Scott CWO
AH legend
As an outfitter/guide in Colorado, Alaska and Mexico for 27 seasons of hunting six months each year, I often have more guiding experience than people guiding me which can make me a bit more difficult to guide. After six trips to Tanzania, Moz and Zim, I have had some great PHs and some not as great.
A major difference between guiding in Noth America and Africa is that in NA, we don’t have as many different species in one area as you do in Africa. In some NA areas, we sometimes also don’t have high populations and the animals are more scattered - herds are smaller, etc... So, in NA, I generally have found that a guide has to be very careful and slow on each stalk and final approach. Without as many species and perhaps lower populations, we may only get one or two good shot opportunities on a trip so I am very careful on stalks and final approaches. In Africa with so much more game and species, I have had some PHs and trackers be a little more flippant and they didn’t slow down enough or be quiet enough when getting close to the animal. With all the plains game and species available, I felt they probably get used to having another species of animal just around the corner and many more opportunities so some of them walked too fast for my liking or got a little sloppy or nonchalant on some approaches. This certainly wasn’t the case withh all my PHs, but I did have it happen with a couple of them. After a few days of this, I spoke respectfuly with them about it and they took it to heart and took each approach more seriously from then on.
So, my advice is not to let the length of the safari wear down your cautiousness or sneakiness on final approaches and to have your trackers do the same. Otherwise you may miss out on a few special animals.
A major difference between guiding in Noth America and Africa is that in NA, we don’t have as many different species in one area as you do in Africa. In some NA areas, we sometimes also don’t have high populations and the animals are more scattered - herds are smaller, etc... So, in NA, I generally have found that a guide has to be very careful and slow on each stalk and final approach. Without as many species and perhaps lower populations, we may only get one or two good shot opportunities on a trip so I am very careful on stalks and final approaches. In Africa with so much more game and species, I have had some PHs and trackers be a little more flippant and they didn’t slow down enough or be quiet enough when getting close to the animal. With all the plains game and species available, I felt they probably get used to having another species of animal just around the corner and many more opportunities so some of them walked too fast for my liking or got a little sloppy or nonchalant on some approaches. This certainly wasn’t the case withh all my PHs, but I did have it happen with a couple of them. After a few days of this, I spoke respectfuly with them about it and they took it to heart and took each approach more seriously from then on.
So, my advice is not to let the length of the safari wear down your cautiousness or sneakiness on final approaches and to have your trackers do the same. Otherwise you may miss out on a few special animals.
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