Bow Safari — Limpopo

Length

10 days

Where

South Africa

Party size

1–2 hunters

Season

August to October

Built around blinds over water in the dry months, when heat forces daily drinking and animals come in close. Purpose-built blinds at ranges suited to archery, and a professional hunter who bow hunts himself. Sixty pounds of draw weight minimum, more for the heavier species. Season-dependent, so book for the right months.

How bow hunting changes the week

Everything slows down and the distances collapse.

A rifle hunter is looking for a shot at a hundred and fifty metres. You are looking for twenty-five, and getting there changes how the whole day is planned — which wind, which water, which approach, and a great deal more sitting still.

Most bow hunting here is from blinds over water and active trails, particularly in the hotter months when game comes to drink predictably. Spot-and-stalk is possible on some species and much harder.

Why ten days

Because you will pass on more than you take.

Marginal angles that a rifle hunter would shoot are not shots with a bow, and your professional hunter will stop you taking them. Over a seven-day trip that can mean going home light. Ten days gives the opportunities room to come round again.

What to bring, and what to expect

Bring your own bow and shoot it before you travel — not at a target at twenty metres on a range, but from a seated position, through a blind window, with a rangefinder.

Practise the shot you will actually take. The most common reason a bow safari disappoints is a hunter who shoots beautifully standing and has never drawn sitting down.

September and October suit bow hunting best, when the heat concentrates game on water. It is also the hottest part of the season, and you will be sitting in it.

What you would be hunting

Every animal below links to its own page, where the trophy judging, rifle and season are covered properly. The figures here are the same ones we would quote you in writing.

What is included

Your professional hunter, trackers and skinners, hunting vehicle and fuel, accommodation, all meals, laundry, standard drinks in camp, and field preparation of your trophies. We help arrange airport transfers, though the transport cost is for your account.

Not included: gratuities, trophy fees (including on any animal wounded but not recovered), dip and pack, shipping, taxidermy, charter flights, international flights and rifle rental. Each of these appears as its own line on your written proposal, so nothing arrives as a surprise. Full detail is on the what's included page.

On price

We do not publish prices. Trophy fees and government licence fees change annually, and a fourteen-day elephant hunt and a seven-day plains game safari are not comparable numbers. What we will do is send you a written proposal with the daily rate and every trophy fee itemised separately. Gratuities are never included and never expected; the tipping guide sets out sensible amounts if you would like to.

This is a starting point rather than a fixed menu. Most of our safaris end up as something between two of these.