Now this is not quite meant to be in a blog, but the fact is that it gives me more space to say what I want to say. I would firstly like to thank Tony (WyomingHunter) who put the idea in my head, and I think he raised some seriously valid issues.
I'm prepared to work for my money, and this is the only matter I slightly differ from what Tony said. I'm not going to raise my day fees to compensate for so-called loss of income because my client wants to do it in a seriously ethical manner. Hell no! I'd rather make a little bit of money on the hunt, and have a genuinely enjoyable time, than let the Money God take over my life.
So, here goes :-
I'm prepared to do a 14 day safari with a client, with the proviso that the first 4 days will be a visit to Kruger National Park on a photographic and "educational" safari. During this time we will search for the animals the client wants to hunt, study them, and I will share with the client my knowledge about the animal, its normal behavior patterns, diet and all other info the client wants to know. Thereafter we will do a 10 day hunting safari in one concession area, and hunt seriously hard on foot to harvest 5 plains game species. No Toyota-stalking (searching with a vehicle for game). Serious and genuine hunting.
This offer is only open to someone who really wants to do it this way. Please read Tony's (WyomingHunter) comments on my blog posting "Outfitters & Ph's" to get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Day fees will be at a reduced rate for all 14 days (I told you I'm prepared to work for my money.) Trophy fees will be at my standard pricelist prices. At the end of the hunt the client decides whether this was a worthwhile hunt. If it was, he will pay me only the fees as agreed upon before the hunt, and I will ask him to spread the word amongst friends, family and others.
I would seriously like to do more hunts like these, where the focus is more on the knowledge shared and the enjoyment of the hunt, than on the number of animals bagged or chasing the money. I'd much rather take a little bit of money more often, and have truly enjoyable hunts, than going on a shooting spree and kill as many animals as possible on a hunt. I would love to share my passion for the South African bush with my clients, and actually have the time to do so.
