JJHACK
Member
So the commitment has been made, how do you handle deposits now? Send 50% to Africa and hope for the best? What does it say in your " contract" Ha Ha ha....... contract, yeah right.......... contract.
When you get this "contract" who is going to enforce this? Are you going to hire a South African Lawyer to go to court for you? I would guess this will cost more then the safari probably much more and it will be continued and dragged out until you give up from 10,000 miles away. keep that contract with you, it may come in handy in the bush one afternoon after a particularly big meal.
You better have a good relationship or the feeling of success in your heart before you send money anyplace out of the USA. The outfitter will often have you sign a release so that anything that happens to you while hunting or traveling is your responsibility. This is not 100% but it is becoming a more typical expectation of hunters to sign for the outfitters.
Some booking agents will take the deposit, extract their income and send the rest to Africa. Should you cancel, you are out of luck getting that money back. After all it's a deposit to guarantee you're actually going to be there for those dates. The outfitter has blocked them out and not sold them to anyone else. late in the season it's not very likely he will fill those slots. This is actually the whole point of a deposit by definition.
Many outfitters will allow you to use the deposit for the rest of that calendar year if you want to change the dates. Some may offer you 1/2 the deposit value for the following year. Some have a refund policy as of a certain date. I have this policy. After Jan 1 of the year you hunt the deposit is gone. Prior to that I will refund it. Quite a few people on this site have had things come up and they will attest to this. I have sent back 100% of the deposit to them before Jan 1.
Each outfitter is different and has particular costs that require bookings be paid to hold dates. If you cancel they cannot refund the money they already spent on your behalf to hold dates.
So this becomes a very responsible decision. That deposit money can be thousands of dollars. The balance is usually due upon arrival. It's actually best to hand it over when you arrive. Let the outfitter put it in his vault to hold it. Cash will create huge smiles with him! Every other form of payment costs money in the south African banking system to convert. You're technically giving the bank some of the outfitters profits when you pay with Travelers check, Visa, wire transfer, or personal check. The additional beauty of cash is the wildly fluctuating exchange rates. It may be 5:1 when you arrive, and go to 8:1 or more weeks later. An outfitter sitting on some cash can do much better watching the rates.
Travel with 10,000 bucks is legal in the USA. That is the legal limit departing the USA. I have seen the "money dog" at the airport in Atlanta. A beagle in the jetway looking for a suitcase full of cash! Same as when you return and they are using the beagles to sniff out meat in the luggage when you arrive. DO NOT BRING BACK BILTONG! No amount of I forgot or I'm sorry will get you out of that 500.00 fine!
There is no place safer then the airports of the world to carry money. Who is going to rob you inside security? The minute you get off the flight, your escort is with you to the SAPs office and then you're picked up and hand the cash to the outfitter. It's a brilliant process we all wish more folks would consider. If you don't bring enough money because the hunting is so exhilarating and you shoot too many things, don't fret, most outfitters I have worked for and while running my own business, I let the hunters pay me when they return home in the USA. Then there is no exchange rates or other financial nonsense to deal with. I've never been stiffed in my life. (Although I do have control of all the trophies until I'm fully paid) Ha ha
So the question then comes up what are you gonna do with all those trophies? In South Africa we will gladly handle that every step of the way. The outfitter will process the trophies all the way to the dip pack operation. At which point they are usually out of the picture. A lot of risk in this part of the business. The hot sunny weather, skinner, condition of the salt, then drying the hides, rehydrating at the dip pack, treating the skins, salting and re-drying and then shipping to a taxidermist that will rehydrate to measure for forms, and dry out again to ship to a tannery. I think you get the picture. Every mounted African animal is an amazing phenomena of luck and great skill combined. There are dozens of process and people involved with this before you see it on your wall!
Choosing European mounts is a near zero risk by comparison. Although the boiling process of the skulls can easily ruin them, it's still harder to screw up a skull then a skin. Euro mounts are about 75% less cost too. Speaking of cost, it's not unusual to have a 7 animal safari cost less then the total amount needed to get those 7 animals on the wall of your trophy room. I have done my own taxidermy for over 30 years now. I don't see much more in the way of taxidermy in my life. I have a few things mounted here, lots of the visitors have visited my place.
The costs have just become crazy, it's simply accelerating away from the middle class fella that wants them mounted. Not to mention what in the world is a family to do with them when you're gone? Ebay for 10 cents on the dollar? It's your call. The last day of the safari some outfitters will have the taxidermist or the Dip Pack fella show up to pitch the options to you. I have used many of these guys to help with the process. I have however never let them alone with my hunters. Once I see them pushing or badgering I step in and have a word with them.
They are blessed with the opportunity to get my camps work. The last thing I want at the end of a brilliant experience is a pushy fella trying to get something out of a client of mine. I ALWAYS ( not used lightly) have a chat with the outfit picking up the trophies before they ever interface with the hunters. I explain that they will be taking the trophies to the taxidermist in the USA, or maybe they are looking for the work in RSA. This is a sore spot for me actually. I have been bitten more then once with a problem and then the hunters look at me to fix or solve it. Yet I don't own, operate, or have any control over the dip pack or taxidermy. Once those trophies leave our camp the responsibility is between the hunter and the taxidermist. There are many MANY outfitters getting a kickback for the work they give a taxidermist. The outfitter may boast and rave about the amazing work of the local Taxidermist setting up the decision for the hunter to use them. I cannot begin to suggest what you should do here. Be assertive, do not be pushed, set your goals ahead of time. Ask the outfitter who he uses for taxidermy and dip pack right away after you consider him. Then google that business to see what the content looks like. I say this with caution. It is far more common for angry or disappointed people to post things then those that are happy, content, or thrilled. One or two negative comments probably don't mean much to me. A whole pile of them would!
I would gladly use the operation of any dip pack or taxidermy the hunter wants. I make no money from this and I have no financial interest in the business. This goes for nearly every outfitter in the whole of Africa. There is one other thing I want to point out about this. Lots of Outfitters will save up the trophies from the whole season and then use this as a barter point with the taxidermist for some payola or free work. The bigger problem is that the hunters in April and May have their hides waiting til August september to get started in the process. Those outfitters that have a taxidermist pick them up every ten days is a far faster, better safer way to handle this.
Take some time to think about your trophies. Remember too, that even if you take nothing home with you but memories and photo's, that's okay. Everything is used and eaten. There is no waste. Your hunting will feed people. It's okay to walk away and leave the animals parts behind. You cannot take any meat home anyway. No matter how much you're willing to spend it's simply not legal.
Can you have the steaks from the game you shoot? In most cases yes. Not much makes me happier then a fella shooting an eland the first hunt of the season. I love eland! by the third or forth week those steaks are deeeelicious!
Most outfitters will have a Braai during the stay, probably several times. This is a traditional South African BBQ. Those big eland steaks on the coals are as good as it gets! There will be boer wors which is a South African sausage, also fantastic. The food at every camp from PE to Zambia has been outstanding. The cultural Dutch folks in the bush make some killer good meals!
Okay the whole topic of food is making me hungry now. What next? How about what to Pack? That will be Part 5 or what ever the heck number this is now.
_________________________
When you get this "contract" who is going to enforce this? Are you going to hire a South African Lawyer to go to court for you? I would guess this will cost more then the safari probably much more and it will be continued and dragged out until you give up from 10,000 miles away. keep that contract with you, it may come in handy in the bush one afternoon after a particularly big meal.
You better have a good relationship or the feeling of success in your heart before you send money anyplace out of the USA. The outfitter will often have you sign a release so that anything that happens to you while hunting or traveling is your responsibility. This is not 100% but it is becoming a more typical expectation of hunters to sign for the outfitters.
Some booking agents will take the deposit, extract their income and send the rest to Africa. Should you cancel, you are out of luck getting that money back. After all it's a deposit to guarantee you're actually going to be there for those dates. The outfitter has blocked them out and not sold them to anyone else. late in the season it's not very likely he will fill those slots. This is actually the whole point of a deposit by definition.
Many outfitters will allow you to use the deposit for the rest of that calendar year if you want to change the dates. Some may offer you 1/2 the deposit value for the following year. Some have a refund policy as of a certain date. I have this policy. After Jan 1 of the year you hunt the deposit is gone. Prior to that I will refund it. Quite a few people on this site have had things come up and they will attest to this. I have sent back 100% of the deposit to them before Jan 1.
Each outfitter is different and has particular costs that require bookings be paid to hold dates. If you cancel they cannot refund the money they already spent on your behalf to hold dates.
So this becomes a very responsible decision. That deposit money can be thousands of dollars. The balance is usually due upon arrival. It's actually best to hand it over when you arrive. Let the outfitter put it in his vault to hold it. Cash will create huge smiles with him! Every other form of payment costs money in the south African banking system to convert. You're technically giving the bank some of the outfitters profits when you pay with Travelers check, Visa, wire transfer, or personal check. The additional beauty of cash is the wildly fluctuating exchange rates. It may be 5:1 when you arrive, and go to 8:1 or more weeks later. An outfitter sitting on some cash can do much better watching the rates.
Travel with 10,000 bucks is legal in the USA. That is the legal limit departing the USA. I have seen the "money dog" at the airport in Atlanta. A beagle in the jetway looking for a suitcase full of cash! Same as when you return and they are using the beagles to sniff out meat in the luggage when you arrive. DO NOT BRING BACK BILTONG! No amount of I forgot or I'm sorry will get you out of that 500.00 fine!
There is no place safer then the airports of the world to carry money. Who is going to rob you inside security? The minute you get off the flight, your escort is with you to the SAPs office and then you're picked up and hand the cash to the outfitter. It's a brilliant process we all wish more folks would consider. If you don't bring enough money because the hunting is so exhilarating and you shoot too many things, don't fret, most outfitters I have worked for and while running my own business, I let the hunters pay me when they return home in the USA. Then there is no exchange rates or other financial nonsense to deal with. I've never been stiffed in my life. (Although I do have control of all the trophies until I'm fully paid) Ha ha
So the question then comes up what are you gonna do with all those trophies? In South Africa we will gladly handle that every step of the way. The outfitter will process the trophies all the way to the dip pack operation. At which point they are usually out of the picture. A lot of risk in this part of the business. The hot sunny weather, skinner, condition of the salt, then drying the hides, rehydrating at the dip pack, treating the skins, salting and re-drying and then shipping to a taxidermist that will rehydrate to measure for forms, and dry out again to ship to a tannery. I think you get the picture. Every mounted African animal is an amazing phenomena of luck and great skill combined. There are dozens of process and people involved with this before you see it on your wall!
Choosing European mounts is a near zero risk by comparison. Although the boiling process of the skulls can easily ruin them, it's still harder to screw up a skull then a skin. Euro mounts are about 75% less cost too. Speaking of cost, it's not unusual to have a 7 animal safari cost less then the total amount needed to get those 7 animals on the wall of your trophy room. I have done my own taxidermy for over 30 years now. I don't see much more in the way of taxidermy in my life. I have a few things mounted here, lots of the visitors have visited my place.
The costs have just become crazy, it's simply accelerating away from the middle class fella that wants them mounted. Not to mention what in the world is a family to do with them when you're gone? Ebay for 10 cents on the dollar? It's your call. The last day of the safari some outfitters will have the taxidermist or the Dip Pack fella show up to pitch the options to you. I have used many of these guys to help with the process. I have however never let them alone with my hunters. Once I see them pushing or badgering I step in and have a word with them.
They are blessed with the opportunity to get my camps work. The last thing I want at the end of a brilliant experience is a pushy fella trying to get something out of a client of mine. I ALWAYS ( not used lightly) have a chat with the outfit picking up the trophies before they ever interface with the hunters. I explain that they will be taking the trophies to the taxidermist in the USA, or maybe they are looking for the work in RSA. This is a sore spot for me actually. I have been bitten more then once with a problem and then the hunters look at me to fix or solve it. Yet I don't own, operate, or have any control over the dip pack or taxidermy. Once those trophies leave our camp the responsibility is between the hunter and the taxidermist. There are many MANY outfitters getting a kickback for the work they give a taxidermist. The outfitter may boast and rave about the amazing work of the local Taxidermist setting up the decision for the hunter to use them. I cannot begin to suggest what you should do here. Be assertive, do not be pushed, set your goals ahead of time. Ask the outfitter who he uses for taxidermy and dip pack right away after you consider him. Then google that business to see what the content looks like. I say this with caution. It is far more common for angry or disappointed people to post things then those that are happy, content, or thrilled. One or two negative comments probably don't mean much to me. A whole pile of them would!
I would gladly use the operation of any dip pack or taxidermy the hunter wants. I make no money from this and I have no financial interest in the business. This goes for nearly every outfitter in the whole of Africa. There is one other thing I want to point out about this. Lots of Outfitters will save up the trophies from the whole season and then use this as a barter point with the taxidermist for some payola or free work. The bigger problem is that the hunters in April and May have their hides waiting til August september to get started in the process. Those outfitters that have a taxidermist pick them up every ten days is a far faster, better safer way to handle this.
Take some time to think about your trophies. Remember too, that even if you take nothing home with you but memories and photo's, that's okay. Everything is used and eaten. There is no waste. Your hunting will feed people. It's okay to walk away and leave the animals parts behind. You cannot take any meat home anyway. No matter how much you're willing to spend it's simply not legal.
Can you have the steaks from the game you shoot? In most cases yes. Not much makes me happier then a fella shooting an eland the first hunt of the season. I love eland! by the third or forth week those steaks are deeeelicious!
Most outfitters will have a Braai during the stay, probably several times. This is a traditional South African BBQ. Those big eland steaks on the coals are as good as it gets! There will be boer wors which is a South African sausage, also fantastic. The food at every camp from PE to Zambia has been outstanding. The cultural Dutch folks in the bush make some killer good meals!
Okay the whole topic of food is making me hungry now. What next? How about what to Pack? That will be Part 5 or what ever the heck number this is now.
_________________________
