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I just got back from S. Africa on Friday, and as you can see from the photo, I got a very large one. I didn't get to hunt anything else, as planned, and was very frustrated throughout the hunt, or what ended up being a sightseeing tour for the first 3 1/2 days, or as they said, scouting, but don't want this to be a bunch of complaining. I've just never showed up for a hunt, and not carried a gun for the first 3 1/2 days. It was an experience, but doubt if I will ever want to go back. It is not my kind of hunting. The positive side, of not being allowed to hunt those first 3 1/2 days, meant that I saved a lot of money, buy not shooting anything else! And when I say shooting, I don't mean hunting, as most of the animals just stand around looking at you. I've had more fun hunting just about anything here in the U S and Canada.
hippo hunt successful
I just got back from S. Africa on Friday, and as you can see from the photo, I got a very large one. I didn't get to hunt anything else, as planned, and was very frustrated throughout the hunt, or what ended up being a sightseeing tour for the first 3 1/2 days, or as they said, scouting, but don't want this to be a bunch of complaining. I've just never showed up for a hunt, and not carried a gun for the first 3 1/2 days. It was an experience, but doubt if I will ever want to go back. It is not my kind of hunting. The positive side, of not being allowed to hunt those first 3 1/2 days, meant that I saved a lot of money, buy not shooting anything else! And when I say shooting, I don't mean hunting, as most of the animals just stand around looking at you. I've had more fun hunting just about anything here in the U S and Canada.
Replies
Luis
Maybe just a bad outfitter.
Shame about the rest of the experience, but that is NOT the norm. However, as the African vets will say....thats Africa, it has no plan and no schedule. But really, sounds like an outfitter issue that unfortunately bled over onto you.
Consider another country, and another outfitter. I know of a few guys who run great operations if you get the bug again. I know many people have had great times in RSA, but honestly, I have no desire to hunt there....too "texas game ranch" in much of the country, a lot of people go there with a shopping list of animals to fill.
I'd look into Namibia, Botswana or Mozambique for some plains game. Of course, you got a taste of DG....there is always a buffalo or tuskless elephant to go back for...
Many areas of South Africa have become more of a Texas game farm type setup. Namibians especially look down on South Africans due to their breeding of species with genetic irregularities (white springbok, black springbok..etc) in order to entice hunters. I lived in South Africa for 6 months, but chose to hunt in Namibia as it is more remote and more wild.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I've also see water buffs with a naked little Vietnamese kid riding on thir back try to stomp a squad of GIs into paste....if the domesticated ones can be that ornery, the wild ones are truly dangerous game...
If you're the rider you can do that with a horse as well. But a horse, once broken, is usually very docile until the rider coaxes him to do something. He's just following orders.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Not the case...Trust me...the kid was merely a passenger on a really irritated locomotive who bailed into the rice paddy at his first opportunity....
It's all about doing your homework and asking a LOT of questions of the outfitter before you commit. You get them to talk enough and something undesireable, if it's indeed there, will slip out. I was fortunate enough to go with an outfitter that was honest and forthright and that showed me the best time of my life in South Africa. The sad fact is that it's not always like that. Many of the outfitters, just like in the US, pump up 1000 acres ranches with virtually tame game animals like you're gonna be hunting a vast expanse of wilderness chasing wild kudu. Do your research, ask around and it's easy to avoid such places.
A little more info on high fences in South Africa:
The bottom line: if you hunt in South Africa, you will almost always be behind a high fence (same for much of Namibia). Why is this the case in South Africa? Because it's the law. You may not own private land for the express purpose of hunting unless it is fenced. For people who travel over there, that would leave you only the regular two month window to hunt animals not held on private, high-fenced properties. The South African government annoints high-fenced game farms of sufficient size as national game preserves because they effectively serve as their sanctuary system to combat poaching. While it's hard to read, I took a pic of one of these signs because I found their approach to game protection so interesting:
(The lower sign reads, "Private Property - Habitat Heritage: this property has been committed to a significant wildlife conservation program")
These places make it a nightmare for people to steal game while protecting the game management investment of the landower. Most of them are farms that raise traditional livestock (sheep and cattle) and also harbor game. At the place I primarily hunted, it wasn't uncommon to see huge herds of springbok jumping barbed wire cattle enclosures much like deer do on Uncle Joe's cattle ranch in Colorado or Iowa. Trust me - not one of those animals was the least bit tame and you would be the luckiest person in the world if one would hold still for you once it saw or scented you.
The high fence factor shouldn't be comparable to what you see in Texas if you go with a reputable guide. In my case, there were multiple properties hunted and all were massive, but the main property we hunted, we're talking 55 square miles behind a fence. Let that number sink in for a minute. The land covered multiple mountain ranges as far as the eye could see and I never saw the far side of it over my entire 7 day hunt. The herds are all self-sustaining and actually have to be culled from time to time (praticularly when the droughts hit). To put that in perspective, I bow hunted a public land island off of the Missouri river last deer season that had well over a 70 deer herd stuffed into a 2 mile landmass. I saw the same deer cycle by every few times I hunted there and had nicknames for a few regulars. Was I less ethical in hunting that unfenced island or the farm in South Africa?
As for the exotic game raising (black and white springbok, etc.) and "put and take" hunting practice...they're legal forms of hunting over there, but I want no part of it. That is definitely another thing to look out for in Africa in general. Again, it's all about knowing who you're getting involved with when you go on these hunts. In that respect, it's an identical experience to hunting in the states or anywhere else for that matter.
Tom
Reading your last bit there, it does sound like they were short on government scouts, which is THEIR problem. And also, you got screwed because the jumbo hunter was paying probably 4x what you were. Shame.