Well, pretty much everything I will be hunting in May this year has been shown, or I have seen plenty of pictures.


Lets see and hear snipets of your blue wildebeest hunts! Rifle, bullet etc

I killed probably the biggest-bodied black wildebeest I've ever seen in 2007. He had one horn broken off at the curve, the reason he'd grown so big. The rifle was my 7x57 Serengeti, with a handload pushing the 156 Norma Oryx at 2700 fps. He was quartering very stroingly toward me, in fact almost directly facing. at 250 yards. The bullet landed just inside his near shoulder and he ran off about 60-75 yards and keeled over.

I shot one in '95, but have neither the mount or a pic.

They are nowwhere near as hard to kill as their Blue cousins...7mm-08 and up will drop them.

.303s work on them too......



Ingwe

Your header says black, and your post says blue, so, I'll bore you with both!

Rifle was a No.1 9.3x74R shooting 286gr Nosler's.

Blue was in the lowveld, quartering on, at about 60-80 yards. Hit him at the neck/shoulder junction, and he went down in spectacular fashion, in a cloud of dust. DRT. Probably the coolest shot of the whole trip. Bullet was later found in the opposite ham.

Black was in the highveld, broadside, at a lasered 212 yards. A pass through of both lungs, was followed by a couple of donuts, and then he tipped over. The larvae, that come out of their nostrils after death, were pretty interesting! It's no wonder they shake their heads and snort all the time. It must drive them nuts! A beautiful animal IMO.

Jeff

Jeff, you are correct about my error... I will be hunting BLACK wildebeest

Good beast, and a beautiful rifle there, ingwe! I dig that gun.

Jeff

Must be an Alaskan thing..Steelhead says it "haunts" him....

I take it as a compliment!

Thanks,

Ingwe

'cous,

You'll enjoy the black wildebeast. Really neat animals, and the highveld(I'm assuming you're going to the RSA?) is pretty cool country. Kinda looks like you're in central MT or some such. When they hang your bull to skin it, go watch. These really big larvae will start dropping out of it's snot locker! I don't know how they can stand it.....they have no choice obviously. With you hunting in May, I don't know if they'll be present. We were there in Sept. I'm not up on the life cycle of these larvae, so you may or may not see them. Perhaps someone who knows what their talking about, will chime in, and clue me in.

Good luck! I'm jealous.....we just booked to go back next Apr/May, and I already have ants in my pants!

Jeff

It is a compliment. Scott obviously has excellent taste in rifle as well....McSwirley's not withstanding!

Jeff

Yep...I think Scott knows his stuff....he knows enough to talk me into a .223AI...

I forget the story on those larvae, its a brand of botfly, and sometimes in Blue wildebeest the larvae will go the wrong way, into the brain and cause a "whirling disease" of sorts...the animal characteristically spins in circles, until it dies....otherwise I guess the larvae hatch out at the end of their life cycle...pretty disgusting stuff...

Ingwe

Dig that rig more and more every time I see it. Hard to believe a guy like you owned it............

Blow me..

Ingwe

..pretty disgusting stuff...

In a fascinating kinda way!

Jeff

Yeah...for some reason Ive never heard of them in any other kind of animal...though youd think with the schnoz on a Hartebeest, that they would be easy pickins...so to speak...

Ingwe

would be easy pickins...so to speak...

Nothing like some good booger humor!

Jeff

That's not like any of the 303's I ever shot

A Blue Wildebeest taken with a Thompson/Center Encore rifle in 375 H&H Magnum (yea, I know, a crappy gun).

A Black Wildebeest taken with a Thompson/Center Contender handgun in 357 Herrett. Yea, I know; another crappy gun. When will people ever learn. If you're going to spend all that money to go to Africa, at least take a good gun.

Who told you the T/C is a crappy gun????

I'm not a fan personally, but the accuracy, quality, and portability cannot be denied....they are good stuff!!

Looks like they work, too....

It just takes those TV guys a looooong time to cock the hammer back on one.......

Ingwe

Yea, but it doesn't seem to take any longer than it takes the other TV guys to take the safety off their bolt action rifle.

I was gonna mention that...Ive been shooting a TC Icon, and it doesnt take me near as long to flick off the safety as it takes those TV guys......

Ingwe

One little-known fact about black wildebeest is that they TASTE GREAT!!

You'd never think such a goofy-looking (and acting) beast would be so good on the grill....

Drama sells TV. Watch pro wrestling for five minutes.

I like the TC contender. My 45/70 contender is a ball to shoot, and amazingly accurate. It probably makes the top of the most useless on the African forum. The 357 herret is a fine round, I applaud you.

Randy

I musta had a bad one JB...it, and the Waterbuck were the only game meats Ive had over there that I thought were sub-par..

But, as well you know...different strokes...

I heard duiker sucks, but Ive never tried it....


Ingwe

eland back straps were out of this worrld like butter baby

Gemsbok and Sable...my faves on the table!!!

Ingwe

ever since this thing started i had to contact my ph and how much to go again for round 3 ill see them at harrisburg show next sat i want to talk buff with them you guys suck there is just something about africa it never leaves you!!!!!!!

eland loin steaks done on the braii, med. rare...YUM!

Blue wildebeast enchiladas in chipolte sauce is to KILL for!

maddog

Fun to hunt..The longest shot of my hunting career came from a black Wildebeest hunt..800 to a 1000 yards, hit him 3 out of 5 shots, sounds impossible but I have it all on film. Once I got the range it worked. Was resting over Phillip Prices back prone shooting..He told to go ahead that if I even nicked him they would find him for sure..His tracker is awesome..Later that week I shot a Springbok at over 350 steps with Phillips shoulder for a rest, also on film..I was shooting my old .338 with 210 Noslers on both ocassions..

Black Wildebeest are funn animals, not smart, but funny...Blue Wildebeest are tough animals to kill sometimes.

Ingwe,

As for the taste of African big game, both you and I know that even the best can be ruined by the cook--such as the over-cooked gemsbok we had in Namibia.

I had black wildebeest cooked on an outdoor charcoal grill in South Africa in 2007. The cook was one of the PH's, a guy of way-back British descent, who still tended to cook meat on the rare side. He also used a local spice-rub on all the game, nothing real strong, just a nice complement.

In addition to black wildebeest, we ate springbok, red haartebeest, kudu and impala. All were good, but everybody there (more than a dozen hunters) rated black wildebeest as good as any and better than most. And springbok is one of the two game meats that sell for the most rand-per-pound in the South African marketplace, the other being eland.

In fact it was the PH/cook, Keith Gradwell, who suggested we try a little black wildebeest one day, because it's among his own favorites.

Remember the Waterbuck Cordon Bleu???

Still tasted like a urinal cake....

Ingwe

You guys are rough... First of all, I think my number two excitement level is eating the African meat. I can not wait to eat all the game we kill, and others! It is too bad we cant bring it back over here!

So far our favorite African meat was Kudu backstrap cooked on the braii.

ilke engwe he had a few different game for me it is still eland.as far as bringing the meat back here you would need another job to afford to get it here. enjoy what you can when you can!!

Oh, God, I'd almost forgotten about that....

My general experience is that the cooks of German or Afrikaaner extraction (or training) tend to overcook game--just like our little culinary school graduate at Okatjuru. They are fine with stews and burger-based dishes, but keep them away from the tender cuts.

My first trip to Africa was with a family-run safari company of Afrikaaners. I shot a ewe impala for meat one day, and they decided to cook it whole on a spit a day or two later. I was hunting with one of their English-extraction PH's that day, and when we returned late that afternoon they'd already had it on the spit for a while, right over really hot coals, and dinner time wasn't for another couple of hours.

The English PH just about went ballistic. He and I moved the impala off to the side of the coals, and we stood guard over it for the next couple of hours, while drinking beer, to make sure nobody put it back. It still turned out a little overdone, but it would have been shoe-leather if we hadn't intervened....

You may have hit on something there...the only time I remember having Black wildebeest it was in chunks in a stroganoff kind of thing....well cooked, of course...Could be why my memory of it isnt good.....

But our little culinary school graduate made Amaretto Mousse that one night...

Absolutely the best thing Ive ever tasted.....


The meat...not so much.....

Like you and alot of the other posters have said, my best Game meat in africa, regardless of specie, has been cooked rare on the Barbie....

Ingwe

God, she was good on the desserts, wasn't she? That is one of the strengths of German cooking as well.

But they sure can ruin red meat. I had some red stag "steaks" in Germany that tasted like liver, they were so overdone.

The Black wildebeest I had.....

definite "liver" taste to it....

Same problemo Im guessin....


Best for me was "starters" of little pieces of Sable on the Barbie....

Though the "starters " that girl made out of your Sand Grouse were not to be despised......

Ingwe

Not an especially good photo. I shot this one many years ago in South Africa at about 350 yards with a 300 Win.Mag. using a 180G. Partician. Ran over a bit of a hill, about 100 yards, & was standing there. Another 180G finished the deal.

dude...that is a true 'room of death'......kinda freaky.

Never really thought of my trophy room as a "room of death" but with about 30+ assorted animals & 20 fish its sort of memories of my life. Don't guess many of us have many "live" animals mounted. If the zebras,sheep, bison, giraffe & baby elephant nearby aren't quite tonight I might be inclined to try. Kept us awake last night I guess due to the snow & cold.

Ted,

I might call it a room of death because one could easily suffocate in there! Not enough room in there for oxygen! Too bad we couldnt add a coues in there!

Where/when did you get the elk?

How are the legs, and hows my girl Casey? (I dont know how she spells it, so I just spelt it the way I do)

About 20 years ago when I built the trophy room I never expected to have it full. Now there is no room for my next shipment from Africa & duplicates are at my lake cottage with all my trophy fish. Elk is decent, but not spectacular trophy from BC many years ago. Getting old is a bitch & arthritis limits my mountain hunting. My oldest daughter Stacy had a go at the women's Olympic boxing team but didn't make the cut. She teaches boxing, karate,& fitness & contends she will never marry a man unless he can kick her a$$, which may be going some. I'm sure you will have a great safari.

Ted, let me wear my duty belt I wear at work, and give us permission to wed, and I think she might have met her match

Likewise!

You have to take control of the braii or they will ruin it..........except for the wurst/sausage.

Though one of the best meals I've had was Kalahari lamb stew.........fantastic.

Shot this one last June with my 1937 - 300 H&H.

My Blue Wildebeest from the Limpopo Province in 2000, that dropped from a single 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet from my 7mm Rem mag.


And my Black Wildebeest from the Free State in 2005, again shot with my 7mm Rem mag, but with a 160 gr Nosler Accubond bullet.

Blair,

South Africa has good lamb, don't they?

Not many Americans like lamb, but I especially liked hunting the Karoo a few years ago and breaking up the game dinners with Karoo lamb.

John,

Their lamb is even better than Aussie lamb and that is saying something The flavour, possibly is better because of their diet and perhaps the variety of sheep......our Merinos are intended mainly for wool production.

When I've hunted with the Kibbles in Namibia, they try and break up the game diet; Sonja makes a great curried Guinea Fowl (she hangs it for a few days, prior) and they barbecue marinated Francolin, as well.

You guys do good lamb as well, just as you said no one seems to eat it......

The best lamb I've ever eaten was in France; it was farmed on the salt marsh flats on the Normandy coast.........talk about flavour!!!!!!

Regards,

Blair.

Maybe I should let our PH know that we love lamb then. He think that we wouldn't be interested. I thought most American's loved lamb chops.

Ingwe, Jochen (a PH we had in common) told me that waterbuck not being good on the table was myth. Never had any at his place though we had most of the other antelope all of which was very good, whether on the barb or in stroganof-type dishes. In retrospect though, what JB said was true in that all the meat was thoroughly cooked-no med rare or rare pieces. I can't say any was tough because of that though.

Tell them what you would like to eat, after all you are the paying client.

The Namibians are very hospitable and they KNOW their lamb is good, so they will be happy to share.

Now that photobucket seems to be running right, here are some pics of our blue wildebeasts taken in the limpopo, in 2008.



mine with the 45-70 guide gun.



my son, with Ricco the wonder dog. Taken with handi rifle, .30-06.



my buddy's son, taken with .338 WM



my buddy Doc. Taken with Marlin leveraction, 308MX

maddog

Well, better late than never. They are very handsome and impressive animals in person. Mine had an absolute glow of health and vitality.

White Bearded from Masailand near Lokisale Tanzania...

April 2008, RSA...rifle is .50 cal. 2.5" Shiloh Sharps, 700 grain bullet over 120 grns. Goex FG blackpowder...1255 fps
Manny

Here is my black wildebeest. I dropped it in its tracks from 185 yards with a 180-grain Tipped Trophy Bonded Bear Claw from my .300 WSM.

Here mine...

Everyone has their own idea as to what constitutes a trophy. "Junior" made his decision

Here is mine. He was taken in 08 (R.S.A.) He placed 44th S.C.I. Archery.

I had warthog cooked on a spit that tasted like a dump bear. Or, what I assume a dump bear that lived it's life eating poopy diapers, would taste like. We did have a couple of fine springbok roasts cooked by the PH/Owner's mother. Sadly she passed away a couple of years ago and despite my mother helping in the kitchen and trying to learn the recipe (apparently most safris clients don't do this) it was lost in translation, and thus lost to us entirely. But Ouma Bessie could certainly cook. I'm sure glad the PH fired his chef before we got there and we got his mother's cooking! Best luck of the trip!

I digress...I want to hunt the black wildebeest to go with the Blue I shot on the above trip. I've got a 9.3x62 waiting for the call!

[/quote]

Everyone has their own idea as to what constitutes a trophy. "Junior" made his decision

[/quote]

By the way that little dog walked away with the scrotum of my widebeast, I didn't have the heart to take it away from him.

Randy

Everyone has their own idea as to what constitutes a trophy. "Junior" made his decision

[/quote]

By the way that little dog walked away with the scrotum of my widebeast, I didn't have the heart to take it away from him.

Randy [/quote]

He's got "balls" doing that!

JW

yep, lots of heart