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SAFARI MANNERS
A
FINAL THOUGHT
At
the start of this information package, I referenced
and provided a complimentary copy of Craig Boddingtons
DVD ‘African Experience’. With over 70
safaris under his belt, Craig has an insight into
the safari game that few men can possibly match today.
Luckily
for his legion of fans and readers, of which I am
both, Craig has the ability to share his knowledge
through video and the written word that enable his
readers to maximize their enjoyment of safari while
avoiding some pitfalls a percentage of clients repeatedly
throw themselves into.
The
following chapter is an excerpt from his book ‘African
Safari’ and titled Safari Manners. Although
the book is currently out of print, I feel that this
chapter is one of the better written and insightful
collections of observations ever put to paper concerning
safari life. Please read it carefully. There is some
golden advice within that I have tried to observe
myself and pass on to our clients who are about to
leave on safari, and not necessarily their first.
There is no better teacher than experience. I hope
this chapter on Safari Manners will be both enjoyable
and helpful.
SAFARI
MANNERS
FROM AFRICAN EXPERIENCE BY CRAIG BODDINGTON
A
happy camp is a successful camp. You can help maintain
the magic! African hunting differs little from all
other hunting, and hunting differs little from most
other endeavors. It isn’t always within our
ability to control the degree of success, but we
can control how much enjoyment we get out of hunting,
and attitude is everything. The most important thing
to keep in mind is that you’re there to have
fun. Some days will be better than others. During
the course of most safaris there will be delays,
logistical problems, vehicle breakdowns, and just
plain screw-ups. Your professional hunter may not
always make the right decisions or orchestrate a
stalk so that it works. The animals may not always
cooperate. And you’re going to screw-up too.
My own mistakes tend to bother me more than most
other things. I hate to miss – but when things
go wrong it does absolutely no good to sulk. The
best thing is to keep smiling, put problems behind
you. And go forward. The next hour or the next day
will be better if you allow it.
Professional
hunters aren’t altogether free of moods, either.
Some are great conversationalists and some are hopeless
introverts. A very few are there for the money, but
most of them are there because they love the sport
just as much as you do. Regardless of personality
or motivation, African professional hunters are just
that: professional. They work incredibly long hours
and stay out in the bush away from their families
and homes for months at a time. Most of them earn
very little money, and even the successful ones don’t
do particularly well in relation to the time and
effort they expend. Whatever else they are, they
are human, just like their clients. They can make
mistakes, they can get angry, and they can forget
to take care of little details now and again. They
also vary in experience and pure hunting talent.
But I have never, ever met a properly licensed African
professional hunter who didn’t try to please
his client to the very best of his ability.
That’s
really all you can ask. However, I think it’s
a two-way street. Your professional hunter has the
right to expect you to do your best as well. On tough
hunts you probably can’t walk as far as he
can, and none of us will make all the shots our PHs
think we should have been able to make. But you can
do the best you can – and try to keep yourself
from bitching, complaining, and whining when things
go wrong or get tough.
Your
professional hunter is not your personal slave. He
is in the entertainment business, and if he’s
good at his job he’ll be aware of that. He
will be a cordial host at mealtimes, and he’ll
sit around the campfire and tell stories, up to a
point. But don’t expect him to entertain you
all night and hunt all day. Besides the care and
feeding of his client, he is also responsible for
the camp and staff and for the day-to-day hunting
decisions that ultimately determine the success of
the safari. He needs time to deal with the staff,
keep the equipment running, and think about how and
where he should direct the morrow’s hunt. And
he needs rest. We’re all different, so maybe
he needs less sleep than you, maybe more. Don’t
expect or demand twenty-four hours of constant attention
on each safari day. Take some books, magazines, or
a battery-powered music system and some tapes, and
plan on giving your PH some space.
We
all hunt for different reasons and at different levels
of intensity. It’s your safari, so you can
play it as you choose – but don’t expect
your PH to drink with you long into the night and
then hunt all day. Your hunt will be far more successful,
as well as a lot safer, if he has his wits about
him each and every hunting day. And if serious hunting
is really your goal, you’re better off to set
a curfew for yourself as well.
Camp
staffs vary significantly in both size and experience.
Tanzania has the longest history of safari hunting.
Camp staffs there tend to be very large, and some
of the senior trackers, skinners, and camp managers
may have decades of experience. When I hunted there
in 1988 one of my trackers had tracked for my Uncle
clear back in ’56. The level of experience
is generally less in southern countries with newer
safari industries, and camp staffs tend to be smaller
as well. This doesn’t matter all that much,
you will be taken better care of in any African hunting
camp than anywhere else in the world. The trackers,
skinners, camp managers, and cooks are professionals
as well. They take pride in their work, and they,
too, will work their tails off to make the safari
as successful and enjoyable as possible. They are
as deserving of your respect as the professional
hunter. And if things go wrong and you must follow
up a wounded animal, never forget that the trackers
will go first – unarmed. Common courtesy and
a friendly attitude go a long way – and these
men rate it.
As
the safari client, you aren’t expected to do
anything besides cover ground as well as you can
and shoot as straight as you are able. Except under
unusual circumstances, such as exceptionally long
walks in extreme heat, I do recommend that the client
carry his own rifle. This is simply because you never
know when you might get a shot, and if an unexpected
opportunity arises, it could be lost during the seconds
it takes to transfer the gun. You are not required
to pitch in and do actual work, any more than on
any other guided hunt. However, I have found that
helping with the skinning, butchering and loading
(or packing) of game – especially very large
game that’s difficult to handle – earns
a lot of points with guides and guides’ helpers
the world over. Those points might earn a little
extra effort when things get tough! Similarly, there
may be occasions when it makes sense to pitch in
and help. Obvious possibilities include setting up
a fly camp with minimal staff or helping to free
a stuck vehicle. You always have the option of sitting
on your tail and being the ‘bwana wa safari’ (master
on safari), but anything you can do to make you,
your PH, and the staff a team will help the overall
effort, which, by the way is intended to make your
safari as successful as it can be. Judging from the
questions I receive, one of the great mysteries surrounding
all guided hunting is this business of tipping. In
Africa, there are two sets of tips to worry about:
first, to the camp staff; second, to the professional
hunter(s). Tips to the camp staff should be considered
absolutely mandatory. By our standards the costs
aren’t high, and the “gift” at
safari’s end is both a longstanding tradition
and a fairly important part of the camp staff’s
wages. Most outfitters have a “range” of
tips based on the length of the safari, and within
that range there is usually some flexibility, based
on both individual effort and results. For reasons
altogether unknown to me, many professional hunters
are likely to pass off tips with a shrug and a “whatever
you think”, but if you keep digging you can
usually get them to come up with a figure that is
average for that part of Africa.
Depending
on how you feel about the safari, you can go a bit
higher or a bit lower, but it is unwise to deviate
too much from the professional hunter’s recommendation.
Too low is an insult; even if the results weren’t
what you hoped for, it would be very unusual if lack
of effort on the part of the staff were to blame.
Too high may raise the PH’s expectations of
the next client, who may not be as well-heeled as
you are. There is also a definite hierarchy among
all camp staffs, usually based on seniority, so most
tips to camp staffs have a total figure and also
a breakdown by individuals. If one staff member showed
you extra effort or courtesy, you can reward that,
but it’s unwise to go overboard. You should
clear with the PH any deviations from the standard
tip schedule in a given camp, because he has to deal
with any hurt feelings or staff politics after you
leave.
Small
presents like inexpensive watches, T-shirts, caps,
and knives are greatly appreciated, but if you intend
to go this route, find out up front how large the
camp staff will be. Leaving somebody out is worse
than bringing nothing – and do not expect these
presents will take the place of cash tips and save
you a few bucks. That ain’t the way it works!
Store-bought cigarettes are a great luxury in Third
World countries, so even if you don’t smoke,
pick up a couple cartons at the duty free shop. A
pack or two a day to share among the staff is appreciated
far more than you know.
Tipping
your PH is a far less cut-and-dried matter. Nobody
in the safari business is getting rich, and if your
PH isn’t the outfitter, he probably isn’t
making much more than a hundred bucks a day, regardless
of what you paid for the safari. Heck, with outfitting
costs as they are, even if he is the outfitter, he
isn’t making a fortune. So your tip will be
greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, there is no standard
formula like there is for camp staffs. Length of
hunt and cost of hunt figure in, but the most important
criteria are what you can afford and how you feel
about the safari. In other words, there isn’t
much help out there, so most of us avoid getting
specific about this issue. Colonel Bill Williamson
of Fair Chase Ltd. Is one of the few experts I have
ever heard address this issue head-on. He has a great
little booklet that he gives clients, and it suggests
that an appropriate tip to a PH might be based on
five percent of the daily rate. That’s probably
a good starting point. Williamson also points out
that PH’s have enough binoculars and so forth,
and what they really appreciate is cash. I’m
not altogether certain about that. Over the years
I have given top-quality binoculars to several professional
hunters. They still use them, and I believe the gift
was appreciated and has lasted longer than the equivalent
in cash would have. If you are considering something
like that, take a look at the equipment the PH already
has and make sure you’re offering a genuine
improvement and something he really needs. There
are many kinds of tips, and they range from very
modest to downright spectacular. What you do must
be based on what you can afford as well as how you
feel about the safari – but don’t overlook
this important bit of etiquette.
This
is purely my opinion and my way of approaching things,
which doesn’t make it right for everyone. This
also applies to the two remaining subjects I want
to address, except that these last two may be even
more controversial. The first is adherence to African
game laws; the second concerns trophy expectations.
African
game laws vary widely from country to country. It
is altogether unreasonable to expect the visiting
sportsman to be familiar with them. The professional
hunter must be. Much of the testing required to obtain
a professional hunter’s license deals with
knowledge of game laws. The licensed professional
hunter is charged with adhering to them and ensuring
that his clients do as well. This is part of the
reason visiting hunters are required to engage a
licensed guide in so many countries throughout the
world.
I
believe any professional hunter worthy of the name
should uphold the game laws of the country in which
he plies his trade. His clients should insist that
he do so, and the PH should insist that his clients
do the same. Again, the game laws vary tremendously
from area to area. In some areas it is totally illegal
to shoot from a vehicle; in other areas it is not.
Provided the license and/or trophy fees are paid,
some areas allow more than one animal of some species;
others allow only one to a customer. Some countries
have minimum caliber restrictions; some do not. Hunting
is not a perfect science and mistakes can be made,
but I believe very strongly that professional hunters
and safari clients should strive together to adhere
to the local laws and maintain the highest standards.
I
have heard so-called hunters brag about taking multiple
animals on a single license, and there are videos
on the market that are made exciting by purposefully
wounding animals to incite a charge. The good news
is that I believe such abuses are rare. Most professional
hunters are extremely ethical and do their best to
play by the rules. On the other hand, they are under
tremendous pressure to please their clients. The
best course is to discuss the rules of the road at
the outset if the safari and then stick by them.
While we safari clients – strangers in strange
lands – may not know the local laws, most of
us have more than enough hunting experience to know
what is right and what is wrong. We must not discard
the basic rules of ethics and sportsmanship simply
because we’re on someone else’s turf,
or because we have invested a lot of dollars in the
safari. We as hunters have enough trouble, and it
is imperative that we respect the laws of the African
countries that still allow us to hunt.
While
we are discussing the local laws on how you may or
may not hunt, it’s a good idea to bring up
the subject of exactly what you may hunt and what
you may not hunt. Chances are you booked your safari
with certain animals in mind. There are almost certainly
other animals in the area that you didn’t think
of at the time. Most areas today have fairly rigid
game quotas, and some require up-front licenses,
so you may be restricted to the animals you contracted
to hunt. That should be just fine with everyone.
But you don’t know exactly what you might run
into on a given day in Africa, so it’s a good
idea to discuss the “what-if’s”.
Animals may be available that you hadn’t thought
about, and there may be unallocated quota. On the
other hand, there may not be, but it’s a good
idea to ask the question; and you should also ask
how much the trophy fee would be so that you’ll
know exactly where you stand. When an encounter occurs,
it’s usually much too late to discuss the possibilities.
On
to the final issue. I think one of the more unfortunate
aspects of modern hunting is the thirst for record-class
animals. Mind you, this is not all bad, and it certainly
doesn’t have to lead to unethical behavior.
Despite the fact there is far less wildlife in Africa
today than there was a half-century ago, average
trophy quality continues to escalate. I don’t
think this is because animals are growing bigger
horns, but rather because modern hunters are far
more selective than they used to be. If you question
this premise, gather up some old hunting books and
look at photographs of safaris taken in the 1940’s
and 1950’s. Yes, the elephant tusks were heavier,
and the safari bags were much larger, but most of
those antelope trophies are mediocre by today’s
standards. I’m sure that better trophies were
available back then, but today’s hunter and
professional hunter are much more conscious of trophy
quality. This is a good thing, and the world has
Safari Club International and the excellent SCI record
book to thank for it.
The
problem is that I think we’ve gone a little
too far. A superlative trophy is a wonderful thing – but “record-book
fever” is not. All to often, at least for my
taste, I hear the results of a safari described as
something like “ nine out of ten in the record
book”. An African safari is a grand experience,
and surely there’s more to the memory than
how many times your name will go into the book!
Again,
good trophies are wonderful, and I’m all for
being as selective as the area and time will allow.
If you want to set extremely high standards and seek
only the very best trophies I’m all for it,
as long as you don’t whine if you don’t
find what you’re looking for. Or, worse in
my book, you race for the downed animal with tape
in hand, and if it comes up a bit short of what you
expected, you don’t like it anymore.
In
the previous chapter I stated that it’s unlikely
that any hunter will fill the entire game list in
a given area. It is also extremely unlikely that
all of the animals you bag will be of record-book
proportions. However, several probably will be. There
are a number of reasons for this. First, the record-book
minimum scores, whether SCI or the old Rowland Ward,
are somewhat more lenient when compared to Boone
and Crockett minimums for North American big game.
Second, both safari clients and professional hunters
are very much aware of trophy quality; the clients
demand good trophies, and the PH’s strive to
find them. Third, while African wildlife suffers
from poaching, predation, and habitat loss, there
is actually very little hunting pressure as we know
it. Especially in well-managed hunting areas, a good
percentage of males live long enough to realize their
trophy potential.
The
average safari bag will include several record-class
trophies. This is especially true on game ranches
in southern Africa, where poaching and predation
can be controlled and the harvest is a cash crop.
However, they won’t all make the book. This
is because, regardless of the intensity of management,
the different species thrive in different habitats.
No one is capable of producing top-quality specimens
of all the game present. Also, few hunters possess
that much luck! And, after all, if every single animal
taken by every single hunter made the book, it wouldn’t
be much of a book, would it?
In
my view there is nothing wrong with good, mature
representative specimens, regardless of their book
measurement. So relax and enjoy your beautiful trophy.
Remember the way it looked just before you pulled
the trigger, the way you sweated during the stalk,
and how hard it was to control the shakes when you
brought up the rifle. These things matter much more
than an inch of horn one way or the other. Later,
if you wish, take out the tape and have a look. If
your trophy earns you a place in the book, wonderful.
If it doesn’t, maybe you can look for a bigger
one next time around – but in the meantime,
who cares? It’s still your trophy, and when
it’s on your wall, it should still bring back
fine memories of a beautiful day in Africa
