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Was talking today with coworker about African hunts, he seemed to think prices stated at $100k, I was pretty sure you could hunt plains game for something close to $10 to $20k
He's a serious hunter in our state, and has adult son that does hunting as a job, with some TV or youtube hunting channel.
Was just curious.
My former boss had been to Africa twice. She advised you can get some killer deals if you attend the Safari Club conventions. Many lodges will donate hunts for fund raisers. They rarely go for “retail” and some are straight up steals.
These deals will get you the plains herbivores but not the dangerous stuff.
I’ve been to RSA twice for plains game. The first time in 2005 I shot five animals with lodging , meals and airfare for around $5000 total
The second trip with my wife in 2009 cost us a bit over $10,000 and we each shot four. A friend has been to Namibia twice taking plains game along with a buffalo and elephant. He’s headed back next month for an eland culling hunt.
African hunting is more a business than anything else, the different outfitters sell their quota and finding the deals here in the USA is a matter of learning when and where to shop. Hunt shows are a great way to meet and actually talk with the guys who come over. The Accurate Reloading Forum is heavily African hunting leaning with deals offered and the guys there aren’t shy about heaping praise on the good guys and calling out problem outfitters/countries.
FWIW The year or so you spend learning to shop, shopping and preparing for an upcoming hunt are really as much a part of the thrill as pushing thru thornbush looking for game.
All depends upon the country, the outfitter, and the animals hunted. I have hunted Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe for plains and dangerous game.
I've hunted in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. In Namibia you can get a package deal with most outfits for about $7000 for 5 plains game. The real cost will be the air travel. It has gotten crazy expensive to get there. It is probably cheaper to hunt multiple African plains game in relative luxury than to pay for one grizzly bear hunt in AK. It's not that hard to set up a hunt that is relatively affordable to hunt and the actual planning and prepping part was one of most fun part. In 2009, I went on my first hunt in Zambia. Prior to that I had never gone big game hunting. Zero. Never killed anything with 4 legs. One day I said I wanted to try this before I got too old or busy. I went to Cabella's and bought two CZ 550s (one in 458 Lott and one in 375 H&H) and had them worked over by Robar. I read books and asked for references on outfitters. I practiced off shooting sticks. I took 12 animals including a SCI record book Kafue Lechwe. Okay, I might have gone overboard. I don't need to look at any videos or pictures because I remember every single second of that adventure. Please consider it before it is no longer possible.
Thanks for the responses.
As someone who grew up watching Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies and later reading Robert Ruark and Peter Capstick books an African safari seems like a hell of an adventure!
I spent at least an hour after a range session watching a guy sight in and practicing with a doubles rifle. Mildly fun and exciting for me just watching but hearing the BOOM and watching the shooter absorb the recoil I'm guessing he wasnt having as much fun a I was.