Is South Africa still safe to hunt?

[Badger Matt]

You’re going to be well taken care of by Mr X and his VIP team and the crew at Afton House. Go. Enjoy the ride (except that long damned flight). And write a well-illustrated hunt report when you return.

 

[HuntingHard]

Been to RSA 3 times since 2019, twice with wife. Never had a problem. Leaving in 2 weeks for Namibia to try for leopard, 2026 is booked in RSA for buffalo. As long as your not driving through LA you should be fine

 

[Smitty]

I just got back less than a week ago. Mr. X made OR Tambo a breeze. I overnighted at Afton Safari lodge, then on to Hoedspruit. On the way back we flew through Cape Town to Atlanta. No issues and I never felt "unsafe."

 

[Biddleman]

3 of us arrived in OR Tambo April 26. Had Afton meet/greet. Slight misunderstanding where they were to meet us. Greeter wasnt there when we got off plane. He was in the hall. Elize gave him hell. Afton didnt charge the greet part. Zach helped clear guns. No issues at airport. Never once did I feel unsafe.

If you arrive at night and are worried about the short drive to Afton, tell the driver its ok to roll/ run the red lights. Be sure to assure you won't get them in trouble or complain.

Go have fun. You only get one ride on this earth. You don't want to be sitting in a nursing home someday shitting yourself regretting you didn't take the trip.

 

[mainjoshua]

I wanted to give you guys an update. I just got back from my trip and it was amazing. I already caught the bug and can't wait to go back. You all were right about the part that you're most likely to die from a car wreck over there. I hunted with Lategan Safaris in the Eastern Cape and Free State provinces. This was my first trip, so I can't compare them with anybody else, but they were an outstanding outfit. Very family oriented and personable. I felt like I was hunting with my friends back in the States the whole time. I harvested 5 animals. An Impala, Springbok, Black Wildebeest, Blesbok, and a Kudu. The Kudu was an amazing experience. By far one of my most intense and exciting hunts. I shot everything with my Savage model 110 30-06.

 

[Firebird]

You and I were in some of the same flights. Glad you had a good trip!

 

[Doug3006]

Congratulations! Very nice trophies.

 

[Hunt anything]

Good looking trophies! The color on your impala is wonderful and I for one think the shape of your kudu is the prettiest shape! A lot of people like wide bulls but I like the more narrow shape.
Congratulations!!!

 

[Twraska]

The question was just asked on another thread. Yes it’s safe for hunting. There are no farms being raided and no tourists being targeted (other than normal petty crime). It has its problems but it is a safe country to hunt. The news was the same 10 years ago although maybe less of it made the news.

A

Thread 'Is south africa reasonably safe?'

May 24, 2025

We will be going to South Africa for the very first time. We are flying into Johannesburg and ph is driving us to Limpopo province. Since booking the trip it seems like a lot in the news. I have been doing research and lots of reading. I dont know if things are getting worse or I just never really paid attention. We will have grandchildren with us is our main concern. It is so hard to tell bs from legit information anymore. Trump is either bringing something to the world's attention or stirring the pot? Any info good or bad from people who have hunted and spent time in SA or live in SA...

• ar15teacher
• Replies: 54
• Forum: Hunting Africa

• 

Unfortunately there is a lot of crime in some places. I have several South Africans workers on the farm. Every single one of them has a story, some several stories, about what has happened to them or their family. I’ve even heard stories about them shooting someone or the South African version of the ‘train station’. With that said, how many of us in the US has ‘a story’ to tell?

In general, these stories always seem to be in rural areas against unarmed, or lightly armed people. None of my guys have had any story about a hunter with a gun being attacked.

 

[HuntingHard]

Been to RSA 3 times since 2019, twice with wife. Never had a problem. Leaving in 2 weeks for Namibia to try for leopard, 2026 is booked in RSA for buffalo. As long as your not driving through LA you should be fine

Thought I'd give a update on my hunt with Wild Wildebeest Safaris. The team at WWS took care of all lodging, VIP transfers & flights once in Africa. Everything was top notch.

I overnighted in Joburg then next morning a flight to Windhoek followed by a drive to Omaruru to begin the leopard hunt.

WWS had arrived at the lodge a week earlier to scout and pre-bait and had been sending updates every day. A big male was on bait but we had arrived to late to sit that evening. I still needed to very zero on my rifle and we didn't want to scare leopard off bait.

The waiting game begins. Three days of checking baits and only seeing a hyena. Day 4, the leopard shows himself. At the shot he runs off even though I felt good about the shot. The tracking team arrived and began looking for him. He only went 20 yds.

We took the next day off from hunting and cleaned up our bait sites.

Time to look for klipspringer and dik-dik. Saw a few but no shots. Then after a nice brai I took a nice klipspringer followed by a dik-dik 30 minutes later.

It's now 7 days into a 14 day hunt. After some talk over sundowners it's time for a change of plans. We decide to drive to WWS lodge in Northern Cape so I can try for a vervet monkey that my wife wants.

Here is where it gets dangerous. During the drive, Tonie makes me an offer I can't refuse. The only question is, do I ask for permission or forgiveness? I decide to hunt a lioness and ask forgiveness. As was once said, no sense being the richest guy in the cemetery.

After 2 days in Northern Cape, no monkey. I know she'll be disappointed again, but it's time to leave for North West province. Another great experience! I send her pictures of me with the lioness. I let her know lioness was taken at 20 yds. She doesn't believe it, and I'm not sure if she doesn't believe I took a lioness or that it was at 20 yds. Frankly I can't belive I was blessed enough to get a leopard and lioness on the same trip. I also take a nice baboon later that day.

She has already booked our trip for next April for cape buffalo. As part of the forgiveness I promised to work on getting her the darn monkey.