From my studies of Latin America, 'hunting parties' (by which I'm guessing you mean Europeans who went inland and rounded up Africans to sell on the coast) were not a major phenomenon by the 17th century.

When the importation of Africans into the Americas as slave labor began in the 16th century, many methods were tried and the commerce in human flesh wasn't that well organized.

By the 17th century, however, Europeans, particularly the Dutch and English, began organizing and regulating the trade through state owned companies. The Dutch founded the West India Company and East India Company, both of which took part in the slave trade (during a short time they were one of if not the largest mover of slaves in the Atlantic). The English Royal African Company function in a similar fashion.

Keep in mind, at this point in time there was very little colonization of Africa as such. The Dutch presence in modern South Africa as of the 17th century is an exception to the rule. Mostly the European powers would establish imposing bases along the coasts of territories where there was an important amount of trade, whether in slaves, gold or other commodities. They would buy slaves from local warlords/countries. These African entities would largely sell captives from their wars, although there are numerous anecdotes of people being tricked, drugged or simply kidnapped by their fellow Africans. This trade would become what is referred to as the Atlantic Triangular Trade: Alcohol, manufactured goods, textiles, etc., from Europe (or sometimes New England) would go to Africa where slavers would then purchase slaves. These slaves would be brought to the Americas where they would be forced to produce sugar, molasses, coffee, etc. These primary goods would then be taken to Europe (or New England) where they would be sold at a high price and paid for in part with goods which would be taken to Africa to repeat the cycle.

At the time the Europeans did not have the technological advantages, manpower, etc. to conquer Africa. The Americas were conquered in no small part thanks to the extreme technological backwardness of the Natives when it came to military tech (note that they were pretty advanced in other areas not related to arms) and more importantly thanks to the fact that over 90% of Native Americans died from disease after first contact with Europeans. Many Africans knew and used metals, they had adapted to deal with many diseases with animal origins (in fact they had a few Europeans had no defense against). While Europeans had advantages, it would have required a far greater effort to subject them to European rule, and given that America was wide open for a far easier conquest, why invest in conquering Africa?

Finding Your Roots on PBS is a good introduction to what the slave trade was like. I would highly recommend Eric Williams' Capitalism and Slavery, although it is a few decades old, as a great academic introduction to how the slave trade played into the bigger picture. Due to the fact that I was studying Cuba in particular, and Latin America in general, I unfortunately can't suggest many good sources on how life was in Africa itself, but I'm sure there are specialists on here who would be more than happy to refine this post and suggest more bibliography.