How will you measure the value of a hunt, in Inches or in memories?

[NUys]

Having dealt with a lot of clients over the years I realized that a record book animal is just a drop in the ocean compared to the experience of true African Safari taking back memories that will last till the end of days. It is all about being in the bush, walking among the animals and smelling the fresh African morning air, while sharing knowledge and trying to get as close as possible to your target. Sitting at night around a big camp fire talking about hunting and listening to the night calls of different animals and birds. It is the experience and memories that keep on bringing clients that became friends back year after year. It seems that a record book animal is just a bonus.

Would like to know what you think.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

Neil,
Being a total greenhorn to the Africa scene, I humbly must say I am doing it for the memories and enjoyment of the great past time. Just being able to experience the the wonder of hunting Africa is trophy enough for me.

Brandon

 

[browningbbr]

Niel:

You nailed it. Don't forget the "anticipation of a stalk". That's a big thrill too.

Taking animals is just a "bonus".

- browningbbr

 

[NUys]

Brandon hunting is hunting does not matter where you hunt it will still be a sport for KINGS!!

Browningbbr you are so right about the stalk! Thanks!

 

[LouisB]

I would say it is the memories that we share weather it is amongst client or just fellow outfitters. Hunting is a common interest that we all share and love sure people have different takes on what they hunt and how but at the end of the day it is all about making a memory that will always stay with you. Some of my best memories are not about animals that were hunted but about how we got there in other words what happened in the whole week of hunting weather it is outsmarting that kudu or the feeling of arriving at a bait and you bump the leopard off it. The team work between a ph and client makes for some of the best memories one would ever have, getting the one you are after is just a bonus and would help to strengthen the bond and relationship that will last a lifetime.

 

[1/2 slam]

Memories for me. I hunted South Africa this year. I shot a 24 inch Nyala. My PH was all appologetic. He thought it was a bit bigger. My response was I'm the one who pulled the trigger in the end. It's the biggest Nyala I've ever shot. I thought the whole experiance was fantastic.

 

[ChrisT]

Of course fond memories play a large part in measuring the success of a safari. But going home with good trophies can certainly enhance the overall experience....

Interestingly; more often than not, exceptional trophies end up being taken not by "inch hunters" but rather by ordinary people with ordinary expectations... maybe because there is less pressure on the PH to make a call...

I've heard of (and to a certain extent experienced firsthand) hunters coming to Africa with expectations of ONLY killing record book animals and end up going home with fewer trophies than what they would have liked to bag... Some of these hunters report back in the excellent hunt they had in spite of their "smaller" success rate - others blame the Outfitter for not having trophy quality animals available in his areas... Fact is that - if you set minimum criteria on the expected size of trophies (specifically related to record book trophies- you should be prepared to go home without some. Fortunately most hunters know and accept this as par of the cause.

A popular phrase used by hunters are: "I am not a trophy hunter - I am here for the experience and as long as I get good representative specimens I'll be a happy guy..." This can be great to hear from a PH perspective as it does reduce pressure on him in terms of finding his client his animals. But at the same token it should not be seen by a PH as carte blanche to let his client shoot immature or animals of inferior trophy quality.

 

[DLS]

I go for the experience, hands down. I've never entered a single animal I've taken into any record book - SCI, Rowland Ward, Boone & Crockett or Pope & Young; though I've taken more than a few animals that would make these various books.

What I've taken away from my hunts are the memories, like the very first day I spent hunting in Africa. I was on the Deka Concession in Zimbabwe with Roy Vincent. We'd arrived in the middle of the afternoon, so he suggested we take a drive around the area to see what we might find. The first animals I saw were a few impala and a duiker, then some zebras. Just as the track crossed the border into Wankie Park, we found a couple of big, old buffalo bulls. We got out, and snuck up on them so that I could take some photos of these old bulls. After that, we snuck away and resumed our drive. As we came back out of the park, the track turned to the right and we were suddennly faced with a fabulous full maned lion. He got up and slowly walked away. Roy had turned the truck so that I could better see and photograph the lion, but in my excitement, I jumped out with the camera and walked around the front of the truck to photograph him. Roy just about came unglued, as the lion was only about 25 yards away. Fortunately, he trotted off into the bush. I did not have a lion on license, so the only trophy I have of him is a photograph of the south end of a north bound lion. I still look at that picture from time to time to relive the moment.

I won't tell you about the size of the animals I took, though most were very good indeed. What I can tell you is about memories of moments like that which I will cherish for all my days.

 

[LouisB]

Well said sir!:clap:

 

[stew31r]

I've only ever been once, but I hope to go back. But if I never do, I'll never forget the time that I had hunting in Namibia at Keerweder with Brian and Bennie. My lost guns that still haven't showed up. My two days of lousy shooting with Bennie's rifle that where MY fault not his rifle's. Missing two gemsbuck before I connected with the one I took. Looking through the scope at the kudu I took to the sight of the ranch house in the distance, requiring us to relocate so that if I missed AGAIN I didn't hit their house. Tracking an even bigger kudu than the one I took for five miles and not getting a shot. Long after I'm too old to hunt, I'll still have all that, and it has nothing to do with taking 4 silver medal trophies.

 

[Karamojo Bill]

MEMORIES!

 

[RayAtkinson]

Memories of course, but some of my fondest memories came with the best trophies I have shot!

IMO there is plenty of room for both..I also know that the memories thing are used as a crutch for shot out concessions in many cases, so its a subject that an outfitter should avoid, however in this particular case I know that Leeukop safaris is not guilty of such antics and it is a legitamate post from a legitamate outfitter..

 

[NUys]

Memories of course, but some of my fondest memories came with the best trophies I have shot!

Ray I agree with you 100%. In my opinion one should only avoid a subject like this if you are guilty of such antics. Many hunters are missing the point and build there hunts around record book animals. In my opinion they are hunting for the wrong reasons. Obviously everybody wants to get as big as possable nothing wrong with that, but it should not ruin your hunt if your buck is smaller than your friends or not in the top ten. While planning a hunt every hunter has a wish list of animals he will be targeting during the time of the hunt. The mission should be to enjoy and appreciate the fortune to hunt by trying to get the biggest/oldest possable animal on the list that present a good shot. I can just imagine myself booking a white tail hunt in the United States. My main mission will be to go and shoot a White tail obviously as big as possible and a monster buck would just be a bonus.

I am glad to see that there are still a lot of people that are hunting for the love of the sport!

 

[Big5]

I agree that there is plenty of room for both. You are there for the enjoyment of the entire hunting experience and each hunt will offer something new and different from the last. I feel part of that hunting experience is to always give it your best by seeking out the finest trophy you are mentally and physically capable of pursuing . . . and then gratefully accept and enjoy what falls to your shot.
.

 

[JohnHunt]

Well the answer is a bit tricky.

Yes the experience is the most important, make no mistake. However if an area sold as having great trophy animals and they can't seem to find any during the trip.... well that is a bit of a problem.

A client saying the experience is the most important is not a license to pursue average or small animals (through stocking of less expensive animals or over hunted concessions etc...)

Rather a client taking an average or smaller animal is okay if given the fair chance to take a record book animal. Just that Diana offered up something less at the moment.

 

[billrquimby]

Memories.

Bill Quimby

 

[ndbwhnter]

I have my first safari planned for next year, but I will approach it as memories first and score someplace around 9 or 10 in my top ten reasons to hunt Africa. No matter how big the animal is, it is always the memories that enter my mind every time I look at the mount again, not the score.

Besides, when I get my trophies back they will be the biggest African trophies in my whole town!

 

[william]

The time spent in the bush and the unforgettable camp fire (+ beers) with friends is the reason while I enjoy the hunt.

There must be a challenge to arrive to the collect of an animal and create the memory.

My best African hunting memory is a 2 hours stalk/crawling between stones and thorns after an Eland; passing very close to giraffe. At the end I finally could have a good shooting opportunity but left that brave animal that defend himself so nicely….

Of course I don’t full myself when I bag a nice trophy I’m happy mostly because it will remained me nice peace of life (I only measured one of my trophies).

William.

 

[Cleathorn]

Hunting is about memories - chasing that particular trophy is usually part of the memory so I am not sure you can separate the two. That said, trophies, like beauty, are IMO in the eye of the beholder. I could not care less about the SCI, B&C, P&Y or whatever other scoring system peope use, I have never measured an animal for a record book and doubt I ever will.

My 15 minutes of fame does not need to come from seeing my name in a record book.

I enjoy things like the the time I spent sitting at the lodge Bar this past summer, telling all of the other anglers in the lodge about ever aspect of the day that I caught the Grand Slam of flat fishing (Tarpon, Bonefish and Permit) all on the smae day - on a flyrod none-the-less. What made it so great was 10 of so people who love my sport as much as I do, riveted in the details of every jump that Tarpon made, every turn the permit made towards the pileon of the old abandoned dock, and each blister run the bonefish made that could have ended my quest in the blink of an eye.

The same holds true for the moose I shot on the last day of decent hunting, at 500 yards, over the heads of a heard of Caribou and only after letting the first bull pass because I had a "feeling" about getting a better bull. Wuld it make a book - No! Is it a trophy of a lifetime - well, its hangs with pride in the most prominent location in my house.

So I guess for me the answer is that inches might play a big role in why I am hunting in a particular place at a particular time and taking the game I am hnting does make the hunt better than gogin home without getting the animal that I was looking for but i the end, all we have is what we started with - our memories.

As a very good friend said to me and my wife many years ago now "Life is just a collection of memories." As soon as I heard that, it became my personal mantra and makes a great guideline for all of th major decisions in life - and that icludes when to pull the trigger and at what trophy.

Count me on the memories side!

 

[ThomasBeaham]

MEMORIES!

Memories.

Bill Quimby

I'm with Bill on this one.
MEMORIES.