I have booked my first safari for Zimbabwe in 2013. I plan on hunting for Buffalo, Kudu, Antelope, Bushbuck and Warthog. What would be a reasonable expectation of trophy qualities? I will be hunting in the northern part of the country. Am looking forward to the experience and trying to learn all that I can so that I am prepared for the trip. Thanks The Fin

Area? Outfitter? Time of year?

Martin Pieters in the Omay area in mid September.

Fin,

You should expect to take mature trophies in all cases. Genetics vary widely, so what's reasonably in one area may not be attainable in others.

Talk to your PH. Find out what the reasonable expectaitons are. With a little luck and patience, your trophies may turn out better than average.

One tip I learned early on was to watch the reaction of the PH. If he got excited judging a trophy, I got excited.

You may also want to find out what the Rowland Ward minimum records are for the species you are hunting. If you are in to that kind of thing. The RW mins are much higher than SCI records. If you are lucky enough to meet the RW numbers, those will be fine trophies.

But please do not get too caught up in the tape measue success safari. Your first trip to Africa will be so much more than a number on a tape.

Enjoy!

There are several posts in the hunt reports forum from Martin Peters Safaris. I'd check them out. I believe you will get a nice buff and a nice bushbuck, both of which seem to be there in good numbers as evidenced by the reports.

Thank you for the replies. Really looking forward to the experience and any game taken will be icing on the cake.

Fin,

I have hunted the Omay twice with Martin. Both were great trips. The first was for tuskless and buff cow. The second was for buffalo and leopard.

You can expect a good hard boss buffalo and lots of fun hunting. If you could convince bwanamrm to tell you his Omay secret you could kill a monster like he does.

There are some very nice bushbuck there also.

Just to second what Jack said. I refuse to even carry a tape -- not even in my luggage -- on any hunt. If you are satisfied with the animal, the inches don't matter. Good luck and good hunting.

Fin
This is your first hunt and it is going to be the one that you will remember most of all in the future.
You can trust Martin to do a good job with trophy quality.
Now you should forget the words, trophy and horn length and enjoy the experience for what it is as chasing numbers will rob you of what Africa is really about.

Enjoy your trip
HQ

"Expectations" is a loaded word. I intentionally left my expectations on the airplane.

I'm not saying that you should be ignorant of what constitutes a real trophy or a representative, mature male. I'm just warning about "expectations".

dla69 just hit the nail on the head. For me anyway. I want to know "in general" what a good representative mature male should look like. Thats it. If hes mature and a decent one ill take him and smile all the way home.

My son and I hunted the Omay with Martin Pieters Safaris, last August. we went for FUN, the experience, and adventure. We certainly got all three!

The boys will see to it that you get good mature animals. Just don't let the "trophy" aspect and "expectations" get in the way of a truly great hunt. Have fun!


Mad Dog

Thanks to all who replied. I am not a trophy hunter by any means, but I won't turn one down if it steps out in front of me! I was thinking along the lines of what would be representative of the species. It is all about the journey and the experiences not the size of the animals.

By all accounts you will be in good hands and Martin will no doubt strive to get you the best of the area.

I am an advocate of mature animals and do my best to practise what I preach.