I went and did it

[Brian T]

I just signed up for my first trip to RSA for April of 06.  I plan to shoot a couple of wort hogs, an impala or two and a kudu.  I have a 30-06 and an Whitworth .375.  

I have recently considered buying one of the .325 WSM or re-barreling my Ruger #1 to 338-06.  Are the 30+ cals significantly more effective then the 30-06?

thanks,

Brian

[JJHACK]

Brian, just out of curiosity what did you find in RSA with the folks you chose that made the decision to book with them.  Did you see my website as advertised on this site?

[5Redman8]

JJ,

When I was looking, one of the things I found discouraging about your site was no price list.  Now, after reading your posts, I know more about you and your operation but before, I was concerned about hidden costs.  We here stories of inflated prices and hidden costs so I wanted to see all costs up front.  Looking at websites helped me narrow my search and then I emailed or called all safaris I had on my list for a true quote.

Several still said there may be $$$ here or there...this or that and ONLY 3 responded with....here is a total price of your safari...etc....etc....and a breakdown of exactly what was what.  Those 3 were my final 3.  They were definitely not the cheapest 3.

Anyway, just saw that you were interested in what made Brian choose, so I thought i would let you know where i made my choice.

Kyle

[JJHACK]

Yea, I guess that could be an issue I will have to consider. The problem is that posting prices on a website is like shopping for a new car and going by the sticker price.

With the exchange rate today I know several Outfitters who have cancelled hunters rather then tell the already booked hunters there would have to be a price increase to retain the booking. A few of the outfitters booked hunts with a 7.8 to 1 rate and last week it was down to 5.3 to 1. Nobody can stay in business with that situation!

When a fella is interested in a hunt and goes over the details on my site. He will typically Email me.  At least that is what is going one a few times a week now. At that point I explain the trophy fees and send the prices based on that days exchange rate. In one case I gave the group asking a killer deal based on the exchange rate at the time of the hunt. They felt it worth the risk so they will be paying by sliding scale for trophy fees based on the exchange rate at the time.

You can imagine what people would think if they saw trophy fees 25% higher then anyone else just so the outfitter could deal with the ups and downs of the exchange rates over a season. Nobody would book a hunt with prices that high. If they are posted on the site to be competitive that will likely be a loss if the rate drops like it has in the last 3 months. This is an ugly business right now. If the exchange rates stay as they are for another year, South Africa hunting will not be what it was two years ago. In the late 90's it was not unusual for a hunter with me to take 7-10 animals for 6500 bucks including ten full hunting days. Now it's more like 8 days and 4-5 animals for the same amount. If the exchange rate goes to 5:1 it will really hurt Americans hunting there expecting the hunts they had, or heard about in the 90's!

I doubt I will be able to post trophy fee prices on my site. I'm at the lowest end of the scale when it comes to cost so the exchange rate causes far too much problems for us. As far as hidden costs go there are none now and never will be. As an American myself and being on site as a PH I don't want to have any probelms with these things when my hunters are there. It's much more likely for a booking agent to do this when he is sitting in the safety of his office 10K miles away when his hunters are arguing with the outfitter about what they were told!

I'm on site and 100% fully accountable for what I tell every single hunter who is with me. You may not like what you hear when you ask me while looking for or booking a hunt. But it will be the truth with nothing hidden or surprising.  I would much prefer to lose a hunter at this stage then to have him really angry during the trip.

[Brian T]

Gary Reeder (gunsmith) is taking a group over, he has gone the last several times with some of his customers, it seemed like a good deal and going with someone who has been there and does most of the admin stuff seemed pretty good.

[5Redman8]

Understood JJ,

The exchange rate is discouraging.  But if I knew then what I know now.....you would have been tops for sure.  Also, any future consideration of hunting Africa will include you in the plans.  Being that wife and I are both teachers, getting the $$$ for another trip while maintaining our obligations here is DIFFICULT!!!!

I hope....and I do mean hope to hunt Africa again in the next 5-10years.  But heck, if my Poker career takes off, maybe it will be sooner...LOL.

Kyle