Numzaan Safari hunting in March 2018....worried about extra charges

[johnnyblues]

+1

 

[SETH RINGER]

If your doing euro mounts, do not forget that the tanned hides make good throws for couches or rugs for floor without adding a lot of cost.

 

[mark-hunter]

If you accomplish all planned and still have extra days left, then use the remainign day to hunt jackals.

 

[enysse]

My advice to you Dave, is to take pictures and not have any taxidermy done. My assessment is you will be happier and less stressed about the hunt. I have culled animals before and have nothing but the memories. But the memories get me by late at night at the hospital when I'm working my butt off. Quality pictures are worth a lot.

 

[CAustin]

I hope you will enjoy yourself after working out the details. Take a couple of extra animals on you credit card and have a good time!

 

[LivingTheDream]

+1 what @enysse said...I think you are better off just taking pictures if it meant you could take a few extra animals. There are only a few more animals I will be importing and then I am going to say the hell with it and just take all pictures.

 

[Dave Zimmerman]

Thank you to all of you for your great posts and replies, it has helped me a great deal. In reviewing more posts on AH and reading what others are doing, I have decided to do the photo only option for the trophies I am lucky enough to bag. The shipping costs, dip and pack, import, and other fees for a couple animals don't seem to be worth more than lots of quality photos. If I get home and decide I absolutely need a trophy to hang on the wall, I can always get a replica of the animal made or buy one that is almost identical to it already tanned and mounted back here in the USA.

 

[mdwest]

Not a bad decision at all..

The best investment I made prior to our last hunt was a nice pocket camera.. we took it, our DSLR, and a GoPro and went nuts with pics and video..

 

[RogerHeintzman]

The trophy fees for the extra add on animals is robbery.

Too many people get taken by these auction hunts.

Look at it this way, if you cancel you may loose the cancellation fee for the flight ticket, $250.00 maybe slightly more, which way would you be money ahead, doing the hunt or cancelling?

There are way to many specials out there right now to be handcuffed to this safari.

 

[MTemple]

I also have won at auction the same Numzaan safari. I agree the $180 per person for the first and last day SHOULD have been disclosed at the auction as I am now looking at $1440 for my family of four. I also did not understand the deal with a minimum of two animals per person as my wife wanted to go as a non hunter (she doesn't shoot well enough to hunt in her opinion and would enjoy taking pics more). However, Numzaan did explain the fee per day for a non hunter and waived the upgraded fee changing the two of us from 2 to 1 PH being changed to a 1 to 1 PH which was an additional $100 per day I will not have to pay. I was strongly discouraged on the use of a cc by their American agent. She was being evasive when I asked about using a cc and kept referring to bank wires, the exchange rate and cc fees instead.

The dip and pack at $180 includes crating which some D&P places I talked do did not include.

I am discouraged by the extra animal fees as some seem higher than most but I can understand a business model that gives out "free" trips and uses more expensive fees to recoup costs.

I also think taking only two animals seems to be wasteful of the opportunity and I expect to go in 2020 for our trip so I have plenty of time to sock extra cash away for more animals for me and my sons.

 

[IvW]

If you bid on a auction safari, you should first find out what you are bidding on and what is included and what not. Much easier than trying to figure out afterwards what you actually bid on.

 

[Kowas Adventure Safaris]

@Dave Zimmerman,
The reason I ask is that you have to kind of understand the South African safari business model...

Dear Dave
Our recommendation is to contact your Ouftitter.

• Request a written, detailed pro-forma invoice / calulcation sheet, reflecting all possible expenses that might occur during your safari.
• Compare the feedback with the document that you have received from the Hunting club you purchased the donated auction hunt from.
• Communication with your outfitter is essential. Keep on asking questions until you are satisfied and you have peace of mind in your heart.
  
  We trust that you would work out a win-win situation for all four (4x) hunters.
  Keep us posted.
  Enjoy the planning process since it forms a huge FUN part of your safari.
  Happy hunting and straight shooting.

 

[Desperatezulu]

Thank you to all of you for your great posts and replies, it has helped me a great deal. In reviewing more posts on AH and reading what others are doing, I have decided to do the photo only option for the trophies I am lucky enough to bag. The shipping costs, dip and pack, import, and other fees for a couple animals don't seem to be worth more than lots of quality photos. If I get home and decide I absolutely need a trophy to hang on the wall, I can always get a replica of the animal made or buy one that is almost identical to it already tanned and mounted back here in the USA.

Hi Dave,
Glad to see you're getting your head around a compromise you can live with - a hunt should be about the experience, not gritting your teeth monitoring a budget.
In case it's helpful, I just looked at the cost of an Uber van from Joburg to Thabazimbi - you'd be looking at R4000 ($280) one-way. Of course you would spread that amongst your party. So that gives you the ballpark of transport costs if you decide to DIY. Renting a car is an option too but I suspect that a big enough vehicle for 4 may pushing $100/day, so not much cost saving plus the hassle of navigating.

I wholeheartedly support the idea of abandoning the trophy/import concept. I'd say you're better off shooting an extra animal or 3 on your 1st hunt with the money you save. Unless the hunt totally blows up, I predict you'll be back in future and have a firmer idea of what animals/trophies you want and can take a longer run-up in getting your budget figured out then. And if you want trophies then, you have justification to shoot springbok etc again!

You probably appreciate this already but your day rate covers meals, service (cooks, cleaners, trackers, PH, usage of vehicles etc) which are fixed costs whether you hunt or not. To expect the PH to take you out varminting for jackal etc gratis for more than a day may not be met with much enthusiasm. You may have more joy negotiating cheaper rates for surplus/additional animals once you're on the ground. Not every outfitter/PH will do this but many will if there's lots of time left after filling your quota and they see that you are a serious hunter. Of course, if they think you're free-loading then the opposite applies.

Good luck and I hope you find peace and ultimately excitement with your plans!

 

[IvW]

Hi Dave,
Glad to see you're getting your head around a compromise you can live with - a hunt should be about the experience, not gritting your teeth monitoring a budget.
In case it's helpful, I just looked at the cost of an Uber van from Joburg to Thabazimbi - you'd be looking at R4000 ($280) one-way. Of course you would spread that amongst your party. So that gives you the ballpark of transport costs if you decide to DIY. Renting a car is an option too but I suspect that a big enough vehicle for 4 may pushing $100/day, so not much cost saving plus the hassle of navigating.

I wholeheartedly support the idea of abandoning the trophy/import concept. I'd say you're better off shooting an extra animal or 3 on your 1st hunt with the money you save. Unless the hunt totally blows up, I predict you'll be back in future and have a firmer idea of what animals/trophies you want and can take a longer run-up in getting your budget figured out then. And if you want trophies then, you have justification to shoot springbok etc again!

You probably appreciate this already but your day rate covers meals, service (cooks, cleaners, trackers, PH, usage of vehicles etc) which are fixed costs whether you hunt or not. To expect the PH to take you out varminting for jackal etc gratis for more than a day may not be met with much enthusiasm. You may have more joy negotiating cheaper rates for surplus/additional animals once you're on the ground. Not every outfitter/PH will do this but many will if there's lots of time left after filling your quota and they see that you are a serious hunter. Of course, if they think you're free-loading then the opposite applies.

Good luck and I hope you find peace and ultimately excitement with your plans!

Uber is not the best idea for foreigners traveling so far.

 

[Red Leg]

The photography idea is an excellent one, and it will prevent your hunt from becoming a continuing financial drain after you return home. If you look at my profile, I am 65 and have been blessed with the opportunity to do a lot of hunting. Currently, I have precisely three pedestal mounts and two shoulder mounts. I probably have euro-mounts of 25% of the other "trophy" animals that I have taken. The remainder are in my head or in scrap books and framed photos that I have been building for forty years. Originally, I did corner-pasted photos and handwritten descriptions of trips and hunts. Today, I use Shutterfly https://www.shutterfly.com/ to build a wonderful bound book of every adventure. I am working on my last trip to Mozambique right now. They also do lovely framed prints on canvas which are great for hero shots of you and the animals you take. You can see a group of three on the far wall in the photo below (though my spouse would not consider herself the subject of a "hero shot"!). Their most expensive products will run you a couple of hundred bucks with no importing, exporting, or taxidermy required. That will easily cover the cost of another animal. When you get well past this divorce and have a solid handle on where you are headed, go back to Africa and get those special animals for a wall - or hunt more and take more pictures .

Trophy Room/Bar

• Red Leg
• Aug 18, 2016

 

[Dave Zimmerman]

Once again, thank you to everyone for your input, ideas, and advice. Ive decided to do tons of photos and not bring the actual horns back on anything I get. I can always pick the best photo and blow it up, canvas it, or frame it of whatever I decide I take.

If once I get back I decide I want to have a physical trophy to hang, I can always give the measurements of what I took to the vendor below and buy an already cleaned and cleared skull and horns as my "replica" of what I took, and nobody but me will every know its not the actual animal I took but a replica or replacement.

Atlantic Coral Enterprise based in Florida sells lots of African horns, skulls, tusks, hides, and quills if anyone needs some to decorate or craft with. Impala full skulls for $65-70, Springbok full skulls for $50, Blesbuck full skulls for $55-70, skull plate of each species are usually $15-$30 cheaper than full skull price. They also have fully tanned hides for $45 and under of all 3 species. These are already cleared in the US animal products collected from South African culling.

They also sell horns, warthog and hippo tusks, & porcupine quills. I may end up ordering some to make lamps with for decoration after the African hunting bug has taken full control of me when I return.

 

[cagkt3]

Uber is not the best idea for foreigners traveling so far.

Exactly what I was thinking! I'm nervous taking Uber when I go to Denver....

 

[davis bush]

By now your probably on your way home.. YOU have enjoyed the fun and Africa for sure. Limopo province many record trophies have come from there including on on about 3/12/2018.
( about the time of your hunt.) I have compared costs with my taxidermist who has been to Africa 30, Europe and Asia 10 or so times and actually lived there for 6 months. South Africa is one of the least expensive in all of Africa and you WILL get your exact trophies home for taxidermy by early this winter. Limpopo province has a wide variety of animals and many preserves like the world renowned Kruger national park .... I'll be there in April as I paid for an 7 day hunt.. The travel cost first and last day is for a FULL day and the "ride" to your camp was 4 to 5 hours from the airport. Those days are NOT counted as hunt days. There are gratuities if you not a cheapskate. With the donation hunt you still get quite a deal and they know it- makes for good advertising.. Just so you know , hunts elsewhere in Africa can be shady for sure. One of my local Dentists lost a 66" KUDU record to a unscrupulous outfitter in another African country. If you go again- (and you will )always pick a SCI recommended outfitter.
Just sayin.

 

[Royal27]

If you go again- (and you will )always pick a SCI recommended outfitter.

Just to clarify here. SCI doesn't recommend outfitters. There are bad outfitters who are SCI members and good outfitters that aren't.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Yeah anyone can donate a hunt to SCI. There is little to no vetting done.