Cape Buffalo

sosignal32

New member
Just dreamin' I don't have 30,000.00 burning a hole in my pocket right now. But I was wondering if anyone had ever been? What gun did you take? Oh yeah, how much did you pay in total?
 
not costing that much know for one as long as you stay out of south africa.i have heard prices as low as 6000.00 american for 2.you would probably want to look at botswana, they have a good population of buffs, zimbabwa is way to f ed up to even think about hunting right now.as for gun i wouldn't use anything less than a 375,but if it was up to me i would be taking a nitro double.if you ever need any info on hunting africa let me know and i will get you in contact with some guys over there. i went 2 years back and hunted south africa and took a 58 1/2 kudu, it was amazing. have you ever gone over? i am planning a trip and am taking a group of guys over in 2004, if you think you could save up the 4800.00 for the plains game you would be more than welcome to join us. my dad went this last year( his 9th time) and took a group of 11 hunters and a bunch of none hunters and they ended up taking 110 animals in 10 days. in 2004 me and my wife will be hunting in the southern part of south africa first with an outfitter that we know then we will be heading north and hunting with another outfitter that we know and i will be doing some archery stuff up north too.all i can say too you about africa is " if you have the dream of going do it!!!!!!!" good luck.
andy
 
Andy, you're the type of man I need to talk to. I've just begun investigating so if I seem a little ignorant, I am. See, I've heard that yes, you can go hunting for 4,000.00 BUT you have taxes, shipping, food, shots, pay off the local gov't, etc. Sort of "hidden costs." No, I've never been but I've just read WHITE HUNTERS by Herne and I've decided I need to go before I die. Any web sites, information, or advice is appreciated. ~R
 
try looking at john x safaris

http://www.johnxsafaris.co.za/

my dad has been going their for years and him and rick are alot of fun to be with.this is the place that dad took the big group too.as far as hidden expences: 1600.00-1800.00 airfare, shots nothing you don't need any malaleria shots in these providensase. dipping and packing we try and have a group go so we can share this cost about 1500.00, tips clothes for the blacks and cigaretts,cash for your professional hunter 300-400.00, 500.00 for gifts.then you have the taxidermy bill!!!!my dads favorite part!!!rick usually comes in the spring too book hunts with the guys over here. if you want more info let me know and i will give you my email address and then i could send you some stuff.the best part about going over their is the fact that our money is worth 1 american dollar is worth 11 rands. the food and accomidations are specatular!!! are you married? if so take your wife she would love it.down at rick's there is a town of stuff to see, addia national park( they have elephants there) and up at the other outfitter place they are only 1 hour away from krugar national park. ricks place has rhinoes on it (whites)if you want to get ahold of rick and ask any questions let him know that paul thomas sent you. or like i said before come with us.
 
I have been looking for the last couple of years about going after cape buffalo and I found that Zimbabwe has some of the best prices for a 10 to 12 day hunt. Because of the good road systems I planned on hitting the mopane bush for 5 to 7 day for buffalo and then the ranch county for kudu and sable. The rough cost including shipping trophies back to the US would run about $12,000. Now the political situation in Zimbabwe has put some shortfall in gasoline and they are suffering some food shortages also. One nice thing about Zimbabwe is the CAMPFIRE program where part of the trophy fees paid by the sportsman goes to the local community. This makes wildlife a valuable commodity. Some of the fees have paid for well, schools and crop protection.

The next best affordable buffalo was Zambia but there has been trouble with on again/ off again hunting seasons. South Africa has buffalo but are privately owned so they fetch a premium price.

Tanzania requires a minimum stay and travel cost are fairly high. The best thing about Tanzania is that you can get 2 buffalo on you licence.

A good book for reading about hunting all of Africa is Where Lions Roar by Craig Boddinton.

I have purchased a .375 H& H and am still researching the best bullets to use. I am leading to the Barnes X but have been hearing that softs should be used for the first shot. The best thing to do is go to the sportsman shows and start asking African Proffesional hunters what question you should ask about hunting africa.

I plan on doing a trip as soon as I sell one of my rental houses.
 
sosignal32,
I do not compete with the Big Five outfitters, but you might want to check my site out if you are interested in basic plains game at affordable prices, without sacrificing quality of service.
www.affordableafricanhunting.com
You might have seen my banner ad on this board, it is called "African Varmint Safaris".
Andy,
Congrats with that 58.5 incher, and consider yourself fortunate to hunt so frequently in a foreign country. I took all my saving out last year to hunt coyotes in Az with the boys of this board, and found it an unforgettable experience!
Lochi.
 
Lochi, I saw you in the Trapper Predator Caller magazine a fews months back. (I truly LOVED your camo.) In fact it was you who mentioned Cape Buffalo hunting in the article and sort of got me interested. You may be hearing from me soon. Thank you for the info.
 
Lochi, one more question. Is it possible to sit out on the African plains and predator call without endangering you life with a pride of lions running (or other large animals) in like coyotes? Excuse my ingnorance on the subject.
 
In Boddington' book he mentions in passing of taking a leopard using a predator call, he did not mention much of the hunt only it was "not the proper way of taking a leopard". I plan on taking a couple of calls along to take some up close and personal photographs of predators (with in the safe confines of the Land Rover). It would be intersting to hunt some of the smaller cats using a predator call or bringing in a jackle.
 
Thanks for the interest guys.
Yes, that camo gear is very special to me. I bought a good quality "overall" with lots of pockets some ten years back and fitted it out myself with kneepads and strings to attach twigs, then painted it camo. It was meant to be for handgun and bow stuff, but I ended up using that gear on almost all hunting trips. I also made a hat with vent hole (air conditioning!), built-in fly screen and fold-away neck flap. Its nice to have one's gear customised to one's personal needs.
In South Africa most land is commercially owned, so lions are only found in game parks and up-market "canned" ranches for that purpose. Leopards go where they like and are very cunning survivors. They can theoretically be found anywhere, but practically mostly Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces. Becoming a major problem lately on game ranches (and cheetah too). I only once called in a leopard by accident. It was very dark and I was alone with my 222Rem, electronically calling for jackal and caracal, when I saw the big eyes glowing 15 yards away in dense bush. It left when I switched off the rabbit distress and coughed (at least it sounded like a cough to me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ).

My old, original web site is informative only (no business motive) and is packed with goodies on predator calling etc. which you guys might enjoy. Check it out.

www.affordableafricanhunting.co.za

Got to go now. Leaving for Cape Town tomorrow on a one week diving trip.
Have a great Christmas, see you on 30th.
Lochi.
 
lochi
man i love that place you call home.i have to say you are right that i have been fortunate to come over their and hunt. it has allways been a dream and my dad told me once if you have a dream of doing something then do it.it just amazes me about the leopard thing in your country. i hunted north of pietersburg, the ranch that i got the kudu on was taken from the rancher this last year,and will probably be shot out and everything burned out. i feel extremely bad for them. how do you do with caricols? my dad and brother got ones this last year using hounds and shotguns. i thought about taking my caller with me in 2004 and seeing what we could do. maybe we could hook up when i come over, nothing better than a cold beer or a glass of south african wine.hope it isn't to hot over their, because we are freezing over here.
andy
 
Andy,
Ask your dad to organise 2 more days for "decompression" in Johannesburg after your arrival but before hitting the safari. You could then stay over at my place and we do night calling within half-hour from my home.

Whichever way, be sure to take hand callers on your safari. Even mornings and afternoons are fine, doesn't have to be dark. I can cut you a CD with jackal howls which you can play from a car's CD player inside camp, and they answer you promptly from 100 yards away! This makes for great fun in camp!
 
lochi, hey thanks alot.dads coming over this year and bringing 11 guys with him, i will be comeing over in 2004 and we will probably have that many guys or more. he shot a big carocal cat this last year and had it on video. i wouldn't mind knocking one of those cats down. when i make my arrangments to come over i will try tossing in a couple extra days so i can meet you. it's kinda funny how many people we know from south africa.if you are ever over in the states let me know and i will try and get some guys together for you to talk too. hope it's not too hot out and have a great christmas.
 
Outdoor Life had an article on African hunting trip packages in one of their 2002 issues. Good article.

Personally, I don't plan to ever go to Africa and hunt. One, the guides show you the animal to shoot and set up your shooting sticks for you (basically a pampered hunt). I like to make the calls when I hunt. Two, some of the best hunting in the world is right here in North America, and most of it is guide free, one on one with nature.

2 cents
 
Twenty-two Two Fifty,
I respect your views and agree with your sentiment. If you browse my .co.za site, you will see that my hunting preferences are the same, one-on-one in nature. When I go calling at night, I mostly do that alone too.
There are rigid laws in place in South Africa to protect foreign hunters agaist abuse by local outfitters, which is a good thing. Unfortunately that makes it more expensive, and consequently the visitor now wants a "guarantee". Hence all kinds of "plastic" hunting practices.

However, it does depend on your outfitter and PH, and what you ask for, of course. The case you saw might be a somewhat small sample to be representative of hunting practices in Africa.

If I had the money to travel to the USA to do all your game, I certainly would have. I think you live a a beautiful country.

Lochi.
 
22250, all i can say is you don't know until you try it. are there some pampered hunts, yes. but if you have the money you will get the same kinda hunt here in the usa too.we are extremely lucky to have the freedom to hunt like we do here in the usa but the fact is that for the price of a brown bear, you can go to africa and shoot not just one animal but a couple. some peoples dreams take them to places that other would never even think of.it's kinda of funny how everyone dreams of hunting something different. my wife just wants to go and shoot a big moose, where i just would love to get my hands on some big cats( i will kill little cats too, god i hate cats) i had a friend and all he wanted to do was shoot bears, and man did he. he could walk into the woods and a bear would find him. i do beleive that my dad mounted 15 grizzly's and 4 brown bear and a bunch of black bears for him. he passed away in a hunting camp in arizona after he had taken the biggest black bear of his life, his son was their with him and had gotten his bear the day before, great guy, and he was the guy that got my dad to go to africa for the first time, and i thank him every day for it. good hunting to you
 
Sosignal32;
I see you live in Texas, I,ve been in touch with fella that lives there too, he books and guides hunts all over! Real nice guy, I know Texas is a big state and you may not live close by each other but at least he's in the same state! Here's how to get in touch with him, tell him [Dan aka Marsh Mule] sent you.

Greg Rodriguez, President
> Mombasa Trading Company
> 10707 Corporate Dr. #126
> Stafford, TX 77477
> 281-494-4151
> www.mbogo.net
>
 
I was at the Portland Oregon Sportsman show this last weekend and there are some good deals on buffalo hunts. One package had a 10 day 1x1 buffalo hunt for 7200 including tropy fee. With a flight costing $1,400 it puts the package at less than 10K. If you want more information I can get you the name of the hunting consultant.
 


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