New Member - Won Auction for Van Wijk Safaris

[Tundra Tiger]

I will say again $4000 total, 5 animals, no other costs. And it was actually I think $3750 each of 2 people. And lest I be accused of shilling for one outfitter (which I am willing to do by the way), I have seen similar offers from other outfitters in here. I HAD a bunch of similar offers from other outfitters when I ran up the "New guy wanting to hunt Africa" flag way back when. In the end on my hunt I brought home 10 animals (to include a cow buff) for way under $8000.

 

[Firebird]

Welcome to the site-someday when I draw the oak creek sheep tag I will remember your donation to Utah’s sheep efforts.
Easy to buy a tag that no one is bidding on and you know you can make into something for very little.
Couple things I would add-to check YouTube for videos they may have posted and to call their previous hunters if you can get reference numbers and see what you can learn on that route. Also find out if there is a daily rate still to pay or if it is included. That could be important!
I used Gracy travel and in these weird days of cancelled and rescheduled flights I would strongly recommend a travel agent with African experience. Best wishes!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Nathan, welcome to the AH forum! I guess you’re getting about all the input you can handle! Best of luck and I hope your adventure turns out well.

 

[Velo Dog]

Hello npaden,

Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris of Namibia, welcomes you to the greatest forum on earth.

Best Regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[mark-hunter]

@npaden
Tell us what do you want to hunt?

Standard package for hunting in Namibia and South Africa is all inclusive price for:
5-7 plains game species, that includes daily rates, trophy fees, air port pick up and drop off, all meals, lodging and bar, plus sevrices of PH, skinner, tracker and laundry.
Average cca 4-7.000 USD, all toghether.

Trophy fee is variable from standard to premium game.
Day rates 250 - 450 USd in average.
But package is all inclusive.

Picking on extra payments on airport pick up, or similar extra services is not usual, unless it involves transport to extreme faraway locations.

 

[African Sporting Creations]

Welcome to AH! Glad you found us and joined our community.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Thank you for supporting a great cause. Those guys in Utah are doing great work. Also you have the right attitude, I have bought a few auction hunts and have kicked myself for not buying others.

I would ask the Utah chapter as I am sure they have a few people who have probably hunted with the outfitter.

 

[buck wild]

Only thing I would add- CONTACT THE OUTFITTER already. Make your intentions known, discuss what concerns you might already have, be upfront and see where that leads you.

 

[Aaron N]

One thing to add, and I’m not sure if it’s been brought up:

-If you contact the outfitter and tell them you would like to add a few days and maybe 4 more animals, I would bet that the prices on the price list may come down. Possibly even dropping the airport pickup. They need to recoup some cost, but they also want a happy hunter returning home and telling everyone how great it was. I bet a mutually beneficial agreement can be reached!

 

[npaden]

@npaden
Tell us what do you want to hunt?

Standard package for hunting in Namibia and South Africa is all inclusive price for:
5-7 plains game species, that includes daily rates, trophy fees, air port pick up and drop off, all meals, lodging and bar, plus sevrices of PH, skinner, tracker and laundry.
Average cca 4-7.000 USD, all toghether.

Trophy fee is variable from standard to premium game.
Day rates 250 - 450 USd in average.
But package is all inclusive.

Picking on extra payments on airport pick up, or similar extra services is not usual, unless it involves transport to extreme faraway locations.

We are looking at Kudu x 2, Impala x 2, Blesbuck x 2, Zebra x 2, Gemsbuck x 2, Wildebeest x 1, Sable x1, and Warthog x 1.

I have contacted the outfitter for the auction that we won and detailed out the animals that we would be looking at in addition to the 1 included animal for each hunter. I also asked about the size of their concessions we would be hunting for the above animals and how far of a drive from the main lodge they would be.

Hopefully we can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement. If not I chalk up the $800 as a true donation and look at booking with another outfitter.

Thanks everyone for all the information and the PMs and even the phone calls. What a great community to help a newbie out!

 

[mark-hunter]

First 7 trophies are fairly common plains game safari. Could be in the level 7-9.000 USD
Double that (x2), for two hunters, you get 14-18.000 USD
Add sable 3-5k. (Sable prices are in decline, few years ago sable in average was on offer for 6k, and never less)
That would be estimate.

As you are not experienced yet, I will just mention that in South Africa and Namibia, it is also possible to do a cull hunt, for the animals which are not of trophy value. They are significantly cheaper.
So, you can also combine trophy + cull hunt (or only a cull hunt), and you may search in that direction as well.

For your comaprison:
For my own hunt, where I was in Namibia I made excel sheet calcs, with all options.
So I run now simulation for trophy hunt you described:
For your hunt comparison - I used 2 hunters, 8 days, (2:1), and took sable price as 4.000 EUR.
Calcualtion in euro
Total: 16.420 eur in hunting lodge where I went twice.
Your hunting scenario then would be cca 18.000 USD

Oryx would be higher price in South Africa then in Namibia, and greater kudu could be as well, especially in places where they charge per length of horn.

 

[Spear Safaris]

Nathan, welcome and good luck with your first Hunt. If you need any help in a kruger trip, feel free to email me. info@spearsafaris.com
Cheers Ernest

 

[CoElkHunter]

Welcome to AH! Please consider taking the advice of the many veteran African hunters here. Their experiences and advise is free, so take advantage of it. I’m glad I did and am finally going to Africa this June. Good luck on your decision and enjoy your African adventure!

 

[gin535]

Welcome to AH! Nice to have you on the site and we look forward to you sharing your stories!

 

[TRAVEL EXPRESS]

Welcome to the forum! May you have a fabulous time on your safari.

 

[npaden]

Thanks again for everyone who gave me advice and reached out to me. I have officially booked with Bandur Safaris and am looking forward to my first trip to Africa this summer. I'm sure I didn't end up with the cheapest package, but have talked to references and it sounds like it should be a really good experience for my first safari.

The original auction outfit was willing to come off their trophy price list by 10% but that still put the package quite a bit higher than most other places. They sounded like good people but I'm ending up on a place where you stay on the property where you hunt, and the hunting concession is considerably larger than their concessions.

Utah Wild Sheep Foundation got a $800 donation and I think I ended up booking a good first safari.

Thanks for all the help. Nathan

 

[Andrew62]

I sure hope you hunt goes smoothly, and you make memories for a lifetime!! While you will find lists of items to take, one thing I always be sure to take is an electric power converter. The newest one I bought has 2 USB slots on it besides 2 plug in slots, very hand to make sure you can charge your electronics. I also ask the doctor for a general antibiotic to take along in case I get sick. Good luck, shoot straight, post pictures upon your return!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

I will say again $4000 total, 5 animals, no other costs. And it was actually I think $3750 each of 2 people. And lest I be accused of shilling for one outfitter (which I am willing to do by the way), I have seen similar offers from other outfitters in here. I HAD a bunch of similar offers from other outfitters when I ran up the "New guy wanting to hunt Africa" flag way back when. In the end on my hunt I brought home 10 animals (to include a cow buff) for way under $8000.

You are not shilling. I too hunted with both Game 4 Africa and TSALA and got incredible vale and experiences for a lifetime. You articulated my same experience and many others well

 

[Andrew62]

You are not shilling. I too hunted with both Game 4 Africa and TSALA and got incredible vale and experiences for a lifetime. You articulated my same experience and many others well

I am hunting with Tsala next month, then Game 4 Africa this September, glad to hear you had good experiences!!! Now if only the government would drop the mask mandate on May 3rd that would be great!!!

 

[StickFlicker AZ]

npaden, glad you have reached a decision you are happy with. Personally, when a safari company isn't willing to post their price list on their website, I move on in my search. I just don't feel I should have to contact them to get such basic information. I also stay clear of companies that have sliding scale pricing on numerous animals (don't know if the one you were researching does this or not, just mentioning), based on horn size, but that's just me. As was mentioned earlier, if you aren't going to take the hunt (and don't sell it to someone else), you should be able to write the donation off on your taxes. And for those that may find this thread from a future search for that safari company's name, you should make a post outlining everything you have learned about them that you haven't already mentioned (for example, you mentioned that you had apparently learned the size of their property but didn't mention it here). Good luck on your safari.