The safari hunter has a passion for African wildlife and a desire to seek it out on foot. This is the type of hunter that grew up reading Hemingway and Ruark, and who was inspired by the exploits of Frederick Courteney Selous and Karamojo Bell. These men and their stories opened a new world for the modern day safari hunter, and they stoked a desire in the hearts of many to experience the Africa that they read about.

The type of safari that most people associate with the word “safari” these days is ranch hunting, which takes place on privately owned farms in South Africa and Namibia. These ranches either raise their own game, or purchase it from other breeders specifically for the purpose of selling to hunters. They often rely on fences, and in many cases the fences are there to keep the predators out rather than to prevent the animals from being hunted. This style of safari tends to have a much more brutal and bloodthirsty tone than the true hunting safari, which requires the hunter to pursue his quarry on foot, and to respect the prey animal enough to not merely kill it but to leave it living.

The Art of the Hunt: Insights from a Safari Hunter

Most plains game safaris are done on private lands, and a lot of them are conducted in the winter — our summer — when the bush is dry and the vegetation thinner, making it easier to spot animals. Most hunters will plan to pursue antelope species such as the steenbok or the kudu, but those who really want to challenge themselves can try for a more elusive game such as the spiral-horned nyala or the oribi.