I would appreciate input from members on the best area(s) to hunt Kudu, Bushbuck, Impala, Warthog, Wildebeest and Zebra in Zim.

Check out Brooklands Safaris, their area in the SAVE is excellent.

This assumes you mean big animals/good populations. If you mean low cost, I cannot say.

Bushbuck it depends what kind you want to shoot. The southern Bushbuck, I would think the Save is good place. I would think the Chobe is best in the Zambezi Valley.

Kudu- Lowveld areas (Save is one)

Impala are pretty much everywhere. You will have to look at a lot of them to find a monster.

Warthog are better where there are fewer lion around- not on the Zambezi escarpment area- they get ate a bit too quickly.

Wildebeest- I think these are pretty good in most of the areas, if the game is well managed. I suspect they are hurting with the poaching.

Zebra- This would be an individual thing- I honestly don't think there is "Trophy Quality" with Zebra, but rather what effort one puts in and your memories of the hunt- which should be the case with all of the animals.

If you pick a reputable outfit, I think you will be happy in most places, as long as you let them know what you want in advance, so they can warn you if they don't have a good population of your key species.

Good luck and have fun with the research!

Contact Roger Whittall for an unrivaled and most affordable plainsgame experience. roger@humani.cc or rogerw@humani.cc.

Dave

Paul,

The first 3 recommendation you recieved all mention the Save and I'll make it a forth. A client called the Save the "Garden of Eden" for hunters and he was right.

Kudu- They've recovered from disease that effected the big bulls and this year a mid 50's bull and perhaps bigger should be possible.

Bushbuck- They occur there in good numbers but it may take some digging along the rivers. I got one the first day there but I don't think that is normal.

Impala- You will see literally hundreds per day and if you sort through them you 'll find a nice one.

Warthog- Many on the Save but trophy quality is average.

Wildebeest- Good populations and they may lead you on a long stalk but you'll get one and probably a very nice one if you shoot well.

Zebra- There are plenty but they are not tame. You'll need a little time to get one.

Mark

I agree with Dave Hulme. In my opinion Roger Whittall Safaris Humani area is the best in Zim for Plainsgame.

Mike

I'm surprised you don't have Sable on your list of plains game. He's the King, and Zimbabwe's got them.

Personally, Sable and Kudu, and I would let the other five walk.

I agree contact Roger Whittall Safaries. Humani has some of the biggest game that I have seen in Africa.

It has huge bushbuck and huge warthog the Kudu are also massive. The concentration of bushbuck is the best in the world as they congregate along the river.

Everything there seems to be bigger than anywhere else.

Good luck and enjoy.

P.S. Turgwe camp is amazing.

www.mazungasafaris.com

We were in Lemco in 2005, great area, nice camps,easy drive from Bulawayo.

Lemco..

Bubiana Conservancy..

Save..

All great PG areas.

Another suggestion to look at Roger Whittall's Humani in the Save Conservancy.

JPK

Well, I'll throw my oar into the water with this: Try either Gordon Duncan in Doma; or, Glenn Stockill in the Save. We have hunted quite a bit with Gordon and have known glenn as long. They both post on AR and will give you good value for the money.

A few comments about Bubiana (next to Lemco nr W. Nicholson). Super concession for bushbuck, waterbuck, impala, warthog, giraffe, and klipspringer. Lots of baboon and good bird hunting as well (francolin and geese). Very very good leopard area. BWB and Zebra just average. Kudu, hard to find a big one, things may have improved recently. Eland very tough. Scenery the best I have experienced in Africa. Good bass fishing too. Contact me for rates and availability.

I agree with the votes for Roger Whittall. It's an experience of a lifetime. Try to go with Pete Wood very entertaining and one hell of a PH. His team of trackers is second to none. Don't look for monster warthog but there are some monster Kudu.

Why would you go to Zim to hunt plainsgame? Wouldn't RSA or Nam be the better choice, if you had to get a bushbuck, than obviously RSA is your choice.

quote:

Originally posted by Oryxhunter1983:
Why would you go to Zim to hunt plainsgame? Wouldn't RSA or Nam be the better choice, if you had to get a bushbuck, than obviously RSA is your choice.

My question exactly. I can understand the desire to hunt plains game as a "round out" to a DG hunt in Zim, but as compared to R.S.A., or especially Namibia, hunting plains game in Zimbabwe will be much more expensive, you'll have fewer choices, and see much less of it than in the other two countries. It is true that there are a couple of species available in Zim that may not be abundant or available in either of the other locations, but the converse is true for several more species.

quote:

Why would you go to Zim to hunt plainsgame?

I like to hunt in a DG area, regardless of what I am hunting. I like to hunt large, wild areas. I like the people in Zimbabwe. Sable should be a lot less expensive there.

Just a few reasons one might choose to do it. Would I go there just for DG? Not sure I would go anywhere just for DG, but it could happen.

Oryxhunter and Stonecreek,

If I had not hunted plains game in an area where the Big 5 was present or at least elephant, buffalo and the big cats I would probably agree with you that choosing Zim for a plains game hunt might not make sense. Since I have done specific plains game safaris in both RSA and Namibia plus Zim, Mozambique and Botswana I think I can make make a valid comparison.

Generally speaking in RSA and Namibia you'll have a ranch/farm hunt experience. These ranches often times will offer a wide variety of species some being indigenous and others stocked. Some will be high fenced, fairly small and heavily stocked. Others will offer open range but a small number of species. There is nothing wrong with these hunts. They are just like hunting deer on someone's farm here in the States or shooting an elk in a 10,000 acre enclosure. It's loads of fun but not to be confused in any way with a classic safari. They just are not very wild expereinces.

This is where Zim and Mozambique come in. Being able to hunt plains game in their natural enviroment with DG present is a classic safari experience in every way but you are not paying DG rates. As for the rates for plains game being higher in Zim they are comaparable to or in some cases less than high end plains game operations in RSA or Namibia.

One comment was that the number of available species in Zim did not compare to RSA and Namibia. If you look at a trophy fee list from RSA and often Namibia discounting the non-indigenous species it quickly becomes apparent that Zim has a great selection.

I'm not saying that one hunt is so much better than the other but that you are not comparing apples to apples. You just need understand the differences before rejecting one or the other expereince.

Mark

Mark,
I can understand your point about being in a wild place vs. a ranch style of setting. And I recognize that there is surely a difference.

I appreciate your comments in a non-throat cutting fashion. Too many people on here at just waiting to pounce on someone if they don't share the same exact opinion.

So thank you for sharing your experiences. Plus I always enjoy the great ads your company puts in Safari Journal

Mark's comment is right on. My son and I hunted with John Sharp in 2007 for these exact reasons and had a GREAT hunt. Sharp is a real character.