Planning a hunt – helpful hints and tips
Hunting in Africa – where your Africa hunting safari becomes an experience!
Planning my Africa hunting safari – what are the obstacles?
A very large portion of the extreme pleasure derived from any African hunting safari must be in the planning stage. Who do you take along, what do you take along, what animals do you want to hunt, which outfitter do you want to trust your dream Africa hunting safari to, and many more questions have to be answered before you board the plane.
Here are some practical tips that will hopefully assist you in planning your dream hunt:
1. Which African Outfitter to choose
A major obsticle when finally deciding to make your Africa hunting safari come true is to decide which Outfitter to make use of. There are fine, honest and trustworthy African Hunting Outfitters out there who will see to you having a great Africa hunting experience. Be on the lookout for those who are in for a quick buck and below are some hints and tips on how to avoid the shady characters.
Here are a few tips on what to look for when deciding on an African Outfitter:
- Ask the Outfitter for references, and not just the last one, ask for at least five to 10 references and do contact them.
- Ask about any hidden costs, or costs that are not reflected in the advertising material.
- You need to know what is specifically included in your hunting deal, and what is specifically excluded from your deal.
- Is there a cost involved for pick-up and drop-off at the airport
- Remember that the day of arrival and the day(s) after the hunt are mostly excluded from any hunting package deal.
- What happens to the trophies, ie, from after the hunt to the local taxidermist / dip-and-ship company.
- Ask for a written agreement between yourself and the Outfitter as to what is in- and excluded. This will save you a lot of trouble if something does go wrong.
- Ask if the Outfitter belongs to hunting organizations. This will give you a lot of leverage in case your Outfitter deserts you. The most common hunting organizations that your Outfitter in South Africa can belong to are: Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa (PHASA) and Safari Club International (SCI). Confirm the Outfitters membership if you have a mind to.
2. Insurance:
We all specifically do not like to pay for insurance and are then exceedingly happy we did if we need to make a claim.
- Trip insurance is always a good idea.
- Insure your rifle if it is an expensive one.
- Insure all and any other items.
- Have your own medical insurance and confirm that it will be valid in South Africa or any other African country you will be hunting in.
3. Finance:
- Many Outfitters do not have credit card facilities in South Africa. Confirm if you can pay by credit card.
- Let your bank know to ecpect some charges on your credit card originating in South Africa. Most banks decline any charges against your credit card if they were not informed about out of country charges.
- It is risky to walk around with a pocket full of money. If you do have some cash there will always be a safe on your hunting property, so ask if your wallet can be locked in the safe. Alternatively, lock your valuables in your rifle case.
- In the larger towns where you will do some shopping credit card facilities will be available as a general rule for purchases. Debit card facilities are more common than credit card facilities.
- In South Africa vendors cannot accept foreign currency as payment. You either pay by card or South African currency called the Rand (100 cents = R 1-00). When drawing money at an ATM your balance will be reflected in Rand.
- Ask your bank if they have Rand, or get some at the airport on arrival. You will undoubtedly do some road side shopping for small gifts to take home.
4. Which animals to hunt:
Now here’s a good one because nobody can tell you which animals to hunt. Decide which animals you want to hunt, then look for a hunting package deal that suits most of your requirements and add animals on top that.
Figuring out where to hang the trophies will be fun when the taxidermy work finally arrives at home.
5. Flights:
- Some airlines have special deals going at certain times of the year. Follow closely and you could save a lot.
- The time of year you choose to fly can have a major difference in the cost of your flight ticket, compare the cost of say a December flight, with that of an October flight. The savings on the air ticket could add an additional animal to your list!
- Airlines periodically change their policies with regards to transporting firearms. Please confirm with your airline what their latest policies are with regards to
6. Rifles and calibers:
This should be determined by the animals you decide to hunt. Smaller calibers work well on smaller animals and large calibers work well on large animals. For our recommendations on which calibers to use for which animals when hunting in Africa, please click HERE
Bear in mind that these are recommendations.
For the importation procedure of your rifles to South Africa, click HERE. Pay attention to the amount of ammunition you are permitted to bring along per caliber.
Download the legal documents required for bringing your firearms to South Africa from here:
SAP 520 and the
7. Gear guide:
What to bring along, and what to leave behind. Get that from HERE
8. Photo safaris while on a hunting safari
Your African safari will most likely be a once-in-a-lifetime affair. So why not consider a photo safari to be added on to your existing hunting safari, either before- or after the hunt. The destination will be determined by your personal preference and budget. It will only be you and your group on your photo safari and not a coach full of noisy tourists. This will allow for personal service and attention. For more info on the photo safaris, please click HERE
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Hunting area: Limpopo Province
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