Choosing a good hunting outfitter

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Bill,
I think it simply comes down to knowledge about a certain species that you are pursuing and knowledge comes from experience. Bushbuck is certainly one these animals that you need to pay attention to and by the sounds of it Elk as well. Anyone can hunt a Bushbuck by hook and by crook. Its the attention to detail that puts them in the salt week after week.
Cold and Bushbuck do not mix. Pay careful attention to your moon phase over your hunting dates as well. Has a huge impact on your Bushbuck times and when to hunt for them. I can tell you, but..... (you know the rest)

 

[Diamondhitch]

Agreed, all you can shoot in camp is the $hit, so to speak.

I have killed far too many animals during mid-day to dispute the effectiveness. I also Agree with Marius though about disrupting the animals patterns. Sitting at water or on a good vantage point glassing is low impact and very successful. Find them at water or in their beds in the open country. Driving around looking for them all day is likely counter productive in the long term as Marius has pointed out.

 

[billc]

I got what your saying marius and i think from the little I have seen dont think nyala like the cold to much either.Also for the record I do not have you in the list of outfitters who just want the break over lunch. After all you like hunting them pigs at night so I know you do what ever it takens to make a happy hunter.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

We're talking about 2-3 hours over mid day. We hunt hard from early until 11:30. Have lunch, and set out again from about 14:30-15:00 till dark, so its hardly wasted time. You can't stalk with a bread roll in your mouth busy having lunch, can you?

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

After all you like hunting them pigs at night so I know you do what ever it takens to make a happy hunter.

Aaahhh, them pigs....
Those pigs have made me re-evaluate my chosen career.....I'll tell you that.
Sometimes I sit there in that blind and think to myself, "Why won't you just die for the cause?'

 

[Diamondhitch]

You can't stalk with a bread roll in your mouth busy having lunch, can you?

That might be considered baiting! LOL

I have eaten many a meal while waiting in a hide but it is also nice to take a break sometimes and enjoy a nice mid day braii. It makes for a more relaxed experience and is a part of the safari experience that I really enjoy, especially if it can be done in a nice scenic location way from the lodge.

My point was only that it is not difficult to successfully hunt that period of the day without stressing the animals.

 

[enysse]

I guess I want to add to the discussion. Some people want to hunt baboons, jackels, porcupines....animals that the outfitter makes little or no profit on, be sure to communicate to the outfitter what you want to hunt. I know a few hunters that went to Africa and they really were disappointed that they didn't get one of those animals. I can tell you from experience it takes planning if you are looking for a certain animal. Africa is a paradise but no baboon just sits in a tree willingly and says fill your tag and shoot me.

There is a thread on AH, WHY ISN"T A JACKEL FREE? or something like it. Back in the early days of AH, that was a pretty HOT topic.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

.... be sure to communicate to the outfitter what you want to hunt.......I can tell you from experience it takes planning if you are looking for a certain animal.

Very wise words.

 

[billc]

Again I think it comes down to what the client and outfitter agree to.I would just say this marius you guys over there are spoiled with all your hunting but in a good way.You get to hunt alot more then us here in the states.Anymore your lucky if you can draw a tag for a good hunt you want to do.Then maybe we get 5 or 7 days to hunt before the season is done.You do what ever you need to in the few days and that can mean eating as you hunt.There is different kind of hunters also some like the breaks others may hunt all day neither is wrong as it is your hunt and you must live with the outcome.Now with hunting in SA we get on a plane fly 15 hrs plus sitting around is just the last thing on my mind.if I get run down they I would take a mid day break or a nice lunch time meal.But sitting in a blind with my bow or glassing for a bushbuck just seems more fun.

 

[Diamondhitch]

I guess I want to add to the discussion. Some people want to hunt baboons, jackels, porcupines....animals that the outfitter makes little or no profit on, be sure to communicate to the outfitter what you want to hunt. I know a few hunters that went to Africa and they really were disappointed that they didn't get one of those animals. I can tell you from experience it takes planning if you are looking for a certain animal. Africa is a paradise but no baboon just sits in a tree willingly and says fill your tag and shoot me.

Great point, once again it boils down to communication. Define your goals and communicate them well before your hunt and then let your PH make a plan.

P.S. "No" Baboon is maybe a bit of an overstatement. I had no desire to shoot a Baboon on my 1st safari and 2x had my PH asking "are you sure you don't want to shoot one? they normally don't just sit there like that." the next time around I thought if one just stands there I will shoot one, The closest we saw them was 1000yds and they were already exiting the area. Also on that 1st Safari he asked too many times to count "are you sure you don't want a Zebra, they normally don't just stand there like that." then Christine changed her mind about shooting Zebras (she no longer related them to Horses) and then they would not stand still and I never got one. I then spent an entire day of my second safari from nearly dawn to dusk pursuing a herd of Zebra all over hells half acre to get one!

 

[Diamondhitch]

Again I think it comes down to what the client and outfitter agree to.I would just say this marius you guys over there are spoiled with all your hunting but in a good way.You get to hunt alot more then us here in the states.Anymore your lucky if you can draw a tag for a good hunt you want to do.Then maybe we get 5 or 7 days to hunt before the season is done.You do what ever you need to in the few days and that can mean eating as you hunt.There is different kind of hunters also some like the breaks others may hunt all day neither is wrong as it is your hunt and you must live with the outcome.Now with hunting in SA we get on a plane fly 15 hrs plus sitting around is just the last thing on my mind.if I get run down they I would take a mid day break or a nice lunch time meal.But sitting in a blind with my bow or glassing for a bushbuck just seems more fun.

The hunting culture we come from certainly has a lot to do with it. We have liberal seasons here but finding time to hunt can be tough, it is imperative to make the most of it. Also for me, I do a lot of remote Horseback hunts and your options are either a long ride back to camp, having a nap, or continuing to hunt, all of which we do depending on circumstances but most of the time we continue to hunt. We are successful at mid day because we are hunting at mid day, those who choose not to hunt mid day will certainly not be successful at mid day. It is pretty simple math.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Bill,
I think you are misreading what I'm writing. I'm always for what my hunters want and they will attest to that.
If you want to hunt hard and all day long, then fine. Its your safari.
I had two hunters who wanted that, and when they got to 35 animals at the end of day 7 on a 10 day hunt,they said, no more. It was a bigger problem finding something to do for 3 solid days, than simply taking lunch.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Great point, once again it boils down to communication. Define your goals and communicate them well before your hunt and then let your PH make a plan.

P.S. "No" Baboon is maybe a bit of an overstatement. I had no desire to shoot a Baboon on my 1st safari and 2x had my PH asking "are you sure you don't want to shoot one? they normally don't just sit there like that." the next time around I thought if one just stands there I will shoot one, The closest we saw them was 1000yds and they were already exiting the area. Also on that 1st Safari he asked too many times to count "are you sure you don't want a Zebra, they normally don't just stand there like that." then Christine changed her mind about shooting Zebras (she no longer related them to Horses) and then they would not stand still and I never got one. I then spent an entire day of my second safari from nearly dawn to dusk pursuing a herd of Zebra all over hells half acre to get one!

This is nothing out of the ordinary. I can promise you that.

 

[billc]

I know you would do what ever was needed marius I was just trying to tell you why some may feel the way I do about hunting all day.It has nothing to do with thinking anyone is a good Ph or not just the way some hunters are built and sitting around is not part of that.When we get a chance we want to get the most out of it is all.Also if I got to 35 animals with me and my son it would not be hard to figure out what to do for the last 3 days at all.You would be finding work for us to do to work off the money for all the animals.LOL That must of been one crazy but fun hunt to have done. The skinners must have been some busy guys.

 

[Diamondhitch]

There is a thread on AH, WHY ISN"T A JACKEL FREE? or something like it. Back in the early days of AH, that was a pretty HOT topic.

I see peoples point, I mean the thinking is that they are helping out by removing the Jackals. Often incidental Jackals are free but if you target them then by all means the Outfitter needs to charge for them. Their time is worth money.

Also If you wish to take them home there is a certain amount of work generated that must be dealt with.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I fully understand.

 

[enysse]

I can tell you, baboons and warthogs have a way of escaping my gun....lol. I don't throw a fit about it, but it's disappointing, and it was not the "sole" purpose of the trip to Africa for sure. One of friends, I'm not sure he'll go back to Africa, wanted a baboon in the worst way on the last trip to Africa and the outfitter wouldn't spend any time hunting one. He got pissed and quit hunting. I have hunted elk with the guy and he is normally pretty even keel, but I saw his point too....HE REALLY WANTED ONE. I told him about communication problems and reminded him not to be so pigheaded, he understood where I was going with the connversation.

billc, I agree with you I like to hunt a majority of the day too. I work way too damn much not to want to spend it hunting. And I get what Marius is saying, a nice lunch is good way to go too. Good hunting in the USA doesn't come every day anymore, I have watched my area become a mess of atvs, walkers, dog people and non stop farm equipment and it literally sucks my will to hunt dry, because people are always screwing up the hunt.

 

[dobber]

When I drive up to my property for the deer hunt, I have sat in the same blind from an hour before sun up till the sun went down for 9 days, came home for a week and went back up and repeated it for 6 days. When I moose hunt, we normally take a mid day break unless the weather is cold and snowing, then its an all day. I plan on hunting as much as my wife can stand if she is with me, and all day if she isn't, just ask for a tea break and a sammich at some point, and if I find myself falling asleep on a rock, will be a memorable nap (maybe not for anyone with me though lol)
I also plan on listening to what is being suggested by the PH, and as long as I trust him I wont question him

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Gentleman, I fully understand that you don't have the opportunities that we have, to spend as much time out hunting, and I understood this before this thread.
Maybe this scenario will get my point across better. Its always so difficult doing it from a keyboard.
If a hunter targets 5 animals in 7 days, is it expected of us to get all of them in 2.5 days, because the hunter does not want to sit around camp over lunch?
Sure, you get guys who will carry on hunting a couple of other critters, but this is in the minority and it will be 2 or 3 extras, over the next 5 days? Hunting Africa is an expensive exercise, and not many hunters can do 12-15 animals in a trip.
Hope that this gets my point across better. I like to believe that we pace ourselves. If I see we are unsuccessful on a day, then I will hunt through lunch the next day or two, just to get back on track.

 

[billc]

I guess the point that would go with the thread is make sure your outfitter hears your wants but also maybe flexible if your wants change as your hunt goes on.Its great to have a plan but after being there your list of animals may change after seeing them.Plans change and you must be sure your comfortable enough with the outfitter that he may change with you and work with you as the hunt goes on.As a client you must understand the outfitter maybe able to switch you from a kudu to a zebra but dont plan on changing a lion to an eland hunt when there.