- Thread starter spectr17
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If I had the choice Sable for me. I LOVE the looks!
Kudu are nice also but I am not sure I could get a full shoulder mount in my house
Being a bowhunter if both were avaliable I would take either if presented with the shot.
My favorite is Nyala and Bushbuck of which I have had opportunities at nice Nyala on both my hunts. An arrow-eating tree on a long stalk on a real nice bull and several within 35 yards but no shooting opportunities but then thats bowhunting!
What are you planning on for your hunt next year trophy wise?
Kudu are nice also but I am not sure I could get a full shoulder mount in my house
Being a bowhunter if both were avaliable I would take either if presented with the shot.
My favorite is Nyala and Bushbuck of which I have had opportunities at nice Nyala on both my hunts. An arrow-eating tree on a long stalk on a real nice bull and several within 35 yards but no shooting opportunities but then thats bowhunting!
What are you planning on for your hunt next year trophy wise?
Sable are by a margin the higher status animal. If Kudu are the elk of Africa, Sable would be the big horn sheep. Kudu trophy fees range from 800-1200 bucks which will depend upon the available population, quality, and the daily fee. The sable will be more then $6000.00 and not very flexable when you want to barter the price! In other countries Sable may be a bit less but the daily fees and the travel cost to get there will be more expensive. The price for the hunt is a wash most of the time.
Sable are certainly one of the elite horned trophies in the world today. Beautiful animals in limited numbers make them very attractive. Three interesting things come to mind about Sable. They are one of the more Tough animals to kill. They have a will to live that few game animals have, and can absorb bullets without reaction much like a NA Mountian goat. They are one of the most dangerous antelopes when wounded and will charge more often then not while tracking them after being shot. This I know first hand!
Finally the mothers are poor care givers to the young. They don't wait and defend them like most other antelope species will. The young either keep up or get lost, killed and eaten, or die. This is the primary reason they don't live in huge numbers like many other antelopes do.
As far as hunting, A kudu lives in thick difficult bush. Shots are fast and close much of the time. When spooked a kudu will run until out of sight and loop around to get behind you. All the time you're stalking the Kudu he is behind you watching what your doing. They have a small home range and rarely leave the area. They know every inch and what belongs there. tracking a Kudu bull to shoot him is not a very productive way to hunt them. They hear as good or better then any living thing and vision is excellent too. You must jump shoot them and hope the tropy quality tis there, or choose another hunting style.
Sable are like mule deer in some ways. When spooked they will run a short way and then stop to look back. There down fall in most hunting situations. They also inhabit a somewhat more open habitat and live in groups making a tracking hunt more likely to be productive.
Sable are certainly one of the elite horned trophies in the world today. Beautiful animals in limited numbers make them very attractive. Three interesting things come to mind about Sable. They are one of the more Tough animals to kill. They have a will to live that few game animals have, and can absorb bullets without reaction much like a NA Mountian goat. They are one of the most dangerous antelopes when wounded and will charge more often then not while tracking them after being shot. This I know first hand!
Finally the mothers are poor care givers to the young. They don't wait and defend them like most other antelope species will. The young either keep up or get lost, killed and eaten, or die. This is the primary reason they don't live in huge numbers like many other antelopes do.
As far as hunting, A kudu lives in thick difficult bush. Shots are fast and close much of the time. When spooked a kudu will run until out of sight and loop around to get behind you. All the time you're stalking the Kudu he is behind you watching what your doing. They have a small home range and rarely leave the area. They know every inch and what belongs there. tracking a Kudu bull to shoot him is not a very productive way to hunt them. They hear as good or better then any living thing and vision is excellent too. You must jump shoot them and hope the tropy quality tis there, or choose another hunting style.
Sable are like mule deer in some ways. When spooked they will run a short way and then stop to look back. There down fall in most hunting situations. They also inhabit a somewhat more open habitat and live in groups making a tracking hunt more likely to be productive.
I hunted Zim last year and shot a really nice Kudu (56.5"). I believe the trophy fee for the Kudu was $700. I was on a 7 day buffalo/plainsgame hunt so I was willing to take a Sable if the opportunity presented itself, but I did not have time to focus on one. I believe the trophy fee for Sable was approximately $2,500, but I could be off by a little. Anyway, we saw one herd and took a look but we didn't see any bulls to get us excited. I'm planning on going back in 2003 and I will probably spend a little more time looking for a Sable.
Tim
Tim
Sounds weird jjhack but your comments referencing sable were almost exactly my impression of hunting kudu. Very much like mule deer hunting.
With kudu you need a lot of patience. Don't go into deep brush or you will be definitely looking at jump shooting. Wait them out on side hills early and late. They don't call them gray ghosts for nothing. They move slowly and will stand perfectly still if they sense you are near, for thirty minutes at a time if necessary to make you commit. That is usually about twenty five minutes longer than a hunter can stay still. If you force the issue, he's gone.
I was told to bring a very low powered scope and be ready for quick shots. I went the opposite way. I took a 6 x 18 Leupold, played my game not his, and popped him at 280 yards, dialed in at 18x. He measured a little over 55".
With kudu you need a lot of patience. Don't go into deep brush or you will be definitely looking at jump shooting. Wait them out on side hills early and late. They don't call them gray ghosts for nothing. They move slowly and will stand perfectly still if they sense you are near, for thirty minutes at a time if necessary to make you commit. That is usually about twenty five minutes longer than a hunter can stay still. If you force the issue, he's gone.
I was told to bring a very low powered scope and be ready for quick shots. I went the opposite way. I took a 6 x 18 Leupold, played my game not his, and popped him at 280 yards, dialed in at 18x. He measured a little over 55".
Hard to choose as they are so different. Kudu can drive you nuts as it seems as if you never see a whole kudu...just a shadow here, a glimpse of the neck there and of couse the glint of a horn. They really do seem to be a "grey ghost". On my first trip we had, I thought, a small group of bulls dead to rights as they were crossing a semi-open area at about 100 yards...but....I would get a glimpse of one and them he would fade into a shadow and be gone to appear 20 or 30 yards further at a bad angle...this repeated itself several times and I could never get what I thought was a clear shot and then the moment was gone.....plus it is so hard to try and judge a good one. I shot one on my second trip, after a lot of frustration, purely by luck. We had seen some impala and as we needed some fresh leopard bait we followed the small herd and almost immediately came across some big kudu tracks. Within 5 minutes we came up on 3 bulls...the cover was thick and I had to shoot thru a small opening. All I could see was neck and as I waited for him to move for a better shot he spotted us and I shot. Broke his neck at about 125 yards....53"! To me kudu are like a big white-tail and I'm glad the trophy fee is reasonable as I will always hunt them.
Sable, to me, are royalty. On my first trip we never saw a male but on my second trip the area had a lot of big bulls and it was very tempting to shoot the first 40" bull I saw....PH said we could do better and after stalking at least 4 bulls around 40" we got lucky one day when we came up on a fairly large herd. We glassed for several minutes and couldn't find the herd bull when all of a sudden he stepped out behind some cover....that fact that he was huge was obvious. I quickly leaned against a tree and took a shot at a bit more than 200 yards. Entered the short-ribs and out the chest and knocked him on his nose but he got up and took off running....second shot into a ham and knocked him into a summersault but he got up and loped off....2 quick misses (I was getting a bit excited) as the distance increased. He didn't run far and as we ran up I put one in his neck to finish it. He was just a bit longer than 43" on both horns. I'll probably never shoot another one unless it is a lot bigger and there aren't that many out there...plus the trophy fee as about 3X that of kudu. My most beautiful trophy mounted on a pedestal in the family room.
Sable, to me, are royalty. On my first trip we never saw a male but on my second trip the area had a lot of big bulls and it was very tempting to shoot the first 40" bull I saw....PH said we could do better and after stalking at least 4 bulls around 40" we got lucky one day when we came up on a fairly large herd. We glassed for several minutes and couldn't find the herd bull when all of a sudden he stepped out behind some cover....that fact that he was huge was obvious. I quickly leaned against a tree and took a shot at a bit more than 200 yards. Entered the short-ribs and out the chest and knocked him on his nose but he got up and took off running....second shot into a ham and knocked him into a summersault but he got up and loped off....2 quick misses (I was getting a bit excited) as the distance increased. He didn't run far and as we ran up I put one in his neck to finish it. He was just a bit longer than 43" on both horns. I'll probably never shoot another one unless it is a lot bigger and there aren't that many out there...plus the trophy fee as about 3X that of kudu. My most beautiful trophy mounted on a pedestal in the family room.
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