Hunting Buffalo in South Africa vs everywhere else

[Ike85123]

From above posts, a new question of this endless subject, comes to spotlight.

What are the conditions of Rawland Ward, for South African cape Buffalo, to be recognized by them.?

How to find the list of outfitters in South Africa, offering Buffalo, recognized by Rawland ward?

 

[mark-hunter]

So, a simple question to outfitter: Is your buffalo accepted by Rawland Ward, responded with reasonable evidence, will clear any suspicion of unethical game managment?

 

[revturbo9967]

So, a simple question to outfitter: Is your buffalo accepted by Rawland Ward, responded with reasonable evidence, will clear any suspicion of unethical game managment?

This is a pretty good question .

 

[wesheltonj]

Rowland Ward's Records of Big Game, 30th ed Africa, page 684 "Note: We accept Cape buffaloes from populations in South Africa and Namibia only if the are self-sustaining. This means the buffalo must come from a breeding population that can feed itself from naturally occurring vegetation without continual supplemental feeding by humans. (See Rowland Ward's Guiding Principles on our website.)"

 

[Rare Breed]

I've been in the debate in my head for quite some time now to hunt buffalo sooner rather than not at all. I'm not in any planning stages right now but I've been reading an awful lot about Buff hunting in the Caprivi. From hunting reports and videos, this area seems like a prime DG destination. It also comes with an heightened cost vs hunting buff in SA. I understand they're much different regulations/fees/costs for the outfitter associated with hunting in the Zambezi region so I understand the cost differences and why. I also know some SA outfits offer some very fine Buffalo hunting, and their hunts are usually far less expensive then other countries.

For those of you who hunt Buff in SA and in say, Zimbabwe or the Caprivi, have you seen a large difference in the quality of hunt? Have you seen a difference in the quality of the animal selections and heard? I have do not have a problem with fences and I'm not questioning hunting within a fence, but rather buffalo hunting in areas which are not natural habitats and are those hunts as good as one in their natural habitat.

Interesting. I am going on my first Buffalo hunt in 21 and already have a second one booked for 22. I had my first PG hunt in SA which was incredible! I am a market researcher by trade so I researched. Here is what I found:
1. In SA, you will find one of two things both of which are absolutely fine with me given I want the experience and I found my first SA hunt gave me an incredible experience and could not tell I was hunting 250,000 acres or 1 million acres.
2. Either you hunt a buffalo up to a certain horn size limit for a cost and pay a higher cost for a larger class or you pay one price for any size buffalo but in reality there is a known size limit available
Again I am in it for the experience and the two outfitters I have chosen I have total confidence and with one the actual experience I will get the experience and excitement I want and will be more than satisfied
Here is my point; what are you really looking for? I feel sorry for someone who has done no research yet expects to have the opportunity to put a buffalo in the record books who does not understand what both the cost and the questions to ask to make that determination if that is your goal; it is not mine but I respect if that is someones

I wish you the best of luck in your search!

 

[Red Leg]

Interesting. I am going on my first Buffalo hunt in 21 and already have a second one booked for 22. I had my first PG hunt in SA which was incredible! I am a market researcher by trade so I researched. Here is what I found:
1. In SA, you will find one of two things both of which are absolutely fine with me given I want the experience and I found my first SA hunt gave me an incredible experience and could not tell I was hunting 250,000 acres or 1 million acres.
2. Either you hunt a buffalo up to a certain horn size limit for a cost and pay a higher cost for a larger class or you pay one price for any size buffalo but in reality there is a known size limit available
Again I am in it for the experience and the two outfitters I have chosen I have total confidence and with one the actual experience I will get the experience and excitement I want and will be more than satisfied
Here is my point; what are you really looking for? I feel sorry for someone who has done no research yet expects to have the opportunity to put a buffalo in the record books who does not understand what both the cost and the questions to ask to make that determination if that is your goal; it is not mine but I respect if that is someones

I wish you the best of luck in your search!

One other data point that bears comment. In a wilderness area, your PH will be working his ass off to find you the best representative buffalo he can that the area will provide and your time will allow. You won’t be hunting or paying by the inch.

 

[One Day...]

I will re-use here some of what I posted a year ago in another thread https://www.africahunting.com/threads/largest-hunting-concession-south-africa.54944/#post-615078

A very legitimate question...

This is a very legitimate question, because there are indeed huge differences in how this all works in South Africa.

Size matters...

Based on limited personal experience in South Africa (Eastern Cape and Limpopo), my own personal judgment - for what it is very worth! - is that:

- 2,000 acres is the strict minimum property size one should consider for hunting, and only if 1) it is dense bush; 2) the hunt will be on foot; and 3) the hunt is short. After 2 to 3 days walking 2,000 acres you will likely know every stone on the property, and the reality is that most likely most animals on the property will not have been born on the property.

- 5,000 acres work fine in dense bush and on foot for 3 to 4 days, and a well managed property can sustain a few small breeding herds of classic plains game.

- 20,000 acres is a very practical property size in both dense and more open areas such as the Eastern Cape hillsides. You can hunt for 5 to 7 days on 20,000 acres without constantly hunting the same ground, and most animals on well managed and not over-hunted properties will be born on the property if it is not overgrazed and if it has a number of waterholes / water points.

- 50,000+ acres will provide conditions that approach free range hunting with self sustaining herds, and there will be a need to cull excess animals in well managed properties.

Of course, regardless of property size, if the harvest exceeds the natural growth of the population, the operation is not sustainable and the local herd will need to be complemented by releases of animals purchased from breeders'. It is not only completely OK, but highly recommended, to ask very simple and direct questions when you consider booking a hunt.

All "large hunting areas" are not the same...

Example #1: outfitter ABC state they hunt 60,000 acres. This is technically true, but in fact they own 0 acre and have 30 deals with small ranchers who own 2,000 acres each. In all likelihood, your 7 days hunt will be spend driving 3 to 6 hours on the highway everyday to and from one specific small property each day to hunt in a small enclosure one specific animal. This is probably not the hunt that most people would wish.

Example #2: outfitter DEF state that they hunt 30,000 acres. This is true, but they actually own 6 properties 5,000 acres each, that are not contiguous. This can be a very good hunt ... or not. Questions are warranted. 5,000 acres of dense bush is plenty to hunt on foot. Conversely, 5,000 acres of flat grassy low hills do not take much time to cover with a hunting vehicle.

Example #3: outfitter GHI specializes in Mountain Reedbuck and Vaal Rhebok and owns no property beside a lodge but state they hunt half a million acres. This can be true in the Karoo, Winterberg or Stormberg mountains, and it is likely to be free range hunting with 10 hours walking days on low fence properties covering an entire mountain. This is likely a great hunt, but with likely very low game population density. I personally love it, but many folks coming to Africa prefer to walk less and shoot more. To each their own.

Example #4: outfitter JKL owns 3,000 acres along XYZ National Park with which he shares a 2 miles unfenced border. Sure, game can walk back & forth between his property and the Park, and he technically hunts free ranging Park herds. This can be a fantastic hunt ... if outfitter JKL has on his property the only waterhole in a 15 miles radius on the Park side, but you better know exactly where the boundary line is and plan all your hunts according to it...

Etc. etc.

 

[revturbo9967]

My expectations for a bull are a bit different then some. I really don’t care about size, more about age. I really like bulls that are heavily worn and broken. I recently saw a picture where the bull was worn to his bosses. I would love to hunt a buff like that, or close.

 

[IdaRam]

I also know some SA outfits offer some very fine Buffalo hunting, and their hunts are usually far less expensive then other countries.

For those of you who hunt Buff in SA and in say, Zimbabwe or the Caprivi, have you seen a large difference in the quality of hunt?

I believe you can have a fantastic or a terrible buffalo hunting experience in every huntable country on the African continent. Per your question from the OP, it may be more of a question of flavor of the hunt as opposed to quality of the hunt. And while you can maximize your bang for the buck so to speak by careful shopping for what you are looking for, ultimately I believe you do in fact get what you pay for. A high quality buff hunt in SA is not likely to be “inexpensive”. Possibly less expensive than the Caprivi, yes. But a very different “flavor” hunt indeed.
You might ask some questions such as, how important is cost to me? For most of us working boys it is in fact a real determining factor. If we all had our way we’d probably be going to Tanzania for 20 or 30 days and shooting 3 or 4 buff. Alas, we were born with good looks and empty wallets so we choose another option. In some cases it may be a 7 day hunt in SA on a property of limited size. If that is what our budget allows, better to have hunted cape buffalo within our limited budget than not at all, right? I think so.
But if we have a larger budget, say $15K - $20K it may expand our opportunities and we need to start answering some additional questions. Questions such as, do I want to also hunt some PG animals and if so, what are those animals? Those additional animals may dictate where we want to hunt because the are found naturally occurring there.
Dropping back to the second question quoted above, quality of the hunt, I think you really must define what this means to you. Everyone’s answer to this question is a little or a lot different. I have had a truly excellent quality hunt in Zimbabwe. The best of my three trips to Africa. I’m going to Mozambique for buff in August. I expect this may be even better than Zim. There are superb buffalo hunting areas and excellent outfitters in every country including SA, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, etc, etc. I really don’t think you can compare hunt quality between countries. Just how the quality of the hunt you choose stacks up against your expectations. And that comes back to finding the area and outfitter best suited to your desires.
Physical fitness and how physically demanding the hunt will be are another huge consideration. If you will not be satisfied unless you put down 10-15 miles of boot leather a day and crawl into the rack exhausted every day for 10 days, I would choose a large area in Zim or Mozambique, for example. If being into herds of buff every day of the hunt and looking for that “perfect” specimen is the answer, maybe it’s something else. If you don’t mind wading around a swamp and being exhausted and wet, maybe it’s the zambizi delta. If you are less physically fit or just expect to stay in a luxury lodge and spend more time driving and less time walking and sweating, that’s another answer still. All can be high quality hunts and highly enjoyable. Just comes down to what is the right answer to you.
Enough rambling, I hope some tidbit of info helps you in your search. Enjoy the process! It’s all part of the fun

 

[Frederik]

This topic has been brought up multiple times especially when it comes to fence no fence South Africa vs other countries etc.

At the end its your hunt your money and your experience are you doing it to please and hunt for yourself, or for the Forum, Facebook and the rest of the world to keep them happy????

Do your homework and use a reputable outfitter or a PH you enjoy hunting with and have the time of your life. Beware Buffalo hunting is addictive.

 

[DWB]

The pictures below show the two extremes, first one is in the wild where the buffalo fends for itself against all comers. Second pic is a typical herd of RSA buffalo that is raised, protected and then released to be hunted. Of course there are also some in between the two extremes. Also, a 7 day buffalo hunt in the Zambezi in Zimbabwe is not that much more than an RSA buffalo hunt.

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Dear Mr Tanks.
Seeing that you are so well versed in SA, please go rub the cow in your photo with the tags.

I have hunted a few buffalo (3 of my own alone by myself with tracker) in a great area of SA. And I will have one hell of a debate with anyone wanting to tell me it's not true hunting just because it is in SA.

Any buffalo, if moved in SA, needs to be tagged and tested for disease control. The tags can be removed prior to release, but that adds cost and time.
Especially because our SA Buffalo are so cute and cudly.

I agree that there are bad operations out there. But please stop downplaying other's experiences

 

[Tanks]

Do your homework and use a reputable outfitter or a PH you enjoy hunting with and have the time of your life. Beware Buffalo African hunting is addictive.

Fixed it for you

For my upcoming August hunt in Zimbabwe I really don't care whether I shoot a 38" or a 45+" buffalo as I want to have fun and not really interested in record books. Ditto for the elephant. Now, for the leopard I'd like it to be a substantial size (not necessarily a record size) but again will take a mature male.

 

[CoElkHunter]

The pictures below show the two extremes, first one is in the wild where the buffalo fends for itself against all comers. Second pic is a typical herd of RSA buffalo that is raised, protected and then released to be hunted. Of course there are also some in between the two extremes. Also, a 7 day buffalo hunt in the Zambezi in Zimbabwe is not that much more than an RSA buffalo hunt.

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Are the orange tags in the ears for easier crosshair acquisition? That one looks awfully young? I wouldn't shoot it.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Choose the buff experience you can afford and just enjoy it and pay no heed to the gallery. There are no tame buff, just deadly buff.

 

[DWB]

Just a note on Cape Buffalo Habitat, they can live from top of Mountains to endless Plains to endless Swamp & that is just the Cape Buff.

Historically South Africa was the home to Cape Buffalo from Limpopo in the North to the Cape in the South, most of South Africa had Buffalo so can be found in most habitats in that country one of the most diverse in Africa !

The other main area was East Africa again some very different habitat but I think most hunters think of the classic East African Plains & Bush from reading books, off the Internet or TV shows.

I fully understand that & I think I to would love such a hunt, but SA has some great hunting for Buffalo at near half the cost of others, safer, easier to reach & family friendly with the added bonus of many other animals to hunt in abundance, do the research & you can find a great hunt in SA .

I myself really enjoy wildness area hunts & guided in Super remote areas of Outback Aussie, great place to do a hunt but a night mare to operate in, from logistics to dealing with local tribes .

Much much easier to guide near Darwin or Katherine on massive Ranch's & still great hunt but not true wildness .

Same can be said of Cape Buffalo in Africa & I have been to a lot of the county's Cape Buffalo are found, from Kenya to Caprivi

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Just a bit of a side note to this.

Obviously in South Africa a lot of places were named by the Voortrekkers (Afrikaans Pioneers). And when travelling across the country, even for me as a local, it is many times quite interesting to see the number of places with Buffel(Buffalo) and Leeu (Lion) in the names. They were indeed very widespread. Buffalo and elephant as fare as the Cape Provinces etc.

Quite interesting!

I personally prefer hunting them in the Lowveld & Limpopo Bushveld. I would also like to hunt them in the KZN bushveld and can imagine stumbling into them in the sand forest areas of North Eastern KZN that you can also get surprised fairly well!

I have no experience of the Eastern Cape, but viewing many a video it looks like it can offer a great hunt.

Buffalo are big, but they hide themselves real well!

It certainly adds to the adventure if there are predators like Leopard and Hyena in the vicinity, with Lion being an added bonus. So maybe not a bad question to ask when booking, as it will definitely put you in the correct area.

A buffalo horn up your behind will hurt just as bad anywhere in the world!
And PS, don't try petting buffalo in SA, you will get hurt.....

 

[TSALA HUNTING SAFARIS]

Just a few points.

As a hunter do your research on Outfitters , country and region , there are multiple excellent outfitter across Souther Africa that should be able to give you what you are looking for and each can offer a different experience at a different cost.But please don't disregard South Africa as an option.SA has many places with quality Buff hunting options with sustainable herds on big properties.

If we want to look at the facts , please go and have a look at the Rowland Ward entries since 2014.

To me it looks like the SA model is more sustainable than other Souther African countries for producing quality trophies.Remember strict laws govern the entry into the Rowland Ward record books.

The same facts can be produced for most other species.

Regards

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

The pictures below show the two extremes, first one is in the wild where the buffalo fends for itself against all comers. Second pic is a typical herd of RSA buffalo that is raised, protected and then released to be hunted. Of course there are also some in between the two extremes. Also, a 7 day buffalo hunt in the Zambezi in Zimbabwe is not that much more than an RSA buffalo hunt.

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massive generalisation !!!!!!!!

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

to speak from my personal experience
as an outfitter with around somewhere between 120 and 150 buffalo running a big property
they definately are not tame
in fact they are very clever, wily, and can just dissapear when the topography allows
we have from rocky very thick vegetation to soft red sand with large trees to fairly open grassy areas
buff thrive here and have been for 100's of years
there are a lot of areas and operators that run such operations and the buffalo hunting is definately not easy.
i have had hunters for up to 14 days and never got their buff, but the next client arrives and BANG, first day buff in the salt.....thats hunting. and that can happen anywhere

we dont charge by the inch

do your homework with good operators
and just have a good time once you are there

 

[VertigoBE]

Alas, we were born with good looks and empty wallets so we choose another option.

Speak for yourself with those looks!
Never heard this expression though, but love it!

 

[Chickenfarmers]

I was in Zim in 09. We hunted buff and plains game. If I were to do it all over again I'd pass on on the plains game and buy 2 buff. There's nothing like being in a herd of buff trying to not get winded. A PAC hunt for elephant would also be high on my list. License fees are sometimes negotiable with the PH. They buy a block of animals in an area and then mark up the prices. They don't like you to know that. At least that's the way it works in Zim. Pretty much everything in Africa is negotiable, US cash dollars talk. And like every has said the flight sucks. Senegal is an armpit. If you can fly direct to RSA, do it.