Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Nyala or eland?

make sure that unit is fumigated. Units for some reason attract dermestids like you wouldn't believe.

If Kudu was a reason I was going, I would be wiling to ask if they would postpone my hunt for a few years or a year whatever was needed. Just a thought. I've never had to do anything the year we had it planned if it wasn't going to go the way we wanted. Not really a big deal. For us anyway.

I do realize what I call the McDonalds society these days has almost zero patience and I"m getting old so there is that.

But its an option worth looking at depending.

Best of luck on it regardless.

So what's the overall drought situation in RSA? I'm going Limpopo in June. Thank You

I have been able to take both Eland and Nyala. Sable has eluded me, however I am working on that.

Nyala
I have hunted open space / free range areas in Kwazulu Natal areas. Some of the best Nyala in South Africa.
If you elect to do the Nyala and it is open range area not fenced, I suggest that you ask for additional spotters. This is a game of glassing and trying to find a nice animal to go after. You will sit on one hill side and glass the opposite hill side. So shots can become long, it will depend on where you find a good Nyala to go after. Be selective and try and find a real good one. I have been trying to get a 30 inch one and have taken a 28 1/2 inch old bull and have been lucky enough to get two 29 1/2 inch ones. It cost me $20 a day for each extra spotters and I had 5 additional spotters put out. When hunting Nyala I set aside 3 days to find the best animals we can. We did spot a monster Nyala, however he was 450 yards out and I would not take the shot, I limit myself to 350 yards for shooting Nyala.

Eland
I have hunted Eland in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

This is a tracking hunt, you find your extra large track early in the morning and start walking. You hope you do not spook them as you can get real close and not see them and they sense you. Plan on walking about 15 to 20 miles a day.

In Zimbabwe the giraffes kept sighting us and running off the eland before we could get close. and I was never able to get a shot at a nice bull.

In Namibia, eland was my main goal and we started every morning at first light looking for track at a water hole and start walking, many time we were with in 10 yards and could not get a shot in the brush at the animal we wanted. being picky and wanting an old bull, probably added to the number of day we spent tracking eland. 3 days of tracking for each eland that I was able to take, I had licenses for 2 and that is what I came for. Shots were close in the heavy brush.

However, Eland hunting was the cats meow. It closely resembles Cape buffalo hunting. Highly recommended. be in shape to put in long days tracking.

If you are on a fenced farm and it is just driving up and walking out or sitting in a blind shooting one, it make no difference then. Go with what ever you think at the time.

Sable hunting, I was not able to fit one in on my Zimbabwe hunt. again I have standards and do not take the first one that comes by. so I did not take small one.

Bottom line on the above animals. if your PH does not get excited when he see one, it is just an average animal and I would pass. Your there for the experience and to obtain the best that you can find, take your time and walk up some.

For you home, Eland would make a good pedestal mount, make sure you tell you taxidermist to not build the base to large. give him a floor to celling measurement for the room you plan to play him. I like to put rollers on my pedestals so that I can move them around. Same if you do a stack pedestal mount. Nyala make a great shoulder mount, I have both wall and pedestal and one euro plaque.

Most areas of the country have had normal or above normal summer rains so the winter hunting should be good. Certain parts of the Eastern Cape are still drought stricken but in general the veld has recovered and game populations healthy.

I would go for all four! One of the biggest expenses of any hunt is the time and money spent getting there. Although, not getting all of the animals that you want gives you a reason to go back.

Even on my first South African hunt, I hunted several different properties, one that was a 1 1/2 hour drive from the base property, to find the animals that I wanted to hunt. The first animal that I shot on the base property was a Southern Greater Kudu and a few other animals on my "list." We then spent several days driving to the distant property where I got my Waterbuck and Limpopo Bushbuck. Even though I overshot my list of animals on this trip, I saw several animals that made the top of my list for my next African hunt.

One thing that I realized on my first African trip was that there are so many different animals there that I should limit myself to only one animal of each species, and to hunt different animals on each trip. I haven't completely followed my "only one animal from each species rule."

On my second African hunt, I started my two week hunt in Zimbabwe for Buffalo and Chobe bushbuck, Then I flew back to South Africa to hunt a property in Kwa-Zulu Natal where I got my Nyala. I had to do a half body of him because of his beautiful coloring. We then drove to a property in the Free State for the animals that I wanted there.

On my third African hunt, the first property that I hunted was outside of Kimberly, South Africa where I hunted Cape Eland, Bontebok, and an opportunity animal of a Red Lechwe. My first shot on the Bontebok didn't put him down and when we caught up to him again, he was standing under a tree with a Common Sable. I jokingly commented to my PH that I hoped that my shot wouldn't miss the Bontebok and hit the Sable. He replied that it would be a very expensive miss. I then hunted an adjacent property for Tsessebe. My PH and I then drove south where we stopped at a property in the mountains I shot my Vaal Rhebok. We then drove down the Kat Conservancy in SE South Africa where I hunted Cape Kudu, Cape Bushbuck, and a few other animals on the Conservancy property. Then the owner of the lodge that we were staying at in the Conservancy offered me a chance to hunt Cape Grysbok at another property an hour east of the Conservancy property.

A few years later, I talked to another South African Outfitter who told me they had very good Sable antelope on their property. So I booked a hunt with him and shot a good Sable bull, but I don't think that it was as good as I was led to believe.

A few more years went by and I met an Outfitter who had a huge concession in northern Mozambique and he offered me a combination Leopard and Roosevelt Sable hunt. That was a totally free range hunt. No fences anywhere on over 600,000 acres. I shot my Leopard the second night, so I spent the remainder of my 10 day hunt looking for a good Sable bull. One day I saw a truly monster bull, but couldn't get a shot, and went home with only my Leopard.

I thought about that monster Sable bull all of the next winter, and finally called the outfitter and booked a hunt the next year just for that bull. We hunted hard for two weeks and never saw that monster bull, but this time I did come home with a very good Roosevelt Sable bull.

My whole point of this ramble is that in planning an African hunt, make a list of the animals that you want to hunt, then contact Outfitters to see what animals on your list are available with them, and ask them if they could take you to different properties for the animals that you want. And then you be flexible enough to take an animal of opportunity, even if it's not on your list. In the long run, an extra $2,200 for a good Sable bull is a lot cheaper than a separate $10,000 Sable hunt in the future.

If Kudu was my #1 target animal I would make sure that they made it happen, and they can, you just have to make it clear that's what you want. As far as Eland or Nyala, for me it would be easy but you have to make that decision yourself, or take both. On my second safari last year I had to decide between Kudu & Sable & I saw many of both but had decided before the trip that it was going to be Kudu. I saw some monster Sable bulls & made a terrible mistake, I should have taken one anyway, I was already there!
Although I have no desire to shoot an Eland, at least not yet I agree they are great eating & I would love to have a freezer full, along with a lot of other animals, even my Cape Buffalo was tasty. All of my animals have been taken with revolvers, makes it even more exciting.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/bOyliwNh.jpg?1[/img]

Dick

If it's nyala or eland, why don't you see if they'll just leave it like that. That way you can let the hunt decide. You just know that if you decide on nyala that's when a jaw dropping eland is going to stroll out. Or the other way around.

The slickest package system I've seen was we were given 3 lists of animals. Take any 2 off the first list, any 2 off the second and any 3 off the third. Over-shoot a category or want something that isn't on any of the package lists and it just goes to regular trophy fees.

If you can get a sable for $2200, I'd jump on it. Sable hunts are generally very expensive (like 10K). Kudu, nyala and eland are a lot cheaper. Sorry these are a little out of focus - damn autofocus is almost as bad as autocorrect.

I’ve shot several of all four species mentioned and eland hunting is by far the most fun.

I'd do the Sable in a heartbeat! That was $15,000 on the concession I hunted
That said Eland was a great hunt and outstanding trophy

My personal preference would be tracking for a big blue Eland bull. I refer to it as a poor man’s Cape Buffalo hunt. The Eland bull I shot in Namibia in 2017 weighed around 1600 lbs and his European Mount graces my Man Cave.

His particular area may not have a great population of Kudu. There are plenty of other places he can take you to hunt one. The real issue its going to cost him a little more to do it. First of all the fuel issue. Its going up in the states and likely the same there. Might have to drive 2-3 hrs each way. He's got friends. There has to be someplace he can take you. Then he's going to have pay the fee for a Kudu from someone else. If he owns the land that your hunting then he really loses out. If he has a great deal with a landowner worked out and has to go elsewhere then the cost could be higher.
I've been over 6 or so times now. I'd push him for another place to hunt a Kudu. If thats your dream animal then he should make that happen. The other option is to extend your hunt by 3 or so days and hunt with someone up in the Limpopo. Plenty of Kudu there. I can give you several companies to check out.
I've killed both Eland and Nyala. Both are beautiful animals. If you trade for a Nyala then he should charge less on his package as Nyala are generally less $$ than Kudu. Eland are sometimes less to about the same as a Kudu. In the East Cape your eland hunt is unlikely to be a tracking hunt like is often done in the Kalahari.
Push a little n the Kudu. He's just being difficult.
Bruce

Here is a price list from a big name outfitter. The days of the $15K sable are history/ Thankfully
https://www.johnxsafaris.com/jxrates/

My group hunted 4 days and had not seen a kudu. Meanwhile i killed 2 gemsbok, warthog, 4 hartebeest, Impala and passed a lot of wildebeest.
The outfitter took us to a farm 4 his away where they had big kudu. Trophy fees were size based there. I made it clear that i wanted Eland first and foremost and didn't care about kudu.

I killed a nice eland, wildcat, duiker and jackal at the farm. Nobody killed a kudu. Eland hunt was tracking through sand and scrub.i shot my bill at 40 yards as he fed.

Went back to first place and i shot a kudu, wildebeest more warthogs and concentrated on getting a steenbok. I felt being flexible was the best thing i could have done. My buddies were stressed out over the lack of kudu but they both killed one.
Eland meat was the best, followed by impala and gemsbok.i did not care for wildebeest or warthog

I have emailed him that I am interested in eland since kudu is off the table. Thank you for everyone’s input.

Nyala for beauty and Eland for size and eating! Make sure you get a good look at a trophy Eland. They are deceiving to distinguish big from really big horns.

Have a great trip, and dont forget to tell us about your adventures. It's your chance to be an outdoor writer.
Bfly

My choice would be Nyala. To me they are similar hunt to Kudu and absolutely beautiful mounts. On my next hunt I am talking about a cull Nyala hunt just to have a full skin.

Likewise
I’ve arrowed sable, eland and nyala. I’d rank them in that order, for myself. Have a great safari.