WHERE ARE THE BEST TROPHIES

This is possibly the most commonly asked question after ‘what is the area like?’.. and it is a very valid and important one. You don’t want to find yourself in central Zimbabwe with expectations of a 75 pound elephant, neither do you want to find yourself looking for a giant crocodile on a south African Ranch!!!

Here are what I believe to be the key elements in deciding where you want to go.

The first step and best way to plan a safari, or series of safaris, is to decide what your key animal is to be. Then, identify what area is best for that particular animal. Having done that, your next question should be, what other animals are in that area in abundance, and of those, what would I be interested in?

Your choice of weapon will possibly influence the advice you receive. Different countries have different laws governing bows, handguns and Muzzle loaders.

Here is a list of the big five animals and the countries where they are hunted. In some instances small quotas are given in countries other than those on our list. For example, there is a chance at elephant in Cameroon, but not a significantly high chance of success, so we have left that out.

• ELEPHANT
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Mozambique ( Moz trophies not for export to USA), South Africa (limited)

• BUFFALO
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.

• RHINO
South Africa

• LION
Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa (not legible for sci score due to canned hunting) Botswana (tracking only, no blinds)

• LEOPARD
B= blinds D= dogs T= tracking
Zimbabwe BD, Botswana BT, Namibia BDT, Tanzania B and Mozambique B , South Africa BD and Zambia B.

Having established the countries that you can hunt your key animal, the next step is to see what the budget requirements are for the country that you are interested in. For example, you can get an elephant bull in Zimbabwe for around 25,000. In Botswana and reasonable area will charge closer to 50,000. The differential is almost always reflected in the trophy size and quality of the hunt.

Once you have an idea of the animals you want, the country you would like to visit, and your budget, then its time to find a great area with a first class outfitter. This is a whole different process we can discuss at some length in another document!!!

We would welcome a call from you to discuss what areas you are interested in, what style of hunting you would like and look forward to helping you “fit the pieces together”.

PLEASE NOTE THAT IVAN CARTER ADVOCATES FAIR CHASE HUNTS AND BELIEVES THAT THE HUNT IS EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT AS THE TROPHY.