The thing to remember about hunting in Africa, is that this is your day and your hunt.  Your Professional Hunter will make suggestions and advise and lead your hunt, but it is your choice as to what you would like to do.  Every hunting area has its own challenges and hopefully every day will be a new adventure.  Of course, there will be variations, depending on what species you are hunting and where you are hunting, but essentially, below is what you can expect on a typical day.

 

Your hunting day will begin at first light.  There is no merit in getting up too early, unless you have a long way to drive to get to the hunting area where a specific species that you are interested in occurs, or where you may have left off on following a wounded animal the previous day.  If you are too early, it will be too dark to see tracks.

Before heading out of camp, you will have coffee and breakfast in camp.  If you are staying out in the field for lunch, the kitchen staff would have prepared a lunch box for your day.  Your Professional Hunter would have planned for the day with the rest of your hunting crew, so they will know what the main species is that you will be pursuing that day.  While you are having breakfast, your team will be getting the hunting vehicle ready and loading your supplies of drinks, snacks, lunch, etc.  At about first light you will depart camp.  Your tracker will often offer to place your rifle into the rifle rack on the truck and load your day bag.  If you prefer to do it yourself, just let him know.

Once you have left camp, you can sort your rifle out and load ammo into the magazine.  If you are after a specific animal, once you spot fresh tracks, you are likely to get out of the truck and pursue the animal on foot.  You could spend a few hours walking, especially if you are hunting buffalo.

Toward the end of the morning, temperatures will be getting quite high, so you’ll either make your way back to camp for lunch and a rest or you will find a thick shady tree to picnic under and have a midday siesta.

If you should take an animal during the course of the morning, after taking some photographs, your hunting team will load the animal and you will head back to the skinning shed.  Your skinner will cape out the animal to your instructions and specifications.  While the animal is being prepared for the taxidermist, you will continue hunting with your Professional Hunter.

After your lunch and siesta, you will continue hunting till dark and head back toward camp.  Upon arriving in camp, your hunting crew will assist you in taking your rifle and day bag back to your room, unless you prefer to carry them yourself.  You will have some time to take a shower before heading up to the main lodge for drinks and snacks before dinner is served.

As a hunting outfit, we realize that we have a huge responsibility toward wildlife, wildlife habitat, our clients and future generations, and we pledge to conduct ourselves in a professional manner, which will reflect honesty, morality and integrity. Our guides will adhere to the spirit of fair chase as well as the principles of sustainable utilization of our natural resources.

Responsible hunting provides unique challenges and rewards.  However, I feel the future of the sport depends on each hunter's behaviour and ethics. Therefore, as a hunter and safari outfitter, I pledge to:  RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE.