Anybody out there interested in South African hunting. I will be glad to try and answer some questions or whatever.

Our hunting season has just closed, and yours truely did not have a great one. Will have to do better last year.

We have no public hunting here - all land is either private or managed by Conservation Bodies (no hunting). Hunting on private land is usually pay hunting, but the prices for common game are not bad.

I can get Impala, Bushbuck, blesbuck and warthog for about the equivalent of 60 to 70 dollars for a top quality trophy.

Of course, once we go to Kudu or Nyala, the price jumps big time. These prices are payed to the land owner and are set by him. Vary a lot from place to place.

Do need state licences, but these are like 10 rand, which is like 2 dollars or so.

More info
Just ask
I would love to share the great hunting that we do have

Just for parting
Do you know that you can hunt fallow deer, and several of your American wild sheep on some ranches here - I have heard it said that, due to the exchange rate etc, that it can be cheaper for a hunter from the USA to hunt these sheep here than it is over there - sounds crazy to me
Cheers

Please do tell us some stories... would love to hear about your hunting, and especially how different rifles perform in the field.

It would be great to hear some of the details of hunting, and your hunts. I would very much like to hunt in Africa, but it won't be a reality for me for at least 5 years.

I'll third the above requests. Africa hunting is out of the relm of possibility for me now, but that doesn't mean I don't like hearing others talk about their hunts.

Rodders,
As things stand now, I'm hoping to be in your area in 2005. We are trying to schedule a hunt that will split our time between Namibia (for Kudu, Gemsbok, Eland, Warthog, Impala) with a hunt in the Natal region (for Nyala, Bushbuck, and Kudu). Still in the planning and budgeting stages of it, though, so we haven't signed any contracts. We are trying to book the Namibia portion for the last week in May and then get over to RSA the first week in June. Hoping to get a little over a week in each country. We are still trying to nail down the "unseen" costs. Shipping hides and horns back to the U.S., what the crating fees would be, any customs fees or Dept of Agriculture fees, etc...

Hi
I am not involved with professional hunting/outfitting directly, so I am not clued up on the hidden costs aspect of things.

If you are coming to Natal, think about a hunt in the Umkomaas valley - Great Kudu, Bushbuck and Nyala Country - I'll post a picture of my Dad with 16 and 16.5 inch Bushbuck horns - (Rowland Wards min to qualify is 15).
Unfortunately for me, I don't have the contacts/friends that he has, as both of these were shot free on invitation hunts - the same farm has produced Kudu in the 52 to 58 inch class.

As I said, I have no personal involvement and do not stand to gain anything by you hunting this area (15 minutes from my backdoor), but it is a great piece of Africa.
Other species commonly available will be warthog, Impala (some huge ones), Southern Reedbuck, Grey Duiker (easy to shoot, unless you actually set out to hunt one - they all disapear).

What rifles will you be bringing - Namibia and bush country will certainly require very different set ups, although a 30-06 with a variety of bullett weights will do the trick - Gemsbok shots in Namibia will generally be long 250 - 300 metres (flat and fast), while Nyala and bushbuck will often be shot at close range in thick stuff - say under 100m (heavy and slow).

I presume the warthog and Impala will be up North in Namibia, as south and central is not their country at all. Gemsbok on the plains and Kudu in the Mountains is what I picture when I think of Namibia - by the way, you can't hunt Namibia without taking a Springbok.

I am glad to hear there is interest in African hunting, especially South Africa - you are all welcome (we need your dollars :D ).

I will try to answer any questions, and will write about some stuff as soon as I can.
Cheers

Rodders,
Those sound like some outstanding animals. The rifles I was thinking of bringing are a couple of tried and true rifles that I use here in Alaska, and while not ideally suited for Africa, I think they should suffice. For Kudu, Gemsbok, Eland, and other animals of Kudu size, I was going to bring a Ruger No. 1 in 338 Win Mag. The rifle is topped with a Leupold Vari-X III in 2.5-8x. I've been shooting 230 grain FailSafe loads for moose and 225 Sierra GameKings for sheep out of this rifle. Was going to work up some loads using the 240 grain North Fork to see how they shoot. A 300 meter shot with any of these loads is a definite possibility. With the max Point Blank zero, I get about a 6" drop at 300 yards shooting the 230 grain Failsafes. The 225's shoot a little flatter, but not much. For Natal, in the riverine habitat I had planned to bring another No.1 (short and handy RSI version) in 7x57 Mauser. Still working up loads for heavier bullets, though the Brenneke 160 grain TIG's shoot fairly well. The rifle is scoped with a Leupold Vari-X III in 1.75-6x.

If it doesn't break the bank (and if I'm incredibly lucky) I haven't decided where I should have the taxidermy done. I've heard that Deon Cilliers is fine taxidermist and may be a little less expensive overall than having them dipped, packed, then shipped to the U.S. for taxidermy work.

Any recommendations?

Rifles sound excellent - except if you take my advice and insist on a springbok in Namibia - of course, if your range estimation is good, then you can allow for bullett drop, but if not, then that 300 metre springbok might just be missed low.

I must admit, I do not know the 338 well, but never fear. I will pull up the relevant addition of Man Magnum (the local gun Mag - if anyone is interested in South African hunting then you should think about subscribing to this) and read up a bit. I

The 7x57 is a popular hunting rifle here, although seldom in a Ruger number 1. Usually in a Mauser magazine rifle. The scope sounds custom made - I would keep it on the lowest setting for general carry - somtimes the old nKonka (thats Zulu for Bushbuck ram" pops up at 25 metres, and its **** finding him in all that bush, even with a 4X. The beaut of your scope is that, when he appears across the gorge at 200m you are just a dial away from bringing him in range.

I am not too clued up on local taxidermists - cannot afford them, but there is an excellent taxidermist in Howick in the KZN Midlands, should you choose to hunt here. Details can be obtained should you be interested.

I thought I would attach that pic i talked about, just to keep the enthusiasm up

Cheers

Rodders,
Those are some nice bushbuck horns. I'm really chomping at the bit to get over there.

Ever noticed that no matter how good you are at estimating range on your home turf, when you get somewhere that is unfamiliar to you your estimation skills are not quite as good? Mine are like that anyway. I'm hoping if the shot gets to 300+ yards, the PH will be helping me confirm the distance. I will be practicing and really concentrating on improving my long range shooting throughout the next couple of years, in addition to my normal hunting situation practice.

I'd love to take a Springbok, especially a white one. Steenbok are fine looking animals too, but when the daily rates and trophy fees start adding up, I start running out of wallet pretty quick. I'd love to hunt Waterbuck in South Africa also, but we'll see how it goes. Right now I think I'm just going to concentrate on the 3 priority animals in Namibia and the 3 in South Africa. Everything else will be a bonus and if the bank account allows.

Right now I subscribe to African Hunter (Don Heath's magazine). Its okay, mostly on hunting in Zimbabwe, but there is usually an article or two from Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Ethiopia and other places. With shipping costing as much as it does, its pretty expensive to subscribe to some of those magazines. I've heard from a lot of folks that Man Magnum is very good. I'll give it a try when this subscription runs out.

I'd certainly be interested in any information, especially good photos of work done by the taxidermists in South Africa, if its not too much trouble.

Thanks

Hi, reading through this thread and decided to add my two cents. Went hunting is S.A. last July. Easiest hunting I ever did. Went with "Eulalie Hunting Safaris" in the Limpopo Province. Had a great time. Nice to have a real bed to sleep in at night. Hope to go for a Springbok in Namibia next time.

My taxidermists are "Transafrican". Their web site is at: www.transafrican.com They seem to do good work. It takes a while to get the trophies into the U.S. however. I expect mine here sometime next year.

I took two rifles, one for long distance shooting (7mm Remington Ultra mag) and another for thick brush up close shots (8mm Mauser). The 7mm got the most use. Usually when we jumped something in the brush, we worked it toward the road and waited for it there. Average distance was about 90 yards for most shots. The longest was 190 yards for the Gemsbuck and shortest was 50 yards for the Warthog.

Dress in layers, as the mornings are chilly but it warms up fast during the day. Good light boots are needed for walking in sandy soil that contain very long thorns that have fallen off the brushs. Take about 6 good knifes for use as gratuity for the trackers and skinners. They like that.

Nice Kudu. I can't wait to get over there.

Hi All,

Here is a good Nyala that you can dream about getting here in Zululand (KwaZulu Natal) taken this year. It measured 30.5 inches.