DG is the pinnacle of African hunting for many of us...<BR><BR>Many of you have done it all....several times..<BR><BR>What game gave the best experience/thrill..?What gives you the most thrill..?<BR><BR>Pachyderms, cape buffalo hippo or cats..?<BR><BR><BR>Rhino is pretty much history..ElephantCape buffaloLionLeopardHippo

I have only hunted ele...very exciting..so its my take..

Hunting big elephant is my pinnacle...

But hunting buffalo is what I have done the most of.

Enjoy both. Tracking game for me.

Without question, I like hunting bull elephants the best.

For me nothing beats having a big male lion come onto your bait at last light.

Mark

Elephant, nothing even comes close. I've taken 7, started out with tuskless, then PAC, then one trophy, last three have been non-trophy bulls. There is a feeling that I can't describe following a big track with deep cracks, the sign getting fresher then you hear a branch break, ears slapping against his side. When you decide you are going in to under 20 yds. for the shot is such a great high that no drug or alcohol can reach it

Without a doubt elephant, be it tuskers or tuskless, they are awesome to be in the midst of when hunting them

Jumbo

Elephant - by a very large margin ....

Mountain Gorilla

Amur Tiger

Giant Panda

Used to be women!

Elephant, buffalo and lion all get one's blood going.

But, as both lion and elephants are in short supply, I enjoy hunting buffalo.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:
Used to be women!

just dangerous game.... not incredibly savage sneaky life threatening financially devastating. Game.

I like them all. However, elephant is my favorite by a wide, wide margin.

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Blue Devil:
I like them all. However, elephant is my favorite by a wide, wide margin.

I was pretty much going to say this, but the last buff I shot was ten feet away, and I was laying on my belly in the grass of a river bed bank. It was a herd of twenty ish bulls, and was pretty damn exciting.

Really a toss up between that and the elephants. Both have a lot of tracking - walking - hunting skill required. Lions have a lot of sitting up all night involved, not so much skill based, maybe I would like tracking them better, instead of hunting hung baits.

Walking the dark path leading to a blind knowing that the Lion is near by is thrilling. Add that to his reverberating Roar at close quarters and you will know fear.

Tracking one or two in grass or cover will evoke emotion. Tracking a wounded Lion will scare you shitless.

Lion have the uncanny ability to melt into their environment. They are quick and powerful.

Having said that it has been the hippo that has caused me most concern.

Love hunting Ele and Buff, even voted Ele BUT tracking Lion is awesome

I have shot quite a number of elephants, lion and buffalo.

Under normal circumstances, everything goes smoothly and the hunt ends just as it should.

But, with all three animals, if things don't quite go according to plan - any of them can turn the tables on you, and you better be on your toes and shoot quickly and accurately.

I have shot leopard, hippo, tuskless, and 3 buffalo. I enjoyed the buf the most but I imagine hunting bull elephant would be the best.

I spent 3 nights hunting crop-raiding ellie in Zim back in 2003. That was probably the most intense (i.e. puckering) hunting I've ever done.

I still like buffalo the best, just because of their (buffalo) attitude.

But to be fair I've only killed one elli and two buffs.

BH63

Its all good. I put ele #1, as I really enjoy being on the track. Same with Cape Buff. Both are hunted with your feet. Leopard and lion on bait are both unique. Both require baiting and long days afield. Long hours of boredom with a few moments of adrenaline fueled frenzy. Like I said, ITS ALL GOOD

I like them all the same.

I voted elephant, serious adrenaline rush & really requires a lot of tracking (i.e. walking!)

Not sure if this is exactly correct or where it came from:

You hunt Buffalo with your courage
You hunt Leopard with your brain
You hunt Lion with your heart
You hunt Elephant with your feet!

Have hunted everything on the list except hippo. Cats are so different, I don't see how to compare them to elephant and buffalo. While it would be hard to make a choice, I still have a strong desire to hunt lion (I've only hunted lion once, unsuccessfully), elephant and buffalo. I'm a bit burned out on leopard after my last one. We sat him 8 times and only took him on day 13. But, I'll do it again.

quote:

But, with all three animals, if things don't quite go according to plan - any of them can turn the tables on you, and you better be on your toes and shoot quickly and accurately.

Very Capstick-ish... :-)

I would have to say lion by tracking

I don't have enough experience yet to make a valid assessment or contibution to this post. I have only hunted and taken Lion, Leopard and Buffalo.

But if forced to choose, I guess I like Buffalo hunting the best (so far...).

I can't believe this is even a debate, the answer is so OBVIOUS!!!

Aaron: . Well, having hunted them all, and some numerous times, I'd have to say Buffalo is my favorite at the moment.

Aaron,

I've hunted lion exactly once. I hope it's not the last time, but it's a lot of work.

Unfortunately, I was hunting leopard at the same time. That's a lot of work too.

To complicate matters, while not an unusual situation, we had leopards hitting lion baits and lions paying attention to leopard baits.

I like hunting cats. I like hunting buffalo and elephant. Very different.

Tuskless elephant in the thick jess bush of the Zambezi Valley.

quote:

Originally posted by Cajun1956:
Tuskless elephant in the thick jess bush of the Zambezi Valley.

me too.


Mad Dog

You have to wonder what it would have been like back in the olden days following up a wounded tiger in a thick Asian jungle?

BH63

Nothing can top hunting elephant or lion.

Tracking only, of course.

Tracking them up to close range for a kill may go either way, and at any time.

Lion scares the heck out of me as do elephants. I have only hunted elephants once but really close for my tastes- 10 yards in thick stuff. Anyway, I doubt I hunt them again preferring eland and buff and bushbuck.

I have never hunted DG but I have seen them and also tiger, Indian Elephant & Indian leopard.

The only DG that gave me a real dangerous experience was when we were charged by 3 cow elephants in India & the Jeep was chased. The cows were less than 2 meters from me as I sat at the back of the Jeep & we passed them while they were charging us and trying to cut us off.

I can still feel the heat and smell the dust after more than 30 years!

For me any of the top four choices offers a unique adventure. I will say all of the top four. Hippo not so much.

Cape Buffalo

quote:

Originally posted by bwanajay:
For me any of the top four choices offers a unique adventure. I will say all of the top four. Hippo not so much.

The only time I have ever been stunned, and seen stars float in front of my eyes, was while hunting a hippo!


We were in the Selous, in long grass that grows around the river inlets.

Some of these inlets had very little water, and the grass was extremely thick in places, one needs to have his hands ahead of his eyes to be able to see a few inches ahead.

We saw an old bull running towards the main river, and we thought we could cut him off before he got there.

So we ran through that long grass.

Suddenly, I felt a hard whack at the back of my head, saw millions of stars floating in my eyes, and was just wondering what had happened.

I then discovered that I had fallen into a hole that was at least 2 feet longer than myself, and had hit the back of my head against it as I fell in.

I managed to drag myself out - none one else was around as nothing further than 6 inches ahead of could be seen.

The hippo got away.

Saeed:

I've never been that mad at a hippo!