I've been intreagued by the different way that people hunt plains game on their Safaris.

We all have a wish list, but some seem to go out looking for say a Kudu, and continue on the quest, only moving onto the next animal if the previous one is in the salt. Others have a definate list but take animals as they arise and others just shot what they come accross that makes a good trophy. Personally I come into the last band.

Obviously in the case of specific hunts like DG or some of the specialised plains game the answer will be different, so I'm focusing on the average plainsgame hunt here.

So what about you guys?

FB

Question:
How do prioritise the animals you hunt?

Choices:
I have a strong priority list and want to shoot the important ones first
I have a list of desireable trophies and take only thoise but in no specific order.
I have the animals I want but also take trophies of opportunity as they come up.
I have no preference for species, preferring to take opportunities as they arise.

 

I need a 5th choice. I go with a very short list of trophies I want. I get them and I go home. I've never shot more than two animals on any African hunt, and won't this year most likely. The quota I'm given when I arrive means little to me. When I sign-on I already have my mind made up. I stick to my plan, and figure the savings will help pay for another trip back.

Despite one having a list of preferred species, if you come across a great example of something else it would be stupid not to take up the opportunity.......

Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I need a 5th choice. I go with a very short list of trophies I want. I get them and I go home.

I'm sort of this way, but if the PH says, "By the way, that is probably the biggest springbok ever seen by man." I would probably take it.

Kensco, are you saying you only take two animials and then go home, and are we talking of plains game not DG. That could be an Impala and Warthog and gone.

Some species like grey duiker are usually targets of opportunity. You can really screw up if you don't take them if and when they appear.

I was hunting a very good common reedbuck and a 6"+ duiker jumped up............what did I do? I slotted him, as I knew common reedbuck are territorial and we'd have a good chance of finding him, again. Which we did the next day.

I can't imagine being wealthy enough not to plan in detail what I am going to shoot on safari. Before I book a hunt I have a detailed list and the funds to cover it. I NEVER deviate from that list no matter what as I have not the funds to pay for it. That is precisely the reason I will probably never hunt Africa again.

FB,

Personally I usually have one or two targets and just let the safari unfold as it will. You never know what will pop up.

NA hunters on there ist safari often feature that you will hunt the kudu first, impala second, warthog third etc. when in fact you may target the kudu first but a 16" bushbuck may present itself on the way to look for kudu.

My advise to clients is to have an idea of your proirity animals but don't get stuck on that list as you may out smart yourself into passing on a great opportunity.

Most important is to relax and have fun.

Mark

quote:

Posted 12 May 2008 21:42 Hide Post
FB,

Personally I usually have one or two targets and just let the safari unfold as it will. You never know what will pop up.

NA hunters on there ist safari often feature that you will hunt the kudu first, impala
second, warthog third etc. when in fact you may target the kudu first but a 16" bushbuck may present itself on the way to look for kudu.

My advise to clients is to have an idea of your proirity animals but don't get stuck on that list as you may out smart yourself into passing on a great opportunity.

Most important is to relax and have fun.

Mark

exactly

I mostly go for 4-5 species, and I take wathever it is, If I find a fine Impala, I take it. My next trip I will go for Bushbuck, Nyala and Eland, and I`ll see if I find something else too hunt, My hunt Also go for at least 7 days hunting.

After my first African hunt, I'm pretty much the third choice. On that hunt I had a list and stuck to it. One day we saw a Red Hartebeest that my PH said was very good and encouraged me to shoot it. I thought about that missed opportunity for two years and on my second hunt, Red Hartebeest was high on my list.

Last September I again had a specific list, but I was open to suggestions from my PH. I had crossed Red Lechwe off my list because I thought the trophy fee was too high. We were stalking Bontebok one day when we spotted two Red Lechwe rams. My PH said one was the largest that he had seen all season. I told him that with comments like that, he could sell ice to an eskimo. It turned out that that Lechwe was the largest taken last season by that outfitter.

I like to look at the trophy list and have funds available to take everything that I may want. I do have a top 2 or 3 and ask the PH to make those a priority and if others pop up then we try for them.

For plains game the trophy fees for some of the animals make up so little of the total cost that it just makes sense to me to hunt them while I'm there. You just never know when it will be your last trip......

Today, after many safaris, I just take'em as they come and have no specific desires as I have already done that many times..

I do a lot of subsistance hunting for some of my PHs..About the only thing I hunt seriously is buffalo, but even then I will take about any decent bull..I am there to enjoy the hunt, the trophy itself means very little to me these days, the memories are all filed away and never forgotten, thats the important part to me..I have a few heads on the wall that are bound to be in the top two or three and I have never stuck a tape to them..

I try to plan having some extra time and money to just see what comes up in addition to my main focus.

My first trip to Namibia my planned list was kudu, eland, gemsbok and zebra. I got all those, and then had another hunting day so I just asked the PH to have a day of just freewheeling and take a good one of whatever we came across. I took a hartebeest and springbok that day.

In July I've got 10 days to take a buff, nyala, and bushbuck. I should have extra days to take whatever else comes along, and I'm padding my budget accordingly. If I don't get anything beyond those 3 I'll still be happy, and I'll have a headstart on txidermy fees.

Die

Gemsbok, Kudu and gone
Buffalo, Warthog* and gone
This year Buffalo, Sable and gone

* I didn't plan on him, but the trophy fee wasn't much and he was nice.

There just aren't many animals I'm still mad at after 50 years of hunting. I've had nice eland in front of me, and about every other plains game. I kind-of wanted a Nyala the first trip, but when I had a very nice one in front of me, I really couldn't see the point, so I passed.

I may or may not go back to Africa again after this year. I'm looking at buying a place to hunt either in New Mexico or Texas this year or next. My focus is changing.

If I do return to Africa it will be Zambia in 2010, then I'm done, or maybe Zambia again in 2012, and then I'm done.......for real.