What would be your most important African trophy

[jjhack]

I have taken many speices of Plains Game both directly and indirectly with my hunters. I think to this day the Kudu has to be near the top of the list. A good bushbuck, or bush pig would rank High for me as well. However My Nyala hunt and the mounted head I have is so nice it brings back the memories of endless hours of stalking and climbing the hills of Zulu land searching and tracking Nyala's. For me the nyala is the number 1 trophy I have when everything is considered.
Photo's from 2002 hunters:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291727349

Email for Safari Info:
jjhack@earthlink.net

 

[Safari-Hunt]

For me Kudu is one for the list on top as well as bushbuck but regarding a good hunt long stalk and good hunt I would put my Black wildebeest on top of the list for the moment. That is of course untill I find another great animal that I've hunted.

Safari-Hunt

www.Safari-Hunt.com

 

[John Duarte]

I've only been on one safari. It took place this this past march in Namibia. Of the four antilope I took the most important was my 55 1/2" kudu. I've booked with same outfitter for next year. They are not only beautiful but a challenge to hunt.

 

[Moose-Hunter]

My vote goes for the Kudu as well. I would go to Africa just to hunt for Kudu. Awesome animals.

Safari-Hunt,

Nice picture. What did you shoot wildebeest with?

 

[Safari-Hunt]

Well Moose-Hunter,

That is a different subject on it's own as I did some load developement with my 375 H&H to make it an even more versatille all rounder but here goes.

I think it was March when I saw this box of 210 grain BarnesX on the shelf in the gun shop and I tought to myself hell it's a good price must have been standing here for ages. I know about the 220 flat nose and the 135 grain bullets you get but it was the first time I saw these 210 grainers. SO I bought them they are spitzer and because they are barnes and long enough bullets I wasn't too concerned about the bullets satbilizing as they were slighty shorter than the 270 grain Hornady's spitzer. I didn't know how to load them and started off with a load for the 235 grain bullets and worked myself up. I ended up with a load that did 2950 fps which I could have pushed more but I was happy with the accuracy and the speed.

Anyway I asked arounf on AR and some other forums and everyone was telling me I must watch out for penetration as the sectianl density is low for th bullet. BUt I tought to myself at that speed and it's barnes I'm sure I'm not going to have any problems and then in July while joining one of my clients I shot this widlebeest. And it worked 100% I wont hesitate to use it on large antelope on long distances.

And here is the picture of the bullet path I shot the wildebeest a bit too much to the right but it was a difficult shot as the sun was behind me and it was didfficult to see the whole chest in perpective of the willdebeest as he is dark in color.

Anyway as you can see from the pictures perfect text book expansion and 36" of penetration after it broke the shoulder. So I'm very satisfied with this load and will only use it when hunting game at long distances as the speed is too fast for bushveld use. The range was 150 meters.

Safari-Hunt

www.Safari-Hunt.com

 

[amosgreg]

Being a two-timer I will say that Kudu is a beutiful animal but having hunted Nyala twice and had 8 to 10 nice bulls within 35 yards but none presenting a quality bow-shot I still have something to chase NEXT time!
I missed a real nice bull after a 150 yards stalk due to that wonderful friend of bowhunters and Charlie Brown..... The Arrow Eating Tree

The only twig in the shooting lane on a stopped broadside 28+ inch Bull

Oh Well maybe next time!

 

[leadbutt]

Well,when i finaly get there,the top on my list is the Eland, then Kudu,and Sable

 

[PAHunter]

Safari-Hunt......

Very cool pics..... How did you get them in between your message like that. What am I doing wrong..?????

 

[Safari-Hunt]

PAHunter,

When posting you will see and "IMG" button on top of the block where you write your text. Click on the button and you will see a open textblock where you can enter a URL of where the picture resides.

You will need to add the pictures somewhere on the net and get the URL's in order for you to do this.

Hope you come right I'll be off for a while but will be abck on the 25th.

Safari-Hunt

www.Safari-Hunt.com

 

[recurveshooter]

the one i am most looking forward to (and just to be different )is Impala to me they are simply beautiful .love the way their horns are shaped and if i can place an arrow in the right place woulkd make an unbelievable trophy .hopefully next year but if not the next .---- herb

 

[jjhack]

Herb, I would like to suggest you hunt in Late May for Impala if you want a super trophy and close
range shooting chances. The Impala are in the rut during the last couple weeks of May and ignore many normal situations involving people. You should have no problem getting close to impala and making a shot. I suppose it depends where you hunt and what the property is like but most of the Transvaal should give you good chances. If you were to hunt earlier then May you will struggle to get a good bow shot, way to much water on the ground. Later then May will allow water hole hunts because the water is limited after June. Still hunting during the rut is the best you can hope for with Impala's in my opinion.

 

[recurveshooter]

JJ thanks for the info maybe have to wait until 2004 .was hoping for next sept.i will be hunting with a small company in RSA that i book for called RedKat Safaries , they hunt 3 provinces in RSA .the biggest thrill would be spot and stock and be able to get an arrow into one .
was more interested in a blue wildebeest than the black until Dave Hayter who will be my PH told me some of the history of the black wildebeest and how few there were in 1967 and how the pop. has grown and that it is only in RSA .--- herb

 

[Tim H]

I've only been on one safari (Zimbabwe in October 2001 for 7 days). I had a great time and took some great trophies (buffalo, kudu, waterbuck, 2 impala, warthog, baboon, grysbuk & klipspringer). Each trophy was a great experience of its own, but now that I'm back, I really prize my Klipspringer (5" & 5.25") and my Grysbuk (3.25"). These are two of the smallest animals you can hunt and I did not plan to take either one, but now they are my favorite.

Tim

 

[Kensco]

Kudu. I'd rather look at them than any other antelope. Buffalo is a close second.

The Kudu Bull

My plan was to hunt four days for kudu. We were in KwaZulu-Natal near the Mozambique border on a small low-fenced ranch of 4,000 hectares. Actually as the owner said, he was lucky. He was ¾ high-fenced. Three of his neighbors had seen to that. Rob only allows two Kudu bulls a year taken off his ranch so word was he might have 60” bulls. A 63” bull had died of old age the previous year, being too weak to pull himself free of the mud in a water hole. (We also saw big Nyala on this ranch.)

The first order of business was to shoot the piece of paper Pete hung in a low tree at about 50 yards. The sequence went; 3” left, 3” right and the third shot knocked the paper out of the tree. He asked me if I was comfortable with the scope adjustment. I told him the gun was good, it was the guy pulling the trigger that was a little nervous, and declined to make any adjustment.

On the second morning at about 9:30am we saw two good shooter-bulls on a hillside at about 500 yards. We watched them and saw that one was very big, maybe 57", but couldn't find any way to move closer to them since they were out in the open, and we had three more days to hunt. We backed off and drove to another area. We left the vehicle and walked (PH, guide, and I) in an area that had thick thorn trees. We could occasionally hear kudu bulls moving through the brush or thrashing trees with their horns but couldn't see them.

After an hour of walking and climbing I spotted two shooter-bulls below us at about 600 yards, moving our way down a jeep path. We worked our way down off the mountain on foot towards them, but lost them in the thick growth and never saw them again.

That evening we spotted two more shooters moving off a hillside towards water. We set up an ambush but they moved our way too slowly, and we ran out of daylight.

The next morning we went back to where the last two had been seen thinking they may have bedded down near there. We didn't see them on the hillside, but as the sun started coming up, we moved around to where we had the sun on our backs and watched the opposite hillside as the sun rose and the shadow line fell. We spotted one good bull and two cows feeding at about 600 yards in the emerging sunlight. After watching for a while I got the impression that we'd seen two different bulls feeding in the trees.

We started our stalk and worked our way down the mountain into the brush and trees in the draw, then had to back-out as it was too thick to get through quietly, and we could not see the opposite hillside. We worked our way up above the draw until we spotted the bull feeding towards the crest of the hill. We found a good rest in the trees, beneath a thorn tree and looked the bull over in the binoculars. He was in the open, broadside at just over 300 yards. He was good, except that one horn had about 2" of the tip broken off. We were glassing the area when another bull moved in the brush. He was about 20 yards below the first one, broadside, facing the opposite way from the first bull, but he only exposed his head and horns. The PH said to wait him out, that he thought he was actually the bigger bull.

Thirty minutes later (about 9:00 am) nothing had happened; neither bull took a step. They would occasionally turn their heads, but never made a step.

Finally thirty-five minutes from when we had first got set, the bull with the broken tip took one step forward. I got the cross hairs on the second bull and waited. That bull stepped forward from behind the brush and stopped at 280 yards. I had him in the scope at 18X and the cross hairs behind his shoulder; and touched it off.

He was hit (absorbed about 2360 ft-lbs. of energy at that range) and lunged forward (left) behind the trees and the first bull broke right. Four kudu cows broke right, from behind the trees where my bull had disappeared. He tried to turn and follow the herd but was rubber-legged when he came clear of the trees. The PH said, "don't shoot, he's going down", and the bull piled up in the brush. We found him deader than a hammer. The 150 gr. Winchester Ballistic Silvertip broke a rib on the way in, drove a hole through his lungs the size of your fist, and did not exit. The bull measured 56" and the PH, Pete Swanepoel Jr., said he thought it would be in the top one-third of the SCI record book.

My kudu post is at http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/Ke...ensco1/RSA.html if you would like to see how the hunt ended. (The times shown on the photos were Dallas time, add seven hours for South Africa.)