I was born in South Africa and prior to moving to Canada spent many years hunting the African Bushveld. I would like to describe how hunting is managed in South Africa (SA). They have, despite their many political and social issues managed to create what is arguably the most sustainable hunting model that I have yet come across. It caters to the low income hunter as well as the wealthy safari tourist. It has taken SA from, very low game numbers in the early 1900’s to massive surpluses today (I’m not kidding). Within the SA game animal management model, no game species has gone extinct within the last 100 years – and it does not look like any will.
Many years ago SA realised that the best people to look after the land are farmers – they know what’s best. They were given the option to profit from game. They could fence their lands, breed wild game and charge hunters to hunt on their land, as well as for any animals that were harvested (naturally within numerous regulations regarding size of land, environmental issues etc).
There were those that chose to offer hunting only sometimes and there were those that made it a full time business (and many who chose not to). Farmers are regulated as to what they do and how they manage their game farms to some extent –on sound conservation principles (science and the government has a hand in everything).
What has evolved in SA is a system where even if you have limited means you can hunt easily. No complicated systems regarding where, or how many animals, no tickets, etc. The farmers through over time and based on business opportunities they identified, also created a two tier system where locals pay one price and overseas visitors pay another. So while hunting in SA may look expensive from here, locally in SA, I can go and hunt for example an impala or blesbok for around $80.
Different farmers specialise in different animals (or combinations thereof) and differing levels of comfort and support. That same animal when sold to a Canadian hunter would be closer to $400. The variables would include levels of accommodation, size of hunting area, vehicle availability, guide and porter proficiency, number and size of game, specie variety, butchering and meat handling facilities and so on.
Accommodation, guiding fees ect are all significantly less expensive for locals than for international safari hunters. If you calculate what any of us (here in Canada) would spend on a 2 day hunt on Crown land and compare that to what the average SA hunter pays to hunt, you will find that it proportionally works out to be very similar – but the typical SA hunter has a higher guarantee of harvesting exactly what they want (because the game farmers manage the volumes, sizes and availability). Farmers make sure that they take care of their lands and the animals on them.
There is competition between farmers to get hunters on their lands – they also compete to get the better hunters on their lands. So the end result is that the average hunter in SA has a wide variety of options while the farmer has a great and sustainable revenue generating opportunity. Farmers across SA annually gear up for hunting season and start advertising what they can offer as they fill up their hunting roster. Some focus on international hunters others on local and many on a combination. But it’s up to each farmer – the ones that manage their lands and their game well, do well those that don’t, fall by the wayside. Its supply and demand which has led to a massive increase in game animals across SA (which is a good thing). A nice side effect of this is that there is no secrecy, places to hunt are discussed openly and freely among everyone.
In Canada when considering hunting, we find many hunters wanting to hunt. We also see many farmers who have game on their lands that they are unable (are they?) to directly profit from (I’m not talking the big outfitters here). Some allow hunters to hunt on their lands, others have deals with hunters to allow them to hunt and then there are those who do not allow it at all. But I also see a very tactical dance with legislation, rules and regulations which includes no payment etc and a number of other restraints. We have a fantastic resource – the “hunt-able” game population. Seeing game numbers increase is good for farmers, as well as hunters, the Province and ultimately the country. We have a hunting system here that has developed over many years and it works for us. Is it perfect, can it be improved, or should it even be changed?
I decided to write this so that my fellow Canadian hunters can discover a bit about hunting in South Africa.
Reply With Quote
Re: Hunting perspectives from South Africa
Originally Posted by wildcatter
