MUST BE FREE RANGE
High trophy quality animals sought in order:
-Kudu
-Nayala
-bushbuck
-oryx
-waterbuck
-impala or gazelle
-warthog
-open to others if of high end trophy quality
I would also like to hunt very different areas, either in one county, or split between 2-3 countries to experience the different terrain and hunting styles.
Ideal setup for me would be luxury tented lodgings
Any additional direction would be greatly appreciated.
Namibia, SA, Bots, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, others
Any suggestions??
Thanks in advance
Joseph Kerr
Joseph;
My wife and I hunted with Crusader in early April. I am confident Crusader can provide everything you are asking about.
From what I hear, avoid the full moon period of whatever month you go, especially for the plains game you are interested in. I think you are talking about a springtime hunt so it will depend on how much greenery is up by then.
Crusader takes pride in being all free range and they are careful to only do free range hunts... I have seen posts critical of the cattle/sheep/goat fences in some of the areas they hunt. But to me those posts are unreasonable. We did hunt one area where we must have passed through about 20 gates, all junky cattle gates, nothing much to them and I doubt they do a perfect job of keeping cattle in (and we got nothing there). But if you are imagining a real wilderness area where there are no fences of any kind, I don't think you will find it in RSA. Might even need to save up more money for charter flights and wilderness camps.
Crusader does have several areas and you would likely go to 2 or 3 of them for your list. We hunted the Baavians river area for most of our list.. On yours you could get cape kudu, , the Karoo, and the Cowie (jungle). They also have mountain areas and a Northern area good for Nyala and Southern Greater Kudu. That is near Durban so if you hunt with them I would suggest first flying into Durban (via Johannesburg) and hunting the Nyala and if you want Greater Kudu you must do that up there. The Cape Kudu is to me the better looking one, but the Greater has the bigger horns by far... Consider doing both. I would do the Umkamas (Durban) area for the Nyala and greater kudu first... Then you can decide later if you want a cape kudu or not... Or be flexible and only take one if you come across a real good one. They just added an area (I think this year) for Waterbuck and a couple other guys got some great ones while we were there.. It was offered but to us as well but we decided to forgo that for another trip. That was in the home area of the Baavians River. You would likely finish up there and fly out of Port Elizabeth.
If I was doing the hunt you are inquiring about with Crusader, I would request Mark as my PH... He is a Kudu fanatic. We asked for a shorter guy we could have some prayer of keeping up with but he can run up and down mountains all day if need be. If he is un-available, or you want a longer legged guy, I would ask for Tyson. I got to know Tyson in the evenings and soon had a great respect for him. I know he will work hard for his clients. If I went back with my younger (and taller) brother, I would suggest Tyson for him. These guys are a little older (probably late 30's/early 40's) than some of the guides but we wanted that experience. Mark also mentioned his friend Dave and said he is a gadget guy and has every new tool. These guys are part time PH's and have other business ventures so they may need to make phone calls mid day and at night. If you want a younger guy, they have them as well and we met Ryan and it was his client who got a great waterbuck. And I saw him mentioned on the board very positively. Andrew the owner is a very tall young man and does some guiding as well, but keep in mind an owner has many other responsibilities to tend to.
Crusader is established and offers what you are asking about. They do have an arrangement with a taxidermist but I would strongly suggest scheduling a visit to their shop before you commit.... And if you do, please check on our mounts for me! I'm sure we are the only "Bob and Ann". We did not visit and I am a little nervous.
I do think you may be able to get a little more done than you list for the $25,000, if you go alone and keep the taxidermy in check.
A safety note is to not leave the Joburg airport unless you have one of the reputable guest houses pick you up and return you in their car... I was warned to NOT take a taxi. We actually never left the airport but scheduled a connection right to PE.
One final thought, if you ever plan to do lion hunt, you might be able to work in a deal on a lioness "if" you were to book with more of a beginner outfitter.... For that I would contact Loodt at Tootabi as a starting point, but I'm sure there are others who would offer a deal. Loodt tells me he has both high fenced and free range available but not sure which animals are available where. Just mentioning this as it seems to be a consensus that there is a high probability of lion hunting being the next thing to be in danger of being closed and that 2015 may be the last year to hunt lion..... I would love to do a lion hunt in about 5-10 years... But will be trying to get that done soon.
Go with a cape kudu (vs. a Southern Greater) and perhaps a "skull in" rug on a lioness and I think you could get that all done for the money.
Let us know what you decide and have fun!
Bob
. Welcome to the forum Joseph
