Dangerous Game Hunting in Africa calls for big guns and big game hunting sustainable and ethical practices.
If you are looking for a fabulous and memorable hunting adventure, choosing a dangerous game hunting safari is definitely the place to start that journey.
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What are the dangerous seven in hunting?
The dangerous 7 in Africa are: Elephant, Buffalo, Hippo, Crocodile, Rhino and the famous African cats, the Lion and Leopard.
Big Game Hunting is an ultimate thrill for hunters seeking a different sought of challenge. While plains game hunting in Africa has all the bells and whistles, the element of danger and knowing your adversary can turn the tables, making the hunter the hunted is a while new level of adrenaline packed excitement.
Successful hunting of Africa’s big five is considered to be the pinnacle culmination of all hunts by the hunter, moving the hunter up a few levels. Based on the excitement, risk and return, big game hunters often leave their plains game hunting careers behind in search of the next hunting adventure and risk.
While dangerous game hunting in the modern day is considered a “sport,” none of the dangerous 7 in Africa, nor the specialty animals or the antelope would survive without these big game economic contributions. We have written an article on African hippo hunts, big game and big economic contributions.
The reality is that without game hunting, there would be very few other revenue sources available to protect the Wildlife. Politicians try via silly policies, like banning Elephant trophies being imported into the USA to protect game numbers but bans such as these do not save a single Elephants life.
Dangerous Game Hunting Safaris do cost on the up side as many of the destination are exceptionally remote. This means that the hunter may have to incorporate the price of a small charter place in the overall price of the hunting safari. African outfitters will also have operating costs on the up side due to the remoteness of some of the hunting lodges in Africa.
Sought After African Destinations (In no specific Order)
Dangerous Game Hunting in Mozambique
Mozambique is described as truly wild Africa and dangerous game hunting safaris are top quality in some of the best African landscapes. Mozambique, due to many years of civil wars was a little of a late comer to the safari hunting industry.
Mozambique is famous for Crocodile and Hippo hunts, especially in the area of the enormous man-made lake, Cahora Bassa. This area regularly produces giant Nile Crocodiles of over fifteen feet.
The Zambezi River splits the country and enters the borders from Zimbabwe, before making its way down to the Indian Ocean.
Leopard hunting with hounds is also legal in Mozambique, along with bow hunting. Dangerous game hunting in Mozambique is best done in the cooler months, which run from April to late August. A favorite hunting area in the north is the Niassa Province. This big game hunting area produces superb Leopard, Lion, Elephant and many great Dagga Boy Buffalo trophies. Incorporating plains game such as Sable and Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest into the dangerous game hunting safari is recommended.
Mozambique, with all the makings a perfect hunting adventure is also exceptionally affordable when compared to other destinations such as Zambia and Tanzania.
Central Mozambique is also well know for good Cape Buffalo hunts in areas such as the Marromeu Reserve. A large portion of the Marromeu reserve is flooded for many months of the year making access challenging. Cape Buffalo hunts in this area can resemble game fishing safaris where Cape Buffalo are spotted while spotting the white egrets who follow the Buffalo herds which can run into many hundreds of individual Buffalo. Hunting on foot in the Marromeu can be tough going. Many miles a day through the cut grass are covered.
Mozambique is also famous for harvesting some big tuskers. These Elephant hunts in areas such as Coutada 7 are known to produce some fine Elephant trophies. Elephant hunting in Mozambique is done by seeking fresh tracks and walking after the quarry, hope that at the end is a trophy specimen.
Dangerous Game Hunting in Tanzania
Tanzania is famous for dangerous game hunting safaris and produces top quality trophies, offering all of the dangerous 7 in Africa, except the Rhino.
Most modern day big game hunters are fully aware of the true legendary African hunters who traversed the wilderness of Tanzania.
Following the shutdown of the game hunting industry in Kenya in 1979, Tanzania grew in popularity and evolved into probably the most sought-after hunting destination in all of Africa.
Dangerous game hunting in Tanzania is broken into three different classes of licenses, being the seven-, sixteen- and twenty-one-day license.
The hunter would be well advised to incorporate animals such as the East African Eland, Lessor Kudu and Sitatunga into the dangerous game hunting safari.
Hunting in Tanzania is broken into numerous areas and not all areas include all the dangerous game animals. When safari planning for the Tanzania hunt, this factor needs to be considered. Hunting in Tanzania includes the famous Selous Reserve, the worlds largest and other well-known areas such as Masailand and Rungwa. The former area offers Leopard and Cape Buffalo Hunting.
The Selous Reserve, boasting zero agriculture, villages or property developments is jam packed with plenty Lion, Leopard, Buffalo and Elephant hunter is also extremely popular. Big game hunters can spend days searching for the perfect buffalo trophy as numbers are in their thousands.
Tanzania, as a big game hunting destination is considered very pricy, besides the trophy costs and Government levies, outfitters in Tanzania due operate from very remote areas which attributes to the overall cost of the hunting safari.
Dangerous Game Hunting in the Cameroon
Cameroon is not one of the top dangerous game hunting destinations with international hunters being more focused on antelope such as the magnificent Lord Derby Eland, Bongo, Defassa Waterbuck and Kob. Cameroon in fact has the highest concentration of Bongo in Africa.
However, hunting the Forest Elephant is a consideration. These Elephant hunts do not produce big tuskers and average ivory can be anything from twenty to thirty pounds, not much bigger.
Cameroon is split into three main dangerous game hunting areas, namely:
- Northern Cameroon, which is mainly savannah
- Southern Cameroon, which is mainly rainforest
- Central Cameroon, which a little of both.
Dangerous game hunting in the Camerron also includes Leopard hunting (which can grow to huge cats in the rainforest), Dwarf Forest Buffalo and the West African Savannah Buffalo.
Self-Guided Hunts: Cameroon is in fact the only African country that allows self-guided hunts, which certainly are not for the faint hearted. Only the best and most experienced hunters should be taking on this challenge. It would advisable that before taking on the self-guided dangerous game hunting safari in Cameroon, that the hunter, if not having the skills, takes on a few French lessons. French is spoken by more than half the population.
If it is a different dangerous game hunting safari you are looking for, Cameroon also offers Pythons and Vipers that can be added to the trophy room.
Dangerous Game Hunting in Zimbabwe
Dangerous game hunting safaris in Zimbabwe are some of the most affordable and value for your buck that Africa has to offer. Zimbabwe is famous for Leopard Hunting, and even more so. Leopard Hunting with Hounds. Zimbabwe issues more than 200 Leopard hunting tags per year.
Elephant hunts in Zimbabwe are a favorite and this African destination is famous for some big tuskers. In Zimbabwe, you still have a chance of harvesting a bull Elephant of over a 100 pounds. Hunting tuskless Elephants in Zimbabwe is affordable and these Elephant hunts are really growing in popularity.
Areas in Zimbabwe famous for Elephant hunting include Concessions around the Hwange National Park and the Mana pools which are east of the Victoria Falls.
Dangerous game hunting in Zimbabwe is also focused on Lion and Cape Buffalo hunting, but especially with the Lion hunting, permits are often limited.
Zimbabwe is better known for the dangerous game hunts as antelope species and availability have dwindled since years of all the political instability, under the rule of Robert Mugabe, who did the country a favor and died in 2019. Plains game species such as Kudu, Eland, Impala, Wildebeest, Hartebeest and exotic antelope such as Sable are readily available.
As dangerous game hunting safaris can span weeks in search of the perfect trophy, it would be suggested to add some fun hunts such as Hyena Hunting, or Civet and other night time critters.
Hyena hunting, for Spotted Hyena and Brown Hyena are immensely popular add on’s when dangerous game hunting in Zimbabwe, but it is to be noted that Brown Hyena are not exportable to the USA.
Dangerous Game Hunting in Namibia
Is that correct? All the dangerous 7 in Africa can be hunted in Namibia. Yes Sir / M ’lady, that is correct. Even Black Rhino and White Rhino can be hunted in Namibia.
Even better news, Cheetah hunting in Namibia is legal. Namibia is the only African country where this stunning predator can be legally hunted.
This enormous variety of dangerous game animals thus results in the hunter being spoilt for choice. Namibia is a huge country, desert, semi-desert and scrub/bush areas and dangerous game can be spilt into separate regions which may require domestic air charters.
Elephant hunting in Namibia is split between the Zambezi Region (formally The Caprivi) and other concession areas such as Bushmanland.
Elephant hunts in the Caprivi generally target smaller tuskers, anything from thirty pounds to fifty pounds, while Elephant hunts for larger tuskers in the Bushmanland region can harvest tuskers anything from sixty pounds to over seventy pounds.
The Caprivi Strip is better known for big game hunting, such as Elephant and Cape Buffalo, and this area is also fabulously known for Hippo hunts and Crocodile hunting due to the enormous expanses of water.
Dangerous game hunts in Namibia for non-exportable trophies are very affordable, with an average cost for a non-exportable Cape Buffalo being US $ 7000 and non-exportable Hippo hunts at US $ 6500. Non-exportable Crocodile hunts and Elephants hunts are also available.
Lion hunting in Namibia generally takes place outside the Etosha National Park when some permits for problem Lions become available. Besides the fact that these Lion hunts are to target wild Lions, they are some of the most affordable Lion hunts in Africa.
Namibia is also famous for Leopard Hunting. The country boasts excellent Leopard hunting success rates and more importantly, Leopard hunting in Namibia is affordable. A Leopard hunting safari, which is normally over twenty-one days will cost the hunter between US $ 24000 and US $ 32000.
Hyena hunting is a popular ad on dangerous game hunting safaris and Spotted Hyena hunts are hard to beat.
Dangerous Game Hunting in South Africa
While South Africa, along with Namibia offer all the Dangerous 7 in Africa, the reality is that the SA Government has not issued Leopard hunting tags in a couple of years. Why? No one is really quite sure why, but with South Africa being under the rule of the ANC government, we can only assume that it is corruption on some sort of level, or incompetent staff who do not know how to issue a Leopard tag.
Leopard hunting in South Africa is certainly not taking place due to a lack of Leopards, there are plenty of them.
On a recent Hyena hunting safari, for Spotted and Brown Hyena, while we did not manage a successful Hyena hunt, we had a Leopard come in to the caller every night within ten minutes. To confirm the numbers, we went Hyena hunting every night in six different locations, all in excess of 100 miles from each other. CITES actually issues 200 Leopard tags to South Africa every year, which are not being used. While it is currently illegal to shoot a Leopard in South Africa, many ranch owners have no choice as these cats are causing tremendous damage to wildlife numbers.
South Africa is famously known for hunts taking place in government reserves, or privately owned ranches having fenced off areas. We have explored the topic of Cape Buffalo hunts – Fenced or Free range hunting safaris?
Much of the dangerous game hunting is done in these fenced off areas, but this is because South Africa practices the private ownership of animals.
Lion hunting in South Africa also takes placed in fenced off areas such as the Kalahari district. Lion hunting takes place on foot walking tracking the cats in the soft Kalahari sand.
When we talk dangerous game hunting in South Africa, we cannot omit Cape Buffalo hunts. Buffalo are found in most provinces and Cape Buffalo hunting is a fond hunt of international hunters. The majority of ranches in SA are huge and hunters can walk for days without seeing the sign of a fence, or a Buffalo.
South Africa ranch owners are heavily invested in breeding disease free big Buffalo and Buffalo with a horn spread of over forty-eight inches, tip to tip is not uncommon.
Elephant hunting is mostly done on concessions up north near the Botswanan border where these giants enter the country and cause mayhem, or nearer the concessions surrounding the Kruger National Park. These areas are known to produce some big tuskers, a must for any trophy room.
Hunting Lodges in Africa
Where will we stay when on a dangerous game hunting safari in Africa?
Where will we stay when on a dangerous game hunting safari in Africa?
This is a question quite often asked before booking the hunting safari. Hunting lodges in Africa vary, considering factors such as:
- Dangerous game hunting destination of choice i.e., which country
- How far the hunting area is from nearest town
- If the structure is a temporary “fly camp” or permanent dwelling
In countries like Tanzania, dangerous game hunting safaris take place using five-star tents as structures, with wine from crystal glasses and all the comforts from home.
When crocodile hunting in Mozambique, accommodations may be a permanent structure made from Indigenous and readily available resources.
When hunting Cape Buffalo in Zimbabwe, lodgings may be of a temporary or semi-permanent nature.
When dangerous game hunting in South Africa, lodges can be anything from three star to five star.
If you have any queries when booking, ask your safari broker to send a few video links. But it is guaranteed that all hunting lodges in Africa will be comfortable, have the best atmosphere and serve world class cuisine and local dishes.
For the purpose of this article, we did not cover dangerous game hunting in Zambia as we covered that region extensively in a previous blog article.
Conclusion: Bored? Need a little excitement and a hunting adventure? Explore our extensive listings of dangerous game hunting safaris at www.gamehuntingsafaris.com
Author: PC van Wyk