hunt, two South African hunting buddies would together, and with due consideration for each other’s target species desires, decide and come to an agreement as to where they are going to hunt. In exactly the same manner your trophy species desires, and the type of hunting terrain in which you wish to hunt will be taken into consideration when deciding exactly which one of several possible venues we will actually visit in 2010. All of these areas have a few things in common: There are good numbers of the ‘bread and butter’ (or very frequently hunted) species that are typical normal residents in that particular habitat, available at good trophy prices. This is not a trip for someone that wants a sable or roan or some other very scarce species! Blesbuck, black wildebeest, springbuck, steenbuck, duiker, kudu, warthog, gemsbuck and mountain reedbuck are most probable species, depending on where we finally decide to go to for the hunt. If you are also a keen wingshooter, we can plan the hunt to also include a weekend of some serious guinea fowl hunting.

Dates for and duration of hunt: Will be between 1 May 2010 and 30 August 2010 – being normal hunting season - and at such time that I’m not ‘working’ by guiding some other hunters. To set up a decent camp and ethically hunt only makes sense if you plan to stay there at least for four full hunting days!

Costs: Not finally known yet: We share travel, food and trespass fees costs on a 50:50 base, each pay for own trophies hunted. Will depend on where we go and what we hunt. I cannot afford an ‘expensive hunt’, and you will only share the costs. For the right type of hunter, the experience will be worth every $ spent on it! I'm not doing this for you, or for me, or for profit, but for my country! We need international goodwill and visitors. Enough said?

Send message to andrew@mclarensafaris.com to start arranging this hunt.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Andrew,

Excellent idea...

I hope you hold hunting rights to all these open hunting areas oom

Do anything to get them here huh? It surely seems like it!

Where are you going for marketing early next year?

Good luck, I'm sure there are some guys that will jump on this!

I think it's an interesting idea. Somebody will really enjoy this type of a hunt. I know i would, but i can't next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew McLaren:
you will be expected to help decide where to, and actually help to pitch a tent or two and set up camp. There will be nothing, but really NOTHING there! We bring everything that we need for a few days’ living in the bush, even water. No TV. No electricity. No running water. No flush toilets. No people. No town lights. We go into a really remote area to set up a true hunting camp there. Just to set you at ease: I do have adequate camping gear to ensure that you will sleep in a very comfortable and warm bed, dry inside a good tent. All meals will be cooked on an open fire or on a gas stove.
Andrew McLaren

Awesome idea Andrew.........kinda sounds like your typical NA hunt, which (like Charl said), I'm sure you'll have a "certain type" of hunter jumping all over this.

Sure wish I could right now.

Good luck & happy hunting.

That's a very generous offer Andrew. I would love to hunt like that but I would want to do at least a week if I was going all the way to SA.

My question would be, who's the skinner?

I am going to talk it over with the wife...she has been wanting to go to Africa with me when I go for the first time, but this is really my type of hunt and not hers. I would really enjoy something like this, and from all accounts A. McLaren sounds like a heck of a good guy to share a camp with.

If I can get something going on this I will be in touch. Thanks for a great offer. AB

Andrew,

Great idea and much like our DIY (Do It Yourself) hunts here in the western US. Just my kind of hunt. If I weren't already booked for next year, with plane tickets already purchased, I'd take you up on this offer.

Best of luck to ya,

I could not think of a more perfect hunt.

EXACTLY what I have been looking for, and unable to find.

I've thoroughly enjoyed two trips to SA for hunting and photo stuff, my only complaint was that they were not camping, and that by staying in nice lodges etc you just didn't feel fully connected with the bush environment.

I absolutely loved a long photo trip we did in Botswana several years ago that was on that back to basics camping basis. Tourism (and let's face it visiting to hunt is in its own way a version of tourism) has understandably gone further and further up market as that is where the money is. That is all well and good, but just not what I want from the experience.

Andrew....you will have mail!

Sounds like fun! I look forward to hearing a few more details.

This sounds like so much fun. I can't believe nobody has snagged it yet.

quote:

Originally posted by SilentT:
This sounds like so much fun. I can't believe nobody has snagged it yet.

Believe it our not two of my daughters won't postpone their weddings until 2011 when I asked them to. Even after I told them about this deal!

Ungrateful little &^%%$#$@#'s

Would love to have an opportunity to participate. However, plans are already in place for next year. If Andrew does something similar as a safari product offering I'll certainly consider it seriously for 2011.

PM back to you Andrew... Wife says she is in also!! Not that I would have ever considered going with out her if she said she wanted to stay home...(shhh.. sometimes she reads the forum)!

Looking forward to planning out details!

Andrew,

THAT is an AWESOME approach!!! Congratulations.

If next year was anywhere near possible I'd have snapped this one up INSTANTLY. Sharing a camp with Andrew might well be the hunt of a lifetime!