The 2024 hunting/safari season has started. I am currently sitting in a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya on a stopover to the Karamoja region of Uganda (I know, I should be at the Stanley Hotel for pure nostalgia reasons, but the flight landed late and it’s not close to airport).
I left the house on Dec. 31st, flew to Kenya and it’s on to Uganda tomorrow. I start hunting on January 3rd. Very excited to be hunting the same ground as the famed “Karamoja Bell” - though I will not be hunting elephant (or Buffalo) on this trip. This is a scouting trip for 5 or 6 of the East African specific plains game.
It’s always exciting to hunt new areas and new species, with new people. I’m hunting with Abe Langley’s KOS Safari to see what he has going in Uganda. Bought this trip at DSC last year while Abe was laid up in England with a bout of malaria (started my prophylactics this morning).
I have a trip booked to Cameroon in March with Mayo Oldiri on a special license for some savanna species, and Namibia in June in an effort to take a Danamarra dik-dik, a Kalahari springbuck (I’ve taken all the others) and whatever else we can scrape up.
If I can get it worked out, might be able to do a Carpathian chamois in Romania in the fall - but still working on that one.
This year will be all new areas and new outfitters for me. Scouting trips really (except Romania - that’s to complete the chamois world slam). I love trip planning, and finding new areas and adventures. As much as I love Africa, and I do love Africa, i’m getting really interested in the hunting in eastern Europe as well. If you haven’t tried it, I would really recommend the Balkan countries for roe deer, red deer, fallow deer, chamois, mouflon, wolf and boar. Awesome hunting traditions in the hunting clubs and regions of eastern Europe.
Anyway, that’s what i have going on in 2024. Would love to hear about what everyone else is planning, be it a new area, first time trip to Africa, father/daughter whitetail in Ohio, whatever you got. If you are hunting in southern Africa you have a few months of planning/anticipation anyway, so let’s talk about it.
And Happy New Year!