My father-in-law and I purchased a 10-day Safari at the Ducks Unlimited banquet in Ellis county a little over a week ago. I was just curious what everyone could tell me about Limcroma, South Africa, and what are the things you wish you'd known prior to going?

What's customary for tips for guides, cooks, trackers, skinners? Because I've read a wide range of suggestions from $15-$100 per day.

What would anyone that has been recommended as things you would make a priority to do while there?

Anyone who's been on safari with Limcroma did you or do you recommend taking gifts for locals if so, what?

Any other advise you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Don't bother with gifts, take cash. I'm sure laundry is included, so only take a few clothes, and if they're old, leave them there.

Wide range of opinions on tipping. PH can guide you for the staff. I use 10% of the daily rate for the PH, but as I stated, lots of "experts" will say I'm crazy.

Haven't hunted with Limcroma, but they've been around for a long time.

Take ear plugs for the ride over.

I left 1k for my PH for the week

$200 for my skinner/tracker (we had our own)

Then our group pitched in $25 each for cleaning and laundry ladies


It's best to ask the outfitter what to do for skinners, trackers, laundry, etc. Some will want you to leave very little because supposedly some tend to take off and disappear when they get big US $ tips and not come back until it's spent

PH I'd just say whatever you feel comfortable with

Limcroma safaris is a very reputable well known safari company. They should be able to help you out with any logistical questions you have. I tip the PH about 10% of the cost of the hunt as a generality. I have tipped higher for exceptional work( which in my experience is almost always). You can google Africa tipping guide and several will come up. There will be a lot of of staff to tip so be prepared for that. If you want me to send you the link to an ongoing discussion on tipping, on another forum, I would be glad to send it to you. If you have not hunted Africa before you are about to try the most addictive hunting you can experience. Be sure to budget extra for additional animals to your package/list. If you PH looks at you and says that's a bruiser of a, fill in the blank, you probably should shoot it even if you did not plan on that animal. Have fun and enjoy your hunt.

http://www.africahunting.com/community/

Lots of information on hunting in Africa on this site.


I gave my guide $700, my skinner $200 and the two girls who did all the cooking, cleaning and laundry a hundred dollars each when I was there two years ago. I also gave the skinner a new scaple handle and a box of blades.

Make sure you have a taxidermist who is familiar with African animals. You will need to know where to have everything shipped to before you leave. I would strongly suggest not getting anything mounted in Africa. I've heard people say they did it and saved a bunch of money with great results, but in every single case that I've seen what was done there, it's been horrible. Talk to a dozen taxidermists here in the US and every single one of them will have somebody come in with mounts done in Africa that they have to fix or tear apart and find a new cape to remount it.

Get adapters for power outlets and bring a cord with multiple plug in on it like a surge protector. Mine has four plug ins on it that we use to charge our phones and computers at the airports. There is always a group of people at every outlet, so you either wait, or talk them into letting you use your cord and they can plug into it with you.

I've found that I prefer to borrow or rent a rifle on those types of hunts. Bringing a rifle just adds to the stress of travel. Not having to deal with it makes layovers easier and more fun. It means you can get out of the airport faster. And if you need to spend the night somewhere, you don't have to deal with where to store your rifle. Every friend that I know who has been to Africa several times has had his rifles get lost for a day to a week. You will miss a day of hunting if you have to go back to the airport to pick up your rifle.

I brought one extra pair of pants and two pairs of shorts, 3 t shirts, a sweatshirt, light jacket, beanie, gloves and I think 4 pairs of socks. You will have laundry done every day, so there is no need to bring a change of clothes for every day. I like to travel light.

Binoculars are nice, but I rarely used mine. On both of my trips to Africa, my PH spotted everything faster then I did, and knew within the inch of how big they where instantly. I sometimes think their biggest challenge is pointing out where the animals are hiding to guys like me who are not used to seeing them.

I enjoy taking pictures almost as much as the hunting. Be sure you have a decent camera with a big SD Card. My wife and I combined took over 7,000 pictures!!!

Eddie hit on some good points. I've been over 3 times now, my 4th coming this August. I will be renting the outfitter's rifle this time, as customs, SAPS, etc is a PITA and getting worse. As far as gifts go, one thing I found that the trackers, drivers, and even the PH loves is hard candy like Lifesavers, and chewing gum. The natives will eat them as fast as you give it to them so use sparingly. I usually take 2-3 big bags of individually wrapped lifesavers and at the end of the week they're history.

One thing I will respectfully disagree on though is binoculars. I wouldn't think of leaving them behind, or not using them much. Africa is full of amazing things and I find myself constantly looking at them. The array of wildlife and birds is staggering...you never know what you'll see.

Enjoy! You're in for the trip of a lifetime. Even though I haven't hunted specifically with them, Limcroma has a great reputation.

I wouldn't go without binoculars for sure. I tipped oh $1k for the week on 10k hunt, I left $250 for tracker and $200 for skinners and $100 for laundry. I took care of taxidermist there in cash and saved some money, sawed off skulls I knew were gonna be shoulder mounts save $100 on each one that way, warthog only need teeth and hide for mount, If shoulder mounting it. I took three bags of jolly ranchers and the watermelon was their favorite. I took socks for trackers. Limcroma has good reputation but it is addicting headed back in July myself.

Tag

Take cheap, cotton clothes. The sweet laundry folks will ruin this high-tech stuff.

Just a note about taking a nice camera with a BIG SD card. SD cards can fail and become corrupted, so it's better to take several smaller cards and swap them out, than take one big one. If the one big one fails, you're screwed and will lose all your pics. If you take the time to swap out cards, maybe use a new card every day or every two days or something like that, then if one card fails, you'll still have pics.

I always take my own binoc's. In fact I had 2 pr last yr and my PH borrowed mine to use as his were not the best..... I saw several animals before my PH or tracker did. One thing you can do do to improve your hunt is to practice shooting off of shooting sticks. The more you do it the more comfortable it becomes. My first trip it was not easy for me to use and some shots were not as great as they should of been. My 3rd trip last yr I shot probably 400 rds of ammo in the 6 weeks before I left. I brought a set of sticks up to my kitchen and every AM and PM for 2weeks prior to leaving I'd dry fire my rifle out the window at targets.
As a result I hit every animal that I shot at. Remember if you draw blood you pay the trophy fee. Only take shots you are comfortable with.
I prefer my own rifle generally. First trip my rifle didn't show up until day 3. The rifle I used had a horrible trigger. Made shooting accurately harder than what it needed to be. You decide if it's important to you.
I have had all of my taxidermy done in the USA. There are some good companies in RSA. Do your research and decide where you want it done. The right companies can do a good job. Some are not very good.
Some of your research can be done on accurate reloading.com and africahunting.com. Lots of very knowledgeable people there willing to help. Best of luck. Bruce

Your in good hands with Limcroma. Looking forward to seeing some photos in the future.

Good point about the shooting sticks. I never felt comfortable with them, so I avoided using them. Same thing with my wife, she is new to hunting and could never get comfortable with them. I shot my black wildebeest off of them, but decided that was the last time I was using them. If you practice a lot with them before you go, that would make a big difference. I didn't.

I'm leaving for S. Africa in couple weeks on my first trip(not with Limcroma). You have received allot of the same advice I was told. Here's a few things I can think of:
-Remember to get your 4457 form done early enough. This is what you will need to bring your rifle back to the US.
-Get your taxidermy done here. That includes the tanning of hides. You only want your stuff dipped/packed. Use a taxidermist that does allot of African stuff. They will give you some tags with their contact info for your horns, capes, etc. and will handle everything from the time it touches US soil. You will probably sign a Power of Attorney for the shipping agent to facilitate this.
-Pack light. The taxidermist and outfitter gave me a packing list. I'm sure Limcroma can provide you with one.
-Use bonded(Trophy bonded tips, Interbonds, Accubonds, Etc) or Mono's(Barnes,Etips, GMX) bullets.
-Definitely take binoculars. I plan on putting mine in my carry on so they don't disappear.
-Africahunting.com has a long thread in regards to tipping. 10% total of hunt seems to be the consensus.

Thanks for all the great advice guys. Keep it coming. I'm sure I'll have a million more questions.

TxHunter80 made me remember - don't put ANYTHING of value in your checked bag. Your rifle(s) should be fine, but the regular bags will be entering what the locals call Gauteng Province: "Gangsters' Paradise".

Have any questions feel free to pm me. You are in for a great experience.

I will also add picking up your trophies and clearing them yourself will save you a lot !!

Please feel free to PM me! I have spent about 7 months total with many PH's and outfitters as both a client and an employee and I know Hannes Els very well! Like BMD said you are in for the experience of a life time and you my as well start planning your next trip!