Thanks a lot OK

[Pa.Frank]

I think Africa would be cheaper in the long run. lol

Its the rape of the non-resident..
Africa IS cheaper in the long run, especially considering all you get there that you NEVER get here..
My license fee when I went was $28 for whatever I hunted.. Trophy fees are set by the landowner and depends on the animal your after, the local population etc..

but here is whats included..
All your meals..in camp. and they feed you and feed you very well. including beer and or wine.
Your laundry is done DAILY, washed pressed and folded. Even your sox are pressed and folded. Every day.
Depending on the critter your chasing, you will have from 1 to 5 trackers and skinners with you. They find the critters, drive the critters, sometimes with horses, and take care of the dressing/cape/skinning
Immediately upon a kill, the trackers will clear all the brush from around the animal and position it for your photo shots.
The next time you see your animal, would be at the skinning shed. where everything is processed. I watched a 600 pound wildebeast get fully processed in under and hour.
You don't do anything for yourself.. No gutting, no skinning, no camp work. you don't need a knife, you don't need a rangefinder, you don't need bino's (the guide/outfitter usually has 2) You only need a set of clothes to travel in, 2 changes of hunting clothes and some camp duds and thats for 2 weeks.
I shot 7 animals for far less than the cost of the cheapest elk or moose hunt I could find over here with the biggest nut being the plane ticket.
To get the level of service and accommodation here for what you get over there would cost you thousands,if you could even find it anywhere over here..


and to further comment on the wildlife agencies buying up more land, I see that as a good thing.. I hunted for over 50 years in Pennsylvania and last time i looked there was over 7 million acres of public land available for hunting in the state.. and outside of a few areas, the hunting pressure is not all that heavy.

 

[1moredeer]

Which non-resident issue is more upsetting, a huge increase in license/tag fees or fewer tags available to non-residents? All states seem to choose one of these two avenues to balance the supply/demand equation and stay competitive for the revenue streams hunters provide.

 

[southpa]

I have never hunted out of the state that I live in. Mostly it was due to having six kids, and that kept me strapped for cash and time. But I lived in Alaska and then moved south to Wyoming. Both states have good hunting and plenty of public land. I assure you it was by design.

I commend you sir. That is the dream many think is unobtainable. For most it is because of obligations but life is a design and somewhere in there can be the goal you have attained. Imagine being so satisfied with your hunting opportunities that you never had to go out of state! Living in Alaska would be check a lot of boxes!!

 

[338 dude]

Nonresident hunting has turned into a rich man's pursuit. I'm not saying it is not worth it for some, but it sure is not helping to get the common lower income person into hunting.

What sucks for me is the fact that I will never be able to afford hunting out of state.

I have always dreamed of hunting Elk, mulies, or moose but that's never going to happen

I've been going once a year to Kentucky from my home in Tennessee. It's only three hours. I'm in a small lease with a friend not too great but not too shabby either but I lucked up on my biggest buck so far last year. Do what you can when you can and make the best of it!
I don't think moose elk or mulies will ever be in my future.

 

[Pastor Gun.zales]

I grew up in OK and still have land there, but I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a lifetime license before I moved to Arkansas. Now the only hunting I do in Oklahoma is duck and goose, maybe dove.

But hey, let's talk about Africa... How much of the meat do you get to keep? I can't imagine any of it can go home with you.

 

[birddog 68]

But hey, let's talk about Africa... How much of the meat do you get to keep? I can't imagine any of it can go home with you.

I have never been to Africa but a good friend and his father went. No meat came home with them and the outfit they hunted with had to send the capes and skulls. 10 animals between the two and they received 6 capes and 8 skulls. Was the outfitter to blame or custom's picked through?

 

[PlumberEd]

I agree $710 is awfully high for a license to hit whitetail, just my opinion. If no one is willing to pay the $710 fee the price will drop next year, but my guess is the will stay at $710 or increase. On top of the licensing fee you have lodging, food, etc. It is all about supply and demand, Americans really like to hunt and most are willing to or have realized the have pay to hunt good places. Hunting prime areas in the states is almost out of reach to the working class. Another American first world problem.

Africa does look like a great value and as Pa Frank pointed out you get a level of service second to none. I'm with Gary, it is time to book a hunt in Africa.

 

[Terry Lightle]

Not related to Tim

 

[Pa.Frank]

I grew up in OK and still have land there, but I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a lifetime license before I moved to Arkansas. Now the only hunting I do in Oklahoma is duck and goose, maybe dove.

But hey, let's talk about Africa... How much of the meat do you get to keep? I can't imagine any of it can go home with you.

You pay for the animal so all of the meat is yours to do with as you please. HOWEVER, The USA no longer permits the importation of wild game meat from Africa. So you will eat on some of it while you are there, and what the outfitter cannot use they sell locally or feed the staff. I had a meal from every critter i shot while I was there except zebra.. Even the skinners and trackers won't eat it. springbok, impala, blesbok, tastes kinda like a cross between farm deer and elk. and gemsbok and kudu was like a nice elk steak but a mild flavor. Wildebeest like a gamy beef, but made great biltong (African jerky)/ warthog looks like a pig but they are tough and the meat is dry. I suppose they might taste better if you could pen them up and feed them slop for a couple weeks, but they are diggers.. They can dig a hole big enough to hide a body overnight.. Not sure what it is they are after..
But back to the meat, To ship it back, if it was permitted would be prohibitively expensive. If all your after is meat, go shoot a cow. I'm sure there is a farm here somewhere that will let you do that, and it would be cheap by comparison.

all my stuff was handled properly and all of it made it back to the USA in one piece.. In retrospect, I have all these "trophies" in my house.. the old lady hates them, my kids don't want them, and I'm tired of looking at them.. If i were to do it again, I wouldn't bring anything back but a picture.
My trip was in 2012 it was 2 weeks and they whole nut including shipping trophies, airfare, the works.. was under 10K

Always remember this when you think about an expensive hunt..
You can borrow money, but you cannot borrow time.

 

[Gary in MD]

You pay for the animal so all of the meat is yours to do with as you please. HOWEVER, The USA no longer permits the importation of wild game meat from Africa. So you will eat on some of it while you are there, and what the outfitter cannot use they sell locally or feed the staff. I had a meal from every critter i shot while I was there except zebra.. Even the skinners and trackers won't eat it. springbok, impala, blesbok, tastes kinda like a cross between farm deer and elk. and gemsbok and kudu was like a nice elk steak but a mild flavor. Wildebeest like a gamy beef, but made great biltong (African jerky)/ warthog looks like a pig but they are tough and the meat is dry. I suppose they might taste better if you could pen them up and feed them slop for a couple weeks, but they are diggers.. They can dig a hole big enough to hide a body overnight.. Not sure what it is they are after..
But back to the meat, To ship it back, if it was permitted would be prohibitively expensive. If all your after is meat, go shoot a cow. I'm sure there is a farm here somewhere that will let you do that, and it would be cheap by comparison.

all my stuff was handled properly and all of it made it back to the USA in one piece.. In retrospect, I have all these "trophies" in my house.. the old lady hates them, my kids don't want them, and I'm tired of looking at them.. If i were to do it again, I wouldn't bring anything back but a picture.
My trip was in 2012 it was 2 weeks and they whole nut including shipping trophies, airfare, the works.. was under 10K

Always remember this when you think about an expensive hunt..
You can borrow money, but you cannot borrow time.

Well said

 

[Pa.Frank]

I agree $710 is awfully high for a license to hit whitetail, just my opinion. If no one is willing to pay the $710 fee the price will drop next year, but my guess is the will stay at $710 or increase. On top of the licensing fee you have lodging, food, etc. It is all about supply and demand, Americans really like to hunt and most are willing to or have realized the have pay to hunt good places. Hunting prime areas in the states is almost out of reach to the working class. Another American first world problem.

Africa does look like a great value and as Pa Frank pointed out you get a level of service second to none. I'm with Gary, it is time to book a hunt in Africa.

Good idea. but if your not a member already, join SCI or Dallas SCI.. there are a lot of outfitters out there and a lot of no so wonderful ones that look gr4eat on the net but are crap when you get there,... If you find them thru SCI or word of mouth your chances of a good time are significantly increased. For example, the outfitter I hunted with had a "farm": as he calls it.. it's 55,000 acres.. and the farms on either side of him were equally as large and belonged to relatives, so the "fenced in hunting area I hunted on was over 150,000 acres. the "farm" had been in his family since 1670, and i could go on and on... I looked at his website again recently and some of the trophy fees are less today than they were when i went.. the exchange rate when i went was 6 rand to the dollar now i think it 15 to 1 so you get a lot for your money.

 

[PlumberEd]

You pay for the animal so all of the meat is yours to do with as you please. HOWEVER, The USA no longer permits the importation of wild game meat from Africa. So you will eat on some of it while you are there, and what the outfitter cannot use they sell locally or feed the staff. I had a meal from every critter i shot while I was there except zebra.. Even the skinners and trackers won't eat it. springbok, impala, blesbok, tastes kinda like a cross between farm deer and elk. and gemsbok and kudu was like a nice elk steak but a mild flavor. Wildebeest like a gamy beef, but made great biltong (African jerky)/ warthog looks like a pig but they are tough and the meat is dry. I suppose they might taste better if you could pen them up and feed them slop for a couple weeks, but they are diggers.. They can dig a hole big enough to hide a body overnight.. Not sure what it is they are after..
But back to the meat, To ship it back, if it was permitted would be prohibitively expensive. If all your after is meat, go shoot a cow. I'm sure there is a farm here somewhere that will let you do that, and it would be cheap by comparison.

all my stuff was handled properly and all of it made it back to the USA in one piece.. In retrospect, I have all these "trophies" in my house.. the old lady hates them, my kids don't want them, and I'm tired of looking at them.. If i were to do it again, I wouldn't bring anything back but a picture.
My trip was in 2012 it was 2 weeks and they whole nut including shipping trophies, airfare, the works.. was under 10K

Always remember this when you think about an expensive hunt..
You can borrow money, but you cannot borrow time.

I am glad you mentioned the wisdom of pictures only, you know I was thinking of doing the same and I thought it would be kinda weird. However, I realize that's after I'm gone someone else will have to get rid of all the mounts, they are only meaningful to me.

 

[ARlife4me]

i don't hunt, but did lease to an outfitter last year. haven't heard from him and not sure about this years lease? being this late, most likely not. however, i'm willing for hunters to come here as it'll be cheaper. i might be out of guidlines for this post, so pardon me if so? with the fire we had back in march we do still have a decent amount of white-tail and mule deer.

 

[cohunt]

I know a retired vet named "OK" --- I was wondering what he did now.....