Hello everyone. I think I've given up on Hunters Namibia Safaris. Joof just raised his prices too much for us. Oh well. I've got a new question for ya'll. My parents and I really want to center our safari around BIG Kudu. I'd prefer not to shoot one under 52" and I would really prefer one around 55". We want to either go to Namibia or South Africa. Anybody know of some places that have an abundance of this quality of Kudu at a reasonable price. Let me know your thoughts. I would really appreciate it!

Limpopo River area of SA or lowveld of Zimbabwe in Mid May to Mid June (during the Kudu rut).

Good Hunting!

Hugh

I don't know what the prices of your first hunt were, but we hunted in Namibia last year for 2x2 $200/day, Kudu trophy fee $750. That is 2003 prices. I think the guy is still using the same price sheet.
My sons Kudu was 54" mine was 52". We were not trophy hunting. We just wanted better than average.
It's a one man outfit who mainly hunts with European folks. He doesn't have a web site, email only. If you want 5 star accommodations, you probably better go somewhere else. We stayed in the farmers house and in tents. Had cold beer, hot showers and a full belly every day. Good enough for me!
If you are interested, I can give you his address.
We had a great time, and will go back. I'm not an agent/outfitter, just passing info along.

Check out Robert Johnson's as well as my post on Okanduka Siebe in Namibia. Dirk And Rita run a first class outfit and great prices. My Kudu was 55" and my buddy's was 50. As a matter of fact, everything I took was gold medal.

Eland Slayer, How about a 51 1/2" on the last day of the hunt? Don't take this the wrong way as it is always good to have goals but I would not worry so much about those inches. Let your PH know that you want a good mature bull and have a good time getting it. When you get there see if you can tell the 52" one from the 53" one on the hoof, without help from the PH. That being said I would choose Namibia over RSA.

you want a good kudu hunt next year I know where some kudu will be between 55--60".
It is in the LIMPOPO river area. pm me.

Look up Hunter's Rock Safaris in South Africa. They hunt near the Zim border. A friend shot a 68" Kudu with them which got him an award at SCI that year. First class facilities, nice people and very reasonable. I hunted with them last year and had a great time. I had good Kudus from previous trips and did not hunt them. Naturally I saw some beauties. I think a 55" is definitely a good bet with bigger possible.

Eland Slayer

If you are looking for a truly affordable and wild hunt, do yourself a favor and email Dirk or Rita at info@namibianhunter.com.na. You will never find a better deal ($165 a day, 1x1) for world class animals. Dirk is all most totally booked for '06. I would try to hunt the end of May - Jun ('07) for the best chance at a huge kudu. Dirk and Rita are good people, after spending 21 days with them we became good friends. I totally trust them, in fact I have booked all of September '07 with them, three weeks hunting and one week tiger fishing.


I spent months emailing and faxing hundreds of outfitter in Namibia looking for affordable / wild hunting. What I discovered was everybody with a good website tapping into the US market charged a premium $275-$450/day. If you contact outfitters that only have email or fax, you will find some of them to be very affordable. Verify all claims and get references from last year only.
Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
I won't even shoot one under 52"..

L

Eland slayer, try Unico Safaris. Both my hunting partner and I harvested 54" plus kudu this past June. If you tell Christo Kaiser want you want, he and his PH's will bust their booties trying to meet your dreams. PM me if you have any questions. Jerry Hoover

Jerry

A friend of mine hunted with Unico and said that they were good. However, they are a little out of my price range. Thanks for the info anyway.

Check out Nick Nolte Hunting Safaris and Dirk de Bod's Safaris Namibia websites.

Holly and I hunted with both of them in 2004 and saw plenty of great kudu in the 54"+ range.

Also, check out Kansimba. See my report on page 4 of this forum entitled "Namibia Hunt Photos". (Sorry but I don't know how to post it in a message.)

There are big Kudu there. We saw a few in the 58 to 60" range after my son shot his 55 incher. There are also pics of the accomodations on the same page entitled "Kansimba-Namibia Hunt Photos"

And, really good Black Wildebeest!!

John

Lots of big kudu in the northern province of RSA. Nuumzaan Safaris takes a lot of big one in a place called Silent Valley.

But why may I ask are you so focused on the number of inches of horn it has? You would not ,as a beginning african hunter, be able to tell the difference from a 50 inch bull and a 56 inch bull if they were hanging on the wall side by side since the depth of the curl is where most the length comes from. All mature bull kudu are magnificent no matter how much horn they show. What happens if your PH swears a bull is 54, but misjudges the depth of curl and it only tapes 51. Would you value the trophy and hunt less because of 3 inches of horn length? If your answer is yes, then I'd say you probably don't deserve a big kudu.

You don't order trophies ready made rom the store. You have to take them with whatever nature blessed them with and also with all their flaws. Go on the hunt, enjoy Africa, learn from the PH's and trackers and leave the tape measure at home in Texas. It really doesn't belong in the bush.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Mac

Another vote for Dirk de Bod... Kudu are his thing, I guess gemsbok are too. I got a 55 1/2 with 12inch bases and a 45" spread. We were on a time crunch and I we shot 8 animals in 3 days... slept in my own bed (was living in Windoek) I believe he is the best... I think he is expensive or at least he was back 2002.

Mac,

That's one of the most sensible posts I've ever read on this or any other forum...... good for you!

It's always nice to take an especially good trophy but I always think that any hunter who is totally driven by the tape measure is losing some of the pleasure of the hunt...... and many of the trophies that hang in my own house are not the largest I've ever taken but they are all the ones I remember most.

FWIW one of the PHs who works for us took a 61 inch kudu earlier this year in Tuli Block Botswana and a 71 incher was taken that same week not too far away by a buddy of mine.

Aaron's post raises a good point about price. There's no such thing as a free lunch and quality usually comes at a higher price......the same as most other things in life. That isn't to say that you can't get lucky. Of course you can, but generally the chances increase in relation to the quality of the product you buy.

MAC

I do understand how you might say that about most other 17 year olds. But let me assure you, I am anything but your average 17 year old. I can tell you right now, I would DEFINITELY be able to tell the difference in a 50 and 56 inch Kudu hanging on the wall side by side. Not only have I been thoroghly studying Africa and African animals for many years now, but I have also worked on a 7,000 acre exotic game ranch here in texas where they had Kudu and I have spent lots of time around them.

I don't want to sound rude or anything, but I just don't want anyone on this forum thinking I'm just some spoiled teenage hunter who is ignorant to hunting and trophy quality, because I'm not.

I do appreciate your input though MAC. The only reason I put inches to my goals when talking to either PH's or people on the forum is becuase I just want people to get an idea of the kind of mature trophy I want. I am well aware of the fact that you don't "order trophies ready made from the store", as you put it. I am a real hunter and have been hunting since I was 5 years old. The fact is, when I'm in the bush looking at a big, mature Kudu bull, I will get my PH's estimate and take that into consideration while, at the same time, estimating the bull myself. I will decide if he meets my own requirements then make a decision to shoot or not to shoot. However, it is my decision to pull the trigger and whatever the bull I shoot actually measures will be entirely irrelavent, as I have already taken him and would be just as happy with him even if he didn't quite meet my expectations. I am actually more concerned about horn configuration than most anything. I don't care if a bull is 60". If he's got uneven or ugly horns, I'm not shooting him. Anyway, thanks for your 2 cents MAC. I'm not going to leave the tape at home, but I'll try not to let it get to my head OKAY!

Also, thanks for everybody else's input as well, I am still researching and I'll eventually find the perfect place for us to go and I'll be sure to put the report on the forum once we return. But, that won't be until 2007, so I guess I've got to wait a little longer. Oh well, I've waited 17 years, I guess I can wait one or two more.

Shakari,

Your best odds of harvesting a great trophy is raised signifigantly by getting the guy with the best consessions and reputation... For Namibia, I think Dirk's are unsurpassed. I am sure there are others but i haven't seen that proof yet. It does take the money though.

Aaron

Aaron,

That's the very point I was making.

As I said, quality comes at a price.

quote:

a 71 incher was taken that same week not too far away by a buddy of mine.

Shakari,

I would love to see that one, I believe that would be only the second kudu in history ever to go over 70 inches. Do you have any further details?

Regards,

Terry

Eland Slayer. I would check out John Sharp in Zimbabwe. http://www.john-sharp-safaris.com/
I got a 58 inch 2 months ago. Matter of fact out of all the people that have hunted with John in this forum I bet mine have the shortest measurements... But mine could of been 53..54..or whatever and I would of had the same smile and satisfaction.

AKA: Tht is an enormous kudu with big, thick horns. It's fantastic. I'll aslo throw in a pitch for John Sharp. Mine went 58.5" my friend's went 55" and he missed a 60 plus. Gret place for kudus. jorge

Terry,

It was taken in the Vivo area close to the Botswana border around the second week of May and is currently being set up by Lifeform Taxidermy in White River.

If I remember correctly the client had booked the hunt specifically for a 60 + kudu and they hadn't got lucky. They were driving out of the hunting area to go back to the airport and saw the animal as they drove out. A hurried unpacking of rifles ensued and the animal was taken after a short stalk.

I saw it just after it was offloaded at the taxidermists and as Cecil was measuring it (and dribbling!)

'Fraid I don't have any pictures..........

I'm going back to TZ today so won't have time to reply further.

One of the candidates on the proficiency exam on thursday was asked by parks to shoot a non trophy kudu for rations.

58" is an impressive "non Trophy" kudu

Proficiency was in Charara this year.

quote:

Check out Nick Nolte Hunting Safaris and Dirk de Bod's Safaris Namibia websites.

Holly and I hunted with both of them in 2004 and saw plenty of great kudu in the 54"+ range

I just clicked on Dirk de Bod's website. The Nmibian bird songs started coming out of the speakers on the computer. My two bird dogs went absolutely bat shit crazy.

lawndart

deleted

Shakari

Too bad. I can't say that I've ever seen a 70"+ Kudu. Can't even begin to imagine that!!!

We saw a 60-62" in the green zone of Tuli last week. While there, I took a 57", less than a 1km from the big one, on the other side of the sign.

I have them in the Limpopo Province.

There are lots of 60" plus Kudu behind wire in South Africa. I know one farm that claims 6 of them.

They are not for sale.

quote:

Originally posted by AKA:

AKA - that's an awesome bull - LOTS of mass.

The subject of "Big Kudu" always intrigues me.
Primarily b/c I can't judge them and also b/c the shape of their horns can affect thier perceived size.

For example, look at your kudu above - you know what it measures. Now look at mine below... what would you guess it's lenght to be?

If I had to guess, I would say somewhere between 54-56". Was I close? In my opinion, it's even harder to judge them from pictures than it is in real life. Nice bull by the way!

I passed up a 58"-plus kudu in the Save Conservancy last spring (much to the PH's chagrin) because I would have to have shot it out of the front seat of the safari vehicle. Had the crosshairs resting on the shoulder but didn't shoot. I just couldn't shoot such a magnificent animal that way.

We tried a stalk in the long grass, but all you could see were it's horns as it moved out in front of us. Later, the head tracker told me he thinks it was over 60, maybe even 62!

That was the only true trophy kudu we saw the entire trip.

quote:

Originally posted by GAHUNTER:
I passed up a 58"-plus kudu in the Save Conservancy last spring (much to the PH's chagrin) because I would have to have shot it out of the front seat of the safari vehicle. Had the crosshairs resting on the shoulder but didn't shoot. I just couldn't shoot such a magnificent animal that way.

We tried a stalk in the long grass, but all you could see were it's horns as it moved out in front of us. Later, the head tracker told me he thinks it was over 60, maybe even 62!

That was the only true trophy kudu we saw the entire trip.

Good on ya. Ethics gets a real test when the animal is big.

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:

quote:

Originally posted by AKA:

AKA - that's an awesome bull - LOTS of mass.

The subject of "Big Kudu" always intrigues me.
Primarily b/c I can't judge them and also b/c the shape of their horns can affect thier perceived size.

For example, look at your kudu above - you know what it measures. Now look at mine below... what would you guess it's lenght to be?

new guy.. just a guess but i would say 56"? But its hard for me to judge with the pictures and a nice Kudu by the way. May be larger if your elbow is resting on your knee and not on the Kudu. I can't tell..What is the length?

AKA, Eland Slayer - I guess you two are clearly better judges of kudu length than I am. He was 56".

I got one 58" and change in the Save this Oct.

I saw three that were big enough to call mine Junior. Obviously much larger, even to me. They were maybe 250 or 275yds away. I didn't shoot since that is beyond my comfortable range. We tried to get closer for maybe forty minutes but the stayed at least that far ahead and then vanished. This was repeated a couple of afternoons. I wonder if it was the same three?

JPK

Gentlemen,

I hunt many properties each year and hunt many kudu. But I must be honest with you kudu of 60" + are extremely scarce. Be careful when someone claims that he has that size kudu. I agree with the persons with insight because if you worked hard for a trophy and killed a 50 - 55 " which you feel good about - who will see 3" on the wall?

Here are 3 kudu bulls: 58", 56" & 58.5" respectively.

quote:

Originally posted by Zingeli_Safaris:
Gentlemen,

I hunt many properties each year and hunt many kudu. But I must be honest with you kudu of 60" + are extremely scarce. Be careful when someone claims that he has that size kudu. I agree with the persons with insight because if you worked hard for a trophy and killed a 50 - 55 " which you feel good about - who will see 3" on the wall?

Here are 3 kudu bulls: 58", 56" & 58.5" respectively.

Louis,

Good to see you here with us. Walter says hello too.