Trophy fee charged for animals shot for bait

[steve white]

As Capstick pointed out in one of his books, and BY MY EXPERIENCE, Namibia can be a can of worms for leopard hunting, in that the meat of animals belongs legally to the farm. They don't even have to feed you any of it if they don't want to. (and they are GOING to sell most of it on the market) You can shoot an animal, pay the trophy fee AND STILL GET NOT MEAT for baiting leopard. I did'nt get any bait from a kudu, hartebeest, or oryx I shot and paid for. Grrrr. There will also be an extra charge for "baiting" in advance, but what do you get for the dollars? In my case nothing but some dried up daissies left hanging from a previous baiting/hunt. You can shoot your own daissies and also a baboon if your'e lucky, which they will use for bait, but none of that will have been done in advance by that time, which means you are somewhat out of time to get a leopard feeding. Double grrrrr.
One can understand why I have a bad taste in my mouth about Namibia and leopard. This happened in far southern Namibia.

Generous hunters in Zimbabwe often give away meat from their trophies (mostly impala) for baiting: if it is permitted. I have done it myself. But that probably does not apply to buffalo in a CAMPFIRE area. The witch doctor has to get his hind quarter, for sure. Point of fact, I never got to taste any of my buffalo in Dande South because the meat went to the community. Now I know why other leopard hunters were so, so grateful for any bait provided. And yet we all know baiting is essential.

 

[Green Chile]

When I hunted leopard in Zim (2 years ago), I shot a lot of impala for bait...maybe a dozen. They were at a reduced rate as we were shooting ewes, cull rams, etc. One time we came across a nice ram and I shot it for bait but had it skinned for a mount. That animal was charged at the trophy rate even though it was both a trophy and a bait. I thought that was reasonable. We also shot a zebra for bait and I kept the rug so that was a different rate. There weren't many zebras in that area and I'm sure the quota was different than from impala.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

When I hunted leopard in Zim (2 years ago), I shot a lot of impala for bait...maybe a dozen. They were at a reduced rate as we were shooting ewes, cull rams, etc. One time we came across a nice ram and I shot it for bait but had it skinned for a mount. That animal was charged at the trophy rate even though it was both a trophy and a bait. I thought that was reasonable. We also shot a zebra for bait and I kept the rug so that was a different rate. There weren't many zebras in that area and I'm sure the quota was different than from impala.

Yes, that's reasonable. If the farmer sends me out to shoot something to feed staff and we run into a real trophy ram and I shoot it, he shouldn't be out a trophy animal fee for the next hunter to buy.

My third safari we went into the high country for a black wildebeest to replace the gold medal one from previous safari boiled to pieces by the taxidermist. The farm was owned by a lovely older couple. He was a real character ... and so was their gray parrot who had the run of the house. After we had a very fine bull wildebeest in the salt he asked me to go shoot a blesbuck for an upcoming wedding feast. There was a particularly fine old white ram that was not doing well. We couldn't connect on him though I had seen him earlier in the day when stalking wildebeest. So I took another very mediocre natural colored ram. When we settled up in the farmhouse over a very tasty lunch she made and a potent RSA beer he supplied, my PH tallied the ram up as trophy fee. How could I object? The property owner took quite a shine to me and wouldn't take a tip (but almost took offense when I wouldn't drink a shot of his moonshine ... which in jet lag condition would have put me face down in my drool!). Not quite the end of the story. On the long drive back to the lodge we stopped in a small town to meet up with my beloved former PH who was now managing another property. We pull back the tarp to show him the fruits of our efforts only to discover the blesbuck head was missing! PH was furious with the tracker. But the "boys" all were under the impression I culled the ram for wedding meat. Which was correct. Why would they save the head? No one bothered to tell them otherwise. I said screw it blesbuck trophy fee is just a bit more than peanuts anyway but PH insisted on returning for the head. I guess it would be a mess to explain back at the lodge. We got back to the farm just in time. One of the staff's wife was about to drop it in the pot! Made for an interesting day.

PS: Before we left the farmer gave us three dressed chickens to take back to the lodge. Those three chickens filled the cooler. They were monsters! The biggest one could have raped a turkey flat-footed.

 

[revturbo9967]

So when you pay for pre-baiting are they using the meat form animals previous hunters took, and you’re just paying for the time/effort to hang the baits?

Sometimes they can, sometimes they need to go out and get some bait. My leopard hunt in Zim is after a few buffalo hunts in the same camp, so there is a possibility baiting starts a little early. But I'm not counting on it. I find the bait hunting super exciting as its a hunt on its own. I was told to plan on 2-6 impala and 1 zebra for leopard bait. Im also hunting buff which will be very useful as well if i get one early on.

 

[revturbo9967]

It has nothing to do with the purpose of the animal. In wild areas whether the animal is killed for its trophy, for meat of the staff, as bait, or as a pest, or to please the chieftain from the next village, it still counts as a slot used from the limited number of available quota for the specific species in that region. Whether it was sick, trophy, or non trophy, that quota needs to be paid in full in wilderness areas.

In communal areas you may run into reduced trophy fees on non trophy animals. Where I hunted in Zim, a hippo for bait was 1k less than a trophy hippo as there were far less trophy hippo in that area.

 

[Doug3006]

As Capstick pointed out in one of his books, and BY MY EXPERIENCE, Namibia can be a can of worms for leopard hunting, in that the meat of animals belongs legally to the farm. They don't even have to feed you any of it if they don't want to. (and they are GOING to sell most of it on the market) You can shoot an animal, pay the trophy fee AND STILL GET NOT MEAT for baiting leopard. I did'nt get any bait from a kudu, hartebeest, or oryx I shot and paid for. Grrrr. There will also be an extra charge for "baiting" in advance, but what do you get for the dollars? In my case nothing but some dried up daissies left hanging from a previous baiting/hunt. You can shoot your own daissies and also a baboon if your'e lucky, which they will use for bait, but none of that will have been done in advance by that time, which means you are somewhat out of time to get a leopard feeding. Double grrrrr.
One can understand why I have a bad taste in my mouth about Namibia and leopard. This happened in far southern Namibia.

Generous hunters in Zimbabwe often give away meat from their trophies (mostly impala) for baiting: if it is permitted. I have done it myself. But that probably does not apply to buffalo in a CAMPFIRE area. The witch doctor has to get his hind quarter, for sure. Point of fact, I never got to taste any of my buffalo in Dande South because the meat went to the community. Now I know why other leopard hunters were so, so grateful for any bait provided. And yet we all know baiting is essential.

Hi Steve! Your experience with the meat of your trophies is not the experience I had. Not on three trips to Namibia. My outfitter/PH was more than accommodating. We ate the back straps from pretty much everything we shot. When he took me for leopard back in April, all of the meat that we harvested the first two days was put away for leopard bait. And we used most of it. I realize that the sale of game meat is part of their business model. But in my opinion, they shouldn’t begrudge you a meal or two from the animals you shoot. If it were me, I’d make sure that this was the agreement before signing a contract!

 

[Ridge Runner]

So when you pay for pre-baiting are they using the meat form animals previous hunters took, and you’re just paying for the time/effort to hang the baits?

Good question to ask your outfitter when vetting.