HUNTING ZIMBABWE

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Hunting Zimbabwe

Hunting Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is one of Africa’s greatest hunting countries. Elephant, Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Hippo, Crocodile, Sable and many species of plains game are abundant and trophy quality is excellent. Plentiful game, great infrastructure, easy access and reasonable prices combine to make Zimbabwe the best value in dangerous game hunting and one of the most popular hunting destinations in Africa.

Our hunting outfitter offers classic dangerous game hunts in some of Zimbabwe’s best concessions, including Rifa, Charara and Dande South. These areas have outstanding camps and incredible hunting, though all have different specialty species. Your hunt will be booked in the area that gives you the best chance at success for your primary species.

We also hunt a large concession on the famed Save Conservancy with an upscale camp that is ideal for family or corporate groups. It also has incredible Lion, Leopard, Buffalo and Sable. Farther south, we have an excellent private ranch with superb plains game and Leopard hunting. This is one of our best Leopard areas. In fact, we have a 90% success rate on our Leopard hound hunts here. Baited hunts are also very successful on this 60,000 acre ranch.

Zimbabwe Hunting
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Given the prevailing political, economic and human rights situation in this country, as a hunter or traveler, one may be tempted to avoid Zimbabwe altogether.

This country, formerly known as Rhodesia, was once one of the most prosperous countries in Africa while under rule of the British Empire. After gaining its independence and, even more so under the rule of Robert Mugabe, this prosperity has come to an abrupt end.

In the last ten years, the policies enacted by Robert Mugabe against white Zimbabweans, including the redistribution of agricultural land, have brought on a rapid and devastating economic collapse. As a result, famine has become a driving force among the Zimbabweans and has led to significant poaching. According to some sources, these activities have led to the disappearance of 70 to 80% of the game in some areas.

Surprisingly, tourists and hunters continue to visit Zimbabwe. To date, there have been no incidents involving foreign tourist or foreign hunters. In addition, most of the safari operators continue to offer hunts in Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe continues to be an important hunting destination.

The current situation will not last forever and the continued presence in the bush and in the hunting areas of the hunting structures such as the: camps, lodges, vehicles and more, as well as the presence of hunters, PH’s, trackers, game scouts, etc… all may help to slow the effects of poaching… even though for many of these poachers, poaching is a matter of survival.

It is likely that one day soon Zimbabwe will again be the peaceful and beautiful hunting destination that it had been for decades though this return to normalcy may take several years.

Zimbabwe, as is the case for other countries in Africa, has no access to the sea. Zimbabwe is bordered to the east by Mozambique, to the south by the Republic of South Africa, to the west by Botswana and to the north by Zambia.

Zimbabwe is home to an Elephant population estimated at 100,000 animals, with a threshold at 50,000, mostly in the Zambezi Valley. Hunting of Elephants is allowed.

Lion and Leopard hunting are also allowed. Lions and Leopards are hunted exclusively with bait and can be found in almost all areas. Zimbabwean Leopards are well known for their size. It is worth mentioning that among the cats, Cheetah hunting is also permitted.

There are also large herds of Buffalo in Zimbabwe and so this country offers the possibility to hunt four of the renowned “Big Five”…

Zimbabwe is also home to a large variety of antelope as well, among these, a strong population of Sable, additionally one can also hunt in Zimbabwe Roan Antelope, Cape Eland, Lesser Kudu, Forest Nyala, Blue Wildebeest, Tsessebe, Common Waterbuck, Impala, Burchell’s Zebra, Reedbuck, Bushbuck, Bushpig, Warthog, Common Duiker, Steenbok, Klipspringer, Hippos and Crocodiles are abundant in most of the rivers and can also be hunted.

The vegetation of Zimbabwe consists mostly of mopane (Colophospermum mopane) forests, one of the more common trees of southern Africa and dry and grassy savanna broken up by areas of dense forest.

The hunting areas are spread out over a large part of Zimbabwe. Hunting is permitted in three different types of areas: governmental hunting areas, tribal hunting areas and private hunting areas. Each one of these hunting areas has their own hunting rules. Governmental areas and the private territories are huge; they can reach hundreds of thousands of acres. All these territories are non fenced and open.

In Zimbabwe hunting is done on foot but given the vastness of the hunting areas, it is often necessary to travel by vehicle. The hunting areas are not very rugged and the actual hunting is not especially physically rigorous.

The professional hunters are most often White Zimbabwean, but there are also South-African, white Zambian and occasionally European ones as well.

The accommodations on private hunting areas are usually comfortable lodges. On governmental areas accommodations are usually large and comfortable tent camps, including electricity in most cases.

Depending upon the location of the hunting area, most are accessible by road from the country’s capital, Harare, or from a secondary city, like Victoria Falls. The roads are good and drive time averages 3 to 6 hours. But since many hunting areas have their own airstrip, transfer by chartered plane will often be possible.

We look forward to helping make your Zimbabwe hunting adventure the best it can be!

Bird Hunting Africa

We represent the finest bird hunting outfitters in Africa, please contact us for complete information on our Africa bird hunts.

Bird Hunting Africa

We look forward to helping make your Africa bird hunting adventure the best it can be!

Africa Hunting Photos

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We look forward to helping make your Africa bird hunting adventure the best it can be!

References

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L. Irvin Barnhart, Texas, USA

“I have enjoyed my association with James Jeffery and have found him to be one of the most hard working and honest people in the industry.”
L. Irvin Barnhart, Texas, USA

Dr. Igor V. Kaplansky, New York, USA

“James is a great guy, knowledgeable, helpful, reliable and with a good sense of humor. Thank you.”
Dr. Igor V. Kaplansky, New York, USA

Stephanie Montgomery and Chuck Johnson, South Carolina, USA

“Working with James Jeffrey is very pleasant because he is professional, thorough and has outstanding follow through. We can’t recommend him enough!”
Stephanie Montgomery and Chuck Johnson, South Carolina, USA