Safari Drive Time

[mbcijim]

For you guys who have gone hunting in Africa, how much time did you spend in the vehicle driving around looking for animals? And what was your policy on hunting the animals that you spotted from the car?

On my safari we spend 4-6 hours per day out of 10 hours in the vehicle. In hindsight, I would have preferred more time on foot - walking. I think a large part of it was due to the fact we were having a hard time getting all of our animals. Game was there, but not abundant. We had booked 2x1 for a party of four (2 PH's) but the other PH could only be with us 7 days. So for 3 of the days half of us would get dropped off at a waterhole with a tracker.

Also with the vehicles we would drive 200-300 yards away and walk back to the location we saw him. Most of the time they would be gone and we would track from there.

 

[Duknutz]

mbcijim,We spent some time in the rigs usually trying to cut some tracks and then go on foot tracking/stalking.I think that was the best part looking back on it,was tracking a big Kudu bull for hours,bumping him 4-5 times untill you get a shot.Being in heavy cover and you can usually only see 60 yrds or so.I bought a Ruger .480 handgun,got it dialed up with a scope and a bunch of range time and a couple of hogs.And was taking this gun on the trip,when they started confiscating handguns in Joburg.we had to leave them home,I was pissed!When I go back ,the hand gun is going and that would be my main weapon.
It depends on the hunter,some guys shoot everything out of the safari rigs.That's not for me,I did shoot a couple animals out of the rig,mostly snap shooting,with a narrow shoot lane....

 

[mbcijim]

I agree the long stalks were the best part. I was wandering if it was normal to spend so much time in the car. Thanks for your input! We shot two animals out of 18 out of the vehicle.