Bang for buck species

[ActionBob]

If you want the Big 5 experience but without the incredible cost, there are options. I know there are a lot of people who are against captive bred lions, but as they are generally walk and stalk on foot in the Kalahari, it is more of a "hunt" in the walk and stalk style than one gets with many wild lions that are shot over bait from a blind. CBL is also relatively cheap. I think they are more dangerous than hunting free ranging wild lions.

Another option is to hunt a tuskless elephant. The female tuskless elephant is one of the most dangerous animals around. You will get all the work of an elephant hunt, more of the danger and at a fraction of the cost.

Granted, the above are far more expensive than a cull plains game hunt, but they are a fraction of what most people think a BIG 5 type hunt will cost. You can get a tuskless elephant or CBL for less than a Cape buffalo. You could get a real sense of wild Africa with a free range elephant hunt in Zimbabwe and you will put some miles on the soles of your boots.

I have to agree that the "biggest bang for the buck" these days is a Big 5 hunt. There are deals on all 5 of them. I really don't understand why leopard are as good a deal as they are with the RSA supply basicly still cut off. Obviously demand is down.

But of of the 5, a Zimbabwe elephant has to be the best deal going. For a 10 to 14 day hunt, in South Africa you will have opportunity to shoot an average of 1.5 to 2 critters per day if hunting hard 1x1 for the conventional PG animals. Then if you import them and do taxidermy...... Compare that to even a trophy elephant bull hunt like @Royal27 did a year ago and I'll bet the cost is very comparable... even with a nice set of replica tusks.

And nothing can compare to walking up on an elephant and shooting it at yards that are in the teens

 

[Leopard Legend Hunting Safaris]

Please have a look at our website or send us an email to help you set up a quote for hunting in Namibia

Lwyk

 

[Spear Safaris]

Go for Lord derby Eland in Cameroon,there are some cheaper options.

 

[JPbowhunter]

Go for Lord derby Eland in Cameroon,there are some cheaper options.

Don't get me wrong LDE is my number one game animal in the world but I'm never going to have that money. I do know of a diy option there, but of the two aussies i know that have done it, one didn't see an eland the other was robbed at gunpoint.

 

[JPbowhunter]

I have to agree that the "biggest bang for the buck" these days is a Big 5 hunt. There are deals on all 5 of them. I really don't understand why leopard are as good a deal as they are with the RSA supply basicly still cut off. Obviously demand is down.

But of of the 5, a Zimbabwe elephant has to be the best deal going. For a 10 to 14 day hunt, in South Africa you will have opportunity to shoot an average of 1.5 to 2 critters per day if hunting hard 1x1 for the conventional PG animals. Then if you import them and do taxidermy...... Compare that to even a trophy elephant bull hunt like @Royal27 did a year ago and I'll bet the cost is very comparable... even with a nice set of replica tusks.

And nothing can compare to walking up on an elephant and shooting it at yards that are in the teens

I like the idea of it but i still don't think I'd be able to afford it. On top of all costs the fact that most are quoted in us dollars which adds another expense with a poor aussie dollar threatening to get worse over the next few years.

Of the big 5 leopard is my favourite but a hunt that would realistically end up costing around $30k aud is unfathomable for me, not to mention i couldn't bring the skin back anyway.

Similarly a buff or ele hunt would be too much again. For e.g. a buff or tuskless hunt at $10k usd is already over $14k aud before anything else is taken into account just adjust the dollar.

Lion and rhino do zero for me so I'm not to phased by them.

I could save money in that the only African animal I'd have taxidermied would be an eland. Others could be rugs or tanned to leather for crafting but I'm moving more toward euro mounts these days for the most part.

I'm not trying to complain about things being too expensive, things simply are the way they are. I'm just trying to find out how best to make things happen that are within my means.

 

[spike.t]

Don't forget bushbuck. . great to hunt in thick bush....

 

[BenKK]

The most affordable animals that capture my imagination the most are bushbuck, impala, warthog and baboon.

 

[Spear Safaris]

Do you have a Budged for this hunt, it may help steer us all in the right direction. ?

 

[Deleted member 43267]

Here is the thing: If you want excitement, I think you would do well to look for outfitters with big properties that have the animals of interest to you Those are places where stalking is the primary hunting technique and you will have hours of fun and excitement. But, the bang for the buck aspect is yours to request. Send an email to your proposed outfitter that details what you are looking for in terms of experiences, and they will match you with a package, property, and a PH who can provide that. Outfitters build their reputations on satisfied clients, and I doubt that there is a single one that would not try to accommodate you.

My experience is limited to one safari, but if you want hours of excitement, then find an outfitter who hunts large properties where the animals are essentially free range, be sure you are in good enough physical condition to stalk, and that you have practiced shooting off sticks. You will stalk every animal. If you have a package, you might be successful on your first stalk, some might take multiple days, but every minute is bang for the buck.

I do agree that eland are the most difficult plains game species to hunt, but my second-most-difficult animal was blue wildebeest. They are easy to detect and easy to keep in sight, but they were all in groups such that there were 40 pairs of eyes looking at us as we tried to stalk within range. We kept getting busted over and over (I lost count at 8 times) and the successful stalk on an old bull warrior with fantastic battle-scarred horns and perfectly patterned skin involved mostly crawling through sand using isolated bushes as cover. That stalk was so much fun and memorable BW went to the top of my must-hunt-again list for the next trip.

But that is why I stress communicating with your outfitter and place less emphasis on which species.

Just my opinion. I do hope you get to do this, and have a wonderful experience.

Jeff

 

[curtism1234]

I guess "bang for the buck" is going to mean different things to different people --- cost, animals that look better than others on the wall, or the challenge.

To me, several come to mind; cost and finished taxidermy looks being in the forefront.

A small impala can look dinky, but a nice big impala looks great (euro skull or shoulder mount) and is one of the cheapest to take.

Warthog is typically even less of a cost. I think it's worth the challenge and getting to see one after it's down. A plaque with the tusks or a euro is cheap and unique.

Gemsbok is a hell of a good looking animal and very very reasonable in cost. This is a no-brainer.


Zebra IMO is one of the worst values out there unless you just want the one you shot. Rugs are found for re-sale for the cost of just the trophy fee so you end up paying way way way too much for a finished product of your own. But it is your own...

 

[JPbowhunter]

Do you have a Budged for this hunt, it may help steer us all in the right direction. ?

Not really at this stage, I'm still trying to get my head around all the costs of Africa on top of the hunt itself. Something I haven't encountered anywhere else.

 

[Adrian]

Any animal can offer bang for buck. It depends what you want out of your hunt.
Set a budget and see what you can hunt within that price.
If your trophy budget is 2k then you can use it all on an Eland for example.
Or you can maximise your hunting and go for a Springbok, Warthog, Hartebeest, Gemsbok which will work out roughly the same depending where you hunt of course.
To me, those last four animals offer more 'bang for buck' because you get four hunts on fun to hunt animals.
Each hunter will have a different opinion, it's your hunt and your money so choose and spend according to what you want.
If it's your first safari and you're a hunter, just get out there and enjoy hunting instead of worrying about getting what other folk think.
You might walk down an Eland or whatever on your first day.
Is that going to be value?
You could go looking for a big Warthog and a big Kudu and take four days to take them.
Just get out there and get hunting, lose the hang ups and enjoy it!

 

[mrpoindexter]

I’ve done a ton of backpack hunting in Canada, Wyoming and Alaska. I haven’t seen anything in Africa that is as physically demanding as a backpack hunt in the mountains of Alaska.

Bang for the buck isn't usually measured in terms of how physically demanding, but if you want to test the outer limits of physically demanding, look up a persistence hunt with the San. You basically have to "run down" an animal to the point that it is so exhausted that it can no longer move away from you. I would think you would need to be in even better than "sheep shape" for such a hunt and generally you are not testing hunting skills or woodsmanship or marksmanship as much as just showing that you can run a marathon plus through the African savanna. (That is one of the hunts I would like to take, but I am not really prepared to put in the conditioning work for it).

 

[JPbowhunter]

Bang for the buck isn't usually measured in terms of how physically demanding, but if you want to test the outer limits of physically demanding, look up a persistence hunt with the San. You basically have to "run down" an animal to the point that it is so exhausted that it can no longer move away from you. I would think you would need to be in even better than "sheep shape" for such a hunt and generally you are not testing hunting skills or woodsmanship or marksmanship as much as just showing that you can run a marathon plus through the African savanna. (That is one of the hunts I would like to take, but I am not really prepared to put in the conditioning work for it).

Maybe I'm not great at articulating, my wife certainly thinks that's the case. In the first post I was trying to get it at it from my perspective that a challenging hunt against cost is bang for buck, value for money, money well spent (pick your cliche).
Obviously within reason though.

 

[IAhawks84]

JP,
I am in probably a similar situation as you. I have my safari booked however. We bought our safari on an auction. Tbh, I’d never given any thought to going to Africa to hunt, but the booze was flowing, and we got it under our budget that we had all agreed on.
What I have done is added everything up, and have a ballpark on extra money set aside for trophies. My #1 is a Gemsbok, and I get a free Impala as well. After that my plan is to see what comes by and go from there. I have also heard, (wether it’s correct I have no idea), that your outfitter will work with you occasionally if there is something that you’d like to fit into your budget. I will believe this when I see it, and just continue with our budget plan.
I have a list of about 5 additional animals that I’d be interested in, and would also fit into my budget. First I will worry about the 2 and hopefully go from there.
I don’t know if this is a good plan, or if it helps you, but this is the path that we are trekking on our first trip.
Good luck!

 

[wesheltonj]

. . .As for size of the property and fences, i have nothing personally against high fence, it's simply just not for me no matter how big it is. . .

Bubble Valley Conservancy is 3,740 square kilometre conservancy (Bigger than Luxembourg), I believe they have fences.

Kruger National Park has some fences.

Don't get hung up on fences.

 

[JPbowhunter]

Bubble Valley Conservancy is 3,740 square kilometre conservancy (Bigger than Luxembourg), I believe they have fences.

Kruger National Park has some fences.

Don't get hung up on fences.

I won't get hung up if they're not there

I don't oppose it, I even did a couple years doing a little guiding on high fence stuff here in Australia.

It's just not what I'm after.

 

[fourfive8]

Even if there are no fences in the area where you hunt at some point you WILL run into some other barrier to access either physical or administrative or there may be no animals because of poaching, agricultural use or habitat change or people living there. If you're looking for something like what you read about in Selous, Bell, Hemingway, Everett or more recently in the "East Africa" of the '60s through Ruark/Selby... uhhh sadly it may no longer exist. No matter the country, it is 2018.

 

[WAB]

The Upper Luangwa of Zambia is still pretty wild, so is the Kalahari in Botswana if it reopens. I understand Tanzania still has some pretty remote areas. I haven’t seen anything in Africa as wild as Alaska or Northern Canada if that is what you are looking for.

 

[tigris115]

From what I've read, hyena is quite a cheap animal. I personally find them incredibly fascinating so add that to the list