I need infos (Area,PH,etc..) to find the best place to hunt big
sable !
Thanks Seloushunter

Try Danny McCollum. He has concessions in southwestern Tanzania. I hunted the Lukwati concession when Safari Royal had it and the camps were run by PHs Graham Jones, Bootie Bothma and Alain Lefol. I killed a sable over 40 inches and so did my son. You will see sable almost every day. I don't think they are as big as some places in Zambia but any thing over 40 isn't something to sneeze at.

I have seen good sable in most of the Selous concessions, We shoot some nice Sable every year... but Zimbabwe always had the most and biggest Sable, but that is certainly changing as of late.......

PM sent

Zambia around Mulobesi has the biggest, Zimbabwe around Matetsi has big and inexpensive, IMO but arent Tanzanias sable Roosevelt?????????

Check Western Tanzania.

Rungwa and West. Both Adam Clements and Wendell Reich represent good areas. Check their websites.

I got a 43 1/2 in Matetsi block one in Zim for what that is worth.

Thanks for te replays !

I want a big Sable in the Selous with hunting block is the Best to hunt it ?!

There are three sub-species of sable. The giant sable of Angola, the common sable of many countries including Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and the Roosevelt sable found in Tanania, specifically the Selous. The Rooselvelt sable, named after Kermit Roosevelt, are the smaller of the species averaging 34-36 inches, although 40" and above are taken each year.

I hope you won't mind me correcting you slightly.......

According to Rowland Ward's Records of Big Game the Typical Sable or Hippotragus Niger Niger has a distribution of: Caprivi (Namibia), n RSA, Angola, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Zaire & Tanzania.

The East African Sable or Hippotragus Niger Roosevelti has a distribution restricted to Shimba Hills (Mombasa Kenya)

The Royal Sable Hippotragus Niger Varianti has a distribution of: formally Angola etc. However at least two herds have recently been found in that country.

Steve,

I don't mind at all, discussion is good. The following was taken from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3775/is_200...ai_n9419770#continue

"The East African sable (Hippotragus niger roosevelti) is also called the Shimba sable and the Roosevelt sable (named after Kermit, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, as it was first scientifically recorded during their 1909 safari). It once occurred in reasonable numbers in Kenya and Tanzania, but these dwindled during the latter half of the twentieth century. There seems to be a lot of disinformation about this subspecies. Several books state that only a small population remains, exclusively in the Shimba hills of Tanzania, and add that all hunting of it is prohibited.

However, this subspecies has always occurred in the Selous game reserve of Tanzania, where it can be legally hunted. Tanzanian outfitters refer to those in the Selous as Roosevelt sable, and this has led some trophy hunters to believe this is a separate subspecies, but the East African sable, the Shimba sable, and the Roosevelt sable are all one and the same subspecies. It is smaller than the other two in both body and horn, the longest horn on record being just under forty-five inches (taken in 1903"

Rowland Ward & the other books (inc Mellon) I've consulted classify all Selous Sable as Hippotragus Niger Niger or Common Sable.

I notice the article you quote is written by Gregor Woods - I appreciate he writes well but I'm not sure how good his zoological knowledge is. At the moment I'd prefer to believe Rowland Ward & Mellon etc- but I'll phone RW tomorrow morning and see what they say.......

Certainly I always thought the Sable in the Selous were typical.

Dear Sir,

I sent you a PM as well.

Best,
Phil
http://www.go-on-safari.com

I hope everyone does not mind a left turn on the subject, but it is somewhat related. I'm thinking of putting something together for Namibia in the not too distant future, and I'm considering adding Sable into the safari even if the pricing up there. Namibia has been mentioned in some of the replies here, so I thought I would ask. My question is not about the pricing, as I have done my research, but more on the experience of others that have hunted Sable in Namibia. I don't hear or read much about this, and am wondering if its because the number of animals is so low, or if its because its not as sought after on a plains game only hunt? Anyone have some thoughts to share?

Selous Sable are indeed the Roosevelt type. A couple years ago Dr. Baldus from Selous Consevation Programme wrote an article that the DNA samples taken from the Selous Sable confirmed it as a sub-species. They are also found on the Coastal park of Sadani just North of Dar es Salaam.

Michel,

Could you please e-mail me a copy of the paper & I'll forward it to Rowland Ward for comment.

I've already e-mailed RW about this but I'm sure the paper will be useful.

Steve,

Copy this and send it to them.

See this pdf file, Item 4 African Indaba

Regards,

Terry

Steve,
Did you ever phone RW?

I've phoned them 4 times and still haven't got hold of Jane Halse who is the one who will make the ultimate decision - my guess is she's thinking about what to do. Her problem will that although some have been DNA tested as Roosevelt's Sable, does that mean that all Selous Sable are Roosevelt's or some and some and if that's the case how do the measurers identify one from the other. If she re-classifies the entire area how does she re-organise the trophies already in the book? - It's a tough decision to make and they obviously need to do it right or they lose credance.

Knowing Jane, she'll be determined to get it right and my guess is that it'll take a bit of time. - Anyway, I'll try her again tomorrow.....

Incidentally, I don't have an SCI book here other than the handbook. Can anyone tell me how they classify the various sables please?

Finally managed to get to speak to Jane Halse.

To some extent it's one of those cases of lumpers versus groupers. Apparently there's not a lot of difference betwen the two (but I'm not a zoologist!) and of course there might be both sub species in the area and indeed there might also be some hybrids. The long and the short of it is that the case is currently under review and RW are taking advice from people such as Jonothan Kingdom and other experts. I'd imagine they'll also contact the Natural History Museum in London for their opinion.

RW don't go to press with the new edition for a year or so which means they have time to get the research done properly. Even if they do reclassify the Selous sable, I don't think it will affect current records a great deal as (without checking, and from memory) there are not a huge number of entries from Selous or even from Tanzania under the typical sable catagory...............

I also wonder what SCI will do on this - hopefully someone from that side of the pond will try to find out and comment?

We have several Selous blocks that have excellent Roosevelt Sable.

Here's a link to our 2004 Trohpy gallery where you can see a few of our sable shot last year.
http://www.rungwasafaris.com/trophies/index.shtml

We own 3 blocks in Selous, LU5, K1 and K2 (which are paradise...to quote a member from our forum), and also Ruhudji has excellent sable and is part of the selous ecosystem. We don't sublease to anyone and have a strict management policy...thereby giving our clients that chance to shoot some great trophies.

My brother Harpreet is a PH plus we have several other excellent PH's.

Drop me an email if you'd like more details and the best dates for sable in our areas.

All the best,
Mohanjeet

Adam Clements has several concessions bordering on Rungwa and has good success over 40 inches over last 5 years. Roan plentiful also.
He also has good Selous blocks for Roosevelt Sable if that is what you are after.
Robert (Rcrewsnest@aol.com)