Hunting shooting in South Africa, Eastern Cape , Northern Cape, Free State, Limpopo. Resources & advice

This advice is primarily written for UK residents planning a trip to South Africa .
At the moment, you can only bring a shotgun or rifle if you are flying into Johannesburg - no other airports will accept firearms. The easiest and most stress free way of dealing with your weapon permit applications is to use the services of the company called Hunters Support who will process & check your papers in advance and meet you at the airport and take you through the controls. They charge a fee of around 100 Dollars for this. This way you jump any queues and you will have someone with you who knows the system - they will also help you with any transfers, car hire or local sightseeing if you are not being met by your outfitter.  The airport can be busy at peak times and queues can be a couple of hours if there are many others applying for their temporary weapon import papers. Or you can use the services of the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA)  and their web site has other useful information for visitors to South Africa (you will need to check if they provide a meet and greet service which Hunters Support include in their fee) .   If you want to apply yourself, saving some money but joining the queues, you can fill in all the forms in advance by downloading the pda documen the link to which is on the PHASA site . 

I work with two companies who specialise in big game and one company which specialises in bird shooting. All operators  must be members of PHASA. The web sites of my partners in Africa give plenty of advice about clothing and equipment to take so there's no point in repeating this information here. Just start at my main map page of Africa  and follow the links.  

Anyone travelling such a long distance may wish to add some sightseeing / game viewing time before or after their hunting trip. We can arrange game viewing and / or a planned sightseeing trip itinerary or you can plan your own. General tourist information about South Africa is available on various web sites such as South Africa Info.    , South Africa Net  (this site was slow to load the last time I checked, but has many useful links). 

For flights to South Africa, there are numerous online resources. Be aware that if you fly with KLM, you will almost certainly fly via Schiphol and you must apply in advance for your weapon to transit the airport (even though you and your baggage are checked in at UK and you will not see your baggage until it arrives with you in South Africa). You will need to fax the customs in advance - if you go to this web page  there are links to the downloadable forms. Your flight booking agent should be able to help if you are having problems with this. When you book your flight , you must tell the airline you will be carrying sporting firearms at the time of booking. Flying from the UK, try these airlines:  , British Airways (direct) ,  VIRGIN ATLANTIC FOR GOOD PRICES  (direct from Heathrow)  and Air France (but ex London will be via French airports).  Emirates Airlines (always via Dubai) also fly to Jo'berg and they are also (as of April 2008) flying to Cape Town. If you book a flight you must ask your travel agent or Emirates themselves to apply for clearance for your firearms to transit Dubai airport and this must be done well in advance of your travel date. I have flown with Emirates which have a good reputation for service and food but would advise you avoid transfer times of longer than 2-3 hours at Dubai airport. Dubai airport is packed during the cooler (25+ degrees!)  night time peak transfer times and finding a place to rest is not easy on the main concourse  and as you cannot sit in the departure seating area, you could miss your flight call if you nod off!

But because you always have to notify airlines you are carrying firearms at the time of booking , I prefer to book in person or use a local UK based travel agent.

Be aware that if you book any flight  which means you fly with a shotgun or rifle via Schipol (Amsterdam) which is usually with KLM or via Dubai which is usually with Emirates - that you must apply to the airports to notify them that you will be transiting with sporting firearms. Trips to the East Cape should not need any immunisations as this is a Malaria free area. Trips to the Northern Cape (with East London & Adventures Safaris for big game management hunts or trophy hunts ) usually require immunisation medication - you should check with your local Health Centre about this. 

I am happy to give advice about which airlines to use based on my own personal experience. I prefer to fly overnight, it's much easier to sleep on these flights - the last time I took a daytime flight, I still had to get up at 3 am to reach my local airport, so I not only lost sleep getting up so early, but hardly slept on the daytime flight out. Low dosage Aspirin should be considered to reduce the risk of DVT - ask your local health centre for advice. Take an extra bottle of water on board (or use an empty bottle to fill up from the fountain on the 'plane) - security restrictions make it more difficult to carry water with you , but it's so easy to become badly dehydrated on these flights.

LATEST INFORMATION 1/9/09: Airline Checked In Luggage Charges:   Everything has changed in the past few months....since June/July of this year 2009. Most of the major airlines are now charging extra for that rifle or shotgun case. If your airline codeshares with another airline which does make a charge, then the originator airline may also charge. But costs vary from one outfit to another - some charge by total weight of ALL your hold baggage (so you add your suitcase together with the rifle/shotgun case) and you pay excess baggage over whatever weight threshold they have. Others just make a fixed price charge for the rifle/shotgun case. Looks like it will take a while for things to settle down. Lufthansa seem to have one of the highest surcharges once you go over the 'normal' checked in baggage allowance.

1/5/11. Some airlines are now charging even more for carrying rifle ammunition which must be in a separate box. It is now much more economical to hire the PH's rifle.

Please be aware that you cannot bring more than one calibre shotgun or one calibre of rifle. 20g shotgun cartridges are not always easily available - you should contact your South Africa operator or the sporting agency you are booking with to confirm availability of cartridges for 12 and 20 gauge shotguns. For bird shooting - especially if you are likely to do any wildfowling - you should only bring a 12G shotgun to ensure that the PH can supply you with the heavy shot sizes required for these birds.

South Africa is really a stunning country and offers a huge variety of interesting sights and activities for the tourist. Many hunters like to combine their hunting trip with a sightseeing trip which can be enjoyed by any ladies in the group as well as the men (apologies to any lady hunters here - but I have to acknowledge that around 95% of hunters are men!). I'm happy to give advice if you want to visit other parts of the country before or after your hunting trip.

Everyone in South Africa is talking about the East Cape for wildlife and hunting. This is the up and coming area with a wide variety of habitats. Wild game previously decimated is now returning naturally as well as being re introduced. They have a Brucellosis free policy and unlike many areas in the North, have none of the major diseases affecting animals and humans.

Hot/warm weather clothing: For Africa etc. For travelling and hunting I have found that little beats Craghopper trousers which you can buy online   There are two versions of these trousers - one even incorporates insect repellant. Zip off trousers which can be worn as shorts are a good idea if you are going when it's seriously hot. A wide brimmed light coloured soft hat and long sleeved cotton shirts are vital. On your feet, a decent pair of lightweight, waterproof walking boots are important. Get the ones which fit just over the ankle.   
When travelling, I always carry one of the multi tools with me so that I can fix the rifle / remove splinters or cactus thorns / gralloch a beast or perform brain surgery.

Bird Shooting trips in South Africa is not as expensive as you may think. 7 nights full board , 6 days shooting (high volume dove, walked up mixed, morning & evening goose and duck flights) laundry, alcoholic drinks, airport transfers will cost around Euros 1330.00 plus small booking fee. Only extras are cartridges (at cost) and tips. 

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