first african Safari

[Vapodog]

I'm going to South Africa in July for the first time on a plains game hunt. Largest animals on the docket are Kudu and Eland.

I have a ton of questions and hope someone here can help....What gun should I take? how many guns can I take? (I also have one day of upland bird hunting and Egyptian geese.) What shots should I need? (medical that is) If I take a gun, must that gun return with me?

I'm flying to Port Elizabeth, and hunting the eastern Cape BTW

Any additional advice will be very appreciated!!

[TTReese]

You will, I bet, hear a lot of advice regarding which guns to take. I'd ask first; What guns do you have, and what guns do you shoot well? For most plains game any of the classic deer calibers ( 30-06, 270, 7x57, 280, 7mag) will work well. Eland, on the other hand, is as big as a Cape Buffalo, but not as mean. 375 H&H is a good option for eland. The key question is what gun do you shoot well? a hit with a 270 is much better than a miss with a 470 Nitro Express. Many people fall in love with the mystique of Africa and buy a big bore dangerous game rifle only to discover that they don't shoot it well. Big calibers tend to recoil a lot. I'd suggest a two gun battery consisting of your usual deer rifle for everything except the Eland and a 375 H&H for the Eland. Or take a 375 and a shotgun if the bird hunting is good.
On my first African trip I took a 30-06 and a 375H&H, on my second I took a 375 H&H. I took Cape Buffalo, Tessebe, Kudu, and Hyena with the 375. With the 30-06, Kudu, tessebe, impala, lechewe, and warthog were taken. Absent the Buffalo, the 30-06 would have been perfectly adequate.
I would suggest that, in addition to this site, you check out Accuratereloading.com. There is an active forum dedicated to African hunting.

[Vapodog]

I have (and consider myself capable to shoot) just about everything from a .223 to a .375 H&H. If I was pursuing dangerous game, I'd use the .375 H&H, but I'm too darn cheap to drop hammers on that stuff, I'm considering my .25-20 '92 Winchester (for sentimental reasons) for the very small antelope (Duikers etc) and a .300 H&H for the bigger stuff. I also could use a much lighter .30-06 or a longer barreled and heavy .338 Win Mag. Just not sure what is truly needed!!

I want to take three guns (including my 20 Ga citori for upland birds).....am I allowed to take three guns?...I heard only two was allowed.

[Mabelingwane]

Your 300 or 30/06 will be fine for anything including the eland. You need to get hold of your safari and let him know what fire arms you intend using, model and serial number, so that he can arrange a import permit for you on the South African side, just to make your trip hastle free. The documents need to be posted to you so that you have them when you land in SA. The amount of fire arms that you are allowed to take with is up to you, the question is how many fire arms will your airline allow you to carry? This also needs to be pre arranged well ahead of time. I belive there are a few airlines that have stopped carring fire arms.

If I take a gun, must that gun return with me?

If your fire arms are all on one export / Import permit, you will have to explain why you left any fire arms behind when you return, these situations can get a bit ugly. If you have someone traveling with you that is a non hunter, get them to export the fire arm out on a seperate permit. If you intend donating any fire arm to your guide, he will need to keep your permit so that he could register the fire arm on his name in SA.

Africa is a great place to hunt, you will enjoy every moment of it. Good luck.

http://www.mabelingwane.com/

Aim to please.