The short version: six exotic deer species are commonly hunted in Texas - axis, fallow, Japanese sika, Dybowski sika, Père David and hog deer - plus red stag, which is a deer in every sense that matters. None of them has a closed season, a bag limit or a state tag. They hunt completely differently […]
The short version: axis venison is mild, fine-grained, pale and almost entirely free of the gaminess people associate with wild deer. It is the only wild meat I know of that converts people who say they do not like venison. Hunters who normally leave the meat take axis home. If you hunt one thing in […]
The short version: an outfitter is not a booking agent and not a day lease. A real Texas exotic hunting outfitter holds standing access to multiple private ranches, employs guides who know those ranches, provides lodging and meals, handles field care and taxidermy coordination, and carries the responsibility when something goes wrong. You are paying […]
The short version: figure roughly a day and a half of hunting per animal. Seven days takes three to five plains game animals, ten days takes five to seven, fourteen days gets you into specialist species and a genuinely unhurried trip. Add two travel days each way. If you can only do one, ten days […]
The short version: a plains game safari is quoted as a daily rate per hunter per day, plus a trophy fee for each animal taken, from the low hundreds for impala up to the low thousands for kudu and eland. The honest total depends on your species list, your dates and how many are travelling […]
The short version: the Eastern Cape contains six of South Africa’s seven ecological biomes. In one province you can hunt mountain country for kudu and eland, open grassland for gemsbok and blesbok, dense riverine bush for bushbuck, and arid Karoo thornveld where the wind and the distance make you earn every animal. That variety is […]
The short version: the difference is rarely the website and almost never the trophy photos. It is the quality and variety of the ground they can put you on, how many hunters share a professional hunter, what happens when an animal is hit and not recovered, and how fast the skinning shed works. Those four […]
The short version: to bring your own rifle into South Africa you need a SAPS 520 temporary import permit. It is free, it is not complicated, and the requirements are specific: certified copies of your passport and proof of lawful possession, written export authorisation from your home country, and a letter of invitation from your […]
The short version: go to South Africa in the southern winter - roughly May through September. Plan seven to ten days and expect to take four to six plains game animals. Most plains game country is malaria-free. You do not have to bring a rifle. And it will cost less than most hunters assume, though […]
The short version: booking direct with a South African outfitter is cheaper and gives you a direct relationship. Booking through a US-based outfitter who hosts the hunt costs a little more and gives you recourse, vetting, and someone in your own time zone when something goes wrong. Both are legitimate. Which is right depends almost […]
