By Jerry Long, March 29, 2010     

In this second post of a two part series I discuss costs associated with hunting in the Republic of South Africa. 

As mentioned in dv Goes to Africa – Expenses Part I a lot of the below information was discussed in WWAC – What Would Africa CostSafari Options and listed on the Safari Options spreadsheet, but I’m going to repeat some of the key information and expound on it a little more here.   

Daily & Trophy Fees – Daily fees typically cover things like food and lodging, daily transport to, from and around concessions, the services of a Professional Hunter, trackers, tracking dogs, trophy handling, etc.  Decisions have to be made as to whether you wish to be guided 1 x 1 or 1 x 2 or some other arrangement.  Obviously, 1 hunter to 1 PH is more costly than 1 x 2.  Trophy fees, charged for a shot and recovered or wounded and not recovered animal vary by animal, trophy quality and population.  For someone who is looking for the Africa experience at minimum cost there are cull hunts to be considered – the harvesting of animals not of trophy quality (one-horned, mangle-horned) or non-horned females for herd management purposes.  These things should be discussed and settled upon with your outfitter.      

Many bowhunters who have been to Africa before caution against package hunts, i.e., hunts with a specifically named group of animals and/or airline flights included.  There can be a couple of problems with animal packages.  A hunter may not encounter a particular animal or she may encounter an animal she wishes to take instead.  Refund and exchange policies, if any, then come into play.  Refunds or exchanges may only be at a portion of the original trophy’s cost.  Oddly, many animal packages I priced out offered no cost benefit.  Additionally, from personal experience, I cannot recommend a package with airline fees included.  You may be able to obtain flights more affordable or with conditions (baggage costs) suitable to you, on an airline of your choice and straight through travel on one carrier (versus multiple carriers who may increase your chance of lost luggage) than what the outfitter can include in such a package.  Again, explore your options.    

Value Added Tax (VAT) – At the time of this writing I believe VAT for South Africa is 12.25%.  Much of your adventure, especially trophy fees, should not be taxable if you are bringing the trophy back with you to the U.S.  However, I have heard about outfitters charging or attempting to charge hunters VAT on trophies, daily fees and other services.  Talk to your outfitter about what he applies VAT to before (italics) you book.  It is my understanding that it is possible to recover all VAT paid before you depart RSA, but that it usually costs more in time and trouble than what you recover.   

Tips – Tips for guides and outfitters is a highly charged, much debated subject.  Here is a link to an excellent article written by Professional Hunter (PH) Jerome Philippe, founder of AfricaHunting.com, with comments from hunters regarding tipping.  From personal experience I can tell you that you can ask your friends, on-line communities, yourself, Super Slam archers, your guide, your outfitter and probably Larry King and Oprah Winfrey and still not know what to do.  Additionally, even after making up your mind, exact hunt circumstances may change your decision or the amount of your decision – like service above and beyond (or below) anything you dreamed or an animal you wounded attacking the outfitter or the miraculous recovery of a marginally hit animal. As you can see I have budgeted for tips on the planning spreadsheet, but reserve the right to alter the amount as I see fit.    

Trophies (in general) – The total cost of preserving trophies can exceed the actual cost of your trip.  Photographs are and always have been a far greater memory of an adventure for me than a trophy, see Photographing Your Hunting Trophies and Preserving Bowhunting Memories.  Although I very much love bowhunting I’ve never been much of a trophy collector and Mrs. dustyvarmint is not much of a fan either.  I’d honestly rather use the funds for taking Mrs. dustyvarmint, Lexus and Maggie on a trip or for more hunting.  That makes this an area for cost cutting.  I only plan to have one animal fully mounted (hopefully that is a gemsbok) so I’ll be bringing back the cape of only that one.  The remaining animals’ horns (or tusks) and skulls will be brought back for European mounting on plaques that will be arranged on the tanned back skin of one other animal – likely a kudu (if I’m lucky enough).  How much cost in trophies you wish to incur is a personal decision you must make.  To significantly reduce costs one might choose an all cull hunt, as discussed before, or simply not bringing trophies back (which may subject them to VAT, but likely at a cost less than that of preserving them).       

Trophy Dip & Pack and Shipping – Trophies shipped from Africa must be “Dipped & Packed” in order to clear import by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).  Swine and primates also require United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) clearance.   Since trophies cannot be brought back as part of your baggage they must be shipped.  When talking to prospective outfitters see if you can contact the Dip & Pack as well as the Shipping or Cargo companies they work with to get a written estimate of your “wish list” animals.  Whether or not you can contact them and whether or not you trust them may have an effect on the outfitter you settle upon.  I was able to get in touch with both the Dip & Pack company, Swift Dip, and the Shipping company, Safari Cargo Systems, to obtain written estimates of my wish list.  Dip and pack for the trophies on my wish list; gemsbok (cape, skull horns), wildebeest (skull, horns), blesbok (skull, horns), wart hog (skull, tusks) and kudu (back skin, horns, skull); was estimated at $520 and shipping was estimated at $813.03.   

Trophy Shipment “Clearing” – As previously mentioned incoming trophy shipments to the U.S. must be cleared through the USFW and possibly the USDA.  There are several reputable companies such as Fauna and Flora and Coppersmith’s (these are examples, not endorsements) that can be utilized to handle this task.  This service may include temporary storage after arrival as well as transportation to your taxidermist.  Of course, these services cost money.  I’ve seen estimates in the $250-$500 range.  Another option, which I am pursuing, is clearing my own trophies.  This lower cost choice will be the subject of a future post.      

Taxidermy – Shop around for a taxidermist.  You’ll want to ask for referrals from friends and family.  If feasible, go visit prospects.  I actually had a list of four highly recommended taxidermists in Wisconsin and one in Illinois.  Three of the four in Wisconsin never returned my phone calls and the conversations were always very odd with the one in Illinois.  Keeping the taxidermy work local (relatively) helps reduce transportation costs.  I ended up settling with a shop in Wisconsin whose work is well-known and of high quality.  Additionally, the shop always answered or replied to my phone calls as well as my many questions.  Although opinions vary I’ve not heard much good said about getting mounts done in Africa although this is an option.  Once you’ve narrowed your search ask for price estimates for the animals you intend to have mounted.  Although I’d rather have a pedestal mount done it turned out to be beyond my budget, $1250, so I settled on a standard shoulder mount, $875.   

I’m sure there are other odds and ends I’ve forgotten or didn’t cover, but these two posts on expenses are the most inclusive and detailed information in one place than any other resource I’ve seen.  If you have expenses you believe should be included I’d sure like to hear from you and include them in a future post.    

happy hunting, dv 

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