South Africa

[Thomas1212]

Hello all,

I just got the invite to go on a hunt in South Africa in 2025. I want to prepare myself in whatever ways I can. I was hoping for some recommendations of podcasts, books, maybe even other forums. We are still hashing out the details with the outfitter and whatnot now, but I am excited to say the least.

For those that have been, what are you thoughts on taking your own rifle vs renting one. I really like the idea of bringing my own, but I am not entire sure how the rest of my party feels. In terms of taxidermy is it better to have them do it and ship or tan and ship over?

These are just a few questions I have right now, I'm sure more will pop up.

Thanks in advance

 

[Pablo]

Use the search feature or the menu and you can find a tremendous amount of info about everything you want to know. Have fun planning your trip!

 

[BSO Dave]

Hello all,

I just got the invite to go on a hunt in South Africa in 2025. I want to prepare myself in whatever ways I can. I was hoping for some recommendations of podcasts, books, maybe even other forums. We are still hashing out the details with the outfitter and whatnot now, but I am excited to say the least.

For those that have been, what are you thoughts on taking your own rifle vs renting one. I really like the idea of bringing my own, but I am not entire sure how the rest of my party feels. In terms of taxidermy is it better to have them do it and ship or tan and ship over?

These are just a few questions I have right now, I'm sure more will pop up.

Thanks in advance

@Thomas1212

Welcome to the AH.com Forum! As Pablo mentioned to you in his reply, the answers to your questions have been thoroughly discussed in these forums. Many are ongoing discussions that I'm sure you will find very helpful and informative. The search feature will get you started.

 

[sgt_zim]

Hello all,

I just got the invite to go on a hunt in South Africa in 2025. I want to prepare myself in whatever ways I can. I was hoping for some recommendations of podcasts, books, maybe even other forums. We are still hashing out the details with the outfitter and whatnot now, but I am excited to say the least.

For those that have been, what are you thoughts on taking your own rifle vs renting one. I really like the idea of bringing my own, but I am not entire sure how the rest of my party feels. In terms of taxidermy is it better to have them do it and ship or tan and ship over?

These are just a few questions I have right now, I'm sure more will pop up.

Thanks in advance

Full transparency - I absolutely despise UA and Delta. They have a history with SAPS and with hunters.

The missus and I just hunted Limpopo the back half of August, we just got back to Houston a week ago. My best friend flew UA through EWR. He and a number of other hunters arrived at JNB to discover their rifles were still sitting in EWR.

We flew Qatar Air through Doha, with an upgrade to econ+. It was about $2K cheaper than trying to do the same thing with UA or Delta (via ATL). We had about an extra 4-5 hours of air time with Qatar, saved a couple thousand USD, and I was able to use my own rifles (I'm a lefty, with cape buffalo on the menu).

Unless you're a handloader with your own pet loads, you will do just as well to rent a camp rifle, though. I have very custom loads for my 9.3x62 and my 6.5x55. if your regular white tail rifle is something like a 30'06, 308 Win, 270 Win, 7mm RM, and you're RH, you would be just as well off to rent a 30'06 or 300 WM from your outfitter. If you use Gracy Travel, bringing your own rifle is a piece of cake. It took me all of 5 minutes to clear SAPS when I got to JNB. Took me another 5 minutes to clear SAPS on my way out.

My rifles arrived with no issues. My friend ended up having to rent a camp rifle.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Every question you have will be answered in these forums:

Forum list

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www.africahunting.com

 

[mark-hunter]

For those that have been, what are you thoughts on taking your own rifle vs renting one

Many will say, go with rental rifle, no issue.
Me, on the other hand, will say the opposite.

There is no reason to doubt rental rifles. But what you dont know, is what kind of ammunition you will get. The bullet is missing link in entire planning on rental rifle.

I was on four safaris so far.
I have seen some woundings and game losses in the camp on big antelopes with cheap bullets on rental guns.

So, my strong recommendation is take your rifle, and your premium ammunition.

 

[mark-hunter]

In terms of taxidermy is it better to have them do it and ship or tan and ship over?

This is question on cost, and question on quality.

1. Cost. I do dip and pack, ship home and do taxidermy at home. In my calculation this is cheaper. (quite a lot cheaper, but I live in Europe, maybe it will not apply to you)

2. Quality. I cannot say if the African quality of taxidermy is better or not. There have been some complaints on African taxidermy on arrival - on this forum. Some clients here have been satisfied.

Safari full service - if you travel "with style":
There is always option, you want full package in logistics because its easier, regardless of cost, set up everything in Africa, make shoulder mounts, pay for everything, wait for delivery, nail them on the wall upon receipt.
This is hassle free - then do taxidermy locally - if that is the target. Otherwise after delivery of salted hides, you will need to look for taxidermists in your vicinity.

I think that overall, the biggest issue is cost planning on taxidermy, and shipping.
Safari budget planning is straight fwd affair (flights + package + extra cost and tips), until you come to taxidermy and shipping. (this is the biggest issue)

Then if you go with group of friends to safari, to make the list of taxidermy of what entire group wants will be difficult, and later people can change their mind.
For example, 4 hunters, 20 animals. To make the list of taxidermy and ask for price quote will be difficult.
On my first hunt, I did not know even what to ask? Will I have three shoulder mounts, or 4, will I take any rag? How to decide?

Then how can I ask for price quote? Price quote for taxidermy is then one thing, and price quote for shipping is another.

Good luck!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Easy on the acronyms. The fella is a newbie. Speak plain English.

 

[jimbo1972]

Hello all,

I just got the invite to go on a hunt in South Africa in 2025. I want to prepare myself in whatever ways I can. I was hoping for some recommendations of podcasts, books, maybe even other forums. We are still hashing out the details with the outfitter and whatnot now, but I am excited to say the least.

For those that have been, what are you thoughts on taking your own rifle vs renting one. I really like the idea of bringing my own, but I am not entire sure how the rest of my party feels. In terms of taxidermy is it better to have them do it and ship or tan and ship over?

These are just a few questions I have right now, I'm sure more will pop up.

Thanks in advance

I went to SA for the first time in July of this year. First you will have an incredible time. Assuming you have an outfitter/ph as good as I did you will be planning your second trip by day 3.
South African people are wonderful and welcoming. I strongly recommend taking your own rifle. Hire one of the many companies who offer VIP service to do the paperwork and meet you at the plane. Well worth the small fee. I used African Sky Guesthouse (Gilbert is the best) but I understand many others are good too.
A few tips. I used PWP travel out of Dallas Tx and Kasey was so helpful in answering my questions. I got caught in the mess when crowd strike problems happened and I called their 24 hour number and boom they booked me a night in City Lodge because of the flight delays. I know 2 other people who had to sleep in the airport because they couldn’t get a room.
I travel a lot but not 15 hour flights. My recommendation is get up early a few days before you leave and go to bed early to start getting used to the time difference. On the day you leave the flights are overnight flights. Get up really early. I live in the Eastern US so I got up at 1am and went to work like normal. When I got on the plane I ate my meal and slept hard for 4 hours. Then I made myself stay awake the rest of the flight. After landing I ate dinner and was tired enough to sleep all night. From then on I was on SA time. Plus drink tons of water before and on the flight.
Prep for hunt, get in shape. I hunted the mountains of the Eastern Cape and it tested my legs on several occasions. They can make adjustments but you will have a better time if you are in better shape. My understanding is some other areas of SA is less physical demanding but maybe not as beautiful.
Practice from standing shooting sticks. I tested 3 different types and for me the carbon stable sticks available on Amazon are the best. My PH liked them so much he offered to buy them. I ended up giving them on top of a cash tip.
One recommendation I strongly recommend is as your outfitter about the cost to film your hunt. It cost me $200 a day and the camera guy was not only extremely experienced but a really great guy. He filmed from the time I left my room to I went to bed. Best part it was no hassle. He would from time to time as my PH if he could film us driving up or off for B roll and would ask us what the plan was the day or hunt. After the hunt he would ask us to recap what happened.
Taxidermy. This is the most expensive part of my trip. I used a taxidermist owned by the outfitter. After meeting them I felt good with the quality of their work. Price wise it is cheaper to get done in SA but shipping is more so it’s a toss up. The good news is you will get your trophies on the wall quicker by having it done in SA.
Summary. Go have fun