What are the ins and outs of taking a trip to Africa? Will not be with an actual outfitter. Individual with private access. I'm more curious about the flight, way of life, Americans welcomed, how strict is their govt on things, how do you find out the exact hunting regulations for the area your going? Thanks

Your �Private Access� host should be able to answer those questions.

First determine which country you're going to. "Africa " is bigger than the U.S., China, and a few other countries combined.

He can answer them but I was just curious of other peoples experiences. Was just some broad questions. Thanks for your time.

We hunted a private game ranch in South Africa a couple of years ago. Like all of South Africa, it's high fence. Without the high fences, there would be very little game left in a hungry world.

My wife & I went to Namibia in 2011. We had a great time & the only problem arose when we landed at the airport in Windhock , Namibia. A smart A$$ custom clerk wanted to create a problem but her supervisor put a stop to that in a heartbeat. The LONG trip back to the states was a headache. The trip overall was a trip of a life time and we were ready to go back a month after we got back home. You will too. TRAVEL WITH GUNS AGENCY CAN ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS. BTW Namibia is not all high fence, very little of it that we saw was high fence. The HF was along the roadways only to keep animals out of the roads. Remember plains game animals prefer to go under a fence than jump it even if it is a 4 ft fence. We chased a one horn Gemsbock up & down a road for 20 minutes trying to get a shot at him. He could have very easily jumped the fence but did not. You will see things that will amaze you, such as seeing a 4 wheeler ATV at a redlight in down town Windhock, which is the capital of Namibia, beside the atv also waiting on the light to change was a big Mercedes. Windhock is as modern as any big city in the US. GO!!!!! and enjoy.

Ronnie... most of the African countries legally require you to use a licensed Professional Hunter and/or outfitter. You can't buy licenses or tags without one. If you are hunting a personal friends private ranch be careful that he knows how to stay legal. You could end up harvesting nice trophies that can never be exported/imported.

First time that I went, I brought my rifle with me. Each airline has their own rules on what they want you to do with ammo, and your rifle. Each airline also has a reputation on how well they take care of your weapon, or how often it's damaged or lost. I got lucky and didn't have any issues, but the year after I went, friends flew on British Airlines and didn't get their rifles until the last day of their trip. The more I read about things like this, the more it made sense to borrow or rent a rifle there. I did this in New Zealand and when I went to South Africa. The huge advantage is when you go sight seeing before or after the hunt. I also found that the outfitters had very nice rifles with Zeiss scopes to use that where deadly accurate.

On both of my trips to Africa, part of the hunting was HF, part of it was LF. There are some HUGE cattle ranches out there that still have a lot of game on them, and the outfitters that I booked my hunts with knew everyone around them, so we hunted where the best chances of getting the animals where at. My Red Lechwe had escaped the HF ranch and the owner of that property also raised sheep behind a LF. He called my outfitter and offered me the animal for a nice discount that I said was more then I had, so they lowered it to $1,500 if I could get it before it left his land.

The big surprise, and problem with hunting in Africa is getting your trophies back home. First, you have to make sure that they are caped properly and salted to the point of being dry. On both trips, the salt room had capes laying in fluid, covered in salt, with the lips not being turned and massive amounts of meat still on the face. Those where from previous hunters. On my capes, I get in there after the skinner is done and I make sure that the capes are perfect. Then they go to a taxidermist. I had several to chose from and I picked the wrong one. He did better mounts then the others, but they raped me on what they did. Then they used a transport company to get the box to the airline that also raped me. And then they paid top price for the airline to haul the box, which was also ridiculous. The only saving grace is that my taxidermist went that same summer with a group of five guys, and they where taken advantage of even worse because each of them had their capes and horns shipped separately instead of all in one crate. As expensive as Africa is, the worse part is getting your trophies home!!! They charge what they want and just wait until you pay them before they do anything.

As horrible as it is to get your trophies home, its even worse if you have them do the taxidermy there. While I'm sure that there is that one taxidermist there that does a good job, the overall majority or just completely incompetent. Go visit your taxidermist before leaving and ask to see all the African mounts that he has to fix that where done in Africa. Most have a pretty good collection of junk that they are looking for new capes to redo what was done there.

Also ask your taxidermist for the details on where to ship your capes. Some will pick them up at the airport for you, others want them shipped to the tannery. Mine wants close up pictures and measurements for the forms on each animal if possible. I carried a rolled up measuring tape that I took pictures of next to the animal to show what all their measurements where. Then emailed them to my taxidermist who used those measurements when he ordered my forms.

And NEVER EVER let your wife accept a gift from the owner of any of the ranches you hunt on that will add to your shipping charges. She accepted hides, skulls and horns that all went into my crate and added even more to my bill. All of it is in a box in my garage because we have no place for it. Total waste of money!!!

Thank you for your replies. Answered a few of my questions for sure.

If you decide to get the taxidermy done in Africa - make sure you get adequate insurance from a reputable company when it's shipped back. I had a Red hartebeest I harvested in South Africa get punctured by a fork lift on the neck during transit back to TX. Fortunately, insurance covered the damage. Still haven't fixed it, but it's hanging on the wall in a position where it's impossible to see the damage. Insurance paid for the taxidermy work on the hartebeest and then some. The taxidermist was pretty decent, but not as good as you'd find in TX. Not sure if the hassle with shipping fully taxidermy trophies is worth it. Second trip (Namibia) - I had the everything shipped back to TX and had the taxidermy done at Conroe Taxidermy. They did a fantastic job.

Curious where you plan on going? Traveling to Africa sounds scary, but is quite easy depending on where you are going. I found everyone to be very friendly towards Americans in South Africa and Namibia. I've also traveled to Equatorial Guinea (non-hunting related). Locals very friendly there too... but soldiers/airport security were not.

Hi Ronnie,

Speaking specifically about South Africa here. All non-citizens are by law required to hunt through a registered outfitter and must be guided by a registered professional hunter. Should you have a friends place and he allows you shoot a couple animals, that's fine. But without the correct documentation from an outfitter you will not be able to export those trophies. For piece of mind rather go through a respected Outfitter.

All the best
Jono

Hello Ronnie,

First congratulations on the possibility of going to Africa. It is a wonderful place. Even if you don't get to hunt I would recommend taking the trip to visit with your friend and see as much as you can while you're there. When I was there, we spent very little time in populated areas so I cant speak to how tourist are treated in and around towns, but we were treated very well while we were there.

In addition to what Jono said, and of course I could be wrong, but I don't believe you'd be allowed to take your rifle into the country without an invitation from the licensed outfitter.

You have gotten some pretty good advice here so far. You should also join africahunting.com. Great website for that want to hunt or have hunted Africa. Good luck on your visit to the dark continent.
Bruce

Heading to SA next week for a 10 day hunt. First time and I�m super excited.

Stay out of Uganda.

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