First Hunting Safari booked!

[Matt Perchick]

I just booked my first Safari for May 2017. I will be hunting with KMG Safaris in the Eastern Cape. The species I will be targeting are Nyala, Kudu, Bushbuck and Impala. Now for the rest of the planning!

 

[billc]

Looks like you made a good choice with kmg. Make sure to plan a day to see the addo park well worth it i think.

 

[Nyati]

Wish you the best of luck !

 

[Matt Perchick]

Looks like you made a good choice with kmg. Make sure to plan a day to see the addo park well worth it i think.

I will look into that. Thanks

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Good luck and all the best in Africa Matt.
Witold

 

[CAustin]

Matt you are going to have a blast ! I look forward to reading your hunt report when you are done!

 

[ActionBob]

Congrats on pulling the trigger and booking something Matt. How many days are you doing?

 

[Matt Perchick]

Congrats on pulling the trigger and booking something Matt. How many days are you doing?

10 days

 

[BRICKBURN]

Have fun.

 

[crs]

Good hunting and take plenty pix so you can show us upon your return!

 

[Matt Perchick]

Good hunting and take plenty pix so you can show us upon your return!

Of course

 

[ActionBob]

10 days

Oh Matt! 10 days in the EC during the month of May! That has to be prime time there... Should hit the kudu rut. You are going to need a much larger wish list. Or even better, just be prepared for about 1 1/2 critters per day if you want to hunt real hard, or At least 7 or 8 if your going to take it easy.

I haven't hunted with KMG and have not looked in depth at the new web site, but if I recall correctly Marius has some decent deals on some of the more difficult or uncommon species, like greysbuck and a few others that will start to grab your attention after you get many of the larger critters. And even if you don't shoot one, ask him to show you the bontebucks, compare to blesbuck. If your budget allows there might be some opportunities to take soem critters the rest of us are still drooling over. And if your budget is tight, you need to at least plan on taking all the cheaper critters so you can keep hunting!

An add on you may enjoy, especially if you have a female companion with you... Is the Schotia Tooth and Claw game drive and dinner. A tip though, take a very good flashlight with a good strong focused spot beam ability. The spotlight operators are not always the best... Our tour guide had a dead one... my tip to her was to suggest she get a backup light

 

[peras]

Enjoy and good luck!

 

[Divernhunter]

If you do not enjoy it you are brain dead. We went to the Eastern Cape in May 2013 and it was great.

I am booked to go back to the Eastern Cape with Iliwa Safaris in May 2017 also. What part of the month are you going? I will hunt for the 1st two weeks and then spend 1-2 weeks sightseeing again.
Take candy(usually hard candy) for the trackers and such. Buy lots of stuff to bring back and just take stuff you can leave to make room for the stuff you bring home. I left t-shirts/cheaper blue jeans/socks/a pair of tennis shoes/shampoo/soap and such for the staff/tracker etc. Take a very good camera and use it. Also take a little pocket camera as it will be handy. Plan some extra days for sightseeing. We did before we went to hunt and that way any jet-lag would be over.

Who knows we may be on the same plane or at the airport at the same time.

PM me if I can help with what to take , what not to take etc.

 

[Matt Perchick]

Oh Matt! 10 days in the EC during the month of May! That has to be prime time there... Should hit the kudu rut. You are going to need a much larger wish list. Or even better, just be prepared for about 1 1/2 critters per day if you want to hunt real hard, or At least 7 or 8 if your going to take it easy.

I haven't hunted with KMG and have not looked in depth at the new web site, but if I recall correctly Marius has some decent deals on some of the more difficult or uncommon species, like greysbuck and a few others that will start to grab your attention after you get many of the larger critters. And even if you don't shoot one, ask him to show you the bontebucks, compare to blesbuck. If your budget allows there might be some opportunities to take soem critters the rest of us are still drooling over. And if your budget is tight, you need to at least plan on taking all the cheaper critters so you can keep hunting!

An add on you may enjoy, especially if you have a female companion with you... Is the Schotia Tooth and Claw game drive and dinner. A tip though, take a very good flashlight with a good strong focused spot beam ability. The spotlight operators are not always the best... Our tour guide had a dead one... my tip to her was to suggest she get a backup light

Marius does have very good prices, that's how I came up with the Nyala. I figured there would be more animals I want once I get there. I figured if I focus on 4 I will still have time if we see some others that might want to come back to Missouri with me I tried to get the wife to come along but she has no interest. That's ok with me. In exchange I have to take her to Cancun twice this year. I will survive somehow

 

[Royal27]

Enjoy the trip and the planning! Marias has a stellar reputation is a great choice!

Make sure to plan a day to see the addo park well worth it i think.

Totally agree here. Scotia and Shamwari are also excellent and all three are different and all worth the time.

Oh Matt! 10 days in the EC during the month of May! That has to be prime time there... Should hit the kudu rut. You are going to need a much larger wish list. Or even better, just be prepared for about 1 1/2 critters per day if you want to hunt real hard, or At least 7 or 8 if your going to take it easy.

This is true too. Hard for folks to get their mind wrapped around the amount of game, until you are there and see it, myself included. If you stick to four animals you're going to get some incredible quality. If you can, have some extra trophy fee money for when Marius sees something and starts to drool. If he asks to see your rifle then shoot immediately without hesitation.

The real point of the extra unplanned cash is this. I've heard a lot of "I wish I had shot that animal, but it wasn't on my list" but rarely if ever do you hear it the other way around.

Enjoy!

 

[Scott Slough]

Looks like you made a good choice with kmg. Make sure to plan a day to see the addo park well worth it i think.

An add on you may enjoy, especially if you have a female companion with you... Is the Schotia Tooth and Claw game drive and dinner. A tip though, take a very good flashlight with a good strong focused spot beam ability. The spotlight operators are not always the best... Our tour guide had a dead one... my tip to her was to suggest she get a backup light

Can't recommend Addo strongly enough and can't NOT recommend Scotia Game Ranch enough. We made the mistake of booking them in a combined one day tour, so we rushed through the slightly habituated, but totally wild Ado to totally habituated, drive around safari park. We have a number of the same kind of park in the US ... we don't have anything like Addo. I would spend two days at Addo if possible.

You will fall in love with the Eastern Cape!

 

[Royal27]

Marius does have very good prices, that's how I came up with the Nyala. I figured there would be more animals I want once I get there. I figured if I focus on 4 I will still have time if we see some others that might want to come back to Missouri with me I tried to get the wife to come along but she has no interest. That's ok with me. In exchange I have to take her to Cancun twice this year. I will survive somehow

You've got it all figured out.

 

[Matt Perchick]

If you do not enjoy it you are brain dead. We went to the Eastern Cape in May 2013 and it was great.

I am booked to go back to the Eastern Cape with Iliwa Safaris in May 2017 also. What part of the month are you going? I will hunt for the 1st two weeks and then spend 1-2 weeks sightseeing again.
Take candy(usually hard candy) for the trackers and such. Buy lots of stuff to bring back and just take stuff you can leave to make room for the stuff you bring home. I left t-shirts/cheaper blue jeans/socks/a pair of tennis shoes/shampoo/soap and such for the staff/tracker etc. Take a very good camera and use it. Also take a little pocket camera as it will be handy. Plan some extra days for sightseeing. We did before we went to hunt and that way any jet-lag would be over.

Who knows we may be on the same plane or at the airport at the same time.

PM me if I can help with what to take , what not to take etc.

I will be there at the end of the month. I will definitely send you a message if I need some help which I am sure I will

 

[ActionBob]

Can't recommend Addo strongly enough and can't NOT recommend Scotia Game Ranch enough. We made the mistake of booking them in a combined one day tour, so we rushed through the slightly habituated, but totally wild Ado to totally habituated, drive around safari park. We have a number of the same kind of park in the US ... we don't have anything like Addo. I would spend two days at Addo if possible.

You will fall in love with the Eastern Cape!

I actually agree in general with this... That is why I said if you have a female companion, it might be worth the dinner part. And specifically the night drive part... Which I don't think you can do in Addo... However if you are on your own, ask Marius to take you out one or two nights to spotlight the night critters. He's not likely going to be able to show you lions, but with a little luck you might see some small cats... in fact inquire about hunting them. Even try calling for jackal. You might get to see bat eared foxes as well.