Question to guides/PH's, what makes a good client?

[Ontario Hunter]

I think we all agree the hunt should be as a team. Not as employer and employees. Learn the entire teams name. Write them down when you get in camp. Name next to title or role.

Then use their name during the hunt. Not, hey tracker or hey game scout. Learn basic words in their language to talk to them. Most of their words for animals etc are more fun to use anyway.

That's a great suggestion. Most of the time I can't remember the name of our planet. A set of index cards will be helpful. "Umm ... let's see ... okay ... here it is. Pietre, is that hartbeest the one we've looking for?"

 

[spike.t]

for me as an outfitter and ph
1st most important - a good attitude and listen to your PH, take his advice, he wants you to have a good time and succeed.
good communication before and during the hunt is key
the rest, if you are a good ph you should be able to work with

Yup...haven't read all pages so if repeating apologies..go with flow and don't be fixated on the tape measure....an old worn down trophy is to me far better looking than a just mature animal with pointy bits ....noisy walking..noisy clothing just a fact of life..going to happen so take deep breath and laugh under your breath.(us that is) .... if you not convinced of your shot don't shoot and say so...but don't stand on the sticks for half an hour to take your shot when it's clear ....especially if its the 3rd or so time you been put in a shooting situation on same animal.....that honestly is really frustrating to us.... but as I said go with the flow ..its your hunt/holiday so its our job to make sure you enjoy it.....unfortunately there will always be odd one (so far very few) that it doesn't matter how or what you do they don't seem happy....

 

[Happy Myles]

i have been a very serious big game hunter more than 75 years around the world. I seem to get along well with PH and staff. Here are some things that seem to have helped me. My focus is on having a wonderful adventure not on how many animals i have collected. To that end I attempt to be gracious and a good listener at all times. If I do not feel comfortable with the shot i do not take it. I stay in shape by exercise and slim weight by diet, I train at the rifle range regularly so am familiar with my firearms and a confident marksman. I pack lightly and take well used quiet shoes. I make a point of having a serious discussion on hunting strategy and behavior the first night before the excitement of the chase. Although not fluent, i get by in Kiswahili to be polite with staff.
Decades ago, my PH came to my tent telling me a couple men were there to see me.
They were trackers from a previous safari who heard I was back, we had a nice chat and I sent them home with elephant meat, paid for their bus fare, p[us a little cash. Just a few years ago I arrived at my Tanzania camp for my 81st birthday hunt and to my surprise a tracker stepped forward and handed me a walking stick he had cut for me on an earlier safari…..i love Africa wild country.
Maybe I am just a good tipper

 

[Killo]

with the shot i do not take it. I stay in shape by exercise and slim weight by diet, I train at the rifle range regularly so am familiar

i have been a very serious big game hunter more than 75 years around the world. I seem to get along well with PH and staff. Here are some things that seem to have helped me. My focus is on having a wonderful adventure not on how many animals i have collected. To that end I attempt to be gracious and a good listener at all times. If I do not feel comfortable with the shot i do not take it. I stay in shape by exercise and slim weight by diet, I train at the rifle range regularly so am familiar with my firearms and a confident marksman. I pack lightly and take well used quiet shoes. I make a point of having a serious discussion on hunting strategy and behavior the first night before the excitement of the chase. Although not fluent, i get by in Kiswahili to be polite with staff.
Decades ago, my PH came to my tent telling me a couple men were there to see me.
They were trackers from a previous safari who heard I was back, we had a nice chat and I sent them home with elephant meat, paid for their bus fare, p[us a little cash. Just a few years ago I arrived at my Tanzania camp for my 81st birthday hunt and to my surprise a tracker stepped forward and handed me a walking stick he had cut for me on an earlier safari…..i love Africa wild country.
Maybe I am just a good tipper

Bravo!!!

 

[Pablo]

About 30 years ago I guided a few whitetail hunts for a family ranch here in South Texas. They had a pretty good management program going with set criteria for clients.
At one point, they had a corporation pick up some hunts for their vendors and some of these guys were there to have fun with a side of shooting. There were several wounded deer and obnoxious attitudes over a few days.
My client and I hunted for three days and he finally shot a mature 10 pointer the last morning. He wasn’t as bad as some of the group, but he did inform me of all the bucks he had taken.
At one point we were sitting in a brush blind and a very nice 11 pointer walked out. Heavy horns and I was guessing him to be a 150 class buck. The only problem was that he was young, not over 3.5 years old. The guy throws his rifle up and I tell him to wait. I told him that he was too young and he was off limits. For a minute, I thought the guy was going to shoot him and he wasn’t happy. That night, one of the owners pulled me aside and said the guy complained about me. I stood by my call and that buck was their first B&C a few years later.
I guess my point is that you need to trust your PH or guide to make the right call. I did just that when my PH in RSA said to not shoot that big nyala we had set up on. He had great horns but too young.

 

[Puddle]

As a client I enjoy being in camp with other hunters. I see it as an opportunity to meet others I otherwise would never come across in life. However, that all ends at the bakkie.

When it comes to rifles and ammo, I'm either with others that I'm absolutely certain practice muzzle control, otherwise it's just me on the track behind the PH. That is non-negotiable.

 

[Bos en Dal SAFARIS]

To me, it is all about mutual respect. If a client shows respect for my place, staff, equipment, and the animals, any PH will be able to work with him/her, and they will have a good time.

Do your part and know your equipment and shooting ability, and the PH/Guide will do his to get you on the best animal in the best shooting position. And lastly, what has been said is clear communication; when you complete the questionnaire, please indicate if there is anything you don't eat. It really causes frustration in camp if you say on the form everything is good, but then if the food is presented, you start sifting through the plate, taking out things you don't like. Most operations are far from town, and if a menu needs changing, it causes a big inconvenience as every outfitter wants his client to have a great time; someone needs to go to town and get the things necessary to change up what is served.

 

[mdwest]

To me, it is all about mutual respect. If a client shows respect for my place, staff, equipment, and the animals, any PH will be able to work with him/her

Fuck you Tony!

 

[Bos en Dal SAFARIS]

Ezekiel, hows your mum

 

[Jman]

Have any of you had any clients who don't want to or refuse to eat what they hunt, meaning the client shoots an animal and refuses to eat it? Do guides/ph's and cooks prefer the client eat what they hunt? Is the eating of the animals that are hunted part the whole adventure and expected by the outfitter?

For me personally, it's not about killing animals just to kill an animal for sport, there has to be a real purpose for me to kill an animal and it's the meat they provide and I'd like to experience the meat of these animals and also I'm on the carnivore diet so I'm all in on eating as much meat as possible.

On my most recent safari, my hunting group and I were pretty disappointed that we weren't served more of the game we harvested. We only ate game meat once from one of the multiple harvested "edible" animals. It was a specific request we had when planning the safari as well. It's part of the experience for us. Im sure it doesn't go to waste, but come on..

 

[Jman]

This is a good thread and it's interesting reading some of the comments. Im just a client myself, but I had a pretty rough and disheartening time on my second safari. Disheartening because I still look back and weigh how much was my fault vs the PH I was with. I think Im a humble and quiet person. Im there to learn, listen, and hunt. My PH was such a poor communicator and threw tantrums over everything. Way WAY too serious. It wasn't fun. Ive hunted my whole life, but its still just my second safari, so its hard to convince myself that I wasn't doing anything wrong. It sucks when the second PH you've ever hunted with labels you as a pathetic hunter.

 

[Sabre]

This is a good thread and it's interesting reading some of the comments. Im just a client myself, but I had a pretty rough and disheartening time on my second safari. Disheartening because I still look back and weigh how much was my fault vs the PH I was with. I think Im a humble and quiet person. Im there to learn, listen, and hunt. My PH was such a poor communicator and threw tantrums over everything. Way WAY too serious. It wasn't fun. Ive hunted my whole life, but its still just my second safari, so its hard to convince myself that I wasn't doing anything wrong. It sucks when the second PH you've ever hunted with labels you as a pathetic hunter.

Sorry to hear that your experience was so poor. I don't know the specifics of your safari. But if the PH wasn't the owner (which would make this more difficult), you could often have gone to the owner/outfitter and requested a different PH if your hunt experience was being ruined.

I would be interested in hearing more about what happened on your hunt. Maybe you could start a thread discussing it.

 

[Jman]

Sorry to hear that your experience was so poor. I don't know the specifics of your safari. But if the PH wasn't the owner (which would make this more difficult), you could often have gone to the owner/outfitter and requested a different PH if your hunt experience was being ruined.

I would be interested in hearing more about what happened on your hunt. Maybe you could start a thread discussing it.

I did eventually ask for a different PH on that safari. Funny enough, the last couple days hunting with the other PHs was a blast and I harvested the one animal I was after. I may start a thread on here sometime.