huntsolo101
AH senior member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2010
- Messages
- 83
- Reaction score
- 39
- Media
- 35
- Member of
- SCI , NRA, Wisconsin Bowhunters, SCI Wisconsin Chapter,
- Hunted
- usa, canada, south africa, namibia
Let me start with explaining a few things. I have hunted most of the animals found in South Africa. Except for the animals that want to stomp or eat me for dinner. I have hunted some great pieces of property. 50,000 acres in Vryhid was by far the most diverse. Unfortunitly that piece was taken back by the government and given back to the Zulu. Unfortunately everything made by the outfitter was destroyed in less than 1 year. That outfitter got money from the government. If it really does get bad and the current government does allow land grabs the current landowners will not get compensated . This is a huge fear across the entire South African peninsula. Land is not being sold right now in fear you may lose it the day after you pay for it.
This leads me to Magersfontein Safaris located just outside of Kimberley South Africa. Seeing our perfect hunting grounds got taken we had to find a new place to come to. We first hunted with Magersfontein in 2011. I want you all to know why we continue to go back. I am not a agent. I am a plumber. Greg and Jacqui have become a very good friends. I want to see them continue to succeed and for whoever decides to hunt with them to really have the best time of their life when on Safari.
These are the reasons I continue to go back with Magersfontein
-Greg owns the animals that are being hunted ( this is a huge factor)
- lodge located 1 mile from the main house. (Drive past Greg’s house to get to lodge) (safety)
- lodge is very well laid out for privacy (not little huts randomly placed in the bush.)( could walk bare foot all through lodge and have not one problem)
- rooms have power constantly , showers with instant water heaters , comfortable beds with plenty of pillows, cleaned every single day, laundry 3 times a week, bottled water in fridges that are easily assessable 24/7.
- hunting happens out the back door of the lodge ( no driving to and from the hunting area and wasting hours each day)
- skinning shed and cooler are top notch. ( also located on the hunting grounds)
- very capable staff to skin and take care of the trophies no matter what time of day/night .
- proper salting area
- dip/pack and crating happens onsite by Greg ( another huge plus) ( Greg handles these animals from when they are born to when they arrive at the shipper in joburg) ( there are many outfitters that take the salted skins to the taxidermist the day after the harvest because they don’t know how or don’t want to deal with the skins. ( Greg has the ability to tell customers “your animals are safe with me and we have a great process to make sure your animal is well prepared and looked after”, the prices for dip pack and crating are very reasonable. ( if you are hunting near Kimberley and your outfitter doesn’t dip pack and crate contact Greg. He will help you out even if you don’t hunt with him ) ( I have had over 30 animals sent home over the years and no problems)
- Monré ( main ph) is a huge asset to the business, ( he is respected by the staff , he lives onsite, he treats the help like they are his brothers, ( when My son was throwing up bad I sent him a message and 2 min later he was on his way down to the lodge earlier than normal to get Sam medicine and see how he was doing. Having a right hand man living right on site and careing so much for his clients was and is a huge plus.)
- Jacqui is a amazing cook, ( we eat what we shoot) ( it is so nice to harvest a animal and then get to eat the choice cuts of meat and get the full experience of a eland hunt) ( other hunts with different outfitters we never ate any of the game)
- at lunch and dinner everyone speaks English ( no Africans while at the table among the ph’s while the clients have no idea why everyone is laughing )
- lunch is not a bag lunch ( unless you are a bow hunter) ( that’s not for me) ( I love driving around in the truck seeing Africa )
-the trucks are well laid out for hunting( they all have a great way of hauling the guns by use of a old conveyer belt)
- if there is a problem with the trucks or anything in that matter Greg has a huge shed full of tools and tractors and trucks to make a plan to get the hunters back hunting or the Animal recovered ASAP.
- Greg has a full staff of people ( how do I explain to someone from out of the country what goes on behind the scene. ( I should have taken a picture of all the support staff) ( next time)
- The top notch lodge/hunting area is located less than 30 min to the airport
- the hospital is very close also
- price, the daily rate is very fair for what you get. I have paid double what Greg charges and gotten 1/2 the service at other outfitters.
- trophy quality, Greg caters to 30-50 hunters a year. This place is not overhunted. Plenty of game. It’s like hunting in a zoo.
- the terrain with rock outcroppings and well placed roads leads to successful spot and stalk hunts.
- for the bow hunters there are plenty of elevated brick blinds all located over water. ( Greg has buff and being on the ground in a canvess blind is not a good idea.
- Sable and Roan , these are both very plentiful on the farm ( they breed Roan, Sable, Buffalo, all colors of springbok, golden gemsbok, black impala, nyala and bontebok in their own areas)( I am sure I am missing some but you get the point)
- trophy prices, The animals are very fairly priced. ( when you look at his price list and you see a lower number than other places that typically means he has a lot of them. If you see a higher priced animal it is because he has spent more money to bring the non native animal in) ( bringing in animals and paying more for them in Kimberly is a service Greg offers to clients who want a animal but don’t want to travel to where they can get them for less money. A prime example is a mountain zebra. Greg has them but you will pay more for it by Greg than in Namibia where they are found )
- culls, Greg has culls, Greg ownes the culls and there are typically plenty
- rain, the farm experienced some very good rains and the grass is extremely high at the moment. ( this next year will be a great time for babies to be born on the farm )
I could go on and on. For each of these points above I have been to other outfitters where the exact opposite of what Greg does or provides has been experienced. If you don’t decide to hunt with Greg at least use my points to ask your prospective outfitter what they provide. To see pictures of our trophies check out Magersfontein Safaris on Facebook.
My hope from this post is that prospective hunters traveling to Africa go more prepaired and ask the questions that really matter.
Thank you for reading this and God bless
Aaron
This leads me to Magersfontein Safaris located just outside of Kimberley South Africa. Seeing our perfect hunting grounds got taken we had to find a new place to come to. We first hunted with Magersfontein in 2011. I want you all to know why we continue to go back. I am not a agent. I am a plumber. Greg and Jacqui have become a very good friends. I want to see them continue to succeed and for whoever decides to hunt with them to really have the best time of their life when on Safari.
These are the reasons I continue to go back with Magersfontein
-Greg owns the animals that are being hunted ( this is a huge factor)
- lodge located 1 mile from the main house. (Drive past Greg’s house to get to lodge) (safety)
- lodge is very well laid out for privacy (not little huts randomly placed in the bush.)( could walk bare foot all through lodge and have not one problem)
- rooms have power constantly , showers with instant water heaters , comfortable beds with plenty of pillows, cleaned every single day, laundry 3 times a week, bottled water in fridges that are easily assessable 24/7.
- hunting happens out the back door of the lodge ( no driving to and from the hunting area and wasting hours each day)
- skinning shed and cooler are top notch. ( also located on the hunting grounds)
- very capable staff to skin and take care of the trophies no matter what time of day/night .
- proper salting area
- dip/pack and crating happens onsite by Greg ( another huge plus) ( Greg handles these animals from when they are born to when they arrive at the shipper in joburg) ( there are many outfitters that take the salted skins to the taxidermist the day after the harvest because they don’t know how or don’t want to deal with the skins. ( Greg has the ability to tell customers “your animals are safe with me and we have a great process to make sure your animal is well prepared and looked after”, the prices for dip pack and crating are very reasonable. ( if you are hunting near Kimberley and your outfitter doesn’t dip pack and crate contact Greg. He will help you out even if you don’t hunt with him ) ( I have had over 30 animals sent home over the years and no problems)
- Monré ( main ph) is a huge asset to the business, ( he is respected by the staff , he lives onsite, he treats the help like they are his brothers, ( when My son was throwing up bad I sent him a message and 2 min later he was on his way down to the lodge earlier than normal to get Sam medicine and see how he was doing. Having a right hand man living right on site and careing so much for his clients was and is a huge plus.)
- Jacqui is a amazing cook, ( we eat what we shoot) ( it is so nice to harvest a animal and then get to eat the choice cuts of meat and get the full experience of a eland hunt) ( other hunts with different outfitters we never ate any of the game)
- at lunch and dinner everyone speaks English ( no Africans while at the table among the ph’s while the clients have no idea why everyone is laughing )
- lunch is not a bag lunch ( unless you are a bow hunter) ( that’s not for me) ( I love driving around in the truck seeing Africa )
-the trucks are well laid out for hunting( they all have a great way of hauling the guns by use of a old conveyer belt)
- if there is a problem with the trucks or anything in that matter Greg has a huge shed full of tools and tractors and trucks to make a plan to get the hunters back hunting or the Animal recovered ASAP.
- Greg has a full staff of people ( how do I explain to someone from out of the country what goes on behind the scene. ( I should have taken a picture of all the support staff) ( next time)
- The top notch lodge/hunting area is located less than 30 min to the airport
- the hospital is very close also
- price, the daily rate is very fair for what you get. I have paid double what Greg charges and gotten 1/2 the service at other outfitters.
- trophy quality, Greg caters to 30-50 hunters a year. This place is not overhunted. Plenty of game. It’s like hunting in a zoo.
- the terrain with rock outcroppings and well placed roads leads to successful spot and stalk hunts.
- for the bow hunters there are plenty of elevated brick blinds all located over water. ( Greg has buff and being on the ground in a canvess blind is not a good idea.
- Sable and Roan , these are both very plentiful on the farm ( they breed Roan, Sable, Buffalo, all colors of springbok, golden gemsbok, black impala, nyala and bontebok in their own areas)( I am sure I am missing some but you get the point)
- trophy prices, The animals are very fairly priced. ( when you look at his price list and you see a lower number than other places that typically means he has a lot of them. If you see a higher priced animal it is because he has spent more money to bring the non native animal in) ( bringing in animals and paying more for them in Kimberly is a service Greg offers to clients who want a animal but don’t want to travel to where they can get them for less money. A prime example is a mountain zebra. Greg has them but you will pay more for it by Greg than in Namibia where they are found )
- culls, Greg has culls, Greg ownes the culls and there are typically plenty
- rain, the farm experienced some very good rains and the grass is extremely high at the moment. ( this next year will be a great time for babies to be born on the farm )
I could go on and on. For each of these points above I have been to other outfitters where the exact opposite of what Greg does or provides has been experienced. If you don’t decide to hunt with Greg at least use my points to ask your prospective outfitter what they provide. To see pictures of our trophies check out Magersfontein Safaris on Facebook.
My hope from this post is that prospective hunters traveling to Africa go more prepaired and ask the questions that really matter.
Thank you for reading this and God bless
Aaron
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