Ballpark Figures, what does it cost to hunt Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino, Hippo, Lion, Plains Game in 2024/2025.

[Northern Shooter]

I know that prices will tend to vary from Outfitter to Outfitter, ranch vs free-range and Country by Country. I'm looking for ballpark "typical" pricing for the above species to get a better understanding of how much to budget for.

I'd be interested to see South Africa Vs Not South Africa (Fenced vs Not Fenced) prices as well as hunt cost Vs total costs (including trophy fees, taxidermy, import/export etc). Do you generally double the listed hunt price for your all -in including the above and travel?

From what I am seeing it looks for the hunt itself you can hunt 5-7 plains game for under $10,000 USD, Cape Buffalo for around the $10,000 USD mark and the others being many multiples of those.

Does a lion hunt generally cost more than Buffalo? Rhino cost more than Elephant? Where does Hippo fit in?

Thank you,

 

[uplander01]

Easy answer, if you have 25k to spend you can have some fun, 35k, next level fun, 45k, you can be a baller......I don't travel in the crowd of guys that can spend more than that

 

[Rare Breed]

I know that prices will tend to vary from Outfitter to Outfitter, ranch vs free-range and Country by Country. I'm looking for ballpark "typical" pricing for the above species to get a better understanding of how much to budget for.

I'd be interested to see South Africa Vs Not South Africa (Fenced vs Not Fenced) prices as well as hunt cost Vs total costs (including trophy fees, taxidermy, import/export etc). Do you generally double the listed hunt price for your all -in including the above and travel?

From what I am seeing it looks for the hunt itself you can hunt 5-7 plains game for under $10,000 USD, Cape Buffalo for around the $10,000 USD mark and the others being many multiples of those.

Does a lion hunt generally cost more than Buffalo? Rhino cost more than Elephant? Where does Hippo fit in?

Thank you,

Nice thread but you might be opening a can of worms. Your pricing is good in SA for Buff and PG. In fact you can usually find a below 40 inch buff on deals for $8500. The keys are lion and Rhino. For a truly wild lion you will pay with baiting between $50-$70,000. You will see others on here have paid more. If on the other hand you did a CBT lion the cost is $6 to $12,000. For Rhino your only choice is SA. To kill one you can find de horned deals from $18-$20,000. For full horn you can find $25-$40,000. For dart hunts you can find $6-$7,000. For country’s like Zim for a 14 day hunt you will pay $8-$1,000 per day for day rates then $5-$7,500 for trophy fees for a buff, $4-$5,000 for a tuskless, $14-$30,000 for a bull elephant and $5-$15,000 for a leopard. I know the above costs since I have done most of these hunts certainly not all. Hope this is what you were looking for

 

[Northern Shooter]

Nice thread but you might be opening a can of worms. Your pricing is good in SA for Buff and PG. In fact you can usually find a below 40 inch buff on deals for $8500. The keys are lion and Rhino. For a truly wild lion you will pay with baiting between $50-$70,000. You will see others on here have paid more. If on the other hand you did a CBT lion the cost is $6 to $12,000. For Rhino your only choice is SA. To kill one you can find de horned deals from $18-$20,000. For full horn you can find $25-$40,000. For dart hunts you can find $6-$7,000. For country’s like Zim for a 14 day hunt you will pay $8-$1,000 per day for day rates then $5-$7,500 for trophy fees for a buff, $4-$5,000 for a tuskless, $14-$30,000 for a bull elephant and $5-$15,000 for a leopard. I know the above costs since I have done most of these hunts certainly not all. Hope this is what you were looking for

Thanks for that information.

What is a CBT lion?

 

[Rare Breed]

When you look at Tanzania and Zambia day rates can easily go to $2,000 per day. For elephant in Botswana all in for a 70-80 pounder $60-$80,000

 

[Rare Breed]

Thanks for that information.

What is a CBT lion?

sorry. lol!!! It is a pen raised lion that is released to be hunted. I believe it is CBL. It can be three days up to about 14 days before the hunt. It can be on large acreage or small. If you look up CBL you will find teams of debate on the ethics of doing this type hunt so please this is not a thread to debate. You asked a question and I used my experience to answer. I happily took my lion this way and loved it. I want to get the big 5 and only have my leopard remaining. I could never afford to pay for a wild lion as I checked on it with many outfitters. Nor could I do the Rhino kill. I had an incredible dart hunt for rhino where I fired the sleeping dart not a vida dart at just 20 yards truly an incredible experience and qualifies you for taking the big 5

 

[revturbo9967]

You are looking north of 150k for free range. You would probably run out of time, even on a 21 day hunt.

I wouldn’t entertain South Africa for any big five animals unless it was against Kruger

 

[Sarg]

Nice thread but you might be opening a can of worms. Your pricing is good in SA for Buff and PG. In fact you can usually find a below 40 inch buff on deals for $8500. The keys are lion and Rhino. For a truly wild lion you will pay with baiting between $50-$70,000. You will see others on here have paid more. If on the other hand you did a CBT lion the cost is $6 to $12,000. For Rhino your only choice is SA. To kill one you can find de horned deals from $18-$20,000. For full horn you can find $25-$40,000. For dart hunts you can find $6-$7,000. For country’s like Zim for a 14 day hunt you will pay $8-$1,000 per day for day rates then $5-$7,500 for trophy fees for a buff, $4-$5,000 for a tuskless, $14-$30,000 for a bull elephant and $5-$15,000 for a leopard. I know the above costs since I have done most of these hunts certainly not all. Hope this is what you were looking for

Great post, well done for helping out.

Just a point Rhino are hunted in Namibia also, it has a nice population of Black Rhino, permits are offered from time to time.

There is also some very good Big 5 hunting in SA & it doesn’t need to be adjacent to or open to Kruger !

 

[Ridge Runner]

Your initial paragraph pretty much sums up what you are asking. Infinite answers.

Cull or Trophy hunt?

Are you wanting to hunt all five animals on the same trip? Or are you asking for a ballpark figure for individual animal hunt? Or are you asking for any combinations of animals to hunt on the same trip?

May I suggest you:

1. Figure out how much you are willing to spend for a hunt.

2. Break it down by country to see what the rough average cost of a buff hunt is.

3. Do your due diligence in researching outfitters to get an idea on daily fees and trophy fees. Most outfitters provide an "All In" rate that includes daily rates and buff trophy fees, but may or may not include VAT and/or other required government and/or tribal fees.

4. Taxidermy:
a. In country?
b. Back in your home country?
c. Does your outfitter of choice offer taxidermy?
d. Mount: shoulder, pedestal, full body?

5. Import / Export: Break it down by country.
a. This depends on create size and weight
b. Number of creates
c. Air vs Sea shipping

6. Tips: at your discretion of course and depends on:
a. your hunt: excellent, good, mediocre, horrible
b. Type of hunt: from a lodge or bush camp? Free range, large open high fence property, or small farm. Does the outfitter charge one trophy fee regardless of length or per inch?
c. Location of hunt: country of choice RSA is less expensive than say Botswana.

7. Airfare:
a. From where to where and return,
b. What/which airline(s).
c. What class? What seat?; ie economy "cattle" to business
d. Any extra add-ons/upgrades
e. Traveling with or without weapon(s)

8. Before and/or After the hunt: overnight accommodation required, souvenir shopping, extra meals, extra activities?

9. Weapon(s):
a.Bringing your own or renting?
b. Are you prepared for the horror of "lost/mis routed" weapon land/or ammo?

10. TIA. Only going for a buff and quit?, or willing to add animals of opportunity Plains Game?: how many additional animal(s)? or a separate budget to take 1 to ____ animals?

etc., etc.,

Check out this forums deals and offers then add to it 4 thru 10.

Simple answer: NONE

Quick rough guesstimate average "All In": $15,000.00USD for a 7 day cull buff hunt in RSA to $40,000.00USD for a 7 day bush camp trophy buff hunt.

Set your "all in" budget at $250,000.00USD and possibly book with 2 different outfitters for a 40 day (2 x 20 hunting days/ outfitter) and you should be in the ballpark to hunt true trophies on your list of the Big 5.

 

[Rare Breed]

To your points well made…so much depends on what you want. My post showed you can get good deals but depends on your goals. The following shares just my experience to help you for my vision of taking the big five
1. SA cape buff 43 inches $8,000 during COVID airfare $1,800, second in Zim 37 inches $13,500 for buff $3,000 airfare including charter flight
2. Rhino SA dart hunt $6500 value I won at auction 21 inch horn $2500 two airfares
3. Bull Elephant Zim 20 years old 15 pounder $15,000 with $2800 two airfares
4. CBL male lion kalahari SA $6500 plus $1,500 airfare
The only remaining fees Tips, VAT and taxidermist inclusive of all shipping

 

[Rare Breed]

I have taken a wide variety of PG all on packages that are very reasonable. Most of my PG hunts SA $5-$6,000 5 animals each time all in with average airfare $1,800

 

[Flipper Dude]

Good afternoon drew was great to see you guys below is a quotation for 20-30 September 2024

10 days @1000/day (Drew)
10 days @ 250/ day ( wife)
2% accomodation tax
Buffalo 6000
T/ Elephant 5000
2% trophy tax
Vat $23/day

Total 24200

Please let me know if you have any questions

Regards


This year from a well established operator that you’ve heard of. Zimbabwe. Safari area

 

[Flipper Dude]

That said, airfare + tips + fishing -+ accommodations before and after added about 10K

 

[375Fox]

There are a lot of variables in saying ballpark. If I was going to think about quality hunts outside South Africa I’d be thinking $20k-$25k on buffalo, $30k on bull elephant, $30-$35k on leopard, $60k-$70k on lion. Zimbabwe is one of least expensive DG countries and Tanzania is the most expensive by a wide margin. In a wild area/concession area you are paying for the quality of the area. There are areas that are under heavy poaching, areas that are recovering from heavy poaching and have a few good pockets of game, and areas that have been well protected and see good game numbers throughout. Community areas with villages and dedicated safari areas with no people. It all gets reflected in the price.

South African prices can be lower but it’s not a question of fenced vs unfenced. It’s a question of how that fence is used to manage what’s inside. Young buffalo bulls and post breeding bulls from breeding operations are readily available for purchase. A landowner can buy bulls to increase the huntable number each year from 5 truly self sustaining to 10 supplemented with the appearance of being self sustaining. Then there is outright put and take buy at X price and sell at a higher price a short time later. It can all be reflected in the price but I find it difficult to identify those being honest and not fully honest except for a few cases. They nearly all get called self sustaining for marketing purposes. There was an offer here that advertised self sustaining buffalo from a herd of 150 but somehow had 80 hard bossed 8+ year old bulls in that “self sustaining” herd. The truly self sustaining buffalo in South Africa seem to be similar priced to Zimbabwe.

PG you are generally looking at $300-$500 a day in South Africa and Namibia on private land with higher trophy fees than concession areas. In concession areas (if they even offer PG hunts) you’d be looking at $500-$1000 a day for standard species (no sable, roan, etc) then lower trophy fees but most PG are taken as an add on to DG hunts. For a good PG hunt I’d ballpark $10k-$20k depending what you want.

Then flights, tips, and shipping home on top of this.

 

[Ridge Runner]

There are a lot of variables in saying ballpark. If I was going to think about quality hunts outside South Africa I’d be thinking $20k-$25k on buffalo, $30k on bull elephant, $30-$35k on leopard, $60k-$70k on lion. Zimbabwe is one of least expensive DG countries and Tanzania is the most expensive by a wide margin. In a wild area/concession area you are paying for the quality of the area. There are areas that are under heavy poaching, areas that are recovering from heavy poaching and have a few good pockets of game, and areas that have been well protected and see good game numbers throughout. Community areas with villages and dedicated safari areas with no people. It all gets reflected in the price.

South African prices can be lower but it’s not a question of fenced vs unfenced. It’s a question of how that fence is used to manage what’s inside. Young buffalo bulls and post breeding bulls from breeding operations are readily available for purchase. A landowner can buy bulls to increase the huntable number each year from 5 truly self sustaining to 10 supplemented with the appearance of being self sustaining. Then there is outright put and take buy at X price and sell at a higher price a short time later. It can all be reflected in the price but I find it difficult to identify those being honest and not fully honest except for a few cases. They nearly all get called self sustaining for marketing purposes. There was an offer here that advertised self sustaining buffalo from a herd of 150 but somehow had 80 hard bossed 8+ year old bulls in that “self sustaining” herd. The truly self sustaining buffalo in South Africa seem to be similar priced to Zimbabwe.

PG you are generally looking at $300-$500 a day in South Africa and Namibia on private land with higher trophy fees than concession areas. In concession areas (if they even offer PG hunts) you’d be looking at $500-$1000 a day for standard species (no sable, roan, etc) then lower trophy fees but most PG are taken as an add on to DG hunts. For a good PG hunt I’d ballpark $10k-$20k depending what you want.

Then flights, tips, and shipping home on top of this.

What the OP has not really clarified is: hunting his list animals at once, any other specific travel arrangements, or whether the animals on his list are individually hunted, or a package hunt.

The OP left out so many variables it is impossible to answer his question with an honest answer. My initial response is is not a top of the line, first class with all record book animal's nor a bottom line cheapest experience, but a conservative mediocre "all in" cost based on the items 4 - 10, with mediocre airfares, shoulder mounts, and back skins taxidermy, at lodges, and allowing for opportunity animals.

Just too many variables to give a true guesstimate for the question.

 

[Northern Shooter]

What the OP has not really clarified is: hunting his list animals at once, any other specific travel arrangements, or whether the animals on his list are individually hunted, or a package hunt.

The OP left out so many variables it is impossible to answer his question with an honest answer. My initial response is is not a top of the line, first class with all record book animal's nor a bottom line cheapest experience, but a conservative mediocre "all in" cost based on the items 4 - 10, with mediocre airfares, shoulder mounts, and back skins taxidermy, at lodges, and allowing for opportunity animals.

Just too many variables to give a true guesstimate for the question.

That's fair. I understand there are many, many variables at play here that will contribute to the overall cost of these hunts.

I was just trying to gauge what the average or lower end "typical" experience would cost for each of the game.

Having never hunted Africa I really wasn't sure if an Elephant was 15k or 150k, if a Lion was priced like a Buffalo hunt, or if a Rhino could be hunted at all (my only point of reference was that Knowlton case @ $350,000).

I'll keep doing my research and will be focusing on South Africa as that will be my first trip.

 

[revturbo9967]

That's fair. I understand there are many, many variables at play here that will contribute to the overall cost of these hunts.

I was just trying to gauge what the average or lower end "typical" experience would cost for each of the game.

Having never hunted Africa I really wasn't sure if an Elephant was 15k or 150k, if a Lion was priced like a Buffalo hunt, or if a Rhino could be hunted at all (my only point of reference was that Knowlton case @ $350,000).

I'll keep doing my research and will be focusing on South Africa as that will be my first trip.

Why focus South Africa for your first trip? What draws you to South Africa?

 

[Aaron N]

That's fair. I understand there are many, many variables at play here that will contribute to the overall cost of these hunts.

I was just trying to gauge what the average or lower end "typical" experience would cost for each of the game.

Having never hunted Africa I really wasn't sure if an Elephant was 15k or 150k, if a Lion was priced like a Buffalo hunt, or if a Rhino could be hunted at all (my only point of reference was that Knowlton case @ $350,000).

I'll keep doing my research and will be focusing on South Africa as that will be my first trip.

If you watch the deals listed here you should get a good guage of the cost associated with most countries

 

[DieJager]

A wild lioness in Zimbabwe is much cheaper than a male. Something to consider. Also a tuskless cow elephant and a buffalo cow.

 

[BJH65]

To your points well made…so much depends on what you want. My post showed you can get good deals but depends on your goals. The following shares just my experience to help you for my vision of taking the big five
1. SA cape buff 43 inches $8,000 during COVID airfare $1,800, second in Zim 37 inches $13,500 for buff $3,000 airfare including charter flight
2. Rhino SA dart hunt $6500 value I won at auction 21 inch horn $2500 two airfares
3. Bull Elephant Zim 20 years old 15 pounder $15,000 with $2800 two airfares
4. CBL male lion kalahari SA $6500 plus $1,500 airfare
The only remaining fees Tips, VAT and taxidermist inclusive of all shipping

Thanks for posting this. The fees you paid for these hunts are within reach of more than a few. Of course prices are creeping up a bit on some. In fact, everything you outlined is something on my list except perhaps swapping Zim buffalo with Greater Kruger buffalo. Especially 2-4 are on my bucket list.

If the OP is flexible, perhaps he could take advantage of some of the great offers on cancellation hunts. There have been some fantastic offers.