Heading out the 2nd week of August for South Africa. Going just outside of Ellisras, which is in the N.E. part of S.A. near the Botswana/Zimbabwe border. Going to spend 10 days shooting at some Impala, Wildebeest, Warthog (or 2), a Kudu, Gemsbok, and a Zebra. I have room for one more animal of opportunity. Mailed out my import permit for a T/C 45-70, T/C 30-30 and a Ruger .480.
Any last minute advice of words 'o wisdom?

Shoot straight and have a great time you lucky son of a gun.....

YEA take me

Unless things have changed you're only allowed 2.

Pasco,

Good luck! Who are you hunting with outside of Ellisras?

And make sure they all have scopes on them. I took a Model 83 .454 with iron sights when I went and almost had the gun confiscated. They didn't consider it a hunting weapon with just iron sights.

It took my PH a lot of fast talking and even a little bribery to get it back.

The bribe was what they were after in the first place. Getting your permit ahead of time solves most problems.

Hey J.F.J., Thank you, I will. Been dreaming of this hunt since I started shooting silhouettes when I was 14 years old with a Ruger Security Six.

Hey BFR, Would'nt be great if there was a whole camp full of pistol shooters?

Hey Gary, I think things have loosend up a bit. I did't see anything limiting the amount of guns you could bring as long as you didn't have two of the same caliber, but I will wait to hear from the permit service before I pack the gun case.

Hey SChunter, going to hunt with Riaan Vosloo of Shingani Safaris. I am his 1st handgun hunter he has hosted. He hosts alot of bow hunters, so I'm confident he can get me close enough to be able to drop the hammer a couple of times.

Hey G.R., Got Red Dots on the T/C's and a scope on the Super Redhawk. Once we are out in the bushes, the scope is coming off and it's going on my hip as back up.

I wish you good hunting. I hunted west of East London in 1998 taking twelve head of plains game with rifles. The herds of horned game were amazing. Roosevelt's African Game Trails influenced me to take some of the game he liked. I wish I had had a digital camera as I shot 12 rolls of 35mm film and 5 hours of video. And yes, warthog oysters taste like mountain oysters.

Looks like you've dotted your I's and crossed your T's. Have fun, and take lots of pics.

Have a great time and even better luck with getting some great trophys!!!

Keep up the good prep work and best of luck to you Pasco, may your dreams be fullfilled and pleez show us pics when you arrive safely back.

PS: Don't drink the water!

(U know this I'm sure!)

Take loooooots of pictures for us!!!!!!

Pasco, have a great hunt, but most importantly, enjoy yourself!

And take lots of photos!

I just read on the South African Consulate General website where it clearly said One handgun of .45 cal or smaller. No simi-autos.
Looks like it's going to be me & the .480 Redhawk, I have some paperwork to change, but better here, than over there.

I'm confused, wouldn't the .476 be larger than the 45??? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding...

Good luck on the trip and be careful out there. Take plenty of pictures and shoot straight

Take care.

GS

I was of the same opinion as Glenn, as I thought the big revolvers were a no-no over there. But I did see in the issue before last's American Hunter where the author and the S&W reps used .460 (I know what the actual diameter is, just wouldn't want to have to explain that to customs/import) and .500 S&W's.

Pasco, maybe one of the guys on here who've travelled recently to SA can shed some light, or you could contact an outfitter that specializes in handgun hunting there.

Best of luck - jealous in SC! I want to go back!

If one of your guns is a single shot shooting a rifle caliber you may get away with 2 guns. The consulate website has said that for quite a while and it is the law from what I understand but I've gone in with 3 once and 2 once. I would advise that you get Air2000 or one of the other services to arrange your permit for you. Gracy Travel provides that service too from what I understand from Ed. I think PHASA also has a service for that. The 480 is .475 and obviously exceeds the 45 caliber. As I understand it when some folks associated with S&W went over there they had to do some explaining on the 460. Once you have the permit there isn't much they can say about it but I don't think you'll get away with more than 2 guns.

I hired riflepermit.com to pull my import permit(s).(the outfit mentioned in the American Hunter artical). I asked him through email about all my paperwork listing 3 handguns and he said technically, handguns are not leagle in SA, but they make exeptions if your paperwork is in order. So, he is going to submit my permits as is for now. Now I just have to sit tight...

Well if he's telling you they aren't legal I think I would hire another outfit. It doesn't sound to me like he knows what he's talking about. It's not legal to bring in a handgun for personal defense because you're not allowed to defend yourself, but that has nothing to do with hunting handguns.

You know, reading this is most dissapointing from the standpoint of what is allowed and what isn't. One of the main reasons I always wanted a 475 and 500 Linebaugh was to tussle at some point with the mighty Cape. Is there anywhere over there that this is still possible or am I just SOL? Haven't really kept up with it as I'm not in any danger of heading over anytime soon but its disheartening to know that it may not be an option. Guess I'll have to settle for something else, somewhere else at some point

Good luck on the hunt....GS

The only constant in Africa is change and while I don't expect a change in RSA anytime soon you never know. As far as I'm aware you can use the bigger calibers in Zimbabwe and there are probably a few other countries as well.

I've been in email contact with Dave Campbell (the auther of the American Hunter artical) and riflepermits.com. Dispite what the SA rules were on the consolate info page, they both say the .460, .480 and the 500 calibers have not been a issue. My permit application was submited yesterday. Fingers are crossed.

Gary is right on this one buddy. I went in 2007 with Madubula Safaris, used Air2000 and if it wasn't for them, I would be out a couple of dang nice rifles and everything was perfectly permited and legal but ran into trouble on the way home. It was a small airport in Kimberly and the SAP officer couldn't read corisponding serial numbers until he got his pocket lined with a little (quite a bit actually the little S.O.B.) American coin. The way you are going though, you might be alright if you take plenty of bribe money... Point being if something is iffy, and in my case it wasn't even close to iffy, there is a high probablility of them trying to "get" to you.. Remove as many excuses as you can and have printed rules in hand..

You'll learn though...

I sincerly wish you the best of luck. Africa will pretty much ruin you for hunting in the states...

Travel safe,

Todd

Permits be damned to ignorant SAP officers.

Todd

Just one more, When Air2000 was involved and present, they didn't even open our gun cases...

Todd

I'll add one more bit of free advise; chunk your unused ammo in the river when you leave. I'll never try and bring ammo home again for all the hassles it cost me on the last trip. Just tell em you shot all of it...

Ed, PM sent