Fair chase SA hunts?

[Nkawu]

As a South African, I feel I should chime in on a few things here. Last year I moved back after 6 years of living in the English Midlands. I got straight back into the hunting side of things SD Hunting Write up.
Firstly, over here there is a distinction between private and government hospitals. We have medical aid where we pay a monthly fee for basically free private medical treatment. An overseas tourist with travel insurance would get the same. As my British partner will tell you it blows the NHS out of the water; need an Xray - walk right in. Double lung transplant - have a seat. Nearly every small South African town has a private facility or is within reach of one.
On the hunting side, yes we are high fenced by law, but you must realize that in most cases the size of the properties are so large that you are likely to only see the wire when you enter and exit the gate. Even on the smaller farms the size of the enclosed area is often bigger than the natural home ranges of the game. Two-meter high game fences also only work on some animals. Warthogs for example burrow under and leopards and hyenas will use the same holes. Kudu and Eland can jump the fence and big stuff like rhino simply walk right through. We have some truly special areas like the privately-owned land surrounding the Kruger National Park where migratory game like elephants can come and go. These reserves offer limited hunting quotas to bolster conservation efforts.
Over the last 20 or 30 years in South Africa private game farming has proven that the model of hunting as a conservation tool actually works. The farm that I grew up on was 100% cattle when I was a kid. Now rare animals like rhino's and sable are a common sight and many other species have been brought back from the brink. Private farms championed disease-free buffalo which none of the national parks have.
Despite what is portrayed in the media there is a strong ethical hunting culture over here. Organisations like KZN Hunters champion walk and stalk hunting, and I know a few members that will only use open sights!
Please feel free to PM if you would like to have a chat or get any more info. I'm off hunting again next week to the Eastern Cape.

 

[starr shot]

Fairly is not an accurate description. Country is very close to being a failed state. I deal with it on a weekly basis and return annually for end of financial year meeting. If we did not still have the farm, I would have washed my hands of the country long ago. Difficult giving up on generations of blood sweat and beers.

Anyway, back to your thread.

Your not far wrong there.Just got back from a 3 week hunting trip,first visit after a 4 year wait and the country has certainly changed.Friends over there had there farm bought back from them by the government so it could be given back to the black natives he went back and visited it once broke his and his fathers heart so much that he can hardly talk about it.This was a farm that was 4 or 5 generations old.

 

[Koenig]

I’ve been to RSA once in 2018 - so a little dated now. Whilst fantastic, it is a country with wide-ranging challenges on most levels. The farms were pretty large where we were (near Grahamstown) and I never felt hemmed in or as if I was on a ‘canned hunt’. RSA is relatively cheap, so for circa £3k I’d try it if I were you making your requirements clear to your outfitter beforehand. You’ll likely find RSA the gateway drug to more remote hunting settings Nambia/Mozambique et el if you have the time and money.

 

[A Guy Out West]

My experience is based on one trip. I saw 2 kinds of fences, high fences and jackal fences. A jackal fence to me is a non issue, the animals can jump it anytime they like. A high fence could be a deal breaker depending on the habitat and size of the place. I hunted on one place that had high fences but the fences were in a state of disrepair. Many open spots in the fence where the wires had been broken. I didn’t feel guilty at all hunting that spot. It was in the Bedford area of the Eastern Cape.

 

[sikamalc]

Where ever you hunt in SA you will find fences. It was not so much the case when I did my safaris in the 1990's and into the early 2000. At that time you could still find unfenced areas, and I have been lucky enough to hunt Botswana before it was closed down, but this was 1990. Also Zimbabwe, fair chase.

However when you hunt SA there is certainly some fantastic fenced areas to hunt. But also some tiny areas, that flog these culling trips, which have no appeal to me at all. Some fenced areas are 50,000 to 80,000 hectares. These are about as fair chase as you could possibly wish to get and offer great deals and a multitude of game, with some great trophies. Others have low fences in them, which we would class as stock fencing. This is again not an issue. It wont keep game in, kudu and such like will clear a 6ft fence with little effort.

I would look to a company that has a good reputation, reasonable prices, and a good selection of game and an area of 30,000 hectares and upwards to hunt. Accommodation and service is usually second to none where ever you go as a rule, food, wines are top notch. I have always found the food and welcome always off the top shelf where ever I have been, including SA.

Daily rates have gone up, but I would expect to pay for a good class 7 to 10 day safari in SA a daily rate of between $400 and $600 a day all inclusive. However I have not been back to Africa for a while, so these prices may be out?
Yes you can get it cheaper, no doubt, but if you prefer culling on a small fenced area with travelling inbetween to various farms that's fine. but its not for me.

I have always used two PH's, and in fact Paul Stone I knew from when he first started back in 1987. Mark DeWhet is another great guy. If you want their details drop me a PM.

 

[Apthorpe]

In defence of even the "canned hunt + fat slob" end of the spectrum, even wherever we find it personally distasteful, those individuals are funding valuable conservation work and game species preservation which otherwise is not done.
I can't imagine any set of circumstances, other than self-defence, where I would want to shoot the carnivorous members of the "Big 5" or a rhino, let alone when set up in a too-easy manner, but it is very clear and well-proven that people who do want to do that are providing a lot of funding for conservation work which maintains and secures the future of entire ecosystems and enormous areas of land, along with good work opportunities, where the only alternative is that they get degraded and a far wider range of species loses their habitats.
The fact that people find something distasteful is not really a good reason for stopping it.

 

[Basil H]

A very good twitter thread on the conservation benefits of hunting for rhino from another Oxford conservationist : check Michael 't Sas-Rolfes twitter.
(That spelling is correct).

 

[shotguntom]

SA fair chase depends on what you want to hunt - warthog, duiker, etc will just go under and through fences, so they have no impact on their movement. Ive seen videos of Kudu jumping the big high fences, so again if they want to get out they can. Stock fencing may seem more fair chase but some animals like springbok cant jump them, so its no different to a 10ft fence for them. Speak to some outfitters, tell them what you are looking for and find out about the size of ranches they use and also if they have self-sustaining herds or 'top up' their stock from game farms. If the latter, then its probably a small put and take place you would want to avoid.

 

[Basil H]

Another long and thoughtful thread by Nicolaj Bichel on twitter today. These are the folks we need on our side.

 

[Jakebarr22]

We hunted with aloe Africa hunting safaris in may this year, great guys with fantastic hunting areas, they worked their socks off to find us the best and biggest animals, treated like kings from start to finish.
We spied from the top of the mountain into thick bush then made plans from there, some days we blanked.
It was that good we’re booked up for next year, any questions give me a message