A few questions for you veteran Sable hunters.
What is the best place to hunt Sable?
When is the best time of year for a Sable hunt?
How many days should you devote(exclusively)to the hunt in order to get a good trophy?
Thanks for the help.

Dave,

There are numerous places with good sable but a lot depends on what kind of hunt you want. If you want an unfenced true wilderness area, then Mozambique or parts of Zim would be good options. If you have the budget for a longer hunt and want LOTS of other trophies as well and want an unfenced true wilderness area, then Tanzania might be an option and if you're happy with a large fenced area then you can also look to other countries such as SA etc.

Western Zambia, in the Kafue. Hands down best option for a 40" plus common sable. No reason a guy won't kill one over 40"!

Anybody hunted sable on game farms near Lusaka ?!

I consider a hunt there.

Seloushunter

Agreed: One area, if you want to be guaranteed of a 40" plus sable, if that's your primary quest Dave, Western Zambia is probably your destination. The genetics are superb there, especially given the proximity to Angola.

I know where a 50-incher is a little bit Northeast of Zambia, and am gonna go after him next year, but I'm not saying where.

If you wanna experience a sable hunt beyond magical, book a hunt in Namibia's Waterberg Area. There are a couple 48-inchers lurking there. Your PH, Jofie Lamprecht will order you to pass on the 43-inchers. As of today nobody has their name on the 4-8's, but after SCI, they'll be spoken for.

In 2010 there are going to be several sable taken throughout Africa in the 48-50 inch realm.
If you just want to see a ton of them, like impala, head to Mozambique. I'd like the PH's there to stop shooting the 40-inchers. Given what I've seen in Africa I think a 40-incher is just an average sable, not a difficult standard to attain anymore. In two or three years Moz might have some real monsters, if hunters just exercise just a bit more selectivity.

Moja wrote
I know where a 50-incher is a little bit Northeast of Zambia, and am gonna go after him next year, but I'm not saying where


Pete Fisher Nhila Wildlife Reserve (Game Farm) offering a particular Sable Bull now for 2 year first he was 47 Inch now he is mayby 50+ Inch. Dont call it hunting please...

Seloushunter

I've seen heards of 50, and 40" bulls, thirty minutes drive from Vic Falls.

quote:

Pete Fisher Nhila Wildlife Reserve (Game Farm) offering a particular Sable Bull now for 2 year first he was 47 Inch now he is mayby 50+ Inch. Dont call it hunting please...

Seloushunter: I don't know Pete Fisher and have never heard of the Nhila Wildlife Reserve. That's not the bull I'm talking about. If I get my 50-incher there will be no doubt it was a 100% fair chase wild hunt. The PH who has invited me has never hunted a "zoo" in his life. This is not a ranch sable nor a park sable nor a caged sable nor a released sable.. This is 100% a sable that was born and now lives in the wild. I've seen him with my own eyes and I know he is 50 inches. It will 100% be a real hunt.

Seloushunter: FYI what is the trophy fee for that caged bull. I have a 78 year-old friend in neighboring Indiana who is looking for a very easy sable and leopard hunt. To each his own guys. Before he dies he wants to look at a massive sable and a big leopard in his trophy room. It's a small room, and his sable and leopard never made it out of Zambia years ago. He's got the money to pay for a pretty cushy hunt. Maybe this is the sable for him.

quote:

Seloushunter: I don't know Pete Fisher and have never heard of the Nhila Wildlife Reserve. That's not the bull I'm talking about. If I get my 50-incher there will be no doubt it was a 100% fair chase wild hunt. The PH who has invited me has never hunted a "zoo" in his life. This is not a ranch sable nor a park sable nor a caged sable nor a released sable.. This is 100% a sable that was born and now lives in the wild. I've seen him with my own eyes and I know he is 50 inches. It will 100% be a real hunt.

Moja

Moja

I know you are a real hunter

All the best to find the 50 incher out there

Zambia definetly have it

Seloushunter

The Matetsi concessions in Zimbabwe also have some very nice sable.

Any Kafue concession in Zambia for 40 plus sable. Zambia also has a host of game farms that offer the specie and prices tend to be set on the trophy quality.

Note Sable are nomadic so I very much doubt you will find your free ranging fifty incher again. But I might?

i have seen some 40" plus sable in zambia, but it will be quite a bit more money to hunt them there than in zim. i took a 46" in matetsi area, but last time thru there it looked like the squatters had pretty well taken over. don't discount the save. i've seen some very nice ones there too

Agree on Matetsi; I saw at least six sable in 10 days that were well over 40"

Can anyone post a photo of a 45 plus Sable in the wild so I can learn how to evaluate them? Thank you,
Frank

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Martinez:
Can anyone post a photo of a 45 plus Sable in the wild so I can learn how to evaluate them? Thank you,
Frank

Zambian Sable, Southern Kafue Park area: On our Dendro Park Ranch - proberbly close to 40 inch


Zambian Sable taken on our Dendro Park Ranch; 40+

Could have some Royal Sable/Western Zambia type genes !!!



Dendro Park Ranch - 45+ Sable taken by Scott from NC some yers ago now

Balla Balla:

Just a couple photography tips for the 45-inchers you take down the line----

1) To make the horns look more impressive remove the slab of rock underneath the animal's chin and point the nose into the dirt which will elevate the horns. There's an 8-10 inch section of the horn that is difficult to see because it blends into the hide of the animal. By raising that above the ridge of the back, one can get a greater appreciation for the true trophy nature of this sable. It's a monster, so show it off! The handshake between client & PH is covered also by the horns.

2) Secondly it looks in poor taste for the gun to be pointed almost directly at the client's head. Always treat that muzzle like the gun is loaded, and that is not the case here. If the client wants his gun in the photo, point the barrel toward the back of the animal. It sort of takes away from the whole trophy aspect of the photo.

Those are some very nice sables. Congrats to all involved.

Balla Balla,

Those are beautiful animals.

Zambian Sable, Southern Kafue Park area: On our Dendro Park Ranch - proberbly close to 40 inch


Zambian Sable taken on our Dendro Park Ranch; 40+

Could have some Royal Sable/Western Zambia type genes !!!



Dendro Park Ranch - 45+ Sable taken by Scott from NC some yers ago now[/QUOTE]
Balla Balla
Thank you so much for that first photo. Exactly what I needed to see. The trophies are great as well and
Thank you Moja for the photo pointers.
Frank

Those are some fantastic bulls. When they cross that 40+ range and begin to have that severe downward drop on the last 15" or so of horn, man that makes them one the most handsome and regal game species there is and for sure one of the highest animals on my short list. I want a bull like one in one of the kill pics. Wonderful bulls!!

Frank,

This one is 45.25" I took in '07 on a Forestry area bordering Hwange. The genetics in NW Zim are very good. I do think that overall the Kafue area of Zambia will more consistently produce a big sable. Lots of areas have sable but areas producing 40" consistently are not so common.

Mark

A batchelor herd of young bulls. Not quite there yet, but getting there ...



This very typical group of young bulls was photographed near the edge of the Zambezi flood plains in Coutada 10. Beautiful amimals.

And what I should of added is I've never seen so many shooter bulls anywhere as on Johan's Coutada 10. We could have shot a mature bull each day and we saw literally hundreds of sable. They undoubtedly are the the most common big antelope there other than the thousands of waterbuck.

Mark

Mark

I never tire of seeing that sable of your's.. A supurb trophy. What a beaut!!

+1 mark, and i love the bullet hole!!
tell sadie +1 for the great photo!

quote:

I never tire of seeing that sable of your's.. A supurb trophy. What a beaut!!

Yup, gorgeous. Sometimes the critter looks better without our mug in the picture. And that great bullet placement says all that needs to be said!

I try to always remember to take a few picts of just the animal in as dignified a pose as possible, and a sable certainly lends itself well to this.