First Trip to DSC Convention and meeting outfitters

[Hilarion Bibicoff]

So this week will be my first trip to the DSC Convention and the plan is to meet a few of the outfitters in order to book my first Africa Hunt for 2026. Let me start by saying I really appreciate everyone on this site. I dont have anything to contribute but have learned a TON. My question is what should I be asking these outfitters when I meet the ones on my list this week? I have a list of my own 20ish questions that I have come up with but just curious on the "TOP THINGS TO ASK" that everyone would recommend to a first timer. Thanks in advance and again, really appreciate all the info.

 

[mdsalern]

Last year was my first convention and I felt lost. I’d appreciate seeing your list of questions.

 

[Manny R]

One piece of advice I can tell you is this:
A PH is not going to give you an average recommendation. Once you find and speak to a PH and feel very comfortable with him.... come back to this site and ask the members has anyone hunted with him and get the opinions of people here.
If no one on this site has hunted with him move on to the next .

 

[375er]

Agree with @Mannyr, do a lot of research. Do not knee-jerk book ANYTHING. If it sounds too good to be true....it is....

 

[mdwest]

before I get into questions.. let me recommend that you consider attending the AH dinner on Friday night and/or the Bos en Dal party on Thursday night (threads for both are here on AH).. that would give you a place to sit and talk to numerous experienced hunters that have hunted with many different outfitters as well as talk to a handful of outfitters and PH's in a pretty casual environment and get to know them a bit before making a decision on who to hunt with..

RE questions: there are some pretty obvious ones that I think matter to everyone..

1) what is the price? you are going to want to know ALL IN what the hunt is going to cost you.. its not always as simple as day rates and trophy fees.. make sure you understand how the outfitter charges.. is it a flat rate for any kudu you take? or do they charge an escalating rate for larger animals, etc?

2) what is the size of the property? not just "how many acres" is it.. but how is that acreage divided? 10K acres might be 4x 2500 acre properties.. or it might be 1 large 10K acre property..

3) are the herds self sustaining? or is this a "put and take" operation? theres nothing wrong with either.. but if you are looking for a specific type of experience you want to make sure thats what you are getting.

4) ask for photos of the lodge, the property, animals, etc.. not all places are created equal.. some places pride themselves of a true 5 star experience.. with lavish accomidation and everything done on the high end (but youre going to pay for it).. others offer more of a "home" type experience.. some are very basic and spartan.. you can find pretty much anything you want.. whether its sleeping in a tent under the stars, or having your meals served on fine china.. or anything in between.. but you want to make sure the experience you are looking for is the experience you are going to get (at the price you are willing to pay)..

5) get to know the outfitter and/or a PH.. see if theres a decent personality match.. youre going to be spending 16-18 hours a day with these people.. in most cases you leave camp having made friends for life with several of the staff.. but if youre an extreme introvert hunting with an extreme extrovert PH for example, you might not end up with the experience you were looking for..

Im sure there are a million more questions out there.. I know I contemplated for months before my first hunt in Africa... but those are the ones that immediately come to mind for me..

 

[Inline6]

Personalities matter, if you are not comfortable with your PH. It will not make for the best experience. Like @Manny R said make a list of PHs you hit it off with.

1.
2.
3.

Then you can ask or do research here. We have have hunted with our guy and posted a report. I have had people reach out to me asking what I thought about our PH and the area. Everyone I have ever asked a question to here has been move than helpful.

It seems like a big hurdle to jump, it is in the fact it is your first time. When you look back on it, you will wonder why you were so worked up about it.

Style of hunting
Animals that are on you list
Area to hunt, some here don't mind high fence other can't stand the thought of it.

 

[RLMetz]

After narrowing down a few outfitters you like, get references and call/email them. Always check references (former clients).

 

[375er]

Also there will be atleast several hundred AH'ers there if you need something more immediate. I'm sure someone would help.

 

[mdwest]

After narrowing down a few outfitters you like, get references and call/email them. Always check references (former clients).

I think the challenge with this is.. an outfitter isnt going to give you the contact information of anyone other than someone that they know will speak incredibly highly of them..

its sorta like asking a candidate that is applying for a job for references.. its a bit of a wasted effort.. theyre only going to give you the name and numbers for people that they know are going to tell you how awesome they are..

you have to dig a little bit further than that..

I think coming somewhere like AH and asking a large/diverse group of people if they have had experience with Outfitter X is probably a better approach..

You'll have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.. there will always be someone with a position of dissent..

But you can likely figure out what the major themes are and where the majority of people that have experienced a hunt with "Outfitter X" land when it comes to whether or not they had a positive experience, etc..

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Check out this thread:

BETTER QUESTIONS To Ask When Looking For A Hunt

Using some basic questions that I often hear hunters ask, it occurred to me that this may be a good thread to start because so many questions that I hear are very general and open to non specific answers. QUESTION: What is your success rate for Buffalo? BETTER QUESTION: What is your success...

www.africahunting.com

 

[Fatback]

Ask if you/your party will be the only hunters in camp or if other hunters will be in camp at the same time. Ask how long the PH has worked for the outfitter and does the PH work exclusively for the outfitter you are considering or does he free lance with other outfitters. This might come into play if the PH free lances and does not have much experience on the property that you’d be hunting versus somebody who has years of experience in the property.

 

[375Fox]

I’d personally avoid asking questions you can ask just as easily over email after the show. 2026 is still a long ways off. Just have normal conversations about hunting to Look for the people you think you’d enjoy hunting with. Ask what a typical hunting day looks like and let that lead to some more questions, what hunts they’d recommend and why, if they have some of their PHs at booth try and talk to them as well and see if you think it’s a good fit. You can always ask questions about property size, lodge specifics, and pricing after the show. I’d use the limited time you have a DSC to get a feel for who you’d like to look into further. You have a lot of time to do your research.

 

[Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy]

Firstly, you're going to enjoy the DSC convention - it's a fantastic experience even if a bit overwhelming.

You're getting great advice here and will continue to get more. My only addition would be to echo the comments to take your time and do your research. That makes it more likely that you'll have the experience you're looking AND planning is a part of that experience. I enjoy the prep nearly as much as actual hunt.

Best of luck!

 

[thi9elsp]

Thinking back to my first time attending, the convention can be a bit intimidating. It is enormous and a single day isn't sufficient to really spend time absorbing the atmosphere while trying to talk to the various outfitters and PHs. Hopefully, you are attending multiple days. If so, I would approach it like this:

• Walk the convention and just enjoy the sites and sounds. If you are drawn to a booth, stop by it.
• Make a list of outfitters / PHs you want to visit based upon your criteria - reports from this forum, other research you've done and make sure to allocate sufficient time to really talk with each one
• Get in early on the early days - Thursday especially, it usually isn't as busy and you have a better chance to speak to the ones you want to meet
• I found myself circling back to certain booths as they were fully busy the first time around and I didn't want to 'wait in line' to speak to someone
• Spend time with taxidermists, travel agents (never too early to start that planning as well) and don't skip by the firearms area - oh my!
• Take photos of booths, make notes on your conversations - I used a folio to hand write mine for tracking. In the evening Ann and I would review the notes and sure enough, we mixed one outfitter up with another and only having the notes cleared up our memory

As others have said, have a conversation with the vendor on what you want to get out of your hunt - species, experience, size / type of property, will you be hunting with the person at the booth or someone else, how do they approach the hunt / each day (does that fit with you), do you want lodge or tented (which itself can be quite luxurious), any site seeing you want to do in the area, is a non-hunter coming with you (if so how can they spend their day - with you or other activities).

Enjoy it, you can't replicate the first of anything!

John

 

[Manny R]

Another thing you should do while you are at the show:
Attend any seminars that you find interesting, speak with importers ( who will clear your trophies when they arrive back to the USA)
Stop by Global rescue about travel insurance etc, clothing, equipment etc etc... Go have yourself a ball like a kid in a candy store.

 

[375Fox]

Last year was my first convention and I felt lost. I’d appreciate seeing your list of questions.

Not trying to be rude when I say this but did you know what you were looking for? You really need to go with a list of outfitters and their booth numbers and know something of what you want even if it’s just to meet certain individuals. I’ve only been to one show. This year will be my second. It took my a couple hours to learn I had to walk into booth, say I’d like to talk, and take a seat until they were free. I got through my short list of outfitters the first day and had some really good conversations. The second day I was really just filling time and outfitters could sense who was serious and that I probably wasn’t and the conversations were very different than the first day.

 

[375Fox]

Here’s the floor plan with a listing of all outfitters and booths.

2024 DSC Convention & Sporting Expo - Event Map

s36.a2zinc.net

 

[mdsalern]

Not trying to be rude when I say this but did you know what you were looking for? You really need to go with a list of outfitters and their booth numbers and know something of what you want even if it’s just to meet certain individuals. I’ve only been to one show. This year will be my second. It took my a couple hours to learn I had to walk into booth, say I’d like to talk, and take a seat until they were free. I got through my short list of outfitters the first day and had some really good conversations. The second day I was really just filling time and outfitters could sense who was serious and that I probably wasn’t and the conversations were very different than the first day.

You’re not being rude. I had no clue and probably still don’t.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

One other thing to be aware of: some outfitters will be extremely busy at their booth at DSC. I exchanged numerous emails with an outfitter and we agreed to continue the conversation at DSC. Every time I went by his booth, he was having a discussion with someone and had 2-3 others waiting to talk with him. I tried a few hours later and same thing. Never did get to talk with him.

 

[revturbo9967]

One other thing to be aware of: some outfitters will be extremely busy at their booth at DSC. I exchanged numerous emails with an outfitter and we agreed to continue the conversation at DSC. Every time I went by his booth, he was having a discussion with someone and had 2-3 others waiting to talk with him. I tried a few hours later and same thing. Never did get to talk with him.

This will be the case for most booths with heavy interest.