Who wants to attend a Professional Hunter course?

[mdwest]

Another slot filled..

Just 2 beds left available.. jump in now if you're interested!

 

[375Fox]

Should be a unique experience for anyone that goes, but I have to say I called this wrong. I really thought this would be a difficult sell. I really surprised at the level of interest.

 

[sierraone]

@Bos en Dal SAFARIS will be hosting a PH Course at its lodge/property from Sept 18-27th (10 days), 2025.

The course will be presented by Game Hunters/Gerhard Steenkamp https://www.huntingschool.co.za/private-schools.html

$1850 per person for an all inclusive course (housing/accomidation = 2x people per room rather than a typical "bunkhouse" arrangement that is common at most PH courses.. all meals (simpler fare than your typical meals on a safari, but plenty of it, and intentionally a bit "nicer" than what you'd experience at most PH courses), non alcoholic drinks (you can bring your own beer/booze if you'd like to have some by the fire at night), pick up and drop off at the airport, all training materials, all training, etc..etc.. )...

Certificates presented at the end of the course..

This course is set aside for AH members only, and is limited to 8x slots. 3 are already spoken for (myself, wife, and @roverandbrew ).

If youre not an SA citizen or living/working in SA currently you wouldnt be able to sit for the licensing exam, but the course material and training will be identical to what PH's experience, with a couple of minor twists (that I think are pretty awesome)..

Twist #1 - More focus on the "fun" skills like flora and fauna identification, trophy identification, hunt skills, shooting, etc.. and a little less focus on the legal issues (you'll still be trained on the laws.. but since you wont be sitting for the licensing exam, we'll spend more time on the practical exercises and less on the legal issues)..

Twist #2 - At the end of the course, there each new "PH" will guide another new PH on a hunt (hunt included in the price) for either an impala or a blesbok...

If you want to hunt something other than an impala or a blesbok, you are welcome to do so.. just pay the associated trophy fee for that animal..

If you want to come to camp early or stay a few days after the course and do some hunting, you are welcome to do so.. normal rates apply..

A $500 deposit is all that is needed to secure a spot.. as stated above there are only 5 spots left available.. first come is first served.. if interested, shoot me a PM and let me know you want a slot.. we'll need to secure with a deposit within a week or so, or we'll need to move on to the next person in line (I suspect the course will fill quickly.. Ive mentioned this idea to several people on AH previously who have all expressed interest, and this has been getting worked on for several months.. I think we're going to have much more interest than we're going to be able to have seats at the table... $1850 for 10x days in camp with a bunch of good people, some fun training, and a nice little hunt at the end is a pretty incredible value IMO)..

Hope to spend some time with a few of you guys in South Africa in Sept of 2025!

What a great deal for anyone that can make it !!!!

 

[Roland Tembo]

Seriously thinking about this and anyway, you should think about doing this at least once every year
Checking flight availability and prices from my Country right now to get myself overall cost idea.
Where should one drop? Johannesburg?

 

[PAUL_MAUSER]

Very interesting. Can’t do this right now but would love the chance another time. Hopefully this comes back around in the future

 

[sureshot375]

I’ve always wanted to do this, but am always limited on time.

Can’t wait to see how this turns out!!

 

[mdwest]

Seriously thinking about this and anyway, you should think about doing this at least once every year
Checking flight availability and prices from my Country right now to get myself overall cost idea.
Where should one drop? Johannesburg?

Yes, Johannesburg / OR Tambo would be the best place to come into the country.. the Bos en Dal lodge is only about a 90 minute drive from there (super convenient and easy to get to from Joberg)..

Gerrit and I have talked about hosting a PH course again in the future.. Assuming everything works out as planned with this one (so far everything is perfectly on track... everything is coming together exceptionally well), we'll definitely do it again... how frequently we'll do it I think really depends on demand.. I was thinking maybe once every 2 years would be about the right cadence.. The challenge with doing it every year is we need a minimum number of students to make it affordable (we need to be able to pay the instructor and his team their normal fees, and cut up the costs associated with opening the lodge for a week, etc across a fairly good number of students (to get to the $1850 price tag for everything included we found 8 students was really the minimum to make things work)..

If there's at least 8 every year, Im sure this would be offered again sooner..

But Im thinking if we have 10 students this year like we are planning to have, we might be stretching to get 8 people to commit to 2026 (It would be wonderful if I were wrong though)..

 

[mdwest]

Very interesting. Can’t do this right now but would love the chance another time. Hopefully this comes back around in the future

It will definitely come back around.. we just don't know how soon right now.. my best guess is we'll do it again in the fall of 2027... but if there is a lot of demand prior to that, I feel pretty certain we could figure something out for 2026..

 

[MMAL]

I would love to do this but as many of us do I am booked this year for Africa. If you are thinking of 2027 I would love the dates now so I can make it work. I am very interested. Great idea.

 

[Russ16]

I’d love to do this. Scheduling well in advice oils be helpful so that we aren’t booked for other hunts. Also varying the time of year. September is pretty much always a no go for me because of work.

 

[mdwest]

we realized this would potentially "compete" with people making other plans for international hunts, etc.. and we wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan, make a decision, etc.. which is why we initially posted about it Mid November (well before show season and the Jan-Feb time frame when many book hunts for the year).. May-August arent really doable since that's the busy time of the year for Bos en Dal (and most other outfitters) with hunting groups.. We cant really take camp for 10 days when it otherwise could have been filled with people paying for hunts.. so our only real options were to go very early (March/April) which wasn't very appealing since we were announcing in November (not enough time for people to consider options, plan, etc)... or to go late (after season is largely over) in Sept/Oct..

I figured Oct is going to be way too hot.. and we're starting to get into a rainy time of the year which wouldn't make sitting outside by the fire at night too much fun... so we went with Sept..

all of that said, if early spring (US spring) is appealing to enough people, I'd be happy to see what we could do to put something together for maybe March/April 2026.. We'd just need to have at least 8 people committed to be able to pull it off..

 

[Russ16]

Understand on timing. I’m usually booked well over a year in advance for hunts and family vacations. My 2025 is already fully booked (sailing charter in Croatia, Switzerland, pronghorn, South Dakota, Romania) and 2026 already has a trip to Japan in the spring and Zimbabwe in August.

So for me at least a year or more out would be helpful. I’d be very interested in a spring of 2027 option.

 

[mdwest]

Understand on timing. I’m usually booked well over a year in advance for hunts and family vacations. My 2025 is already fully booked (sailing charter in Croatia, Switzerland, pronghorn, South Dakota, Romania) and 2026 already has a trip to Japan in the spring and Zimbabwe in August.

So for me at least a year or more out would be helpful. I’d be very interested in a spring of 2027 option.

Im going to have to check in with you after 2025... We're not sailing... but my wife and I are talking about hunting Croatia in 2026!

 

[sureshot375]

we realized this would potentially "compete" with people making other plans for international hunts, etc.. and we wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan, make a decision, etc.. which is why we initially posted about it Mid November (well before show season and the Jan-Feb time frame when many book hunts for the year).. May-August arent really doable since that's the busy time of the year for Bos en Dal (and most other outfitters) with hunting groups.. We cant really take camp for 10 days when it otherwise could have been filled with people paying for hunts.. so our only real options were to go very early (March/April) which wasn't very appealing since we were announcing in November (not enough time for people to consider options, plan, etc)... or to go late (after season is largely over) in Sept/Oct..

I figured Oct is going to be way too hot.. and we're starting to get into a rainy time of the year which wouldn't make sitting outside by the fire at night too much fun... so we went with Sept..

all of that said, if early spring (US spring) is appealing to enough people, I'd be happy to see what we could do to put something together for maybe March/April 2026.. We'd just need to have at least 8 people committed to be able to pull it off..

Honestly I think sept is a great time. Weather wise things haven’t gotten too hot yet. It’s dry and leaves are off the trees. End of Safari season.

 

[Russ16]

Im going to have to check in with you after 2025... We're not sailing... but my wife and I are talking about hunting Croatia in 2026!

Jealous I have it do one non-hunting vacation a year to keep the peace.

 

[Sabre]

Just seeing this now. But this is a really cool idea. I hope it becomes a yearly or every other year thing.

 

[Flipper Dude]

Sure wish I could attend Dave. Wrong timing on dates for me. South Zone Dove opening weekend. I wouldn't have a job if I left for 10 days that time of year!!

You all will have a great time for sure!!

Job? Hell, jobs are overrated.