Police encounters in South Africa

[Mtn_Infantry]

I've done a lot of weekend turkey hunting trips to many states and once flew home with 4 turkeys in my carry-on from a 2 state hunt. The agents found it to be interesting during their boring work shift.

It’s funny you mentioned turkey hunting. When questioned i joked it was my Pet Parrot Petey. The TSA Agent shook her head and gave me a “F****n White People” comment. The male supervisor laughed, talked hunting with me, and when I told him I’d be back next year to Turkey hunt gave me a couple public land places to checkout where he’s seen birds while elk/deer hunting.

 

[Skshyk]

Thanks for sharing, I was actually of thinking some components for my PH but after reading this the chance of going through the hassle is not worth it. Traveling with firearms is stressful enough not worth the headache. I actually was hassled in Bulawayo in July for not keeping my empty brass because it’s a new law and logged me in his book and gave mea warning.

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks for sharing, I was actually of thinking some components for my PH but after reading this the chance of going through the hassle is not worth it. Traveling with firearms is stressful enough not worth the headache. I actually was hassled in Bulawayo in July for not keeping my empty brass because it’s a new law and logged me in his book and gave mea warning.

I shared for this reason...to give others something to think about since what is not technically illegal might cause you problems.

What's the empty brass law he referenced? I haven't heard that one yet. I've been putting my empties back in the ammo box and there's always a few missing from the hunt. That can be explained easily enough.

 

[Skshyk]

I didn’t not have any empty brass and gave everything to the PH. He was saying poachers use the empty brass it is now required to keep your empty brass. Which was the first time I had ever heard of that. That was in a July in Sept from Harare I had no brash and they did not even ask a question.

 

[Green Chile]

I last hunted Zim last Nov and didn't hear anything about it. I try to take all my brass home but some is usually lost during the hunt. If I asked the trackers to help me pick it up they would but I never made a deal of it. In my June hunt in Limpopo, the PH asked to keep my 416 Rigby empties for his reloading. In fact, we shot up the rest of it for fun on the last day and I took no Rigby brass home. Was happy it helped him out. No SAPS comments were made on it while leaving Africa.

 

[BRICKBURN]

.......
As they say "what's the speed limit in South Africa? Answer is: 1000 Rands"

300 will do the trick. (I've heard)

 

[Nevada Wapati]

Flying out of the Tete, Mozambique airport this year, the security staff found a Leatherman tool in my carry on that I had carelessly forgot about. They asked me if it had a knife blade. I told them that it did have one
I exited them to confiscate it at the very least. Instead they gave it to me and to take it back to the check in counter and put it in my check in luggage.
Yes, I was lucky this time but will be more careful in the future.

In 2009 a live round and one empty case were discovered by security staff at the Windhoek airport in a companion's carry-on. They only confiscated them and warned him to be more careful.

 

[Doubleplay]

300 will do the trick. (I've heard)

300 is the going rate probably. I exaggerated

 

[Philip Glass]

First lesson learned here was that it wasn’t really illegal but they didn’t know how to respond to it and they detained me for it. It seemed like it hit a grey area in between the lines and they were concerned but confused by it. Second lesson was it’s very important to stay relaxed and calm. I wasn’t on my phone…I wasn’t panicking or argumentative…I answered their questions and when they repeated the question I said I already answered that and would state the same answer again. I could feel they were watching me to see if I got agitated or would lose my composure. Just stay calm.

Ok…next post will be the second situation for your consideration.

My first thought is that this may have gone better if they were in your gun case instead of your suitcase. Who knows.

 

[Philip Glass]

Going forward I will not have unregulated parts for guns that are not on my permit...and sorry friends, but I will not be able to bring reloading components for my PH friends. This should not be a problem but it all comes down to the agent or officer you are dealing with. You will do what seems best to you but my PH said he's never asking anyone to do that again. It's just too risky.

I agree with your sentiment and experience here. It's just not worth it. Thank you very much for sharing this.

 

[Philip Glass]

Flying out of the Tete, Mozambique airport this year, the security staff found a Leatherman tool in my carry on that I had carelessly forgot about. They asked me if it had a knife blade. I told them that it did have one
I exited them to confiscate it at the very least. Instead they gave it to me and to take it back to the check in counter and put it in my check in luggage.
Yes, I was lucky this time but will be more careful in the future.

In 2009 a live round and one empty case were discovered by security staff at the Windhoek airport in a companion's carry-on. They only confiscated them and warned him to be more careful.

This is why I don't recommend using a carry on as a day pack. If we are not very careful someone in the group will have something left in there!

 

[Green Chile]

My first thought is that this may have gone better if they were in your gun case instead of your suitcase. Who knows.

I forgot to mention these were in a 2nd locked hard gun case. I didn’t have a suitcase…I had a 2nd locked rifle case that the PH asked me to bring him.

 

[bakerb]

In 2018 I lost luggage going to Russia for a hunt. In my carry on I had a couple extra lithium batteries for a sure fire flashlight. I got pulled out of line in Petropavlovsk by a 6’4” uniformed recruiting poster Russian. I must have looked terrified. He tried to smile (only Russian official I saw smile) and kept saying “S’okay”. They wanted to look in my bag. Once they saw the batteries weren’t ammo they sent me on my way. It was nerve wracking

 

[PARA45]

This is why I don't recommend using a carry on as a day pack. If we are not very careful someone in the group will have something left in there!

I always carry an extra backpack to use while hunting, I never use my carry on during the hunt. It happened in South Dakota, I was going through TSA, and one of the agents was giving me a hard time for my cooler with pheasants, and when my carry on went through X-rays, there was a single 30-06 empty case. Luckily one of the TSA agents a female was a hunter and cleared the situation. She told the other agent that dead birds was nothing to worry about, not sure if they could see the pellets in the birds. She also told the agent that an empty case was not a big deal either. We talk a bit about my hunt, and shared pictures.

 

[deewayne2003]

Coming back through Harare in July I had to explain to the 5 inspectors in one room what’s the difference between an empty case and a live round.

This happened when they looked through my ammo when exiting the country and one inspector grabbed a live .470 round and an empty piece of .470 brass and asked…..

“What is the difference in this…. And this?!!!”

I had to explain this 3 times before he was satisfied.

 

[Green Chile]

That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t make sense. As long as your numbers match and caliber to the permit. They get confused very easily. They don’t get a lot of training.

 

[MikeWas]

That's fair but how would you declare reloading components?

The same way you declare your phone, clean (or not) underwear, and 99.9% of the stuff you are carrying.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I had a :30 discussion at one checkpoint leaving Doha about the “rifle parts” in my carry on. 3 levels of supervision later I was on my way. The first two levels of security were adamant my 2 rifle scopes are classified as rifle parts.

 

[skydiver386]

The biggest issue when travelling is the I.Q. of the people working in the airports and Police or Border Patrol, etc. If the compulsory education in that country ends at the 6th or 8th grade, you know the Police, Military and other Civil Servants are going to have a very low I.Q. Reading and comprehension of the Laws they are enforcing tends to be very low in such places.

Not to make light of the L.E. in the USA, but I've known many that had never read, and had no idea of the laws they were enforcing.

Like most people, they simply refuse to read unless they are forced to. I've even encountered Law Enforcement Officers in Asia that I'm convinced couldn't read even their own language. When faced with this, the only thing you can do is exactly what Green chili stated above, which is remain calm, be polite and call a local lawyer.

 

[deewayne2003]

That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t make sense. As long as your numbers match and caliber to the permit. They get confused very easily. They don’t get a lot of training.

Yes sir!….

I was concerned about having lost a few pieces of .300win brass so the total of rounds was off…. But they never noticed, for some reason they focused on the .470 ammo which was accounted for with the correct number of live rounds and brass.