Courtesy Flush said:

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I don't think the 2 elephants smelled you. I think they smelled the cigarettes. I'm not being critical because I'm not there and know nothing about hunting Africa but I'm somewhat surprised that a guide is smoking while stationed in a blind waiting for the game to walk out. I can understand if driving and looking for game, but not trying to be unnoticed.

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He lit it when he stepped out of the blind

There's nothing you can do to make yourself not smell like a human. It doesn't matter if you're wearing the latest greatest fartlocker technology and drenched in scent away, if the wind is not in your favor you will get winded

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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There's nothing you can do to make yourself not smell like a human. It doesn't matter if you're wearing the latest greatest fartlocker technology and drenched in scent away, if the wind is not in your favor you will get winded

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Well, there is one thing you can do...

Just to complete the picture book ... this is what was about to go down!

Fun facts:

Highest psi bite in the African plains ... stronger than a lion and about equal to a grizzly.

Scat is white from eating so many bones.

I've always found the strandwolf to be the most sinister looking animal I've seen.

That thing looks wicked! Bat meets lion meets hyena.

AV8ORAG84 said:

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3rd trip,coming up next May/June , magical place !

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We hope you have as much success as Japantiger, and we humbly request that you too provide a "going live" thread for the OB.

They will eat anything

I am going on my first trip with my dad right around that same time. We are flying into Jburg May 28.

I am mostly a lurker, have never been a hunter, but I am having some pretty serious withdrawals here....so I started reading this thread again from the beginning to help with the shakes. This was incredible to follow. As it has been said countless times throughout this thread, thank you JapanTiger for taking the time to share this amazing adventure - I doubt many would have taken the time that you did to bring this to us in such detail - it really felt like we were apart of it. I am not sure what it is about that elephant crossing the river on page 12, but there is something really special about it.....as another poster wrote "It really speaks to you"....Your bar speaks to me as well, but on another level! Thank you again, and the best to you and yours JP!

giddings_ag_06 said:

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50 days?! You could have the longest running, best Live thread ever. Nice lizard.

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Giddings with the first non japantiger post on this thread. Not even he could miss this shot.

Ranyaw19 said:

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I am mostly a lurker, have never been a hunter, but I am having some pretty serious withdrawals here....so I started reading this thread again from the beginning to help with the shakes. This was incredible to follow. As it has been said countless times throughout this thread, thank you JapanTiger for taking the time to share this amazing adventure - I doubt many would have taken the time that you did to bring this to us in such detail - it really felt like we were apart of it. I am not sure what it is about that elephant crossing the river on page 12, but there is something really special about it.....as another poster wrote "It really speaks to you"....Your bar speaks to me as well, but on another level! Thank you again, and the best to you and yours JP!

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Just got to dallas
Happy to do it
Cracked phone slowed me down...but as it turns out best internet connection was in Zambia after they worked out the kinks there. Needed a computer keyboard to provide details . Will get some more info out after I get back to Austin sometime this weekend .

One last tribute to the guys that really make it happen

how were your game scouts and trackers at spotting game?

That was the most amazing part of my recent trip to Zim. Our guys were incredible. Like..there's a lion....where? look 2000 yards across the canyon on the side of that hill under that tree. See the one spot of sunshine? she's sitting there sunning .......amazing!

My buddy and I made it a goal to try and spot game before they did, it took a few days but we finally did it a few times. Became like a competition with them.

CowtownAg06 said:

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giddings_ag_06 said:

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50 days?! You could have the longest running, best Live thread ever. Nice lizard.

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Giddings with the first non japantiger post on this thread. Not even he could miss this shot.

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Anything just titled "Africa" with a lizard pic right off the bat is guaranteed 20+ pages. I couldn't miss my chance. This has been epic and I feel like I tagged along just following the thread.

MAROON said:

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how were your game scouts and trackers at spotting game?

That was the most amazing part of my recent trip to Zim. Our guys were incredible. Like..there's a lion....where? look 2000 yards across the canyon on the side of that hill under that tree. See the one spot of sunshine? she's sitting there sunning .......amazing!

My buddy and I made it a goal to try and spot game before they did, it took a few days but we finally did it a few times. Became like a competition with them.

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They were all pretty amazing at it. The PH's as well. There are so many opportunities, though, that it's inevitable that you'll pick up something before they do...but that was definitely the exception and not the rule no matter how hard I tried. Just being able to see what they see after they point it out is an accomplishment many times as you point out; either due to distance out or just how well the animals melt into the scenery. Their ability to find a track in thickets on hard, leaf covered ground on a stalk or tracking after a shot is remarkable.


About the only thing I would pat myself on the back for was picking up the leopard blood trail before the trackers did. But I was also in the right position of our formation to do it as we moved out from under the bait. I don't think I had acquired Ace Ventura level skills suddenly after having lived in the bush for 6 weeks.

We were stopped looking at tracks one afternoon and I had spotted a track line on the edge of the trail entering a thicket. I thought it could have been either a small leopard cub or maybe a Caracal or African Wildcat...I was convinced due to all my study (with the trackers and my tracking guide) it was some kind of cat. I called Alastair over and pointed it out...he said, "oh, that's a porcupine". I just shut up and got back on the truck :-)

Ranyaw19 said:

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I am mostly a lurker, have never been a hunter, but I am having some pretty serious withdrawals here....so I started reading this thread again from the beginning to help with the shakes. This was incredible to follow. As it has been said countless times throughout this thread, thank you JapanTiger for taking the time to share this amazing adventure - I doubt many would have taken the time that you did to bring this to us in such detail - it really felt like we were apart of it. I am not sure what it is about that elephant crossing the river on page 12, but there is something really special about it.....as another poster wrote "It really speaks to you"....Your bar speaks to me as well, but on another level! Thank you again, and the best to you and yours JP!

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There were so many scenes like that I was unable to get a photo of. I would give anything if I'd had my camera in my hand when I was engaged in the lion stare down. The 4 females reactions to every move or noise; the male going from relaxing in the shade to "loading up"...there's so much about that whole time I would love to be able to share in a photo.

We watched a hippo fight one morning before we went out...you could see it coming with two "lines" on the water moving toward each other and then the water just boiled for about 5 minutes as the animals each tried to gain advantage...just huge bodies flying into the air; huge mouths open...six thousand pound bodies moving with ballet dancer like agility...elephants approaching the blind or chasing the truck...a million scenes to share...
As I've said, the bar is available to a get together...you guys just let me know when you think it would be good to get some folks to Bee Cave to share some tall tales.

I hope you have an auditorium near your bar. It's going to be quite the crowd. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. You're a bad son of a gun.

Before this thread I never really put much thought into hunting in Africa. Now you have me sold on it. Not that I'll ever be able to afford something like that, but I'll add it to the list of things I day dream about.

Hewey Calloway said:

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I hope you have an auditorium near your bar. It's going to be quite the crowd. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. You're a bad son of a gun.

Before this thread I never really put much thought into hunting in Africa. Now you have me sold on it. Not that I'll ever be able to afford something like that, but I'll add it to the list of things I day dream about.

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Well, I didn't start in Africa with a 45 day 35 animal hunt. Getting to Africa and doing a "starter" or basic plains game hunt is surprisingly affordable. This is a case where the "hunt" and the "experience" is worth the trip and the time. The actual kills are secondary.

On my first trip; I think it was the 1st full morning I was hunting; we were stalking a large group of Red Hartebest. Close to 100 animals and there was a very nice male in the group that we were moving in on. The group was a little skittish but we got to a place to get in the sticks to make a shot. All of a sudden, the whole group moved in a cloud of dust as a group of Wildebest came in and everyone got spooked. Now there's two big clouds of dust and close to 200 animals running around in front of me a couple hundred yards out.

Takes 20 minutes to get back on a shooter with the two big groups of animals milling about. Then another huge cloud of dust, all the animals are in the wind and a group of Oryx move in from the left...~300 animals now running in all direction. After another 30 minutes back in the sticks getting ready for a shot....the animals all bolt again. Look left and right; don't see anything...the tracker points behind us.

A group of a couple hundred Zebra is sprinting away and that spooked the wildebest, oryx and hartebest. I'm standing in the middle of a massive dust cloud; close to 500 animals going in all directions round me, 3.5 hours of effort, not a single shot and I was the happiest guy in the world. I was standing in the middle of a true Wild Kingdom or Nat Geo moment. Everything I had ever thought about Africa had come together in one place that morning. All for the price of a basic plains game hunt.

There's nothing quite like it.

shalackin said:

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I know many safari outfits differ in price points, but what should I budget and how long of a trip would i need to go do all Dangerous 7 in one trip? And can it be done all in one location? Or does it require a good amount of travel?

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Not sure where you could do all 7. For example, could do 6 (Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Hippo, Croc, Cape Buffalo) from the Zambia camp where I was...but not Rhino.

Also, trophy quality will be very different. The Croc's on the Luangua river where I was; are on the order of ~8 feet long. Now that is still pretty damn intimidating when you're up close to an 8ft Croc...but not like Limpopo where they'll be 13+ feet. Every place has things they are known for where they will have exceptional trophies vs avg trophies. Avg are still pretty awesome!

Someone may be aware of where you can do all of them in one place, but I am not. I think 2 places would be the minimum.

As for costs...well, Rhino are expensive. And if you want to repatriate things like Elephant, Lion and Leopard, they get expensive. If you don't care about getting the trophy home, then that will reduce costs (like for tuskless or management elephant).

As for time, I was 18 days getting Lion and Leopard, 9 for the elephant, one for the Croc, two for Rhino, etc...30'ish days probably if things go really well.

I've never even heard of rhino costs, but my PH has quoted lion, leopard, and elephant to me. The costs can vary a lot country to country because of how the government sets the antipoaching fee that is the majority of the trophy fee. I think lion is $50k plus or minus, leopard is $25k plus or minus, and elephant is $150-250k. These are just the trophy fees, not including taxidermy or shipping or tipping or travel or daily rate of ph and residence/food. I think hippo is much less, 5-10k and Cape buffalo is 5-20k.

trophy fee for our concession in Zim (Matetsi) was Lion $35k, Elephant $15k, Tuskless Cow $5k, leopard $10k, Buff $7k

Final tally, 34:

The 7:

• Lion
• Leopard
• Elephant
• Rhino
• Crocodile
• Cape Buffalo
• Hippo

Spiral Horns:

• Kudu
• Eland
• Nyala
• Bushbuck

Roan
Sable
Tsessebe
Springbok -

• White
• Black,
• Copper,
• Standard

Black Wildebest
Waterbuck
Red Lechwe
Puku
Warthog
Steenbok
Hippo - 2 (all 3 were used for bait; one is a great trophy and is listed above with the 7)
Impala - 5
Warthog - (both used as bait; bringing one as trophy; it was the bait the leopard hit that I took)
Waterbuck - one for bait

Next several posts will be animals in this order.

Oh man, I'm very excited for the impending pic recap.

That's a beautiful cat.