First-timers hunting in Africa

[HTK Safaris]

Good day @FelixV
I sent you a message with an offer in your DM's

Have a great day.
Regards
Brendan Jonker

 

[FelixV]

I have hunted the Eastern Cape with Frontier Safaris and they are absolutely first class.

Do you mean the outfitter from this company: https://frontiersafaris.com/

 

[Jonathan Kashouty]

That's the one.

 

[LIMPOPO NORTH SAFARIS]

Dear Felix I sent you a direct message.

southern Africa is a spectacular place to hunt and tour in we have some of the best qualified individuals to hunt with and a large diversity of species you'll be in very good hands and have no reason to worry the hunting outfitter you choose will definitely look after you and your party that I can assure you this forum has great companies to choose from.

 

[coreydb]

Tere!

My friends and I from Estonia and Finland are planning our first hunting trip to Africa, most likely to South Africa or Zimbabwe. We’re all hunters here in Northern Europe, but none of us have hunted outside our home countries before, including in Africa.

We’re a bit nervous since it’s a long trip for us, and most of the group has never been to Africa (though I’ve been a few times as a tourist). I’d love to hear any advice you might have for first-timers. Which outfitters would you recommend we use? Also, since my friends are a bit hesitant about traveling to Africa, they’re quite price-sensitive and might not be ready to spend a lot, as they have no prior experience with African hunting.

Personally, I love Africa, having visited a few countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. I know it’s worth the time and money, whether as a tourist or a hunter. I’d greatly appreciate any tips and tricks you can share for making this trip a success.

Thank you all in advance for your help!

There are many great outfitters in South Africa and many offer a "First Time to Africa Hunt" package. I hunt there every year and use JKO Outfitters. They offer first time hunter packages, as well as bespoke hunts. I recommend hunts either in March April or May, or September through November.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Welcome to the AH community.

I have the East Cape 3 times and in 2025 it will be my forth time with KUBUSI SAFARIS. James Williamson owner of KUBUSI SAFARIS offers several packages or you can create your own. KUBUSI SAFARIS is also a one stop shop by offering pick up and drop off at Port Elizabeth and East London, first class lodging and meals, daily laundry, and on site taxidermy services.

Check out the forums:

Hunt Reports,
Before and After the Hunt,
Deais and Offers
Shot Placement,

Ask questions and members here will be glad to respond.

Happy Hunting

 

[Gerty]

I hunted with Frontier Safari's in June. Amazing experience. I was lucky and went 12 for 12 with my animals. All were really mature, great representations of the species. The one piece of advice I would give would be to buy shooting sticks and practice with them before your safari. I brought my Viper Flex Quad sticks with me to Africa;.

 

[Sabre]

I would also recommend South Africa based on you mentioning your friends being price sensitive. It is the most likely location to give you the most animals/excitement for budget minded hunting.

I think that frontier safaris is also a good recommendation by others for that same reason.

 

[DonPablo]

You'll find your best deals on auctioned hunts. I know it's a little bit of a gamble but I'm a cheapo and had to take the risk. It worked out for me. Of course you can stack the odds a little by researching on here before you bid. Good luck!

 

[Rare Breed]

Good Day Felix

Tsala Safaris regularly host groups from Finland , Sweden and Iceland.They normally join us on safari either early in the season , March , April , May or late in the season from Sept onwards.The reason for that time frame is that they want to enjoy the pleasures of their own summer during the middle part of the year.

Our property is less than 3 hours from Johannesburg International airport.

I can also send you references from hunters that have been with us from your part of the world.That should give you the opportunity to discuss details like flights , where to hunt , extra's to do before and after the hunt.

You are most welcome to contact me for any info.

Regards

Rouan

You will find @TSALA HUNTING SAFARIS is one of the very best!!!! They can easily build you and your friends a very great package of animals for a great value. Another big benefit of them there is only the one flight into JNB and short drive to their camp versus hassle and expense of a second flight to Eastern Cape!!!!

 

[Gerty]

Another great thing about Frontier Safaris is that its BIG. 80,000 acres as soon as you step out your door. That was important to me. I commute 3 hours a day in my car for work. I did not want to spend a lot of time on safari in a car. We did go to another concession for a Springbuck and that was fine. It seemed that a lot of the PH's in camp had their "honey holes" on other concessions that they brought some of their clients to if they were having difficulty finding a specific species but again, Frontier has a lot of ground right out the door and it's NOT flat. Its Eastern Cape rolling hills, cliffs, valleys, saddles, 3,000 of elevation at parts. It was epic.

 

[mark-hunter]

Tere!

My friends and I from Estonia and Finland are planning our first hunting trip to Africa, most likely to South Africa or Zimbabwe. We’re all hunters here in Northern Europe, but none of us have hunted outside our home countries before, including in Africa.

We’re a bit nervous since it’s a long trip for us, and most of the group has never been to Africa (though I’ve been a few times as a tourist). I’d love to hear any advice you might have for first-timers. Which outfitters would you recommend we use? Also, since my friends are a bit hesitant about traveling to Africa, they’re quite price-sensitive and might not be ready to spend a lot, as they have no prior experience with African hunting.

Personally, I love Africa, having visited a few countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. I know it’s worth the time and money, whether as a tourist or a hunter. I’d greatly appreciate any tips and tricks you can share for making this trip a success.

Thank you all in advance for your help!

1. Choose country

- South Africa:
Mainly PG, on private land, and in high fence. Areas vary from small to large. There are options for the cheapest lion in all of Africa, but it will be Captive bread lion, not wild one.
Similar, good offers for managed cape buffalo. Most economic DG hunt in Africa, if you focus on cape buffalo is buffalo cow.

- Namibia:
Similar in price to South Africa.
Mainly plains game options, similar in price to South Africa. But hunting areas are generally larger. Typically in central Namibian ranch land you will have free range (no fences), and optional high fence.
In North of Namibia (Caprivi strip), there are wild Safari areas. Premium destination for Buffalo. There is also hyppo, elephant, crocs, etc... But day rates and trophy fees go higher then in central farm land.

- Zimbabwe:
Wild areas. Main offer is dangerous game. Most affordable elephant prices, tuskless elephant.
Plains game available, but safari is generally booked for DG, and PG as opportunity hunt.

General guidance is: If you hunt on farms, prices are attractive. Hunting in wild safari area, regardless of country, prices are significantly higher.

2. Choose your gun.
Plains game is generally tough, and large. I suggest caliber of better punch. 300 win mag, 338 win mag, 8x68, 9.3x62 etc.
If something of DG animals is on the list, then minimum legal requirement is 375 HH.

Rental gun, or own gun?
There is always option to rent a gun - but my advice is to take yours. Camp guns are generally very good. But you dont know what kind of ammunition you will get. For this reason take your guns, and choose premium ammunition of controlled expansion. Eland can grow 800 kilos, zebra 400 kilos, kudu 250 kilos. Many animals are large. Take solid size caliber.

3. Preparation.
Train to shoot from sticks. You can expect shots standing from stick to be taken up to 200 meters. Longer distances much more rare. You can shoot at home from the stick at lower recoil and cheaper calibers, or FMJ ammo, to get trigger time.

4. Trophy.
decide in advance what you want to have as trophy: scull mount, shoulder mount, skin. You will give instructions to skinner what to prepare.

5. Discount options:
Hunting 2:1 or 1:1?
This means two hunter with one PH (guide), or 1 hunter with 1 guide. Slightly cheaper is 2:1. This is perfectly OK, for starter package of usual PG animal list - like impala, warthog, zebra, wildebeest, oryx, kudu, hartebeest, warthog, springbok, etc

Trophy or non trophy?
The cheapest is non trophy hunt - this means culling, high volume shoot for non trophy animals.
Usually Zebra, eland, springbok, wildebeest, warthog, impala (females and non trophy specimen), etc

Trophy animal, higher trophy fees. Those are usually listed and offered on outfitters web pages.

6. Frequently asked questions:
Above I described the best and most important quick tips, for beginners orientation. Everything else can be place specific. So feel free to ask your PH or outfitter anything you want before signing the contract or during the hunt. You will have dozens of questions, but above is basics 101.

 

[ofbiro]

A humble suggestion from a hunter who was once in South Africa and once in Namibia: buy in Europe a small amount (equivalent to €50) of South African Rands. If hampered by someone uttering "coffee" give him or her a 10 rand note. It cheaper for you and better accepted by the receiver than distributing 5€ tips.
In my frequent business travels abroad I usually took with me some local money (where it is legal to arrive with it) but my colleagues travelling with me advised me against, saying that all our payments to the agent had to be done in €.
Result: I wasted several euros tipping cops inspecting the rifles, some "irregular" porter outside the airport because I hadn't any Rands.

 

[VertigoBE]

1. Choose country

- South Africa:
Mainly PG, on private land, and in high fence. Areas vary from small to large. There are options for the cheapest lion in all of Africa, but it will be Captive bread lion, not wild one.
Similar, good offers for managed cape buffalo. Most economic DG hunt in Africa, if you focus on cape buffalo is buffalo cow.

- Namibia:
Similar in price to South Africa.
Mainly plains game options, similar in price to South Africa. But hunting areas are generally larger. Typically in central Namibian ranch land you will have free range (no fences), and optional high fence.
In North of Namibia (Caprivi strip), there are wild Safari areas. Premium destination for Buffalo. There is also hyppo, elephant, crocs, etc... But day rates and trophy fees go higher then in central farm land.

- Zimbabwe:
Wild areas. Main offer is dangerous game. Most affordable elephant prices, tuskless elephant.
Plains game available, but safari is generally booked for DG, and PG as opportunity hunt.

General guidance is: If you hunt on farms, prices are attractive. Hunting in wild safari area, regardless of country, prices are significantly higher.

2. Choose your gun.
Plains game is generally tough, and large. I suggest caliber of better punch. 300 win mag, 338 win mag, 8x68, 9.3x62 etc.
If something of DG animals is on the list, then minimum legal requirement is 375 HH.

Rental gun, or own gun?
There is always option to rent a gun - but my advice is to take yours. Camp guns are generally very good. But you dont know what kind of ammunition you will get. For this reason take your guns, and choose premium ammunition of controlled expansion. Eland can grow 800 kilos, zebra 400 kilos, kudu 250 kilos. Many animals are large. Take solid size caliber.

3. Preparation.
Train to shoot from sticks. You can expect shots standing from stick to be taken up to 200 meters. Longer distances much more rare. You can shoot at home from the stick at lower recoil and cheaper calibers, or FMJ ammo, to get trigger time.

4. Trophy.
decide in advance what you want to have as trophy: scull mount, shoulder mount, skin. You will give instructions to skinner what to prepare.

5. Discount options:
Hunting 2:1 or 1:1?
This means two hunter with one PH (guide), or 1 hunter with 1 guide. Slightly cheaper is 2:1. This is perfectly OK, for starter package of usual PG animal list - like impala, warthog, zebra, wildebeest, oryx, kudu, hartebeest, warthog, springbok, etc

Trophy or non trophy?
The cheapest is non trophy hunt - this means culling, high volume shoot for non trophy animals.
Usually Zebra, eland, springbok, wildebeest, warthog, impala (females and non trophy specimen), etc

Trophy animal, higher trophy fees. Those are usually listed and offered on outfitters web pages.

6. Frequently asked questions:
Above I described the best and most important quick tips, for beginners orientation. Everything else can be place specific. So feel free to ask your PH or outfitter anything you want before signing the contract or during the hunt. You will have dozens of questions, but above is basics 101.

Excellent advice @mark-hunter , as usual

And welcome to AH @FelixV ! I have some friends living in Tallinn, Estonia is a underrated, beautiful country.

 

[Philip Glass]

Use the resources and advice here in AH and just go! There is nothing for your friends to worry about.