1

Holy s**t! You're kidding, right?

This post is either a (very bad) joke or an attempt to start an argument. Neither seem to have worked.

2

Hi there,

SlodFace, South Africa is a very popular for hunting safaris. Whilst I am not at all an advocate of this, each traveler is of course entitled to their own experience.

Jgibat16 - As long as you have a valid licence for use and for transportation, it should be alright. A vast majority of South African's travel with their weapons on a daily basis. However, I do suggest that you of course do not show it off. I think you will have more trouble with the places you are staying in - For example, if you wish to stay in another national park out of your hunting trip, taking your rifle in will require a lot of pre-planning, as it will have to be locked up in the lodge (or whichever accommodation) safety box etc.

I suggest you email each establishment you wish to stay with, and double check their fire arm policy (explaining your situation).

All the best!

3

I'm sorry to disappoint but neither.

I am not here to debate the morality of hunting. I know many people are against it. I will let you know that I personally grew up in a poor rural area and without the knowledge and ability to take advantage of the natural bounty around us I would have grown up on food solely from food banks and government food stamps. I would have been one of those obese Americans from all the packaged food! Instead I was blessed with parents who taught me how to hunt, forage, garden, and can. Those things are all some of my favorite hobbies today (now that I'm living comfortably and don't have to rely on them!) My fiance is from a similar background, and enjoys the same things.

I see you are from Greenland, ironically we looked at muskox and reindeer hunting in your home land. We chose not to do those trips because we could not guarantee that the meat would be eaten and used. So if you have an issue with that I suggest you start at home.

Instead we chose to hunt warthog in South Africa. We will be allowed to field dress our animal and eat it for our meals after the hunt. What is not used will be packaged and sold. This made us feel comfortable enough to go on such an "exotic" trip.

As for travel, I was simply looking for information on moving around with a locked gun case in one compartment in the car and ammo in another locked case in another compartment of the car. (i.e. the safe and responsible way). I think you may be envisioning some American gun slinger riding shotgun. If carried properly most fire arms can be mistaken for musical instruments in their locked cases!

4

Hi LodgeTrackers,

Thank you for your reply.

We were already assuming it would have to be cleared with each place we stayed and locked in some place of their choosing. I was more worried about the actual travel between places. From your info it seems like that shouldn't be an issue as long as we obtained proper permits. I hadn't been able to find anything on the permits etc. which made me worry that transporting a firearm is illegal, hence the original post.

The only other time I have hunted in a foreign country was in Canada which does not allow non-citizens to transport weapons of any kind. We were required to ship our bows to our host, and ship them home before leaving. The FAQ on the website for the outfitter we are going through has no info on getting the bow or rifle there. Nor anything about laws in the country. However they did specifically state they will not store anything for you after you leave their property. I have yet to hear back from my contact person regarding this as well.

Once again thank you for the info and now I at least know that travel is a possibility!

5

Ummm... have you contacted the South African embassy in your country at all? And by contacted I mean called them up to ask...

6

Also are you flying direct from the USA to SA, I understand if via Heathrow it can be a problem.

7

jgibat16 , you need a permit to bring your rifle into South Africa. The rifle has to be either in a gun case or bag, never must the rifle be visible in general public. When you travel around the country it is best to place the bag out of sight : in the boot. Parking the vehicle and walk around is more a risk because if the vehicle is stolen you will be in trouble - not going to jail but a lot of questions! Store the rifle at the place where you overnight and when you drive around and park always keep an eye on the vehicle. Forget about crossing the border to neighboring countries, you need a permit of that country to enter the rifle into that country and it takes months. Visiting national parks in South Africa is also not a problem, you declare the rifle, they seal the trigger and count the rounds and you sign a document. When you leave the park, again inspection.
I used to hunt and crossing into Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe and never had a problem but there are a lot of paper work before hand! Enjoy the hunt and do it walking and not from a vehicle!!