Does the hunter have any involvement with the gutting/skinning/breaking down of the animal?

[sheephunterab]

Depending where you go I guess it could be like that but if you look around for the exact type of hunt you want, you will find it. We've worked very hard for the bulk of our African animals. Yes, there were a few easy ones but in five trips a person deserves to get lucky once or twice. The trick is to talk to lots of outfits,, talk to previous hunters and read hunt reports. The abundance of animals in most of southern Africa does help increase success rates but it is often anything but easy. Walking 10+ miles a day is certainly not uncommon if you want to hunt on foot. You have to appreciate that labour is cheap in Africa and outfitters can provide a high level of service. It's not uncommon to have six or eight people looking after you in various capacities in a camp. But also remember that these people have jobs because of hunting. Meat is highly prized throughout Africa and by taking animals back whole to the ranch, the meat, organs, intestines and even bones can be processed efficiently and cleanly. I look at Africa as a place where I can hunt hard all day and relax and enjoy a cocktail by the fire at night. It takes a day or two to get used to but get used to it you do. You can't really say present day Africa is like any one thing because every camp, every outfitter, every safari is unique.

I doubt the elk were in a wheat field as they don't eat wheat!

 

[rinehart0050]

Some of these replies make a safari seem similar to a rancher I knew about 30 years ago. His ranch was in a NE Oregon valley, surrounded by national forest. His land was posted no trespassing. The national forest was open to public and was heavily hunted, causing the elk to escape to the safety of the ranch. He'd charge $1500 (at the time, big money) for "hunters" to shoot an elk on his property. A typical hunt followed this schedule: 8AM hunter meets rancher at house, has ham & eggs breakfast. 9AM they walk to the corral, viewed the dozens of elk standing around in the wheat field, selected a suitable elk, negotiated a surcharge depending on trophy status. 9:15AM leaned rifle across corral fence, shot elk. Ranch employees drove front-loader tractor out to elk, hoisted it up, drove it to the barn where it was gutted, skinned and quartered. The hunter could be on the road by Noon. So is that present day Africa?

I think Africa offers everything from upscale luxury safaris to down and dirty jungle hunting from a tent camp. It all depends on what type of hunt you want.

In terms of shooting animals in a corral, I think that's probably not a fair comparison. Most outfitters in Africa have skinners on hand that are very skilled for, among other reasons, to ensure your trophy is properly skinned for taxidermy later. Don't want to damage eyes, lips, etc.

 

[JimP]

On my safari all the animals were worked for. There was no sitting around a watering hole or game feeder waiting for one to come into it. The first day out I remarked to my PH that it looked more like I was hunting elk in Colorado than a animal in South Africa. We did do a lot of driving around but we also did our fair share of hiking and a lot of glassing to locate the proper animal.

Now if you like sitting in a blind over a water hole or feeder then there are hunts for you. If you like getting out into the country side then there are hunts like that also.

 

[Divernhunter]

Ray B----It can be but the good outfitters have a real hunt.
Even though we hunted a high fence place it was 30,000 acers with no internal fences. They also has a couple of other almost as large properties near the home one they owned. The animals were all born and raised on the place and it was a real spot and stalk hunt. No animals were trucked in as in smaller places. They actually helo trap and sell to other operators. You could hunt all day(and we did) and not see a fence. We also made many stalks which got blown by wind change/swirling or the idiot(me) who due to disabilities made to much noise, could not bend over enough or crawl into a shooting position. This would sometimes irritate my daughter but the PH took it all in stride.

When I worked in a public shop I had that sign up. Some of the shade tree mechanics who screwed up the equipment/car/truck before they gave up and usually brought me a basket case did not like it. Other people just got a chuckle out of it.