So far, I've taken one sable bull, and he's not that great a trophy in terms of horn length. I was able to take him in Tanzania in 1995, and he was the ONLY sable bull I saw on that safari. The HUNTING experience was a real trophy occasion alright (which is what counts), because this bull necessitated a very fast stalk, a hasty shooting position, and a long 275 yd. shot at the only portion of this bull that I could see--his throat. Fortunately, the shot took out both of his carotid arteries, which end things very quickly. So this hunt was a very memorable experience indeed, and this bull (short horns and all) looks very stately in the African-style den my wife but together.

Even so, I've been wanting a bigger sable. I hunted in Zimbabwe with John Sharp, who has some very lovely trophy bulls available as a rule, but unfortunately, they all gave us the slip, and I only saw parts of sable in various thickets. From what John's apprentice PH told me, the previous safaris of that season were rife with sable, and some very fine trophy bulls were taken. But I never had the chance at one, even though we hunted hard.

Then comes Namibia with Jan Oelofse. Plenty of sable, and a few truly incredible whopper bulls that I could have taken with ease, but a trophy fee rate that made me bypass the opportunity.

This season will be RSA, and another high trophy fee if I want to take a sable. Maybe I'll just have to wait for Zimbabwe again, or maybe Zambia. I don't know what the heck I'm going to do! Maybe I should just bite the bullet this year and pay the confounded trophy fee!

What do you say?

AD

I was prepared to hunt sable in South Africa on my upcoming trip (in 2 days!), but my PH arranged for one in Zambia instead. The cost of the round-trip flight from JNB, all fees, and the five-day minimum on the daily rate, came out to less than the trophy fee alone in SA. He also said that Zambian sable have bigger horns than those in SA, and that I should expect around 40".

Allen,

You'll probably have to pay...big.

In RSA you'll pay by the inch in most cases (and you probably already know this) so they will cost you more. I have a 38 inch bull on an archery concession in RSA for a $5000 trophy fee. He kills a lot of the land owner's game but he won't lower the price...so oh well.

Zambia, Zim if you can get them and possibly Mozambique.

allen day:

On my one and only trip to Africa (Zimbabwe) my PH almost fell out of the truck driving me back from the cow pasture pick up he had made of me. I was impressed when he pointed out a sable standing under the shade of an acacia. (I was after Cape buffalo) It was a magnificent looking animal (although somewhat strange to my American eye because of the curving horns). My PH was very disappointed (until I got the buff) because I didn't want to go back next day and look for him. The PH was a very experienced type (as I came to appreciate and learn about him)and I can say he really was very excited. Just before leaving camp at the end, he told me the sable was one of the very best he had ever seen. I'm telling you this story, of course, just to torture you.

Allen
On your death bed...will the memories of a sable hunt be
worth more than a few more grand you leave behind?

Go kill a good one.

Allen,

Oh for the good old days. While hunting on the Tondwa- Kaputa Concession in NW Zambia back in 1980, I hadn't seen that first sable. This area is pretty much even with S. Tanzanaia and the Selous where as I undestand it, many sable bulls tend to be dark chocolate as opposed to black.
Anyway, late in the safari my PH, Gerard AMbrose, spotted a lone sable bull a bit above us on a ridge. After studying the bull Gerard said, "He's over 40 inches but he's brown". At which point I said, "I don't care if he's purple, if he's over 40 Im taking him." And that's how I got my 41" dark brown sable bull. At that time the trophy fee for the sable and the 29" Roan I got on the same trip was ...now get this....a whopping $750 USD .

Rich Elliott

I don't know if this is true or an old wives tale but someone once told me that the older a bull sable gets the less brown they have on the backside of their ear.

You will surely drive yourself crazy looking for a trophy sable. I never saw a bushbuck until my ride out on my third trip to RSA.

Allen,

You have e-mail.

Mark

Allen,

I certainly can't advise on what to do, but I can sure empathize with sable problems. As I recall, it was the fourth time that I hunted sable before I finally saw one that was large enough to pull the trigger on (a bit over 40 inches, which was my self-imposed "shooting point"). Since then I have tried a couple of more times to improve on my first, and have not been able to. I still can picture the two sable bulls that I watched fighting for nearly five minutes not seventy five yards from me that both would have gone over 43" (one maybe 45"). It would have been such a cinch shot on either, but alas, they were about 20 feet on the other side of a little dry wash that marked the boundary with the adjoining property . After the fight they walked slowly back into the brush on their side of the boundary.

Good luck with your decision,
Jim

Allen,

I thought Jan's prices for sable and roan were breath-taking when I hunted with him 10 years ago, and they have only continued to grow with the years.

I still have sable on my dance card, and I have been thinking that Zambia would be the place I would go to hunt them.

jim

Jeff, I hear what you're saying! I guess I'm willing to pay more than I actually think is prudent, just as long as I can have a good hunt out of it.

Jim, Jan gets big money for some of his critters, alright! He had Angolan roan and black-faced impala that were worth a small fortune..........

AD

Allen.....I don't know who has the concession now but when I was in Zim a few years ago I hunted in Matetsi 6 which is on the Zambezi River right on the Botswana border and the area had plenty of very large sable as well as lot of big buff and heavy elephant.



Over a 16-day hunt I saw at least a dozen that were over 40" and I took one that was 43"+ on the 5th or 6th day of the hunt and the day after that we saw his twin while checking leopard bait. A fellow who came into camp later while I was still there shot one that was 45". The biggest problem the PH had was keeping me from shooting one of the many we saw that were just under 40".



Hopefully here is a photo.







http://www.hunt101.com/img/008632.jpg

I distributed a video of my hunt in Zimbabwe several years ago, wherein I caught over a hundred sable bulls in one herd on film....Zimbabwe is the place to hunt sable IMO..however I have some huge bulls in So. Africa but at very high dollar pricing on Hannes Swanapols Big 5 safari Co. on te Seleti Game Preserve, across from Kruger Park...they have an extraordinary Sable restoration program working there....

Sable in south africa are way to expensive and also behind a fence. The sable in zambia are the best but you will hunt on a ranch for the reasonably priced ones. The best price amd availability is zimbabwe. I saw big ones in zambias mulobezi but couldnt afford them. Ill be going to zim this year and will post if i get one.

Hey Aspen, will a sable really kill other plains game??
I know they are agressive, but they must charge with their heads really damn low to skewer someone!!
Anyone seen an irate sable??

Boghossian,

This bull is very aggressive. He was taken out of a breeding program several years ago because he liked to spear the competition. He would destroy the fences to prove his "point". Now, he guards a waterhole from all who thirst. He's about 13 years old now.

Sable is a tough customer and have been known to take out lions in a one on one. However they are a really stupid animal also. I once spoke to a game manager about them and he lamented that he should have twice the quota of sable if they had the mortality of other plainsgame. Frequently bulls fight each other to the death. Poachers chase them with dogs because of its aggressive nature a sable bull will stand and fight making for an easy kill. Sable females have a bad habit of putting all their kids in a nursery and leaving it unguarded so if a predator(s) comes upon it, it is veal for everyone.

As to being aggressive towards other plainsgame I've heard they are but on my second safari I had a memorable moment between a kudu bull and a sable bull. There was a smallish kudu bull forming up his harem for the upcoming rut. We ran into them once or twice a day it seemed. This sable bull also was for some reason always nearby. One evening we came upon the kudu and were a bit closer than normal. The kudu bull quickly moved his ladies away from us. The whole group passed right by the sable bull. As the kudu bull passed the sable, he turned to the sable (who was watching us)and knocked his ass to the ground. The kudu walked away and the sable got up with that "why the hell did you do that look" (if they have one) and walked away in the other direction.

Allen, how was your overall hunt with John Sharp? Going on a 16Day safari with him next month. I asked him at Reno about Sable, he was not sure would see any. Hunting 1st in Dande for Buff then on to his camp in Malangani.
BobGA

Allen



I recently inquired about sable in Zimbabwe and received this reply.



"Hi Ron,



All well at Cawston Ranch. See photos of some of our clients on my website, www.zwsafaris.com. from the last two years. Have clients that have come and gone this year with no problems. Mostly booked this year. Have over a 1000 sable on the ranch now with more than 100 SCI bulls.



Regards,



Ron Oliver"



He primarily offers bowhunts for sable but his website does mention that he allows a few gun hunters each year. His daily rate is $425 and his trophy fee is $2375 on a sable. His video and references speak highly of the quality of his sable. You might want to check him out.



Ron L

Bob, my hunt with Mr. Sharp was absolutely fantastic. Malangani is a great property to hunt, with a great many superb trophy animals. I took some of my very best African trophies there, including my best kudu, best warthog, best eland, a fantastic tsessebe, a superb klipspringer, a wonderful old giraffe bull, even a sorta-rare African bushcat. It was just a wonderful safari, and some of the specific hunts we staged from the top of rock kopjes were almost unbelievable, and resulted in some dramatic, challenging stalks and semi-difficult shots. Ask John about those! I don't know what John's doing with his buffalo at Malangani, but when I was there he had some real bruiser, hard-headed bulls that would make for great trophies.

You'll really love hunting with John Sharp, and I look forward to hunting with him again myself. He's a truly great, classical-style PH who's totally ethical in everything he does, plus his camps and equipment are the best, and the food is superb. Everything's good, and nothing's bad!

I'll bet that Dande will provide some great opportunities as well. It sure sounds like a great area.

Good luck, and please convey my compliments to John when you hunt with him........

AD

John Sharp
I like this Bwana
BIG Gun
BIG Guns
BIG Knife
Big Ivory

This picture makes you dream of the good old days



Cheers,

Andr�

Is that a plastic stock?????

Allen;

When my son and I hunted a Zimbabwe conservancy adjacent to Hwange Park in 2002 we saw sable every day, and on one occasion I filmed a herd of about 50-60 animals.

Alas, that property was seized by the government and the landowners (who held 44,000 acres, just a portion of the entire conservancy) still have not regained their land--and likely never will.

I've heard the sable population in that area has been subject to severe poaching, but don't have confirmation.

What a shame--seeing those large herds was an experience exceeded only by witnessing my son take his sable. His was about 40" but before--and after--we saw several in the low to mid forties.

The best Sable have historically been between Chinhoyi in the South to Doma North, IMO...That may be changing now with poaching and all, only time will tell..I have seen more than a few 44 plus bulls in that area and we shot some 46's and one 47 plus some...It also supported the biggest Kudu I have ever seen, and more than a few each year went 60 inches and eve better, best was 67 inches, and that is some kind of a Kudu, my dream bull...