Is Africa for the Rich Man?

[Diamond S]

Fair questions! I guess "permits" was the wrong word. Just additional fees most outfitters charge for different animals. Check the outfitters web sites, they usually have lists of costs for different animals. Fees for the glamour animals like sable run into thousands and thousands of dollars. Myself, I would be hard pressed to spend $10,000+ just to shoot some antelope and a wart hog. No question, I would LOVE to go hunt Africa, I just don't think "going cheap" like this would be worth it, if you call $10,000 cheap. But again, it's a personal decision.

Oh,ok. I see where you are coming from now. You are correct, there is a base fee for the hunt. That fee covers your lodging, food, drinks, PH fees, and other expenses. Then you get to the animals, it is kind of like anything else, everything has its price.

Some, like Adansonia Safaris will have your base fee that will include a "credit" toward animals. The thing about it is, it is more than just shooting a antelope ( to me anyway ) You get to travel half way around the world and back, you meet a lot of interesting people, make life long friends, see and do things that others only dream about. But I fully understand what you said about it being a "personal decision"

[Tejas Wildlife]

Go to the Dallas Safari Club Convention

Am I crazy for wanting to go to Africa when I don't make $250k a year? I make a decent living for my area, but we are not dragging in two six figure incomes by any means. I really want to go to Africa. Not like I am jumping on the plane tomorrow to take off, but I would like to plan one in the not crazy distant future. I have to get our house build finished first and get comfortable there but aside from that I don't have any major purchased in the near future. I have plenty of buddies buying buggies, boat, and other toys but I don't have any of those notes. It has crossed my mind to take a super low rate from my credit union and take a dream trip for my wife and I. I would just be paying it back like I had bought a toy for myself. Thoughts on this green screen?

You can talk face to face with over 50 Africa Outfitters/Professional Hunters in one day. It will be in Market Hall in Dallas the 2nd or 3rd weekend in January

[tdwinklr]

Cheaper to hunt those animals there then here I think.

Is what I was thinking.

[Codie]

Without crunching the numbers, and just going off of memory I would say about $8500.00 plus or minus. When you say shipping prep and airport transfer, what do you mean? If you mean dipping and documentation fees as well as a ride from the airport to the farm and back, then it is in the $8,500.00 range.

The hunt I have listed for $3,500.00 includes everything but.........

Airfare,Tips, souvenirs, dipping/crating and documentation fees, shipping, and taxidermy.

Tips...up to you.

Souvenirs...up to you.

Dipping and crating fees.. $110.00 /animal (dipping) $500.00 (crating and documentation fee)

Shipping, that is a guess, I would say somewhere between $500.00 to $800.00 depending on how you worked it out.

Airfare... could be $1,000.00 could be $2,200.00 It all depends on the market. This year I paid $1,100.00 in which the base fair was $690.00 but the taxes and fees bumped it up to $1,100.00. So to be honest, there is no way of knowing the exact cost for this reason. There is no way to know what the airfare will be at the time you book, or what the cost for shipping will be. But I can promise you this. The hunt is $3,500.00 with a $3,000.00 credit toward animals, the dipping and crating/documentation fees are set at $110.00/animal and $500.00 ( as of today) and I know the price list for the animals you stated. So as close as I can get you right now is $8,500.00 for what you are asking. Now as stated before, if you start wanting sable,($8,500.00) Cape Buffalo ( $16,500.00 ) or anything above and beyond what is offered, I can't give you a firm price until I know exactly what you want. and even then, I am still guessing on airfare and shipping 2 years out and I have no idea on the taxi work. So as others have stated, it is a doable hunt on a budget, it just takes a little planning and the ability to keep your finger off the trigger. I really think you would enjoy the trip, but be warned, once you go there is a 99% chance you will go back. Let me know if you have any other questions, I will be happy to discuss it with you.

Exactly as I have found everywhere ($10,000 once you include tips, spending
Money, passport, and other odds and ends). It is an expensive trip, but one that I am sure is well worth it once you have the extra funds to swing it

[Landrover]

This ain't that hard! )-;
I hope you find something that works for you. Dozens of great outfitters that will bend over backwards to make a dream trip.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Diamond S]

Exactly as I have found everywhere ($10,000 once you include tips, spending
Money, passport, and other odds and ends). It is an expensive trip, but one that I am sure is well worth it once you have the extra funds to swing it

Kind of like when you get on a deer lease, most will say something like I pay $3,000.00/year. But we all know that the $3,000.00 only gets you on the property. Most everyone take the rest of the cost as a "it is what it is type thing." ( food, gas,corn,feeders,blinds and all the other things that go along with it ) I would be willing to bet if you added it all up, the lease you pay $3,000.00 for is close to the same cost or more than a trip to Africa. Difference here in my eye is that I can take that same lease money ( 3K ) and put it away, during the year, I can buy corn and a new blind, a dozen new arrows 5 or 6 extra tanks of fuel and a few other odds and ends. Except I am not really buying that stuff, but I am putting that amount of money in to my Africa account. Do the same the next year, and you are there. May take a little extra, or you may have a little buffer by the time it is said and done. I am sure not many on here would be on a lease right now if you told them the lease cost was 8 to 10K up front, but spread it out over time and it is a doable thing. Anyway, just another way to look at it.

[TxAg]

Exactly as I have found everywhere ($10,000 once you include tips, spending
Money, passport, and other odds and ends). It is an expensive trip, but one that I am sure is well worth it once you have the extra funds to swing it

Yep. I went in ‘09.

The outfitter/guide/lodging etc. were all great but I’d rather have my $10k back. It was 10 days of sitting in a blind all day staring at water and troughs of feed. About like hunting a feeder in Texas.

I had a lot of fun but have no desire to go back.

[Diamond S]

Yep. I went in ‘09.

The outfitter/guide/lodging etc. were all great but I’d rather have my $10k back. It was 10 days of sitting in a blind all day staring at water and troughs of feed. About like hunting a feeder in Texas.

I had a lot of fun but have no desire to go back.

What all did you shoot? One other question, did they offer/you ask about spot and stalk? I did a spot and stalk for my bushbok and that was worth the entire trip. Saw tons of animals and nothing like inching along a river bottom and all of the sudden you spook a huge warthog that you never saw. It sounds like a herd of elephants busting thru the brush. It will also make you say dirty words and need some clean drawers.

[TxAg]

What all did you shoot? One other question, did they offer/you ask about spot and stalk? I did a spot and stalk for my bushbok and that was worth the entire trip. Saw tons of animals and nothing like inching along a river bottom and all of the sudden you spook a huge warthog that you never saw. It sounds like a herd of elephants busting thru the brush. It will also make you say dirty words and need some clean drawers.

Spot and Stalk would have been fun. By no means was it a bad trip. I’d just prefer to use that money for something else and forego the experience. It isn’t worth it for me to go back.

Kudu, baboon, impala, wildebeest, warthog, and gemsbok

[bphillips]

Exactly as I have found everywhere ($10,000 once you include tips, spending
Money, passport, and other odds and ends). It is an expensive trip, but one that I am sure is well worth it once you have the extra funds to swing it

Yea I think I spent $1k on tips (I had a big bill) and $100-$200 on souvenirs

[bphillips]

Spot and Stalk would have been fun. By no means was it a bad trip. I’d just prefer to use that money for something else and forego the experience. It isn’t worth it for me to go back.

Kudu, baboon, impala, wildebeest, warthog, and gemsbok

I agree on sitting the entire time but I still felt it was worth it, BUT next time Ill be on foot most of the time even if it means rifle hunting

[Codie]

Kind of like when you get on a deer lease, most will say something like I pay $3,000.00/year. But we all know that the $3,000.00 only gets you on the property. Most everyone take the rest of the cost as a "it is what it is type thing." ( food, gas,corn,feeders,blinds and all the other things that go along with it ) I would be willing to bet if you added it all up, the lease you pay $3,000.00 for is close to the same cost or more than a trip to Africa. Difference here in my eye is that I can take that same lease money ( 3K ) and put it away, during the year, I can buy corn and a new blind, a dozen new arrows 5 or 6 extra tanks of fuel and a few other odds and ends. Except I am not really buying that stuff, but I am putting that amount of money in to my Africa account. Do the same the next year, and you are there. May take a little extra, or you may have a little buffer by the time it is said and done. I am sure not many on here would be on a lease right now if you told them the lease cost was 8 to 10K up front, but spread it out over time and it is a doable thing. Anyway, just another way to look at it.

Yes Exactly the same thing - most folks leave out all the cost and then claim it is way cheaper than what it is. I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to about doing an Argentina Dove hunt that say they went on an auction hunt for $1,500. That is great but once you include airfare, tips, spending money, shotgun shells, and rent a shotgun you are not getting it done for less than $5k. Their reply “oh well yeah once you include all that it gets more expensive” - DUH! You can’t make a trip to Africa cheap, but if it is a priority to
You then there are plenty of ways to budget for it and make it happen.

[Adansonia]

This happened in August of this year for under 10K
A all in cost will be difficult, but I will give you the numbers from a hunt this past August.
Hunt $3,950.00
trophy fee: (animals shot over the credit) $1,080.00
dipping $330.00
Crating and documentation fee (split 3 ways ) $159.00
Airfare $1,100.00
Tips, gifts, etc. $400.00
total $7,019.00
subtract $450.00 for TBH special pricing and you are at $6,569.00

Shipping will be between 2 and $400.00 (split 3 ways)
Not sure what taxi plans are, but most likely just euros ( the way you receive them from africa) so all total under 7 grand.

He shot a kudu, impala, Gemsbok.

Could be a little more or less depending on airfare at the time.

[Mudslinger]

No where in the world can you sit or spot and stalk and see the number of animals or the different species of animals that I know of. The first year I went in 2008, I kept a log of the animals I saw. Over 10 days, 20 sits I saw a minimum of 15 animals and a maximum of 78 at the waterholes. the last morning I sat I saw 32 animals but within those 32 animals, I saw 8 different species of animals. You cannot see that any where in the work but in Africa. If there is such a place other than Africa, I have no idea where.
You can plan hunts for spot and stalk depending on the time of year you go, but we did kill my Nyala on a spot and stalk, missed a chance at a Black Wildebeest and shot my lioness on a spot and stalk. Adrenaline rush on all my sits and especially on the spot and stalk. the lioness was underneath a huge tree next to the trunk and growled at us the entire time we were trying to get a clear shot. My PH told me there was a 99% chance she was going to charge, but fortunately she did not and I was able to get a good shot on her. And you talk about when you get back home and pics are all you have, I have videos of my trips that I can enjoy, especially of the last 2 trips and the lioness hunt was put together like a movie!

[texansfan]

Just curious, which 4 animals would be on your list?

Lion
Elephant
Hippo
White Rhino