Im fascinated by this animal. At our Local Museum there is a full size mount of a real goodie, I dont know what it would score but it is a majestic and striking animal.

Where's the best place to hunt them ? What are the prices for them ? What are their habit's ? Whats the minimum caliber you would use ?

I have some video of Saeed's Sable's. I swear Ive never seen anyone that can put a bullet thru so much brush, and still kill an animal. Is this common ? Do they inhabit heavy forest and brush ? What would an exceptional Sable score ? Are the femals goodies as well ?, like as with Oryx ?

I will admit it in opon forumn, Im in love with this animal. What a striking mount..........thanx...........10

10 Point,
The best trophy Sable are in Zimbabwe in the Doma-Chinhoyi area....Zambia has wonderfull Sable also...Yes they mainly stay in the bush but do come out into the meadows morning and night to feed...

I suspect a 7x57 up is alright for Sable..I lean towards a 300, 338 or bigger, as they are a tough animal...

We have a 5 day Sable hunt for $4500.00. On a 10 day Safari the trophy fee runs about $2400 average.. You can expect to see 15 to a 100 bulls in a day, and probably average 25 or 30 sightings in a day on us, but we have an exceptionally good concession for Sable and Kudu...A 38" Sable is a very nice bull: A 40" Sable is an exceptionally nice bull and we have shot Sable up to 49" (Our best to date and on my web page) and we get a number of 44" to 45" Sable..We get a few of these big boys every year....

Unfortunately the finest Sable area in Zimbabwe is where most of the unrest and poaching is going on today, sooooo the future may be up to Zambia, perhaps..but I'm not a "the sky is falling" kinda guy and I expect this whole mess to blow over and cool heads will intervene....and thats a good possibility....but in Africa anything can happen anytime....

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

My sable is my favorite trophy...elegant, regal and tough. I shot mine in the Matetsi area of Zim...if you go back a way on the forum there's a nice photo under ... "My Sable".

Thanks for the info guy's. Im getting a bit crazy for a Sable mount, I'd rate it as important to me as a buff.

Just a striking animal.........10

Here's my Sable. 39 1/2 inches of black beauty.
To be honest... I have never seen a sable wall mount of a sable that I liked. Their snout is very long and the neck is always skinny. The best mounts for my taste are pedestal mounts. The other African plainsgame animals look much better on the wall.

Ski+3

10 point,

I shot a 41 1/2" Sable in Northern Zambia in 1980. It was in a concession area real close to Lake Tanganyika and thus, real close to Tanzania. The cape is a mahaogany brown rather than black. I'm told that all the bull sable have this charateristic in this area and that it extends well into Tanzania. At 41 1/2" it coulda been purple and I'd have still took it!
Rich Elliott

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Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris

Since Ski posted his pic I thought I'd post mine again...43"+....done on a pedestal mount.

Fabulous animals fella's, thanks for shareing..........<jealousy causeing dribble's out of mouth>...........10