0002S
AH enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2023
- Messages
- 391
- Reaction score
- 2,649
- Media
- 21
- Member of
- LIFE NRA, LIFE SCI, LIFE TTHA, RME
- Hunted
- South Africa, England, Scotland, North America
Let me say that I have hunted in both fenced and unfenced environments for both plains game and dangerous game. I have had excellent experiences in both. I even published articles about both. I have not hunted and would not knowingly hunt a put and take environment or species on a ranch managed in such a way. I should note there are any number of reputable SA outfitters who offer great experiences hunting self-sustaining herds in environments far larger than the animal's natural range.
As I noted elsewhere, I also hate sharing a camp with a crowd. For others this is not an issue.
But with respect to the game itself, a conclusion I reached following my SA buffalo hunt was that the final two-hundred yards was pretty much the same whether hunting along the banks of the Kwando, Zambezi, or Limpopo.
SOUTH AFRICA: Up Close In The Limpopo - Hunting Cape Buffalo With Phillip Bronkhorst
The morning started like many buffalo hunts anywhere with the fresh tracks of a small herd crossing a dirt trace cut through the bush. Phillip Bronkhorst, Pieter Taylor (one of Phillip's PHs), our tracker Josias, Rickey (a young videographer in training), and your faithful correspondent bailed...www.africahunting.com
That said, given a choice, and cost is inevitably and appropriately a factor in such choices, I do prefer hunting game animals in their natural range. Their existence there forms the basis around which a particular trip is organized and taken. For instance, hunting a red lechwe in the high desert of the Limpopo is about interesting to me as shooting one on a game ranch in Texas. Creeping along the edge of a woodland in Mozambique trying to close with a 36" sable is much more interesting from an experience perspective than taking a 42" animal behind a fence far from its natural range.
But there is nothing "wrong" with either experience. The vast array of opportunities is what makes the continent such an interesting destination.
However, something I tolerate in Europe that I hate anywhere in Africa are trophy costs by the inch (or centimeter). The growing Euro trophy management system of much of the industry in South Africa inevitably creates a very different hunting experience than one will find elsewhere in Africa. Let me quickly say, in a managed environment like a game ranch, a owner would be foolish not to maximize his profits. If clients are willing to pay more for bigger trophies, he should have the right to charge what the market will bear. I also have the option to spend my money elsewhere.
But back to the different experience. In places like Mozambique, most of Namibia, Zim and Zambia, a PH is focused on getting his client the finest animals that meet the client's expectations, hopes, or dreams, that he possibly can in the time and under the conditions allotted for the hunt. That does, at least in my experience, create a different experience and hunting relationship than judging animals by price class. Again, that is something I am completely comfortable with in Europe, but not something I care to participate in on an African hunt.
I can agree with this.
Some of the best hunting experiences I've had are actually doing everything but taking the shot. For what ever reason it didn't feel right, but the thrill of the hunt was no different.
You are from the Hill Country so we've hunted the same TX area. The ranches here are becoming terrible in the race to see who can get the most species and the cost have been increasing to the point that it doesn't make sense to hunt here. I use to enjoy the quick 3 day get-away for an Axis hunt. Now there are too many people in camp, that truly aren't there for more than anything other than a hunting weekend vs a boys weekend in Vegas. While, again it's their money, I am less and less interested in hunting around this party atmosphere. Although it's great for the land owners, I guess. I still have a couple of places I can seek off too, but I'd rather travel now to see something different.
I've only hunted at 4 different location is RSA so I can only tell you that I've picked up what I like. I'm more interested now to hunt North of the Limpopo than I am in RSA. The RSA experience was great for bow hunting in a blind. I wasn't moving so seeing the amount of game come in was amazing. Rifle hunting, now I personally would want to be on much larger properties than I was bow hunting on. Not that any of it was wrong, I just like spot and stalk from a vehicle.