In the context of the original post, I was referring to the 4th hunter, not the PH. I thought that would be obvious but I see now how it could be misinterpreted.

Regarding the PH, he is usually on his best behavior and you will not likely have to put up with obnoxious conduct on the part of the PH.

quote:

Welcome to AR
Don't take any of the stuff personally, take it as lots of good opinions to prevent possible bad experience
It can be tough out there and being prepared for worst case scenarios makes it a bit palatable if that happens
Just go and kill shit, that's what is all about

Milan gave some great advice above. Hope you have a great time.

DWFCaveman good luck with your endeavor, but as mentioned it may be difficult to get a 4th, especially as most would hesitate to go on such an adventure with people they don't know... However it certainly is possible that you may find someone who has no one to go with and would love to tag along.

As for the hunt you bought, very common marketing plan for some Outfitters in RSA. They can easily donate 100% of what you pay, they make all the money they need off the trophy fees. So don't feel you owe him anything there. As for his listed trophy fees, those may have been pretty normal a few years ago. With exchange rates changing back, they may be again in a year or two? But right now they are on the high side. Not exorbitant though, so if you have your heart set, go and have fun, just check trophy prices and know what you are paying compared to others... You can push back on the high priced species by not shooting any of those. Hold out for good quality trophies, not always record book, but old mature animals that are great representatives of the species. Do not let the PH talk you into shooting young animals, you will likely regret it later. I've seen this with too many of these traveling PH's. Only you are responsible for what happens when you pull the trigger. Keep in mind many outfits have kept their "list" price high, but quickly negotiate deals off of them and/or offer package deals. You may wish to go on the hunt deal portion of this site and research what package deals and trophy fees have been... But be sure to only compare RSA hunts, and possibly some Namibia farm hunts.

What you should expect is to see more game, more species, more variety, than your wildest dreams... But it will likely be all high fenced. This is not a true wild hunt... I assume you know this. RSA is what you and your PH make of it, as relaxed or difficult as you and he want, if you are on large properties with "proper" veld and good trophies. Of the 3 people you have going, any spouses, girlfriends, children, grandparents... In RSA a hunt can be tailored to any ability.

Thank you, actbob, I appreciate the advise. I have looked over the trophy list pretty carefully and plan to focus on animals that I cannot hunt in TX for a better price....

I'm still trying to get an answer. A call is better once I know.

I DROVE BY A RANCH HE OPERATED IN ZIM AND IT WAS THE MOST PATHETIC THING I EVER WITNESSED STARVING ANIMALS EVERYWHERE I WOULDN'T TRUST HIM AND EVERYONE HE DID BUSINESS WITH GOT SCREWED THE LORD SAYS WE MUST FORGIVE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT FORGETTING

To all respondents: I just wanted to write a short note to let everyone know that my trip (along with my wife) to South Africa this May (2018) was absolutely great! We were treated exceptionally well and the quality and numbers of the animals on the three ranches were also exceptional. Abie Steyn and his associates worked hard to make everything about this trip wonderful! Anyone considering a trip to Africa can select Abie as their outfitter with confidence... I will write a more complete account and post it soon, thanks, DFWCaveman

quote:

Originally posted by DFWCaveman:
To all respondents: I just wanted to write a short note to let everyone know that my trip (along with my wife) to South Africa this May (2018) was absolutely great! We were treated exceptionally well and the quality and numbers of the animals on the three ranches were also exceptional. Abie Steyn and his associates worked hard to make everything about this trip wonderful! Anyone considering a trip to Africa can select Abie as their outfitter with confidence... I will write a more complete account and post it soon, thanks, DFWCaveman

That's great to hear.. please take at least a few minutes to post in the Hunt Report section.
This would be very helpful to the Operator for what turned out to be a great hunt
Thank you very much for taking the time to report the end result after this thread!!

Were you able to get a 4th person. Funny, one of those deals I look for a hunting by yourself gets old after a while. glad your trip worked out. Heading over in July myself, but more of a drive around seeing the countries, and camping, this time.

Actually, my brother-in-law had a health issue and was not able to go, so we only had 2 hunters and a non-hunter in our party. Which leads to an interesting point.... I'm 65 years old and for 64 of those years, I never seriously considered hunting Africa... and most of the people I invited to go with us, automatically thought hunting Africa was beyond their "scope or capability". And I think (at least in the minds of many American hunters) that there is something about the idea of going hunting in Africa that causes people (myself included) to never seriously consider going. I never hesitated for a second on any of the North American hunting opportunities over the years and now that I have been to Africa, I don't know why I didn't go 35 years ago. I think if more people will "limber up their thinking" and give Africa reasonable & serious consideration they will open themselves up to an experience of a lifetime.... m

Hi DFW,
Glad your first African hunt turned out good. You only get one first of anything, you want it good.

I am glad your trip turned out so well. I hunted with Abie back in 2003 and again in 2004. He was in business with his dad back then (Teanie) and they ran a first rate operation.

They were both honest and generous hosts.

I do understand Abie ran into some difficulty when he partnered up with another PH to form Caracal Safaris.

As I understood the situation, they had to contract out some hunts and the contractors fouled up pretty bad.

Hopefully Abie learned from his mistakes.

BH63