Riksa
AH veteran
Since my last Leopard/Buffalo hunt I have continued to dream of returning to Africa. My Big 5 is still short of Lion, Elephant and Rhino (which I don’t know if I want to hunt or not). I started taking initial contact with some outfitters already in Spring 2018 and have found some very good options. And some outfitters actually surprised me with the lack of their interest. It might be that my request for a lion or elephant hunt in 2019 or 2020 was not of interest for them. In any case I still haven’t decided what to hunt next and where.
No matter what, the hunt would have to be a free range, fair chase hunt in real wild Africa. I would love the idea of hunting a lion by tracking and stalking instead of baiting but this seems to be a challenge in most free range places. Some outfitters in Zimbabwe have also offered this option, but the success rate might be low. I very much appreciate their open communication about the low success rate so that I can make my own judgement whether to go for it or not.
I am mostly in this for the experience so hunting a lioness instead of a male would certainly be OK. I’m seriously considering hunting a tuskless elephant also, especially if I could somehow combine this kind of hunt with a lioness. The price of a free range male lion especially with the high daily rate combined with my stalk and track ambition and low success rate is causing me a headache. And it seems that hunting a legal free range exportable lioness is not possible. So currently I am thinking of going for a trophy elephant hunt in Zimbabwe. Cost for a trophy elephant hunt seems to be around 30kUSD and for my budget that is OK. Cost for a free range lion hunt is higher and I can admit that some of the high end (100kUSD) hunts are certainly out of my budget, but some more reasonably price lion hunts seem to be within reach.
What I’m seeking is a ideas about the options for lion and elephant hunting. Please chime in a let me know what you would think about different options. In return I promise to write a report once the hunt is done.
No matter what, the hunt would have to be a free range, fair chase hunt in real wild Africa. I would love the idea of hunting a lion by tracking and stalking instead of baiting but this seems to be a challenge in most free range places. Some outfitters in Zimbabwe have also offered this option, but the success rate might be low. I very much appreciate their open communication about the low success rate so that I can make my own judgement whether to go for it or not.
I am mostly in this for the experience so hunting a lioness instead of a male would certainly be OK. I’m seriously considering hunting a tuskless elephant also, especially if I could somehow combine this kind of hunt with a lioness. The price of a free range male lion especially with the high daily rate combined with my stalk and track ambition and low success rate is causing me a headache. And it seems that hunting a legal free range exportable lioness is not possible. So currently I am thinking of going for a trophy elephant hunt in Zimbabwe. Cost for a trophy elephant hunt seems to be around 30kUSD and for my budget that is OK. Cost for a free range lion hunt is higher and I can admit that some of the high end (100kUSD) hunts are certainly out of my budget, but some more reasonably price lion hunts seem to be within reach.
What I’m seeking is a ideas about the options for lion and elephant hunting. Please chime in a let me know what you would think about different options. In return I promise to write a report once the hunt is done.
