Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Top plainsgame you still need to collect

As the title says what remaining plainsgame you simply must hunt, and are willing to pay the freight to bring back for mounting?
These are the ones you have pictured in your mind how they would look mounted, but as yet just haven't come across the right one in the field.

I imagine everyone will have different species in their remaining list and that's what makes it interesting.

I have two on my list:

1. Common Sable - My top of the list. Big, jet black, heavy horn, battle-scarred, and as I told one PH only half-jokingly "can stand there and scratch his back with his horn tips".
I'd have that trophy on a floor pedestal mount with his head turned 90 degrees looking straight at the Kudu at the other end of the room.

2. Niassa Wildebeest - again, big, heavy horn, with really striking striping on his neck and shoulders that will be evident on a shoulder mount.
Half the fun will be simply getting to Northern Mozambique to search for them.

So those are my two remaining must-haves. What are yours?

Nyala is the only one I would get mounted.

Kudu, bushbuck, and impala euro mounts only.

I agree a Sable would very nice.I have a Kudu and an Impala mounted.The impala is a beautiful ram.
A zebra rug is awesome-got one of those and it's a beauty.Aside from a Sable there is nothing else I would really want to mount.
An Eland would be good to hunt-I would consider hunting one if they were in the area and were on license.
That said,I wouldn't mind hunting another Zebra and mounting another rug.

Nyala, bushbuck and a big kudu.

Could be talked into a huge waterbuck

I think waterbuck is an under appreciated trophy. They make spectacular mounts.

I once came across a beautiful sable in a very wild area in Zimbabwe.Since I was short of cash I turned it down.It would have been difficult even if I tried since I had my 500 double.If I had a scoped rifle the chances were much greater.However I only use an open sighted rifle for Africa-excpt for leopard.My Ph managed to use the wind to our advantage and get me to within five yds of a zebra which I took with my double.

Sable. I have a really good Roan and would like a Sable to go with him.

Tommy, Grants, Roberts, Gerenuk, Lesser Kudu, Val Rhebok.

I've been on three trips, in three different areas and while Sables are beautiful and I think Nyala's would make a hell of a mount in the area's I've been neither animal seemed very bright.

Last trip I took a very nice Bushbuck, but it was one of the ugliest animals I've ever taken. They figured it was 12+ years old, didn't have any hair on it's face and was a bit straggly. Tried for one the 2nd hunt and took some effort this last hunt (Easter Cape). Would like to take one in it's prime for a mount.

Also took an exceptional Steen buck this last trip and would like a big Duiker. Say what you will, but I think some of these smaller antelope should cost more than some of the larger more easily obtained critters.

Zebra hunt was fun and I put in a few miles chasing after the one I took. Was hesitant my 1st trip to shoot one, but think they're one of the spookier game animals in the places I've been.

I didn't think I'd ever go once and now looking at my fourth trip in '25. Primary will be a cow cape buffalo and probably just cull animals after that, but we'll see...

A super nice warthog

I once was in Mozambique's coutada 9 and it was raining warthogs.I took a very old one by a waterhole.
I still have the skull and tusks but never mounted it.

Coutada 9 is a special place for plains game. The kudu and eland hunting there is superb.

2021 Warthog

Borrowed .243 Mauser of some flavor that I would have loved to taken home with me. PH & I were in a makeshift blind a 1/4 or so mile away from a planted field. Busted out of cover an hour or two after we had sat down from being spooked by something. Running straight at us from about 200 yards to within 75 yards when I took the shot, just as he was quartering towards us and slipped one in and he dropped.

PH was more excited than I was over the size (10 1/2" exposed tusk).

Very nice!

I’ve killed a couple dozen Plainsgame but have never had a shoulder mount done due to taxidermy costs and space limitations. I’ve had European mounts of the following:

1) 40” Gemsbok Bull and 41” Gemsbok cow;
2) Three Warthog tusk mounts;
3) Three Baboon skull mounts;
4) Two Waterbuck Bull mounts;
5) Two Kudu mounts;
6) Two Eland mounts;
7) One Steenbok
8) One Springbok
9) One Blue Wildebeest
10) One Black Wildebeest
11) One Zebra rug

Most of my mounts are on my garage walls except a Kudu, an Eland, a Springbok and the Zebra rug which are in my basement Man Cave.

Monster warthog 69!!! Outstanding!!!

Of plainsgame, I enjoy hunting the spiral horns most. Of the 9 main spiral horns, I’ve taken 5, including Greater Kudu, Bushbuck (all 4 I’ve shot have been Chobe), Livingstone Eland, Nyala & Lord Derby Eland. I’ve hunted Sitatunga twice, unsuccessfully. I’m next hunting Sitatunga late 2025 in Zambia on a hunt specifically dedicated to just that. If I’m successful, that’ll leave Lesser Kudu, Bongo & Mountain Nyala. I’m booked for Bongo in ‘26 and considering a Masailand hunt for ‘27. If those are all successful, that’d leave only Ethiopia and Mountain Nyala.

I've been tracking hunting reports on Sable for a while now and it appears that so far, the the most consistent reports on really big Sable have been coming out of Zambia.

Western Zambia has long been one of the most consistent producers of big sable. Western Zimbabwe and western Tanzania also, but not as consistently as Zambia. I won’t consider South Africa at all since they’re bred and hunted behind high fences. I’ll take my 42” Tanzanian and 45” Zimbabwean Sable every day over a 50” farm raised and high fenced sable.

Sable, nyla, buff and giraffe for me. I was blessed with outstanding kudu(61) eland(39.5) and gemsbok(40&42). But I want to do it on big property. Had an excellent time at Bokamosa in Botswana a few years ago.