Bird Hunting South Africa

We have some excellent bird hunting in South Africa, in the Free State province. The bird shooting here is outstanding, and we at Safari Njema concentrate on the multitude of game birds as our main thrust in bird hunting.

The concession is situated in the central Orange Free State province of South Africa. It is an area with good infrastructure like airports, roads, medical facilities, mobile phone networks etc. It is also free of tropical diseases such as malaria.

In mid-winter the evenings and early mornings can be quite chilly – warm clothing is advised. The accommodation is a comfortable lodge on the farm with seven double en suite bedrooms. There is a large living room with a fireplace and a well stocked bar where we recline in the evenings.

The catering is of the highest standard.

We shoot the following game bird species in this part of the country:

Guinea fowl
Francolin (two species)
Quail
Egyptian and Spur wing geese
Three species of duck
Rock pigeon
Three species of doves

Our season starts at the beginning of May and ends on the 15th of September, except for the pigeons and doves, which are open all year round with no bag limit.

The pigeon and dove shooting is high volume stuff. One would expect clients to shoot between 300 and 800 shots per day, with a kill rate of 20% to 60%, depending on the skill of the hunter.

The best time of the year to shoot pigeons and doves is from the beginning of March to the middle of June. For the Egyptian and Spur wing geese one could expect a bag of between 5 and 10 birds per hunter per outing, with the official bag limit of 10 birds /gun/day.
We shoot them from pit blinds and decoy them in to the guns. With ducks, once again, one could expect a bag of 5 to 10 birds/gun/day.
Ducks are shot on and near smaller dams and pans, from hides, and sometimes decoyed. The best time of the year to hunt ducks and geese is from May to end of September.

The francolin and guinea fowl are either walked up over German short haired pointers or driven, especially towards the end of the season. Although the driven shooting can be very spectacular and successful, we prefer to walk them up to the dogs. One could expect a bag of 7 to 10 birds /gun/day. The best time for guinea fowl and francolin is from end of April to the end of August.

I would recommend 5 to 7 shooting days per safari. Please take note that we don’t shoot on Sundays, and your safari will be planed around that. The clients will fly here and back over weekends and would thus only lose one working week. It will give the clients more than enough time to sample everything we have to offer.

Cost of shot shells:
From $8.90-00 (for light dove loads) per box of 25, for 12 gauge
From $12.30-00 (heavier loads) per box of 25, for 12 gauge
From $12.30-00 to $14.90-00 for 20 gauge

Bird Hunting with Safari Njema

Pricing per day per client

Daily rate /per client /day: $650-00 (three clients)
Daily rate /per client /day: $550-00 (four and more clients)
Daily rate /per observers /day: $280-00

Included:

Transfers to and from Johannesburg Airport
Accommodation, catering and laundry
Shooting licenses and permits
All birds shot
All transport to and from shooting venues
Field staff, dogs, decoys and blinds
Field preparation of trophies

Not included

International and domestic airfare as well as charter flights.
Animals on the list to be hunted.
Any taxidermy costs.
Dipping, packing, and crating fees of trophies.
Air cargo charges on shipment of all trophies.
Accommodation before and after the safari if required.
Gratuities for camp staff and professional hunter.
Meals away from safari camps.