There are two factors to consider in making the choice between Texas and Africa: cost and the experience.
It is true that trophy fees in Texas are much higher than in Africa. But that is only the beginning of the economic analysis. For example, the trophy fee at Morani River Ranch in Texas for a bongo is $35,000 (2015), while in Cameroon, the trophy fee is around Euro 3,500 (or about $4,000). You could easily look at these two numbers and say "wow, Texas is way more expensive." But a bongo hunt in Texas is likely a one or two day affair, and the other hunt costs are inconsequential. In Cameroon though, the hunt will run you around $35,000 (hunt alone, not including airfare). So all in, it would actually be cheaper to hunt bongo in Texas.
Now if you want to add additional animals to your hunt, the economic equation quickly turns in favour of Africa because the safari cost is fixed, while the trophy fees are variable.
So from an economic perspective, you need to decide what you want to hunt, and if money is the deciding factor, the more animals you want to hunt, the more the pendulum will swing in favour of Africa.
From an experience perspective, you've already seen what people have to say on this site. We all tend to vote in favour of Africa! I don't think there's much to argue about here - while Texas hunts can be difficult (see Boddington's recent article in Sports Afield about Aoudad in Texas), the experience can tend to be short and fairly "benign."
As I said, you can have that bongo in the salt within a day or two in Texas, while it took me 12 days of hell to get one in Cameroon. And I wouldn't trade those twelve days of misery for anything.
Now, you want to hunt with your son. So bongo is unlikely to be on the menu. That means plains game. Again, unless you want only one or two animals, the the economics will quickly favour Africa. If you're driving back to the ranch in Texas and see a blesbok, that's a $6,500 shot at Morani. That's more than the cost of a 10 day hunt in most parts of South Africa or Namibia. In South Africa, that's a $475 shot (Wintershoek pricelist, 2014). Both are, in my view, easy decisions, but in opposite ways!
Without knocking Texas (too much), a hunt in Africa is a lifetime experience. I will hunt Texas one day - game ranchers there do deserve our support for keeping a number of animals from the brink of extinction - but I'm going back to Africa for the eighth time next year.
Fly to Texas and hunt the "common exotics" for a long weekend, than take a flight to Africa and hunt some plains game. You may have to scale back on some animals but it doesn't matter, because you will return.
