Good article on tipping, helps newbies a lot. That said, wage for most South African staff working on a Safari is 150 Rand per day, or just over $10 U.S. This is also the wage most workers in lesser jobs earn in S.A. so Safari workers are not underpaid by local standards.
Most day rates on Plains Game hunts run from $400 to 500 U.S. dollars a day. That will easily pay the PH a very good income, cover vehicle, gas , food, drink and the full salary of 20 staff. A 1/1 or 2/1 hunts based out of camps usually have one maid/laundry person, a couple of Skinners, one tracker/driver and a cook. So at most maybe 5-8 people besides the PH. From what I learned talking to the various farm owners and PHs, the trophy fees have 70- 100% markup from cost so the more animals you shoot the happier the Outfitter is. All in, between day fees and trophy fees, the PH and outfitter are making a decent to good living.
To be tipping the workers 50-100% of their base salary, and the PH in the ball park of 50% of his base salary is excessive in my opinion. Wages are much lower in South Africa and so is the cost of living. Imposing North American wage levels and cost structures on South African workers does not seem productive to me.
If the workers need to be paid more, raise the day rate and pay them better. It should not be up to me as the client to create equitable pay and treatment in someone else's work force. The tip I leave should be strictly for EXCEPTIONAL effort and attitude, not a way to level out low pay!
@Dean2, I won't argue with much of what you say; I too agree that hunters should not be expected to "level out" low pay.
I do think, though, your comments of a "very good income" for the PH and "the PH and outfitter make a decent to good living" bear a bit more examination.
Let's take the lower end of your range of day rate (because I think it's more generally representative). So start at $400/day (some advertise free day rate!). The booking agent will generally take 15% of that, so $60/day. We are down to $360. The PH will generally (and there are lots of exceptions to this) be paid around $100/day, and for that he is expected to supply his own vehicle. That takes the outfitter down to $260/day. Out of that amount, the outfitter has to pay his staff - which will generally include a cook (the best paid), laundry/cleaning, a pair of skinners, likely two trackers or one tracker and a driver and assorted others. Let's take 8 people, as you suggest (and note, this is camp people - it does not include the workers who actually maintain the hunting area, although there is likely some overlap where there is no hunting). If we take your $10/day as the average (and that is low for cooks certainly), we get to $80/day for staff, most or all of whom will be paid whether or not there is a hunter in camp. We are now down to $160/day for the outfitter, out of which he has to pay both his variable costs (food, liquor, fuel (including for vehicles, the camp, to run pumps keeping water holes full, etc.), electricity, internet, benefits for staff (health care often, uniforms, food) etc.) as well as his fixed costs - the maintenance of the camp and property, as well as the depreciation on the fixed assets, including the cost of the camp. He also may have to pay debt service costs on the land. In drought years (and there have been many recently in South Africa) he may have to pay for supplemental feed for the game as well as vet bills for some of the more valuable game). I'm sure others can point out costs I have missed. Note that in this analysis I've assumed that by "outfitter" you mean the person who owns the land and runs the camp - things are quite different if that is not the case, as it often isn't in South Africa.
Overall, unless the hunter is shooting lots of game, which the outfitter has raised himself, there may not be much profit in this for the outfitter. Those best able to deal with this situation are those whose land is already paid for, but this implies they are not entitled to a return on that land.
As for the PH, hunting is a pretty inconsistent type of business for most of them. First, it's pretty much a June-September kind of thing, but even if you add a month either side, you're looking at a 6 month/year job. If the PH works every day of that time, which is highly unlikely, he will make $18,000, out of which he will pay for his vehicle and his fuel to and from camp. He might get his food paid for, but the liquor he drinks to accompany the hunter at night will likely be charged back to him, and he likely has to maintain a home for his family. He likely has a job for the off-season, but its hard to keep a well-paying job when you're gone for half the year.
Now the other side of the equation. You point out that the cost of living in South Africa is low. Of course, there is no arguing with this if you are comparing North American living standards with those of rural blacks in South Africa. But if you are comparing the cost of living of North Americans to white South Africans, I suggest you will find enough puts and takes that while your statement may nevertheless still be true, it's not as big a gap as you might think. Vehicles, western-style homes, private school for the kids (almost essential), food that does not consist mostly of sadza, all have a price that may not be far off North American prices and in some cases (especially vehicles, and fuel) may exceed North American prices (if only because of heavy government taxation).
Overall, I'd be surprised if many South African outfitters or professional hunters are making a good living from the hunting business. It might have been good at times - when roan and sable were very expensive for example (but only if the outfitter wasn't buying them), but it's about as boom and bust a business as agriculture is in North America. Most do it because they love it, not because they make a great living at it. In both places.
None of this is to suggest that hunters should be making up for a bad business model, so to that extent we are on the same page. I just think that hunters should treat those who help with their hunts "fairly."
But yes and yes. I have recently returned from Spain where I took a superb boar and Gredos Ibex. There, I was accompanied by my outfitter's rep and two "game keepers" from the respective area we hunted. For ibex we were accompanied by two park service employees. For wild boar we hunted a private ranch, and were accompanied by two game keepers in the employ of the lease holder. Neither the park service employees nor the two lease holder employees are getting rich - particularly with Spain's economy. My outfitter had suggested that 150 Euro (170 USD) a piece was about right per day totaling a 300 Euro tip each day. That is three times more a day than I would tip on a typical 10-day PG hunt, but then again, total hunt costs were about the same and we hunted (very successfully) only two days. Thus, total tips against the hunt investment were actually a bit less than an equivalent African hunt investment. (I should note, those of you who do any big game fishing also tip against total charter cost regardless of the length of the charter). I also tipped the young man who represented the outfitter and accompanied us on the hunt. He acted as hunt manager/ coordinator and tour guide/driver for the day we did not hunt (we were successful on the second day of the hunt and did not need day three).
