I have a package available in Botswana. It MUST be a hunting party of 3 hunters. Each package includes :- - Elephant bull
- Burchell's Zebra
- Kudu Bull
- Warthog
- Ostrich
- 10 x Impala
Price per hunter :- USD25,000 (was USD39,000). Hunters must arrive in South Africa no later than September 10th, 2009. Included - 7 days accommodation, meals, transfer fees from and to airport, services of PH's and trackers/skinners. Excluded - drinks. All permits included. Very urgent!
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At some stage donation hunts were very popular with outfitters. But that was during a better economic climate. The outfitter would donate a 5-7 day hunt with a few animals thrown into the pot. As a rule the buyer of the donation hunt would upgrade to 10-14 days, and hunt a few more animals not included in the package. This was great for the outfitter as they had the chance to hunt with new clients and at the very least break even on the hunt. If the upgrade was substantial, he even made money out of the deal. This has now all changed. An outfitter who used to donate a lot of hunts to SCI, Dallas & Houston did so again in 2009. In total he donated 8 hunts for the year. During five of the hunts he made huge losses as the buyers of the donation hunts only hunted what was in the package. There were no upgrades at all. With 2 donation hunts he almost broke even as there was a little bit of an upgrade. On only one of these donation hunts did he actually make some money. Overall he is still at a huge loss due to these donations. Some of the hunting organizations in the USA actually require an outfitter to donate a hunt or hunts before he is allowed to exhibit. This outfitter has now cancelled all his exhibition spaces at USA shows. He is using his client base to do so-called “house parties”, and is donating a hunt to the host of the party. “House parties” offer better opportunities than the big shows. Although big shows have huge numbers of visitors passing through, the negative is that every outfitter is competing with huge numbers of outfitters. At a “house party” he is the only outfitter, giving him a better chance on success. The cost of big shows is also massive, placing the outfitter in a predicament if he does not do well at these shows. “House parties” is a cheaper option. The outfitter gets the opportunity to interact on a more personal level with prospective clients, and get to treat them, giving prospective clients more of an insight to what kind of person the outfitter is. In all cases the host has either hunted with the outfitter before, or knows him very well, providing prospective clients with the opportunity to get a one-on-one feedback with regards to the outfitter. Big shows can cost between USD60,000 and USD100,000 (in total – not each one) if an outfitter attend at least the most important five or six of them. For USD30,000 the outfitter can do 30 “house parties” with average 20 clients at every party. During the good financial times it might have been lucrative to attend the big shows. This no longer is the case. The outfitter in question booked only 2 hunts in total at Reno, Dallas & Houston for 2009, apart from the 8 donation hunts. He booked 12 hunts during 5 “house parties” while he was in the States. I fully understand that SCI, Dallas & Houston need to top up on their funds in order to serve their members, and therefore donation hunts has become very important to them. However, one also needs to consider the other side of the coin. No outfitter is in the hunting industry for charity alone. Most (I hope) love what they do, but they are also in this industry to make money. And if that benefit is not forthcoming from exhibiting at the big shows, then attendance/exhibiting must surely be reconsidered. Personally I think that “house parties” is the way to go. The benefits outweigh those offered by the big shows by far at this point.
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I found myself a "partner in crime"  on Hunters Networks. Recently I looked at some pics of Peet and decided to give him a call. Good thing I did. We made an appointment, and yesterday we met. We had a great chat, and decided to throw our efforts together.
I am convinced that Peet van der Walt is going to become a great name in the hunting industry, and his knowledge, zest for hunting and good ethics will make him a valuable asset to anyone associated with him. Somehow I just felt drawn to his profile on Hunters Networks, and I think that my instinct has led me to a great partner and a wonderful new friend.
Watch this space for updates on this new alliance.
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I have some excellent deals on sable, buffalo & leopard in Zimbabwe for 2009.
* 7 day Sable hunt. Day fees & trophy fee included - USD8,000
* 7 day Buffalo hunt. Day fees & trophy fee included - USD8,750
* 12 day Buffalo & Sable hunt. Day fees & trophy fees included - USD16,000
* 12 day Leopard & Buffalo hunt. Day fees & trophy fees included - USD19,500
* 14 day Leopard, Buffalo & Sable hunt. Day fees & trophy fees included - USD22,500
Other animals can be hunted off the price list. These hunts became available due to cancellations, and are seriously discounted.
Contact me on mhimbibs@telkomsa.net for more info
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Recently one of our younger members were scolded terribly because of the hunting pics he posted. I also commented, and in hind-sight I must say that I think some of the comments, even including my own, might have been way too harsh.
Especially those of us who are seasoned hunters, or professional hunters, having had training in taking good hunting pics, should take a leading role and point our youngsters in the right direction. I think that most of the young ones on HN would love to learn from others (with the exception of a very small minority). We should take that lead and be careful not to make harsh statements. In future, let us use the private message system to get them to change their way of thinking, or give them advice on matters we think they need "schooling" in.
Scott Allen (haystack) just recently posted a blog and told us about his childhood, and taking advice from elders, and now being in the position to offer some advice to youngsters. I loved Scott's piece, and I think it is wonderful advice. Let us follow the route of offering our advice when we think it is needed, but let us do it in a manner that will not be degrading or questioning someone's integrity.
My apologies Rory. I'm sure I could have handled it better from the start. Happy hunting mate.
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I just booked an executive hunt with 3 Aussies. Each one will do Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Hippo, Croc, Sable & other plains game. Although the hunt did not come directly from Hunters Networks, HN did play an indirect role in this booking. Someone whom I met on HN, and became a very good friend, refered this hunt to me. You know who you are - THANK YOU! GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIEND!, & it will not go without reward
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I just had news that all permits for leopard hunting in Namibia has been withdrawn. This could have some very bad consequences for those outfitters in Namibia who have sold leopard hunts. I know of one outfitter who booked 16 hunts, have done 4 so far, but stand to loose thousands because of the other 12 that still had to take place. Namibia did the same thing last year with cheetah hunting
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I really need some help from the members of Hunters Networks.
I’m doing research and need as much input as I can get. I hope to get at least 1,000 members to complete a questionnaire for me. I will not be using anyone’s details, but rather will be combining info in order to get a bigger picture. The report will also be circulated to nature conservation bodies in order to help them make certain decisions on an informed basis. I request that you copy/paste the questions below into your email, answer all of them and send it to me at sahunter@telkomsa.net. I thank you for your co-operation. - What is your country of residence? Please also supply state/province you are situated in
- Have you ever hunted in South Africa? If yes, provide details of year, duration of hunt, province hunted in, species hunted
- If you have never hunted in South Africa before, are you interested in hunting in SA, and are you planning to do so in the near future?
- Prioritize the Big 7 (Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Leopard, Hippo, Crocodile) in the order you would like to hunt them with the animal you want to hunt most on top, and the one you want to hunt least at the bottom.
- List 5 plains game animals in SA that you want to hunt most. List more if you want.
- What do you expect from accommodation? Should it be luxury with air conditioning, swimming pool, en suite bathrooms etc? Or would you rather opt for less luxury at a better price? Please give full description
- What are your trophy expectations when you come to hunt in South Africa?
- Do you prefer the SCI measuring method, or that of Rowland Ward?
- What do you expect for the day fees you pay?
- Any other information that you deem important with regards to any expectations you might have.
- What other activities would you like to engage in while visiting South Africa?
- If you have hunted in South Africa before, please provide a brief description of your experience and tell me what province you hunted in. Please do not include details of outfitters/PH’s in the description.
Your co-operation in this matter will be greatly appreciated, and I hope to see many emails generated from this. Thank you Cobus
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The High Court in South Africa has just ruled that the hunting of canned lions can no longer take place. Canned lions in this court decision are clasified as being captive bred lions. An appeal will be lodged against the court decision on Friday, June 19th, 2009. If the appeal is lost it will effectively mean that the future of 4,000+ lions will be jeopardy. Owners of these lions will most definitely have to get rid of these lions as the cost of upkeep is just too high if no income can be generated from these lions. The will probably have to be killed as nobody will take on these lions. The cost of the upkeep of a lion can amount to as much as 20,000USD in a 5 year period.
For now the hunting of captive bred lions will continue in South Africa. But it could be stopped completely in the near future. In that scenario the pressure on wild populations will most definitely increase, and many hunters who wishes to hunt lion might be deprived of doing so.
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If all goes well, we'll land an executive hunt for 3 hunters within the next 7-14 days - Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Rhino, Hippo, Croc - one of each for each of the hunters! Plus some plains game inbetween! May God help to make this dream hunt come true!
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