I have booked 3 safaris in RSA for a number of reasons. You can get into bad areas in the states just as easy as in another country. Most times you aren't in the cities that long, but instead enroute to or actually hunting in the country. However, I would have no problem recommending RSA to hunt in. I would recommend several things when planning your first safari.
1) Join SCI - Publications are great and have lots of information. Also, attend a convention. There are many different operations there which you can meet and decide if they are the type you want to go with.
2) Know what animals you want to hunt. Alot of those packages include animals that you may not really want to hunt. When I went on my first, the price included duiker and steinbok which I didn't want to hunt. I was able to negotiate a credit of half the trophy fees for each to be applied to other animals. There was a video called "South African 37" or something like that that had good footage of alot of different animals. Another great resource is the SCI record book. Each section has at least one picture of the animal. Then make sure who you want to hunt with has those. Books by Craid Boddington were also great help.
3) Whoever you hunt with should be able to provide their taxidermist. Contact them and ask them to prepare two quotes, one to mount everything and another to simply prep and pack. Then ask your local taxidermist what he will charge to mount.
4) When choosing your customs broker (Coppersmith and Flaura&Fauna best known), get their price list and know what you will be charged for shipping. Most charge by cubic inches, so if you get a kudu shoulder mount in Africa, that's alot of cubic inches. If you want to save a bit of money, ask the taxidermist in Africa to leave the horns of and then attach when you receive. Saves alot of inches. Overall, I have decided to have my local guy do it because he can see where I want to hang and craft the mount for me. Also, there is no risk of damage in shipping the completed mount.
5) Perform a search on this web board. I'm sure this topic was listed once or twice.
6) Check out other web boards. HuntAmerica.com and Huntchat.com both have African forums.
7) Consider what time of year you want to go. Airline costs are cheaper in May than in the summer or in August. Could usually pay the trophy fee of another animal with the difference.
8) Take a friend. Went with my dad and brother first time, wife second. Makes the memories more special when you can share them with someone else.
9) Realize what type of hunting you will be doing. There are some guys in RSA who hunt small areas of land, and since it is fenced, may make you feel like it's not something for you. Others have several thousand hectares, and despite the fences, you may not even know they exist except for going through the gates.
10) Plan to go back, it get's in your blood!!
Hope this information is useful to you. First time to Africa is the best!
Snake
