General advice on how to help make your hunting tour a success

Flight check in:

Most airlines have a free luggage weight allowance of 20-23 kg per person (or 30kg in  business class) plus 1 piece of hand luggage with a maximum weight of 5-8 kg - unless otherwise stated in your itinerary. Check the airlines’s website for more details.

We must also draw your attention to the fact that airlines have the right to impose a handling charge on the transport of weapons. The amount charged varies from airline to airline. Furthermore a number of airlines will charge for extra items of baggage and/or for excess weight.

REMEMBER, sharp and pointed items such as knives, scissors etc. may not be carried in the hand luggage, they should be packed as part of your main check-in luggage. There are also rules covering the carriage of liquids in the hand luggage. Remember to check the rules for the airport/airline you are travelling with.

There are a number or regulations on bringing a powerbank on a flight. These regulations may vary, so please check with your actual airline.

There are some general rules:

The powerbank should be carried in your hand luggage (As it is easier to extinguish a fire in the cabin than in the hold)
The powerbank may be max. 100Wh (approx 27,000 mAh)
You can bring max. 2 powerbanks.

Seat reservations

On many flights  it is possible to reserve a specific seat in advance by payment of a fee. You can do this on the airlines website, or we can do it for you. However please be aware that airlines cannot  give an absolute guarantee on such reservations, as they may need to be altered if the type of aircraft used is changed before departure.

Making your own flight bookings

If you wish to arrange your own flights to/from your destination, you should be aware that we will not be able to offer any help if any problems arise with your flight, such as strikes, cancellations, delays etc.  Furthermore you will also be responsible for informing the airline if you are travelling with weapons/ammunition and for arranging transit permits (eg. in  Amsterdam).

Export- and import of weapons  

Weapons exported from your contry of residence must receive clearance.  Therefore it is important that you contact Customs in the airport with your European firearms pass.

We recommend that you also bring  your hunting license and weapons permit. REMEMBER to allow plenty of time to check in. The latest check in-time is currently 2 hours before departure, but we recommend you arrive at the airport before this because of the special check-in procedures involved when travelling with weapons. They are not complicated - it just takes time. 

Helpful advice concerning carriage of weapons

Weapons must be packed safely, for example, in a metal- fiber- or  plastic case, which has been certified for air transport. Remember  that ammunition and the rifle’s bolt must NOT be packed together with the rifle, but should be carried in a separate item of the check-in baggage. Weapons, weapon parts, telescopic sights, ammunition, knifes etc. must NOT be packed in your hand luggage.

Please Note: It is no longer legal to transport ammunition in it’s original packaging. All ammunition must be stored (and transported) in a lockable ammunition-box, certified for the carriage of ammunition, and must usually be checked in separately from your rifle case. With some airlines each item will get their own bagage tag/mark. 
Rucksacks, sports-bags and similar items are not equivalent to a hardcase and cannot  be used for carrying ammunition or rifle bolts. These must be packed in a lockable case. Be aware that your rifle-case and perhaps other items of luggage, will be opened by Security and by Customs before you travel outside the EU. If you wish to put extra locks on your suitcase, strips or other such items, wait until Security has completed their safety checks. According to the International Air Transport Association, IATA, passengers may bring a maximum of 5 kilos of ammunition.  Please note that certain airlines require that all weapons are fitted with a trigger lock.

Important!

We must also point out that certain airports have introduced extra checks on any weapons and ammunition carried. These extra security checks may include you pointing out which baggage tags belong to your weapons and ammunition. These will typically take place at the departure gate of a transit airport - for example if you change flights in Frankfurt. It is therefore very important that you take note of which baggage tags belong to your weapons and ammunition.
Failure to do so might, in the worst case scenario, result in your baggage not being loaded onto the aircraft.

Insurance:

1. Cancellation-insurance:

If an acute illness that requires hospitalisation, or prescribed bed rest, hits yourself, your close family or one of your travelling companions, you will be able to rearrange your trip to a more suitable time at no extra cost. A fire or burglary at your home or your own business immediately before departure can also be a valid reason for postponing your trip.

Extended coverage:

It is also recognised that a minor physical injury, that would not normally provide good grounds for cancellation, may actually do so if it would prevent a hunter from carrying out the purpose of the trip. A good example of such would be suffering from a broken finger. This would prevent the hunter from using a rifle, but would not fulfil the insurance requirement of hospitalisation or prescribed bed-rest. Such an injury would also qualify the hunters to receive a replacement tour.

If you have taken out a cancellation policy at  4% of the trip's cost you will be issued with a  voucher  from Europæiske ERV Travel Insurance to the value of the trip's cost. 

If you have taken out a cancellation policy at  6% of the trip's cost Europæiske ERV Travel Insurance will refund the cost of the trip.

Accommodation

Our customers will always, unless  anything else has been agreed in advance, be accommodated in two-bedded rooms. You will always be charged for a single room supplement if:

• You book as an individual
• You are travelling alone
• You are travelling with an uneven number of hunters
• You are designated a single room on site
• You sleep alone in a multi-bed room
• You have a booked a single room
• The size of the supplement payable varies from destination to destination. 

Guidelines covering shooting game

Before you start your hunt, you will discuss your hunting wishes with the hunting guide. All shooting in the reserve/hunting district is carried out under the direction of the hunting guide/professional hunter.

Preparation for hunting

A prerequisite for a successful hunting tour is that your equipment, level of fitness, weapons, and marksmanship skills are all up to scratch. It is also important to have a theoretical knowledge about the hunt you will take part in. Last, but not least, it is too late to learn how to shoot properly when, for example, you are standing at your post on a driven hunt, and a wild boar is passing your position at full speed. Your rifle must be in good working order, the sighting adjusted correctly and the optics mounted correctly.

Remember to test shoot your rifle on arrival in the hunting district and before starting hunting, as the sight’s alignments might have been altered during transport. Missing or “wounding” a paper target will only cost you your ammunition, while wounding a game animal because of incorrectly adjusted sights should best be avoided and can also be a very costly affair.

Wounding

Wounded game is always equivalent to shot game.

In connection with the above, we must draw your attention to the fact that has a wounded game animal managed to leave the district you are hunting on, it is totally up to the goodwill on any other district involved, to let you have the animal shot.

The cost of calling in extra help/personnel/or even a plane or helicopter to search for the wounded animal, is the responsibility of the hunter.

If the animal shot ends up in an inaccessible area of terrain, eg. a deep gorge, a narrow mountain cave etc., from where it is impossible to recover the trophy, it is not possible to claim for any compensation because of this.

Additional costs may also be incurred in such cases such as compensating for the value of the meat lost, or the imposition of VAT on the trophy fee, because the trophy from a wounded animal which cannot be found, can neither be exported.

Shooting your trophy

The hunting district will always try to accommodate the wishes of the hunter as far as it is possible. In some cases, because of selective shooting policies, a hunter may not be given permission to shoot at certain game animal, because it is not the correct age or for other reasons.

Please note that it is the hunter’s responsibility to inform their hunting guide about how they wish to have their trophy prepared/processed. Generally it is a good idea to take an active interest in how the treatment of your trophy is proceeding. 

Hunting success

Even though we have good hunting districts, well trained, professional hunting guides, trackers and skinners, the wind, weather, luck and the ability of the individual hunter will naturally always have a part to play. HUNTING is HUNTING for good and for bad! 

The Hunting Protocol

At the end of your hunt a protocol will be drawn up for every participant in the hunt, that must be signed by that individual. It is VERY important that you both write down any complaints you may have on this protocol,  as well as informing us of the complaint during your trip, as otherwise we will not be able to investigate and deal with the matter.

Trophy import

Private individuals, who plan to import game trophies shot in connection with a hunting trip to a country which is not a member of the EU (third party countries), must - before importation of the trophy - apply to be regiistered as an importer of hunting trophies from the relevant third party country.

If you wish to hunt game, protected by the Washington Convention, you should contact your local authorities PRIOR to departure regarding any necessary formalities in connection with the import to your own country.

The responsibility for these formalities rests solely on the hunter, and we would recommend that you either contact a taxidermist or a shipping agent.

Curtailment of your tour

If you, for whatever reason, leave the hunting district before the end of your trip, there will be NO refund of monies in lieu of the services you do not receive.

You represent your country

During a hunting trip to a foreign country you are acting as a representative of all the hunters from your home country.  The people you come into contact with will judge you as being an “average” representative of all the hunters from the country concerned.  Luckily most of the hunters travelling with DIANA HUNTING TOURS are heartily welcomed. We would like this situation to continue, so we must strongly recommend individuals to act with calm and dignity in any given situation, especially  if any disputes arise. We hope that you will play your part in ensuring DIANA HUNTING TOUR's customers will be welcome visitors in the future.

Possible misunderstandings

If - contrary to expectations - any problems do arise during your tour,  which you feel you are unable to solve yourself, you can contact us by telephone  at +45 62 20 25 40 or by fax  at +45 62 20 25 42 during office hours. As we have already said, it is too late to correct any misunderstandings or problems after you have returned home. It is very important that you contact us so we have the chance of putting things right immediately.  Only in cases where we have been properly informed, will it be possible to deal with any complaint - provided it has also been written in the hunting protocol.

Photographs 

We would be very pleased to receive photographs and videos from our customers, which we could possible use in our marketing materials, website, facebook page and newsletter. We would like to receive any photos as soon as possible after you return home.

EMERGENCY TELEPHONE

Diana Hunting Tours/LIMPOPO Travel has an emergency telephone number, which our customers can use to contact us outside of normal office hours - at any time of the day on any day of the week . You will always be able to contact a competent DIANA HUNTING TOURS staff member. We must emphasise that this number is only intended for actual emergencies where it is absolutely necessary to come in contact with either DIANA HUNTING TOURS or a relative. Use the emergency telephone number when absolutely necessary, but please avoid abusing it. +45 30 26 25 40.

Arrival home

We are always happy to here from you after your return home. It is of vital importance to us that we can constantly keep up with what is happening “out there". This helps us in developing and improving our hunting trips. So if you have any comments - good or bad - we would like to  hear from you!

We hope the above information can answer some of the many questions that you will naturally have before departure. If you have any unanswered questions, please do not hesitate to contact us - our job is to be here to serve you.

Diana Hunting Tours / Limpopo Travel A/S is naturally a member of  the Danish Travel Agents Association, The Travel Guarantee Fund and The Package Tours Board of Appeal. 

Best wishes
Diana Hunting Tours and Limpopo Travel A/S