Hunting Equipment

Your Hunting Equipment – Your best friend

Imagine the year 1800, hunting Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Hippo and Elephant on your African Hunting Safari in the deep Dark Continent. The setting is filled with dense bush, tall trees, most likely hundreds of year old and then the abundance of game everywhere. This is Africa. When the hunters ventured into Africa on hunting safaris more than 200 years ago they did not have the convenience of getting anything they needed when they ran out of it. They merely had to plan their safari, also sometimes referred to as expeditions. Think about movies like Jurasic Park and Anaconda, where the expedition had an expedition leader, guiding the expedition through the maze of dangers, hazardous situations and trying circumstances.

In those pioneering days the expedition had to take everything they thing they might need during their African Hunting Safaris along, as there were no convenient stores, 24/7 Medical Centres or a local gunsmith to do repairs to the rifles. Everything had to be the best they could find and take it on safari with them. Also they would ensure taking not only a single rifle along, but a number of rifles would be taken, to ensure that if something were to happen to a single rifle, it would not mean the end of their Safari hunting dangerous game.

This brings me to the point I need to make. It is definitely without doubt the single most important decision to make – not to compromise for second-best but to take the best you can afford in everything you take on Safari.

The first step is to decide on the type of safari you plan on doing and then finding the Hunting Outfitter offering such a safari and book with him. The second step in planning your safari is getting as much information from the Hunting Outfitter as possible to plan the hunting equipment you wish to bring on safari.

The following equipment on any safari is essential.

• Comfortable walking shoes, already used and not new
• Comfortable clothes to wear at day and evenings
• A hat for the sun and if possible preferably a cap (the profile works better)
• Sunscreen protection at a suitable level for your skin type
• Personal medication if any
• Suitable rifle for taking down game targeted (Hunting Outfitter will advise)
• Good quality telescope mounted on the rifle (Hunting Outfitter will advise)
• A good protective rifle case for your rifle
• Bullets for the safari, however most calibre bullets can be bought in Southern Africa, check the availability with
  your Hunting outfitter prior to departure
• A good quality small binocular for spotting game, which will not hinder you during the hunt
• Braces for the binocular to strap it to your body
• A good quality Digital Camera and Digital Video camera
• A spare battery for both, although replacement batteries can be bought it may be a problem in the middle of the safari to stop the safari in order to buy batteries.
• A couple of spare HD/SD cards for digital storing of your photos if the one in the device runs out of memory.

Although we covered the basics of the hunting equipment you should give special attention to, the one that is of utmost importance to me is a good quality scope. And I will explain why. A rifle shoots a bullet at the animal, and although the ammunition has to be of the best quality also, it is the scope that is used for directing the bullet at the animal. The value of a good quality scope cannot be overstressed and sometimes might even exceed the cost of the rifle, and that is any serious hunter’s signature – having a quality scope fitted to his rifle.

Make your African Hunting Safari weather it is a African plains game safari or a big game hunting safari a memorable one, with the knowledge that you have made it a success by putting into the safari the very best equipment.