Recent content by chonk34

I wore TAG Safari on my South Africa hunt. I looked like a park ranger, but it helped me get "in character" for the hunt. You could wear normal hunting clothes and be just fine. I've done most of my recent hunting in merino wool stuff from various sources and/or Kuiu/Sitka gear. It's likely a...

I had good success with a .338 on my South Africa plains game safari. My dad had similar success on the same hunt with a 7mm Rem Mag. Shot placement is the more important factor.

I got the comic book characters my kids were named after on one arm and a tattoo commemorating my military service on the other arm. I thought about it for around ten years before I had it done. No regrets so far.

I didn't ever get the sense that they were really pursuing us on account of our government service. Even the special interview mid-sentence felt like they were training a new guy on interviews with Americans they happened to have on hand. I agree that we were dependent on faulty local advice...

I wore a Tilley LMT5 Airflo on my safari in 2019. It did everything I needed a hat to do. I wore a beanie I bought at the airport for cold mornings.

My dad and I have discussed the closing of parts of the world over the last few years. There are a lot of places we've visited in the past that are now too risky or closed altogether to Americans. This trip was pretty high on the risk scale, and we got off pretty lightly all things considered...

Our military service was one of the factors in our risk assessment for this trip. My dad is a retired Colonel, and I am a retired Sergeant First Class and currently work for the military as a federal civilian employee. We did get interviewed about our government connections. It definitely adds a...

When we were first detained we asked if we could just plead guilty, pay the fine, and walk away to avoid the court process. The police informed us that would be considered a bribe, and that bribes are not okay. All of the police and guards we dealt with were very professional. I did wind up...

That sounds pretty scary, a lot scarier than my experience. You have to be careful on foreign hunts. It's a whole other world out there. It's easy to get caught up over something relatively small, and then you're deep in the political/bureaucratic world of a culture you're not used to operating...

I would probably do it again. An Alaskan bear hunt is unattainable for me unless I hit the lottery. I felt like this was my one realistic shot at a big bear, given my life situation. I might make different choices while I'm there, or choose a different outfitter. It might be difficult to...

I think it's harder to post about the hunts that don't go well, especially if the poster made choices that contributed to the bad experience, like us going along with Yuri's plan to try flying out instead of keeping our appointment with the police. I've got a 2021 trip to Romania that I've...

The rifle was a .30-06, which we were nervous about as we'd have liked to be shooting a .338 or .375 at such big bears. It put them down quickly, though, without any tracking or chasing needed. Average range was pretty close, within 50-75 yards on all shots.