African Hunting Safari

Well, that's a completely different recommendation. Just GW/AD and a folder? I understand we'll have helping hands but no requirements at all for a bigger blade for personal use?

My hunting/jungle experience has been limited to the rainforest so far, mainly Sumatra and Borneo. We can't get anywhere without big blades, machete and others. Even when we have helpers we need some kind of knife with considerable size for personal use, a GW and a folder alone would be unthinkable.

Thanks for the input. I will consider your recommendation as I am trying to bring as little as possible with me. All these things add up in weight!

You mentioned having to take long shots. What is the typical shooting distance? 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m or more?
 
Newazzkikr,

Those are great photos. Did you take them yourself? Very nice!
About the first two photos, are they Trophy or Representative?

Thanks
 
MACHAVEN said:
I would recommend the GW or AD at most. Northern Cape is semi-desert and gets very hot. There is not much cover, the game can see you from far away and you'll be taking long shots. You can end up doing lots of walking. The safari/hunting outfits will have skinners to do all the cutting and cleaning of the game....they use $2 Okapi knives most of the time. You might want a small folder(3") for when you are not hunting.
Good luck and enjoy the trip!!!
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:thumbup: +1...Good advice.......
Leave the big knives at home......you won't need them. Although a nice midsize folder for edc is always a good idea.

I also suggest that if possible you use hard luggage for your check in bags rather than soft bags. Theft at SA airports has been curbed but it is still a problem.

I am away June and July but if you come through Cape Town before or after give me a shout and I'll give you a quick tour.... Or if you need any help with anything or you have any questions give me a shout.....

Have fun and be safe
Steven
 
I was going to say SAR8 but maybe the SAR4 would be better. Big enough for most jobs you'll want to tackle I reckon without giving you too much weight to carry.
 
RoyalM said:
I was going to say SAR8 but maybe the SAR4 would be better. Big enough for most jobs you'll want to tackle I reckon without giving you too much weight to carry.
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That sounds like a pretty good choice sar-4, :thumbup:
 
awesome pics:):)

If its only one, THe sjtac you have will serve you well.:thumbup:

Other than that Joe P. would tell you to take a sarsquatch if I remember correctly:) I like it too, and so does GUy.

I cant believe Guy didnt remember that one;):p:D

but, if your paying for a guided safari the folder should be sufficient. Anything else you will just be guilted into leaving as a tip:D
 
I doubt you would use a knife on a guided safari hunt .... it is all taken care of for you ... unless you are bringing in a pistol for personal protection going from the airport to the camp is where I would like to carry a knife ... muggings and shootings at cash points etc in Jo'burg were bad when I was last there .... so were car jackings .... I carried a 3 inch folding lock knife and a SAK on my last hunt ... it was all I needed ...and the locking folder gave some comfort on a personal defense aspect. The first thing I did was get a pistol for carrying in the car on the journey to the Kruger .... a friend helped me out .... SA is a great palce for fun but you only have to read the papers or watch the news to realise you need to be careful and street smart on when and where you go.

Your PH should meet you ideally at the airport .... if not and you are hiring a car ... remove the orange triangle sticker from the rear bumper and put it inside the car boot as this signals "hire car" to those windscreen washers who come at you on junctions with traffic lights .... they can blind your windscreen with soap suds and your driver window .... by the time you let them scrape the suds away you can be looking at the wrong end of a pistol in your face and an ugly car jacking .... ditto getting money out of cash points .... you need to check who is around before doing it .... even in the airport.

But if you are careful it is a great place to go .... personally I would carry my telescopic sight in my hand luggage to avoid damage and set up the rifle over there. On plains game a laser range finder helps give you confidence on the longer shots but only is useful if you have target turrets on the scope to dial in the elevation. If you have closed turrets I would avoid the longer shots and enjoy stalking up closer.

I suspect you will be shooting off sticks because of the plains vegitation ... give this a bit of practise if you have'nt done it and you should be fine. What calibre rifle are you taking ?

P.S. If wives are coming with you get them to remove their jewellrey before going out shopping etc and make sure they always take cabs to and from the shops .... gold watches and diamond rings are a magnet for trouble .... a cheap Casio or whatever makes more sense .... I took a G Shock and gave it to my PH's tracker when I left .... he was over the moon .... knives they already have .... old mobile phones and watches are highly cherished tho' ....
 
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knife hunter said:
awesome pics:):)

If its only one, THe sjtac you have will serve you well.:thumbup:

Other than that Joe P. would tell you to take a sarsquatch if I remember correctly:) I like it too, and so does GUy.

I cant believe Guy didnt remember that one;):p:D

but, if your paying for a guided safari the folder should be sufficient. Anything else you will just be guilted into leaving as a tip:D
Click to expand...

Well...I was pretty sure that one probably wouldn't need much in the way of a big knife on a guided hunt, but thought it best to leave the answer to those in the know.

You bring up a good point about a tip. It might be good form to plan on taking some inexpensive quality knives as gifts for the guides. Maybe Moras or Spydercos?
 
one of my friends has been 3 times. he is'nt a big knife xpert & carries randalls & k.o.a. anything over 5.5 in. is not necessary.he's taken lion, leopard, elephant, kuda & others so you do'nt really need a tank. also the pocket diamond sharpeners are indispensable since hardly any blade will withstand buffalo & elephant w/o touchup. if you find a busse that can do one of these biggies w/o touchup please let us know.
 
Will you be hunting in South Africa or will you be traveling to other countries

South Africa is large ranch hunting and if that is where you will be hunting you will be with someone most of the time trackers, skinners , Ranch managers etc. You really will not need a large camp knife the size of a Mistress

I would think a blade that is easier to carry and use for daily tasks would fit the bill better for you.

Your main concern in my mind would be the 2 legged predators in and around the cities so I would lean more toward a defensive carry blade that is not to bulky. Once you get away from the airport Africa is a knife culture and people will not think twice about a reasonable sized sheath knife.

If you where heading to Zim or Tanz and doing a remote drop traditional safari type hunt I still would recommend the same thing . You will have scouts trackers etc. that have machetes and such to organize camps. Weight is always a factor.


What will you be hunting and what gun are you taking


If I can be of anymore help let me know
 
As for tips cash is king. Trinkets are nice and I once offered a pair of Swarovski bino's to a ph in Tanzania. He choose the cash
 
If it's guided you won't need anything over 6" long so save the weight. They will have whatever is needed.

Like others have stated it's the 2 legged ones you have to worry about so a 6" or so fixed blade would be the one to have.

Watch you back and never go any place alone ever while you are there.
 
knife hunter said:
awesome pics:):)

If its only one, THe sjtac you have will serve you well.:thumbup:

Other than that Joe P. would tell you to take a sarsquatch if I remember correctly:) I like it too, and so does GUy.

I cant believe Guy didnt remember that one;):p:D

but, if your paying for a guided safari the folder should be sufficient. Anything else you will just be guilted into leaving as a tip:D
Click to expand...

The Sarsquatch is nice. :thumbup:

I will remind myself to bring a few things to give away.. thanks, glad to have the info on this..
 
JParanee said:
Will you be hunting in South Africa or will you be traveling to other countries

South Africa is large ranch hunting and if that is where you will be hunting you will be with someone most of the time trackers, skinners , Ranch managers etc. You really will not need a large camp knife the size of a Mistress

I would think a blade that is easier to carry and use for daily tasks would fit the bill better for you.

Your main concern in my mind would be the 2 legged predators in and around the cities so I would lean more toward a defensive carry blade that is not to bulky. Once you get away from the airport Africa is a knife culture and people will not think twice about a reasonable sized sheath knife.

If you where heading to Zim or Tanz and doing a remote drop traditional safari type hunt I still would recommend the same thing . You will have scouts trackers etc. that have machetes and such to organize camps. Weight is always a factor.


What will you be hunting and what gun are you taking


If I can be of anymore help let me know
Click to expand...


My family and I will be on a tour in SA for about a week. Then at the end of the tour my eldest son and I will stay behind and fly to another city (still in SA) and be picked up by the outfitter for a guided safari hunt, the rest of the family will fly back home. There you see I'd also like to keep the baggage weight to a minimum.

We will be constantly under the supervision of the tour guides and hunting outfitter, so I hope our safety will not be compromised.

I have friends who will be coming in from Europe for the safari hunt as well. It should be a lot of fun.

As far firearms, I will be using a Sauer 7mm Rem Mag. However, the outfitter has many rifles I can use with caliber up to and including the .416 Rigby.

Thank you, I appreciate all the info and recommendation from everyone. :thumbup:
 
I also have to agree cash is king ....

The things you need to get a heads up on are what to expect when there which you might not encounter in Indonesia .... to begin with the roads out in the sticks do not have any street lighting and the locals are often driving from a township into the city or to work in hotels in old mini vans prone to punctures or break downs. If they go into the ditch the only way they have to retreive them is "man power" .... I was driving down a road and had three guys flag me down to stop ... my wife then was with me .... behind them I could see a lot more guys and hit the full beam of the cars lights ... thankfully I saw about 20 guys pick up the mini-van physically and were loading it onto a flat bed truck to recover it. A little earlier and I would have thought I was in the middle of a car jacking ... all was good tho' and nothing happened.

Another time walking back to the car park my wife and I picked up 3 guys who seemed to be tailing us. My wife had bought a load of clothing and had a lot of bags and they had spotted her but we met up before anything was done. They were asking if she wanted a hand with the shopping .... walking back to the car we saw a Chubb Security pick up ... they cover most of the house alarm systems who have paid for an armed response ... the pick up was full of guys with AK's .... I did'nt know if they were straight or part of the problem .... I thankfully saw them from far enough off to enable us to turn into a shop. It was a tailor's and the guy running it gave us the heads up on the local position. I left her in the shop and returned to pick up the car and picked her up outside the shop. After that we never split up and I had to endure shopping which I hate and she had to endure me talking and chewing the fat in the Gunsmith's I would search out.

These event's occured when we were fresh into the country for the first time and niaeve ... later I made a lot of friends and contacts there and would go back myself either doing work, sport or for holidays ... by then I was divorced ... going without wives is a lot easier ... it is the wives who are easy prey .... the tailor pointed out that my wife was wearing about £20,000 worth of jewellrey .... he said that she was lucky to have made it out of that situation in one piece. The tailor was a great guy ... I ordered a suit from him and we were talking about the risks of a journey up to the Kruger ... we were on the Garden Route at the time ... he offered to loan me a pistol and ammo and said I could return it to his cousin's shop in Jo'burg at the end of the trip .... he really went out on a limb for me .... in the end that was how it panned out ... later on return trips I made arrangements to get my own permit and had friends let me use their address for location.

This was all of 12 years ago ... I have been back fairly regularly since as I shoot over there quite a lot in rifle competitions and have some good friends in the SA National Team.

Like anything you just have to switch on to the "do's and don'ts" .... that first trip was over a Xmas period .... when we drove out of Cape Town only having stayed a three day period there to head for Knysna we heard on the car radio that 4 people had been shot and killed in a car jacking going to a party on Xmas eve .... and two people had been killed at cashpoints ... all this in Capetown over Xmas .... then even at safe havens like Plattenburg Bay on the coast a couple were mugged on a private beach for their gold watches .... they were lying with their eyes closed and from the cliffs of the cove above them they had rocks thrown down on them and were lucky to survive ....

By this stage I was tuned in to what was happening .... with the simplest of precautions we both had a great time .... and don't let stuff like that put you off .... the people are some of the nicest I have ever met ....

Your choice of calibre and rifle is excellent for Plains Game .... the 7mm bullets are a firm favourite of mine ... I use a 7mm WSM (hybrid wildcat from a 300 WSM case ) and a 7mm Boo Boo ( hybrid wildcat from the RWS 8 X 68S case ) for plains game shooting when I am over there. Have a great time and come back and post pic's ... :thumbup:
 
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Yes, these pictures are my own and were taken by me or my family from the car. Actually I wasn't hunting these animals, the only thing I was shooting from was my camera. These pix are from ADDO national park.

When you see these animals in their natural landscape it's amazing. But Kudu tastes delicious.

Now when I'm considering knifes that are available right now in the shops... a combo of RatManDu and HRLM would serve you excellently over there.
 
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I've been two yrs ago in SA for a month. driven from 'ape Town up to Kosi Bay...
I really like the Xosa-land, and the northern parts of SA.
I think one's mindset kind of determines what happens with him/her.
..oh my knife choice was a RMD.

I've done my share of fishing downthere. no hunting.
wonderful country. it gives a different sense of space.

3247970250_0faebf0859_o.jpg


3247141925_18601e1c95_o.jpg
 
Alfaholic said:
:thumbup: +1...Good advice.......
Leave the big knives at home......you won't need them. Although a nice midsize folder for edc is always a good idea.

I also suggest that if possible you use hard luggage for your check in bags rather than soft bags. Theft at SA airports has been curbed but it is still a problem.

I am away June and July but if you come through Cape Town before or after give me a shout and I'll give you a quick tour.... Or if you need any help with anything or you have any questions give me a shout.....

Have fun and be safe
Steven
Click to expand...

Thanks for the intel Steve. I'll send you a private message...
 
I've been away from this forum for a couple of years. Glad to be back with you great guys. I'm getting a lot of good info. Many thanks boys!!!
 
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