Jason Miller
AH veteran
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2018
- Messages
- 224
- Reaction score
- 553
- Location
- Africa/ Colorado/ Texas
- Media
- 6
- Hunted
- South Africa, Namibia
Good evening all,
I realize many of our cherished members here are Outfitters so this question would probably not be for them, however they are welcome to chime in of course.
I have been traveling (work) and living off and on in Africa for over 20 years, I have been to many countries and ventured off into some pretty remote areas exploring around looking for fun and as a hunter always looking for an opportunity to hunt something.
My question is, are there any places left a person can just go buy a hunting license and hunt without a PH or Outfitter? I understand the value of a PH and am friends with many and hunt with outfitters almost annually but curious..
Ok before someone states that this doesn't exist or cant happen, allow me to share.
I have a close friend who is a missionary in a South Eastern African country, he is working very remote in the medical field. He is also a hunter. Well this friend became friends with the local authorities over time and went along with a few game rangers to exterminate some rouge animals. After a short while he ran to the nearest large town and purchased a rifle and is now the go to guy to exterminate game that crosses out of the parks and destroys village crops etc. They are happy to contact him as he is using his own rifle and ammunition, lives in the local area and saves the government time and resources dealing with the locals. He laughingly told me if he has had to pay for the elephants he has hunted it would be in the millions of dollars, he has also dealt with leopards, lions and other such animals. What a deal!
I had a neighbor whos father was a missionary in tanzania back in the 1960's, he would purchase a hunting license with an allotted amount of animals and hunt each year to his hearts content, I imagine this is no more..
Another story, once while I was in the Northern Area of Ghana working on a project translating the Mampule language I became friends with a local chief, he traded me a tusk (elephant) for a Suunto watch I was wearing and we became friends, I asked him if I could hunt on his lands and he said sure! Of course there was very little wildlife and I didn't have a rifle but went and asked the authorities if it would be legal for me to do so. They said "sure" as long as I had permission from the local chief. This was 2001 so perhaps things have changed since then.
Just a few months ago while working in Rwanda I had some downtime and was visiting with the local police who informed me that I could import a rifle into the country as long as I had permission from the authorities. Of course hunting is not legal in Rwanda (yet) and game is scarce but that got me thinking, also the local police also told me he knew of some people who cross into Uganda purchase a hunting license and hunt in Western Uganda on their own, these are not trophy hunters but mainly for meat. Of course I have not proven this and of course I understand I could be told "what I want to hear"
Anyway, thoughts?
I realize many of our cherished members here are Outfitters so this question would probably not be for them, however they are welcome to chime in of course.
I have been traveling (work) and living off and on in Africa for over 20 years, I have been to many countries and ventured off into some pretty remote areas exploring around looking for fun and as a hunter always looking for an opportunity to hunt something.
My question is, are there any places left a person can just go buy a hunting license and hunt without a PH or Outfitter? I understand the value of a PH and am friends with many and hunt with outfitters almost annually but curious..
Ok before someone states that this doesn't exist or cant happen, allow me to share.
I have a close friend who is a missionary in a South Eastern African country, he is working very remote in the medical field. He is also a hunter. Well this friend became friends with the local authorities over time and went along with a few game rangers to exterminate some rouge animals. After a short while he ran to the nearest large town and purchased a rifle and is now the go to guy to exterminate game that crosses out of the parks and destroys village crops etc. They are happy to contact him as he is using his own rifle and ammunition, lives in the local area and saves the government time and resources dealing with the locals. He laughingly told me if he has had to pay for the elephants he has hunted it would be in the millions of dollars, he has also dealt with leopards, lions and other such animals. What a deal!
I had a neighbor whos father was a missionary in tanzania back in the 1960's, he would purchase a hunting license with an allotted amount of animals and hunt each year to his hearts content, I imagine this is no more..
Another story, once while I was in the Northern Area of Ghana working on a project translating the Mampule language I became friends with a local chief, he traded me a tusk (elephant) for a Suunto watch I was wearing and we became friends, I asked him if I could hunt on his lands and he said sure! Of course there was very little wildlife and I didn't have a rifle but went and asked the authorities if it would be legal for me to do so. They said "sure" as long as I had permission from the local chief. This was 2001 so perhaps things have changed since then.
Just a few months ago while working in Rwanda I had some downtime and was visiting with the local police who informed me that I could import a rifle into the country as long as I had permission from the authorities. Of course hunting is not legal in Rwanda (yet) and game is scarce but that got me thinking, also the local police also told me he knew of some people who cross into Uganda purchase a hunting license and hunt in Western Uganda on their own, these are not trophy hunters but mainly for meat. Of course I have not proven this and of course I understand I could be told "what I want to hear"
Anyway, thoughts?
