Mark, Phillip has it right. And you'll have difficulties to find a better place for DG than Zimbabwe at still reasonable prices.
Unfenced true wilderness with a special breed of Ph's- I consider them the best there are. Have hunted Zim about 15 times; last time 2008. No put and take PG or Lion; but of course not so many PG as in SA or Namibia- these Lion and Leopard, as well as Hyena, like their Dinner of Kudu, Impala& Zebra. And, of course, poaching is a big issue. CMS for example have the DAPU-Dande Anti Poaching Unit-; they do a great job.
So if you look for something different than SA - which I find a very good decision for hunters who want the real stuff instead of armed shopping - Zim is your place!
Absolutely. Zimbabwe is THE destination for wild, free range hunts in Africa. I'm sure there are more elite places to go like Tanzania or Uganda, but Zimbabwe is closer to Namibia/RSA prices and closer to Tanzania-style experiences.
A simple rule of thumb is that almost all areas of Zimbabwe *can* be excellent for hunting game with the exception of the Eastern Highlands. (not a common place for safaris)
The biggest issue with Zimbabwe is the poverty and geo-politics. Some wonderful areas of Zim have become trash by rape-pillage of resources by bushmeat poachers or multinational criminal syndicates of dangerous game poaching. Not just elephant, but also lion/leopard/other for the eastern medicine trade.
While there are very few ranches remaining in Zim that function as cattle fence or high fence setups, there still are a few. Most were lost when the whites had their farms seized in 2001 at which point every living thing was neglected or consumed rapidly inside of fenced areas.
I have hunted in areas that had game ranches of say 3000 acres where some plains game can be harvested, but they really serve for game viewing decoration around the main camp where much of the hunting, and all of the dangerous game hunting, takes place each day outside of the compound.
I've lost exact count, but I'm getting pretty close to ten safaris in Zimbabwe. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly on those journeys. Everything from glorious, unmolested lands with elephants walking around my tent stakes each evening all the way to national park safari areas that were completely poached out, snares everywhere, park rangers firing warning shots over the heads of poachers and their hounds.
Look for strong RECENT references of many factors when hunting in Zim. The PH. The Operator. AND the Concession. I've had good PHs take me to bad places. I've had mediocre PHs take me to amazing areas. Things change quickly in Zimbabwe's ecosystem and not all of it is good.