Hey,
@Trappernewt
I went to South Africa at the end of August 2024. It was my first time. I will share some of my experiences and what I would suggest to help you prepare. I will say that I think you have been given a lot of great advice thus far. This is going to be a long one, but I want you to know what to expect!
I hunted Black Wildebeest, Gemsbok, Impala, and Blesbok. I took a 300WM with a Barnes 175gr LRX bullet. Since you are used to 30 calibers, that would be okay, but I think the 300prc and 300 RUM maybe be too much (for the smaller animals). For all the animals you're going after, I think the 280AI would be more sufficient. I think it's important to note that depending on what region of RSA you go to, it can determine your shot opportunities/distances. I was in the Limpopo region near Rooiberg and near Dwallboom. I will say both regions/properties we hunted did not offer many opportunities for shots further than 200 yards. I think every animal I took was under 150 yards, with 3 of them being within 100 yards or less. My understanding is that northern RSA is much more "Bushy" than southern RSA, and that southern RSA is very flat and wide-open. Because of this, if you are hunting in a bushier place, this should steer you away from softer bullets, and I believe that you should opt for a Barnes TSX or TTSX. I even think the LRX is too soft. When I shot my Impala, the bullet hit a very small branch and it opened up. We found one of the petals in the Impala Ram's butt (pretty crazy). If you are not fond of copper, I would consider something like the Swift Scirocco or A-Frame, Nosler Partition or Accubond, or Federal Terminal Ascent. My professional hunter said his two favorite bullets are the Barnes TSX/TTSX and the Nosler Accubond, but also said he thought the Accubond is "a little too soft for bigger animals like eland".
LOTS of shots happen
very fast from the back of the truck or on foot. Because of this, I would opt for no muzzle break. I had mine on and my ears weren't right for about 3 weeks after my trip. If I didn't wear my ear-pro while walking around, I wouldn't have time to get the ear-pro in unless I wanted the game to run off first. Now that I've been to Africa, my next purchase is gonna be a suppressor. I like what others have suggested and have your PH buy one for you before you get there. My knowledge is that suppressors are about $200-$300 over there. However, if you opt for a rental rifle, I believe they almost all come equipped with suppressors. If you do decide to bring your own rifle, the CBP 4457 can be a pain to get customs people to actually help (probably airport dependent -- I was in Minneapolis). I would also hire Henry's Rifle Permits to do all your import paperwork. They were phenomenal. It was another cost (probably like $150), but I got off the plane and they had everything done for me. Basically grabbed my gun at the police station and was on our way. I will add that a high-quality case is important to have. I have Nanuk case and it worked flawlessly. I also put a Samsung Air Tag and Tile Air Tag in it, and that provided some piece of mind since I'd never flown with a firearm before. Which by the way is super easy.
I saw someone else said that African animals aren't that tough if you put it in the boilermaker, which is absolutely true. If you make a shot through the vitals, they die fast as any animal. However, if you wound an animal, which I did to my wildebeest, they are INCREDIBLY tough. My PH said "the best way to see all 4-corners of a property is to wound a wildebeest", and man he was not wrong. Took all day, 3 depleted drone batteries, numerous guides, lots of running and driving, and a Malinois hunting dog to get my black wildebeest. My PH also said that 60% of hunters will wound an animal while hunting in Africa. So, with that being said, practice shooting off sticks, know the animal anatomy, and shoot a tough bullet. My PH also said the best way to train for Africa is getting an air rifle, or something like a Red Ryder rifle and practice shooting Poker Cards offhand from 10 yards, and once you become proficient at 10 yards, move back to 20 yards, and so on.
One thing that nobody has mentioned is that hunting Africa was not easy, at least in my experience. The hardest part was being on a completely different time zone. I would recommend bringing sleep aids, I like
Unplug by Wilderness Athlete. I would also try your absolute hardest to schedule your sleep on the plane so that when you wake-up in Africa that you're on their time schedule. I took me about 4 or 5 days to be fully acclimated to their time schedule. We also went during their dry period and I only saw one mosquito. We did bring Malarone as a precaution, and stopped taking it on the 1st or 2nd day because it made us feel horrible. It severely messed up our stomachs and made us nauseous. Besides, like I said, I only saw 1 mosquito during the entire trip and we weren't in a Malaria endemic region. I would recommend bringing Tylenol/Advil, LOTS of electrolytes, and very strong sunscreen or sun shirts. The mornings and evenings can be very chilly (30s), but the sun in the middle of the day was strong enough to melt our skin.
For pants, I would recommend a very tough pant. Your typical high performance pants from Kuiu, Stone Glacier, Sitka, and First Lite, likely won't hold up over there. I would recommend something like an upland bird pant. I brought my Stone Glacier De Havilland Lite pants and ended up just wearing my Duluth Trading FireHose Foreman pants. The thorns were just too sharp and going right through my Stone Glacier pants. I think the Original De Havilland pants would've been a better choice than the Lite pants. Maybe the Kuiu Tiburon pant would be good since it's designed for deserty thorns, but I can't personally speak on that since I've never worn them.
Our food experience and lodging was amazing. I tried everything our chef made and was blown away by it all. We had 3 square meals a day, tons of waters/sodas/drinks in the cooler in the truck. Our lodge had a pool, but it was very cold at that time of year. When I go again, I'll probably only bring 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of socks, 1 pair of boots, etc. because they do laundry every day. There is simply no reason to pack heavy. We settled down most days with an amazing diner, then by the fire with a water or alcoholic beverage.
You will have an amazing time! Make sure you take tons of photos, because it will go very fast. I hope this helps!
