African hunt question about $$

[Markbo]

I don't to put anyone on the spot, but if a fellah was trying to start saving for a Safari, what is a realistic dallar figure target to aim for?

Think 5 animals, plains game. No dangerous game, no buffalo fees. Just plains game. Total dollars... travel, hunt, taxidermy... everything accounted for.

$10-$15,000??

[sugarriver]

You're in the ballpark. A lot depends on which 5 animals you want. For instance, a sable will drive the price up considerably, like to Buffalo levels. The money question gets kicked around here quite a bit. worth taking a look.
Pete

www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/forums/20/1/Africa

[Ken O'Neill]

Use a consolidator like Gracy Travel or Esplanade, depending upon which country you travel to. They are Africa experts and will save you money over a conventional travel agent. If you are an SCI member, it can also pay you to attend a couple on conventions and bid on donated hunts.

[ermont0825]

I bought a hunt a year ago in May. The hunt cost me 4k for five animals. I bought another two and the owner let me shoot three others for free. I didn't realize how unusual this was until another hunter showed up in camp to hunt gemsbok. Curiously he was from my home state. Go figure. He told me horror stories of a hunt he had taken the year before with adifferent outfitter about refilling water bottles, getting a huge bill for incidentals such as alcohol and pickup/ delivery to airport. Encouraging his wife to shoot the more expensive game rather than the intended targets. The guy paid several thousand dollars in "incidentals" on that hunt. I didn't realize how lucky I was to hook up with the guy I did hunt with. I had a great hunt and an even better experience than i could have hoped for. The plane ride does suck. It is LOOOONG.

[tjcmo]

As has been said it really depends on which plains game animals you want. For example typical safari costs in South Africa would be as follows:
Daily rate-approximately $300-450/day
Trophy fees-varies from $250 for a duiker to $6000+ for a sable
Airline Tickets-figure approximately $2000. r.t.
"Meet and Greet" services-$250- MANDATORY if you are bringing handguns. They will secure your firearms permit before you get there. Air 2000 is who I use. WELL worth the cost.
There are also other things to consider such as tips for PH and staff, dip and pack or taxidermy costs, ect.
IMHO, if this is your first safari, you should consider an outfitter who offers package hunts where all daily rates and trophy fees for specific animals are included at a discounted rate. Some even allow substitutions and you can always add animals for the regular trophy fee.
PM me if you need any additional information or recomendations.

[hammer]

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African safari costs run all over the map. Have paid from less than $10,000 to over $60,000.

Also depends on what you include in the costs. For example, if you decide you need a best Holland & Holland double gun in order for the hunt to be memorable, do you include the price of the gun in the hunt ? You're not going to use the H&H on any other hunt. If you go to Africa again you will need a Rigby for it.

Lots of planning to do for your first African trip. The planning is a big part of the pleasure.

Have gone alone, with family, and with non-family friends. Each had its advantages and disadvantages. If going with others, need to understand fully how the finances will be covered. For example, if you decide to charter a bush plane or helicopter to fly you to another site for hunting which only you will partake in, and your partner flies along for the site-seeing, does he pay half the charter ?

Need to understand the finances associated with camp and bait meat. On some trips have shot non-trophy size impalas, warthogs, lechwe, etc every day for camp and/or bait meat and never been charged. In other operations, every animal counted as a trophy fee.

On most trips the food has been fantastic. But have had two trips where the food was bad and I considered taking the job of camp cook myself. Except knowledgeable people don't want me boiling water let alone pretending to cook.

Need to get all your medical and dental stuff done months in advance. Recommend getting all your moles, warts, skin tabs, etc taken care of long before you go. They have ways of finding uncomfortable conditions in Africa when they were totally irrelevant before the trip.

Get a haircut before you go. Don't trust the barbers in camp.

Get new boots and shoes well broke-in before you go. Install new shoe strings the week before you go and take an extra pair. If you are considering taking an older pair of shoes, inspect them thoroughly well before going. While on the flight over one of my friends discovered a split in the sole of his favorite hunting boots (another airline passenger saw it) and we took a day trying to find him a pair of boots in Jo'burg.

Spend a nickel more on ammo. Have used a wide variety of ammo in Africa from Woodleigh solids to Hornady softs to Nosler Partitions to Swift A-frames. If you're going several times, experimentation is fun and productive. But wouldn't do it on my first trip. Would use only time-tested controlled-expansion bullets like Nosler Partition or Swift A-frame. Use heavier bullets and accept slower velocities. Have taken a 400 yard shot on an already wounded animal in Africa, but my records from hundreds of animals show a median lasered distance for first shots of 110 yards.

As far as African cartridges go, we could have fun debating that for the rest of our lives. Have used everything from the 243 Winchester to the 7 x 57 to the 375 H&H to the Big Fifties. Can rationalize all of them as necessary. Probably took more game with a 1911 45 ACP than any of the rifles.

Hope this gives you some useful thought.

.

[boxhead]

Right now you can do a decent plains game hunt in SA for $5k plus travel costs. If you take pictures and leave the trophies there you will likely save another $5k. I hunted with African Bushveld Safaris in 2002 and spent more then than they are asking now. They have a 10 day 6 critter hunt for $4k right now. If you go over to Accurate Reloading's site Marius has a post in the "Outfitters and Guide" section. My wife and I had a great time with them then.

[Markbo]

Good information, but I honestly can't imagein making the hunt of a lifetime and not coming back with heads and hides.

What about gratuities? What are standard for guides, porters, etc?

[hammer]

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What about gratuities? What are standard for guides, porters, etc?

The PH will make recommendations concerning tips and gratuities for the trackers, skinners, and camp staff. Would highly recommend that you follow his guidelines. He has to live with all these folks long after you leave as do the hunters to come. Disregarding the PH's guidelines can and does cause unhappiness and troubles.

As to the PH himself, one old tradition was to leave the PH a cash tip equivalent to the cost of the rifle you carried.

I have made it a habit of a cash tip of about 20% of the total cost of the hunt paid to the PH.

Have also made it a point to know about the PH's family (wife and kids) and bring them a nice gift and present it the second night of the hunt. On one occasion, the PH had children that really liked certain music not easily available in Africa and I brought them music CDs of their favorite artists. Brought the wife a laptop computer which she was thrilled with because it gave her a connection to the outside world via the internet. Brought the PH parts for his gun that were broken. You got to be careful with your intelligence gathering before the trip. These gifts are not part of the tip but are gifts.

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[akray]

The guys on leverguns.com have put together plains games hunts before. I think part of their thing was doing the hunt with a lever action rifle, but I don't think that was a requirement. They might be doing another one this spring. You might go to the website and check it out.

[curmudgeon]

All good data above, Hammer probably covers it the best. Don't short yourself but a good trip can be had for under 5K, if you just want to say you've hunted Africa. For what I did in Botswana in 1970 would cost over 200K today. I did it for 10K