How much do would the big five cost

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mr16ga

mr16ga

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How much would a safari for the big 5 cost these days? I would guess a lot of money if not all the money. Could one even take the big 5 now-a-days?
Lion
Leopard
Hippo
Rino
Elephant
 
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I'm not sure exactly what comprises the big 5- elephant, lion, tiger, rhino, hippo, water buffalo ???

I think it would be extremely costly
 
For a trip like that I would lowball at 40k. If you wanted to bring all the game back to mount, well better check those lotto tickets...
 
At various times I have poked around on the internet just to look this up. Give or take 20%, below are the two that I recall. Also, if one wants to get real technical, rhino should be removed from the list. It was originally the black rhino as it was quite aggressive. They are near extencation and you can't hunt them. The white rhino isn't a proper substitue (at least that's what Jeff Cooper wrote) since it isn't nearly as aggressive. Also, hippo wasn't on the orignial big 5 (though Cooper thought it would make a great dangerous game if hunted on land and you were between it and the water hole). You are missing the African buffalo/water buffalo (I forget it's proper name).

Elephant $100,000
Lion $70,000
 
OK first of all there are no water buffalo in Africa. The water buffalo lives in South East Asia, and has been imported and runs feral in Australia and some places in South America.

There are also not ANY species of tiger that live on the African continent. Tigers do not live in Africa they are also an Asian animal.

The Buffalo that live in Africa are called cape buffalo, there is also a Savanna buffalo both red and black and the dwarf forest buffalo, and a Nile buffalo. There is not any species of Asian water buffalo naturally occurring in Africa.

The big five consists of;

Lion
Leopard
Cape Buffalo
Elephant
Rhino

So if you want to take the big five here is a rough breakdown on cost and this is for wild free ranging everything except rhino which must be hunted on a game farm as there is no honest free range rhino hunting left in the world.

Here is the cheap version. low to high on the price range.

Trophy Bull elephant $15,00 to 100K +
Male lion $30,000 to 70k +
Leopard $9 to15K
Cape Buffalo $8K to 30K
Rhino $60K +


Now those are for separate hunts if you wanted to combine them you could save some money but to do a big five all inclusive on wild free roaming everything except the rhino which can't be done you will be well over $100K closer to $200K all in. These prices are for trophy grade males not cull or PAC hunts.

BTW,

You could once again hunt the black rhino on a severely limited basis but I think the increased poaching pressure has shut it down.

The "dangerous 7 " is the big five with crocodile and hippo added.

There are some game farms in South Africa that offer highly discounted big five "hunts" but they will be for put and released animals. I am not including those places in my cost estimations. Even they will be over $100K if you include a rhino.
 
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Okay then, I'll be the guy to ask this one...

What's the cheapest cull/PAC hunt a guy could find, just so that he can take a picture in front of a large dead African animal that he truly shot?
 
Cull/PAC of what species?

Elephant are about the cheapest. You can do a tuskless or a cull bull or cow if you look around and keep your eyes open for about 7K.

I see late season buffalo occasionally for about the same. I see buff cow cull hunts occasionally for pretty cheap but not much cheaper than the late season bull hunts. And those are trophy bulls not culls. Lions not so much the last cull lion hunt I saw was in Ethiopia for $28,000 + $4,500 per lion taken no limit on the number of lions you could shoot if they were in the cull area.. Lioness I've seen them go pretty reasonable, for a lion, like around 10K from time to time. Leopard almost never..... Rhino.... Faagetaboudit!!

REMEBER guys these are for free ranging no kidding hunts. DO NOT come back a tell me about the 20K trophy maned lion hunt you just found in South Africa. If you find a lion "hunt" for that price for a maned male it is a put and release hunt on a small high fenced farm, period end of story no two ways about it.
 
Thanks.

$7,000... that's one expensive photo to brag about, with not much to brag about. I though Zebra, Wildebeest, or some other high populated ungulate might come cheaper. Is that flight, room and board, everything excluding tips?
 
I though Zebra, Wildebeest, or some other high populated ungulate might come cheaper. Is that flight, room and board, everything excluding tips?
Click to expand...

They, non dangerous game, do come much cheaper. I've seen plains game cull hunts for multiple animals for under 7K. That includes everything but airfare, shipping and taxidermy. Of course on a cull hunt there won't be any shipping or taxidermy as most cull hunts are for non exportable critters and that is why it's so cheap.

Just as an example I've spent a day culling springbok and blessbok, I shot one blessbok and maybe a dozen springbok I wasn't keeping count. It cost me less than $300 for the day. But that was with some local knowledge. It's going to be tough to find a deal like that if you are over there on your first trip without knowing the "right" people.

A good buddy of mine shot a huge manned lion just outside of Etoshia National Park in Namibia on a cattle ranch on a depredation permit. Right place at the right time. He got the picture and nothing else. And it cost him nothing. The rancher was just happy that the cat wasn't killing his cows anymore. Once again what I consider a winning lottery ticket of a hunt opportunity. Don't count on stuff like that to happen when you are over there.
 
Like most things today, hunting prices have risen sharply. Back in the 50-60's African hunting was once a bargain before politics and profiteers found a market that would pay almost anything.

Here's something you will most likely never see again....a trophy room filled with Rhino, Tigers, ivory, and more. The owner of this trophy room has taken 19 (100 pounders) elephants.

trophyroom5.gif
trophyroom2.gif
 
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Looks similar to a friend's house - his trophy room is 2100SF with 18' ceilings and wall to wall animals from all over the world, including 13 African safaris..........
 
Are those tiger cubs? The photo is a little fuzzy...

That said, WOW. I would love to go on just a plains game safari... but with airfare nearly doubling the cost, I'll have to wait a few years.
 
Thanks H&H Hunter for the info. How safe is Africia? I mean from humans and civial war rebles? R there countries you would avoid and ones you can reccomend as being safe? I don't worry about the animals. Its people and governments that worry me.
 
Sheepdog,

Any of the countries that allow sport hunting are going to be relatively safe. Places like Darfur and Somalia are not hunting destinations.

Any and all big cities can be dangerous especially in Africa. But once you are out in the bush your risk from restless natives is near zero. I was in Zimbabwe at the peak of the election strife in 2008. In the bush you hardly knew anything was going on.
 
Oh one must have a dream, if, IF, I could go to Africa I would feel my life complete with a free range Cape Buffalo Hunt a la Robert Ruark writings.

My wife was an art teacher and gentleman in Stockton donated a bunch of photography equipment to here and in the pile was a slide projector with two boxes of slides of an African hunt back in the 60's. About six months later he died, he had a small room filled with trophy's. I would have loved to talk with him more than I did. A real gentleman and hunter RIP.
 
Buffalo hunting is a true passion with me. I'd hunt them multiple times a year if I could. The problem with buffalo hunting is that everybody always says that it would be a once in a lifetime deal until they do it. Almost nobody only goes once. Once you've hunted buffalo you must do it again and again and all other hunting pales in comparison.

Don't get me wrong I still enjoy hunting deer and elk and such but after hunting buff and elephant it's now a different experience.

Cape Buffalo is the crack cocaine of the hunting world. Once you've had a taste you'll want more..;)
 
Had a chat with a friend a couple of days ago about his recent trip to South Africa with an outfit I'm sure he called Cruiser Safaris. I believe he said he spent about 7K for the hunt (all plains animals), plus airfare and taxidermy and some additional fees for the last couple of animals. Sounded like he would have about 15 to 20K in it when everything was counted. He thought that was a bargain and actually cheaper than some of the elk/mulie hunts in some areas of the USA, and on top of that he thought Africa was fabulous to visit and hunt. I recall he said adding a lion would have cost another 20K.
 
H&Hhunter said:
Sheepdog,

Any of the countries that allow sport hunting are going to be relatively safe. Places like Darfur and Somalia are not hunting destinations.

Any and all big cities can be dangerous especially in Africa. But once you are out in the bush your risk from restless natives is near zero. I was in Zimbabwe at the peak of the election strife in 2008. In the bush you hardly knew anything was going on.
Click to expand...
Thanks H&H for the feedback.
 
If you have to ask, you can't afford it.
Like H&Hhunter says, there ain't no tigers in Africa. And you can't import elephant ivory, Stateside.
"...hippo wasn't on the original big 5..." More people in Africa are killed by hippos than any other beast. Including crocodiles. A hippo can bite a fully grown human in half and they're fast.
 
And you can't import elephant ivory, Stateside.
Click to expand...

Not true, you can most definitely import legally taken ivory into the USA from most countries that allow elephant hunting in Africa. Exceptions that I know of are Mozambique and I think Zambia but Zambia should have that straightened out soon if not already.

So that leaves South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Tanzania that you can import your ivory from.
 
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