Reviews Versus Reports

[Wheels]

People like me are not really great at telling a story..............

Jeff, You can't get out of it that easy. We want all the details of all your bow stalks.

 

[drew416]

I personally love to see as many pictures as possible too, though sometimes we forget to set our cameras to a low resolution and make it impossible to upload.

I am a stickler for the little things and specifics. I love to know what load you had in your firearm, what brand of scope you lined him up with and what type of bino's you or your PH spotted him with. What they served up in camp is also a big thing. A review is so much better than a simple report.

It all contributes to a great read. Fellas, some of us don't have a life outside of shooting and/ or hunting so it is humbling to read a good true story every now and then. Good or bad, it is information that other board members can take in or ignore when or if they are planing an adventure.

I will say one thing about AH that I admire. There is not much rubbishing or putting down of other members posts like there is on other forums that clutter the www. Except for the odd spam posting by some anti hunting imposter that happens to slip by, but we spot it and hit the "ignore" button and they do just that.

 

[enysse]

I always thought the hunting reports were always good on AH. Yes, some are more detailed than others. What one person finds interesting, others don't. Pictures are wonderful and do give a respective view of trophy quality available. I do like pictures of the general hunting area a lot too.

 

[35bore]

Shot placement on a Flying goose. Let's see that picture...

Byron Ferguson knocks arrows out of air with another arrow. Surely you can hit a goose.

 

[BRICKBURN]

May have to give it a whirl. If it did not cost $25 per miss I might practice more.

 

[35bore]

May have to give it a whirl. If it did not cost $25 per miss I might practice more.

Don't miss...

 

[bluey]

Only a true LUNATIC would practice hard on such a task.....

 

[Diamondhitch]

I personally love to see as many pictures as possible too, though sometimes we forget to set our cameras to a low resolution and make it impossible to upload...

PIXresizer is a great free program to quickly knock your favorites down to size and its hard (if not nearly impossible) to accidentally save the low rez image over the original.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Only a true LUNATIC would practice hard on such a task.....

Exactly.

 

[Heym 88]

cool..I get to write about chasing a field rat around my woodpile with a daisy bb gun. You'll be excited about reading that one lol. Seriously Brick, that is an excellent idea.

 

[Heym 88]

The stories I like to read most are the ones written by hunters that just finished their first safari, ie like the one Royal wrote about his. I can't wait till the day I can write my own.

 

[Neale]

I love reading the hunting reports as it reminds me of my last safari and rekindles the flame to go to Africa again. I was just looking at the hunting reports this morning and there appears to be a lot of people asking about outfitters/operations. I was wondering if it may be worth while starting a new Heading "Outfitter Review" or such? This would provide a heading for people to ask questions about outfitters and/or operators. It may also be the heading where people can air their grievances about an experience (with all the supporting documentation of course )
Just my thoughts this morning!

 

[Neale]

I was wondering if it may be worth while starting a new Heading "Outfitter Review" or such? This would provide a heading for people to ask questions about outfitters and/or operators. It may also be the heading where people can air their grievances about an experience (with all the supporting documentation of course )

I posted this extract in the above sticky post "Reviews V's Reports" last week but it may be more relevant to generate discussion here.
Maybe the heading should be "Outfitter/PH/Client review"

 

[BRICKBURN]

I love reading the hunting reports as it reminds me of my last safari and rekindles the flame to go to Africa again. I was just looking at the hunting reports this morning and there appears to be a lot of people asking about outfitters/operations. I was wondering if it may be worth while starting a new Heading "Outfitter Review" or such? This would provide a heading for people to ask questions about outfitters and/or operators. It may also be the heading where people can air their grievances about an experience (with all the supporting documentation of course )
Just my thoughts this morning!

Interesting idea. I notice that NEW members tend to ask a general question as part of their "research": "Anyone know anything about...."

Not sure if J wants to build more "sections".

 

[jpr792]

A sincere THANK YOU to all who take the time to file a REPORT / REVIEW and sharing it with others.
THANK YOU to all who take the time to read the REPORTS / REVIEWS.

 

[crudeoildude]

being a member on here and being able to read the reviews and such is better than having a library across the street.I spend a huge amount of time reading the awesome reports please don't make them so complicated that members shy away from writeing them,grampa always told me that if it wasn't broke don't waste time trying to fix it.

 

[Rick Cox]

In regards to the Hunting Reports forum at http://www.africahunting.com/community/hunting-reports/.

I am sucker for a long read with plenty of pictures and after reading some comments on the now defunct Reviews section I was wondering what can be done to encourage those folks who don't really have time or are just not inclined to become literary wonders in this life time.

What should a simple review include?
Country
Dates
Type of Hunt (Plains Game, Big Game, Cull, Bird...)
Method of Hunting (Rifle, Bow, Handgun…)
Outfitter
PH
Agent
Locations Hunted
Species Hunted
Trophy Quality
Species Seen, Population and Quality of Game Observed
Lodging
Food
Activities
Travel Methods

High Points
Low Points
Things to Improve
Overall Rating
Would Recommend to a Friend?

(Just so everyone knows, J slipped in here and added to the list so you can blame him to. )

So now I've submitted a report I see this... I checked all the boxes except the last five. The bottom line is that I would unreservedly recommend hunting with Westfalen Safaris.

 

[sierraone]

Don't worry Rick. I assure that your report will be read by at least a few hundred members, maybe more!

 

[BRICKBURN]

So now I've submitted a report I see this... I checked all the boxes except the last five. The bottom line is that I would unreservedly recommend hunting with Westfalen Safaris.

I am certain that you covered everything that was needed.
Yours was a great report.

 

[MMAL]

I love the idea and the list but have a suggestion:

The search function in AH does not work well, I find that when searching for an outfitter or PH I get a number of hits unrelated to what I am looking for. For example, try searching for 3s safaris. So my suggestion is 1) what can we do to correct the search or conversely can we have the reports grouped by country/dangerous game vs plains game/ then outfitter and/or 2) The title of the posting should be in some standard format. ie Country - Outfitter. Thus making it easier to search for a specific outfitter or if searching for an outfitter in a certain country you can find the list with reviews. How cool would it be to look for a Zimb cape buffalo hunt by going to all the AH reviews/reports for ZIMB Dangerous Game Section and reading them grouped for each outfitter. I believe that this would take AH to the next level and would make the site a must visit when finding an outfitter.

My two cents, love the site either way. Thanks for the hard work Jerome, Brickburn and everyone else.