As I am impatiently waiting on my 2014 safari, I am trying to determine what my wish list of critters will consist of. That brings me to my question. Which animals typically provide more of a challenge/hunt? It seems like the quest for some animals could be more of a shoot than a hunt. That may not be a correct statement as I have never set foot in S. Africa but based on the safari shows I have seen, for some species that is what is perceived. Like most hunters the quest and pursuit is what fuels us. Yes we sometime enjoy tagging out on the first day or enjoy the luck in a unique situation where we think� I can�t believe that animal was there�.

I would be curious which animal is typically the most challenging plains game to you and does that make it your favorite to hunt? If it is not your favorite to hunt, what is your favorite to hunt and why.

For me it was Eland, Wildebeest and Zebra in that order. I think it depends a lot on your situation and luck. Pretty much everyone says that Eland are pretty wiley though.

Mike

My favorite is definitely eland. At least the way we hunted them; by following a set of tracks. Lots of walking, which I enjoy, but the main source of enjoyment was watching the PH/Tracker team at work, and contributing/participating in the track with them. Beautiful animals, very good eating, and you work for it. Pretty tough combo to beat! Gemsbok are right up there as well.

Good luck!

Jeff

For plains game, the Kudu, the grey ghost of Africa, is definitely #1 IMO. Nyala is a close second. Others would be; mature warthog, bushbuck, blue wildebeast and waterbuck. An impala is always a good way to start.

Thanks for the memories. donsm70

Eland have to be in that discussion. Properly hunted, they are one of Africa's great plains game trophies. They also may be the finest eating of all plains game. A proper eland hunt involves tracking them on foot, though many are spotted from the truck and a short stalk results in a shot opportunity too.

I've had eland on license over the course of 3 of my 4 safaris, totalling 44 days with an eland 'on license'. I've seen eland on two of them, but have still not had an opportunity to shoot a bull I'd like to take. They do make a wonderful quarry, and one of these days I'm sure I'll take a splendid old 'blue' bull.

For more "attainable" PG species, probably Vaal Rhebok or Klipspringer. Tough to get to and they live in potentially hazardous surroundings.

Bongo, Lord Derby Eland, and Mt. Nyala for the higher-end species. The costs involved to hunt these three make the difficulty level go up.

I can tell you what are not a particular challenge to hunt. They would include Impala, Warthog, Wildebeest, Zebra, Blesbok and Springbok.

I've never tried for Gemsbok, Kudu, Eland, Waterbuck or Nyala but have seen many, except for Eland, that I could easily have shot.

For me, the harder ones to find when you're looking for them, are the smaller antelope like the Vaal Rhebok, Grysbok, Klipspringer and Springbok. I've taken all of the latter with a handgun.

My feeling is, it depends on the situation. What's tough for one, may be a gimme for another. Also, are you taking just a "mature specimen", or looking for a book trophy? I took 7 head of plains game, on my 1st hunt, in RSA, in 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed each animal. My favorite was my wartie. I looked at about 150 animals, before I pulled the trigger.


maddog

Hartmann's zebra

I don't think this is an easy answer.
Sable are known as easy hunts but my was one of the most challenging hunts I have done.
The environment and conditions an animal learns to exist in can make for some very "learned" quarry. The survival mode that it takes to survive in some places can lead to some challenging hunts. I have tracked animals that would circle to catch your wind. On my sable hunt for example when followed a very "learned" sable would lead us into a herd of other sable. This would end up with us bumping in to the other group scattering sable everywhere.
The better question might be which areas are more challenging?

I will be hunting in the Waterburg area of nothern Limpopo

On my two trips to RSA I found the black springbok and the blue wildebeast to be difficult. The black springbok was with a group of eland. We were busted many times. It took all day to get within shooting distance. We had to dodge ostrich with their keen eyesight. The blue wildebeast was in low bush veld in a large group. Lots of eyes and noses to detect harm. The gemsbok can be tough to hunt/stalk. If you are detected they run immediatly. Enjoy your hunt. It will be an adventure. MTG

Eland, Kudu, zebra, gemsbok....in that order for me...

Guys please tell me what it is about eland? Again I know probably all my perceptions will change once I do get to Africa and go on my first safari but Eland does zero for me from an intrigue and desire factor. I guess because when I was growing up my best friend�s family were ranchers and all I think about when I see eland is those brahma bulls in their pasture.

Has a lot to do, too, where you are hunting. You mentioned, in this instance the Limpopo, and I haven't hunted that area. But did hunt East Cape last year, and can be touch, as mountainous, and hunted in N. Namibia and LOTs of scrub brush, etc., same with parts of Zim, but in S. Namibia is desert and no cover at all, so a shoot from the truck, most of the time, proposition. We took Sable in Rhodesia and it was walk and find them through tracking, etc. They didn't seem overly spooky to me, and stood there, a lot of the time, while you got your shot off. As one person remarked, too, depends if you're looking for book stuff, but will usually see so much game, that waiting for the book size no problem. Just don't shoot the first thing you see. Tell the ph you want something book size (and hope they know how to determine that).

My one safari left me thinking gemsbok were the most difficult. I killed kudu, warthog, impala and blesbok while trying for gemsbok. Several blue wildebeast, zebra, eland, waterbuck and several other species could easily have been incidentally taken while searching for just one gemsbok. I finally got one in the last 1/2 hour of light on my last day.

Maybe it was a coincidence (sample of one safari) but this sure was my experience.

I'm with you on Eland-trophy wise- they don't do a thing for me...too bovine. JMHO....However as quarry they are superb...spooky, sharp, long-winded...they will have you walking/tracking your azz off
They are good game. Saw some big Livingstones in double canopy Miombo forest in ZIM I would have LOVED to track and hunt, but we were after Buffalo at the time...
Shot an Eland in Namibia....

Brahma is what most hunters say when they see eland and to each his own. When someone says I want a good blue bull I start breaking out in a cold sweat because those big beasts are difficult to hunt. When you hear the clicking of the bones in the knuckles when they approach you have to be real quiet. When the bush breaks you have been busted which is most of the time.

They have a slow lope that takes them a mile away in a few minutes and you have to start all over again. Milling around in their herds it is difficult to get a shot at a big bull.

Eland are also one of the species that move around the most on a property. A herd you encounter in the late afternoon will most likely be a few miles away the following morning from where you saw them.

One of the most difficult animals to hunt certainly must be the vaal rhebok. Living in the mountains it has an eye sight beyond belief and to get a shot at one is an achievement in itself. Again, the vaal rhebok is certainly a very small animal with no distinct features, yet a true trophy to have and in my opinion the most difficult to hunt.

Eland and Hartman zebra.

Eland are traditionally hunted by cutting a bull's tracks at dawn and then walking him down. They are extremely wary and a lot can go wrong on that walk. Nothing quite like trailing a group for six hours and then have a wind shift which sends them off on a straight line to the next country. They can be ambushed at a waterhole or shot off the back forty of a small game farm, but a free range tracking effort is a memory for a lifetime.

The Hartman in its native range will try you as much as any desert sheep hunt in North America. You'll crawl up and down mountains trying to get in range of a small herd. They too are very wary and their habit of abandoning the flats at dawn means they are high where they can see during the majority of available shooting hours. Unlike most of African shooting opportunities they often will challenge your ability to hit a target way out there.

Two very challenging plains game species.

Good lineup.

If they have spent time in the bush and are not recently released on a game farm, the Kudu can be a real challenge. Nyala and bushbuck are hard to hunt. They stay in or very close to heavy cover.

As several others have alluded to here, much has to do with the terrain and the time of year. To find the game, you have to be able to see it. If you hunt during the time of year when foliage is completely turned out, you may not be able to see more than 15-20 yards.

Kudu, always Kudu. like someone mentioned already the Grey Ghost.for me he is simply in a class of his own. there is just something mysterious or holy about that big kudu bull. sharp and astute like nothing else i have hunted. those ears are the size of satellite dishes. I dont know how many times i have walked past one without seeing him, and soon as i pass him, he gives his victory snort and of he goes. leaving me there looking and feeling the fool. in the last 10 years i think my sucsess rate on kudu might be as high as 10%

LT DAN....good points...Kudu have always been a species that surprises. Don't know how many times Ive seen a whopper in a band of three bachelor bulls...put a good sneak on them to arrive in range and find only two... Dont know how many first timers Ive told Kudu were difficult and they get a big one down in hour one of day one...always a puzzle...
The one constant Ive noticed about hunting with anyone in sub-saharan is that when they are late for lunch, cant be gotten on the radio,slumming in at 11:00pm, or anything that goes wrong...theres always a Kudu involved

My kudu experience is limited (two hunts) but at the risk of "you suck!!!!" cries from Ingwe, I found them particularly easy to hunt. We were just driving down the middle of a high river bed when the babe who worked for my PH pointed to one on the river bank about one hundred yards away. John stopped the vehicle and said "that's a good one" so I got out with his tracker Isaac, climbed up the steep river bank and by that time the kudu had moved back from the bank and was feeding under a tree about 125 yards away. Up went the sticks and one shot from my 375 and I had me a kudu. The place was crawling with them at the time. Oh, he was 58 3/4"....

You do suck!

You've posted that picture before and he is a dandy for sure.

Mike

Waiting on the "official" admonition from the Grand Poobah though!

There is a huge difference in this question, hardest to hunt, or hardest to find? Population density and habitat for which they happen to live. Kalahari Gemsbok are not the same as the northern Province bush Gemsbok. The hooves have even developed into a much different design over centuries of evolution.

From a pure skill set the lone species far and away are more complicated then the herd animals. Nyala, bushbuck, Kudu, as an example are fully dependant upon them selves rather then the herd species that depend upon the group. Such as Zebra, Wildebeest, and impala for example. It's rather easy to sneak in on herd species when they are preoccupied. They depend on others for safety.

However, certain species regardless of herd species or single animals have habits that can be used to your advantage. Many have habits that are equally troublesome. To say which is the most difficult cannot be claimed by those who have hunted for them a few times, with population numbers and habitat that differs widely.

Some of the common difficult to harvest species in the natural habitat they live in are Bushbuck and Nyala. They don't live in high numbers, prefer the thickest bush available and are often very nocturnal. Shooting a trophy caliber old Kudu bull can be as difficult as any animal alive, however there are so many kudu that missing an opportunity on one just means you have another opportunity later. Not so with the Nyala and bushbuck. Missing the chance with one of those, may be the last time you see one for a while.

Big Eland bulls in the bush can be a brutal hunt, one which rivals elephant hunting on foot. Tracking them for a few days with the patience to keep focused with the other trophy animals that come up along the way is complicated. I cannot tell you how many miles have been put on foot only to see a 30" wildebeest, 27" impala, 58" kudu, or even a big thick base 29" waterbuck. Most hunters have the "bird in the hand" rule and take one of these. Then you start again for the eland from scratch later or the next day.

It seems like I see more huge trophies hunting eland then at any other time. It's very difficult to pass on a trophy of any species that is exceptional. It's a test of will power to stay on task for the days of hunting on foot with that anticipation to shoot. Of all the plains species Eland are the most physical. However in the Drakensburg the open country is so much different that the hunter may not appreciate the efforts stated here. Finding a big bull in the mountains in the rolling grassy hills is a much different hunt. Shooting one at 400 yards across an open canyon is the norm there.

So it's not species related any more then habitat related. Shooting gemsbok at 400 yards in the Kalahari are a bit different then the bush Gemsbok of the North Eastern Limpopo Bush. Both the same species with a different evolution of there skills based on the habitat they live in. Much like comparing a Grizzly and a Brown bear. Exactly the same animal but with a habitat related difference in evolution.

I'll say this, when I have a hunter that says his priority is Bushbuck, Nyala, Eland, any of the duikers except grey, Bush pig, Or any animal on the last day of the hunt. I know our work is cut out for us. I have said to hunters more times then I can count, take this XXX because you will never see one like this again. It's because I've worked at this a very long time, it's not a sales pitch.

Many of these animals are shot while in search of something else and we just get lucky and bump into them along the way.

Well, for one over 58"...uou got it!


YOU SUCK!!!

At last! Now working on my turdlike status over on the Larry Root's a homo thread...

Carry on......

When I was in Africa, we got luck and happened upon a large bush buck while looking for ( I was actually looking for a place to shoot...) a mountain reedbok...

We looked for 3 days before I pulled the trigger on a Kudu. It wasnt hard finding them, or even getting in position for a good shot it was just picking the right one.

We looked over a hundred or so impala rams before I squeezed the trigger.

We did 3 drives for springbok before finding a quality ram..



Through my narrow experience, I would saw the kudu was the toughest, just because we were looking for the trophy quality made it tough. I couldnt be happier with the one we selected, he looks great next to my flatscreen, looking at me while I type this!

Do you owe him any money?

No but his eyes line up just about right to stare at me while on the computer

Free range Caracal and Bush Pigs are animals that you really only get from being very lucky. Opportunity targets only.

The hardest to put down pound for pound would have to be both Black and Blue Wildebeast.

A lot depends on the terrain you hunt. Kudu in hilly country can be quite easy if you can take a cross gully shot, but try and stalk one by foot on the flat, in thick sycle bush and he'll win every time.

Hartmann's mountain zebra was by far my toughest PG hunt. Not so much finding them..... but keeping up with them and getting into position as the terrain was difficult. Getting the pajama donkey off the mountain was a challenge!

My youngest son's Cape Kudu was a challenge. We spotted him late morning, and worked our way (again, mountainous terrain) and finally got a shot a few minutes before last light.

My Nyala in the Umkomaas proved a challenge. Not only was the terrain difficult (not to mention exceedingly thick), but finding him was no easy task.

Now there's a hunter. Well said.

Vaal Rhebok.

Lot's of climbing up and down koppies and mountains. They blend in well to their habitat, and often give you a fleeting shot.

Gemsbok in the Karoo are no cinch because it is often impossible to get close enough for a shot. They see you coming a long way off, and keep their distance. No cover to stalk them with. Long shots in windy conditions.

My hunting pard thought the same when we went to RSA. Him and his PH planned out 3 days to hunt the small antelope, and he borrowed my .257 wby complete with turrets and practiced regularly out to 500 with it to be able to increase his odds... The first morning they went out after them, he shot an incredible ram at a mere 55 yards! That sure offered them some breathing room for the nyala and blue dyker!

I hate him!

I fought hills, sore legs, and dehydration. By the end of the hunt, if I could have nuked the damned thing I would have.

Yeah he was pretty astounded by his luck, but he made up for it when he missed something like 3 or 4 12 guage shots at different blue dykers.

The best part was that I had loaded TTSX through the wby so it was .257 in, dime size out. He was pretty impressed by that, especially since him, as a taxidermist didnt have to spend hours sewing his own mount up.

And there you have it. A large hole blown in my feelings about hunting the vaal rhebok. Congratulations to the hunter and the PH! No mean feat indeed.

My wife & I went to Namibia in Sept 2011, I had a list of 5 animals to kill. As to which was the toughest to kill depends on your definition of tough to kill. The Gemsbock was the toughest to kill (4 hits with a 300 win mag & 180's). The first shot was in the lungs and he just bowed up and kept walking-2nd shot he went down but while I was putting another round in the chamber he got up and started walking off. The 3rd shot didn't seem to faze him other than he turned rear end to us and kept walking but the 4th was a Texas Heart shot that he didn't get up from. The one animal that I was very cool about shooting turned out to be the most challenging, after 2 days of stalking,walking & crawling I finally got a shot at a Red Hartebeest. One shot and he was down after a 50 yard run. I think a lot more of the Red Hartebeest now than I did before the trip as a challenge & trophy.

Hunting is full of chance. All we can do is minimize the chance, by going to areas where "trophy" animals are abundant and hunting skillfully, as often as possible.

I've hunted most of the more common plains game several times. Whether kudu, gemsbok, blue wildebeest, bushbuck, or whatever, getting a really big one involves both luck and skill. Sometimes we get lucky, but in my experience more luck and perseverance is involved in eland and bushbuck than any of the other plains game. I haven't been on a vast number of safaris, but in recent years my African trips have involved a wide variety of terrain and several countries.

Im not going to say that my Hartebeest was super difficult, but we did plan a very in depth stock on them. We actually happened to get kind of lucky, while chasing after a big, OLD bull who had been kicked out of the herd, we found the main herd. After about 30 minutes of picking out the mature bull, I leveled the cross hairs. I had never shot in a wind like that before so I underestimated the dope the first shot, corrected it and shot agin. This time a little low. Snuck up to 225 and put a finishing shot in him.

We were also super careful stalking the black wildebeest, as the herd of 8 bulls were very aware of there surroundings. We sat on the wrong side of a little knoll for about 30 minutes. When we could, we slithered to the other side, and at 126 yards, my PH, Andrew Renton was very particular about shot placement and kept telling me how tough they were. After a perfect double lung right behind the shoulder, the bull still managed to make it 100 yards before falling over.....

This is the placement...

Luck is such an enormous factor in hunting, despite how many hunters think it's all skill. I lucked into three mature eland bulls the very first morning I deliberately hunted them, and after what was essentially a 2-mile jog killed the biggest one. Hunted them again in a part of wild Africa where they're really abundant last year, and despite seeing several mature bulls, got one opportunity at a bull running through thick brush, and the bullet deflected off the brush.

I've hunted bushbuck quite a bit in several parts of Africa, and have taken a couple of nice ones. But my wife killed a bushbuck larger than either--on the very first morning she ever hunted where bushbuck were available.

I know several people who've killed big kudu on their very first morning in Africa, but have worked hard for all of mine. Ended up killing my biggest, though, when I wasn't even hunting kudu!

Like Gary Player said: The more he practisces the luckier he gets. It may be true for golf but for hunting there is the factor of being in the right place at the right time.

One of the hunters on this forum hunted with me about 4 or 5 years ago and one morning we headed out to look for gemsbok. We saw some gemsbok way down in the road and immediately went round the far side to approach the gemsbok from behind. We had just done about 50 yards when we heard a rustle in the grass and I had a look. That was the quickest I had someone change any idea of a gemsbok to a warthog. The hog and all 15" of the tusks collapsed when the 375 hit him.

We got the gemsbok later. I like to tell everyone it was pure skill but I know it was all luck.

Isnt that how it usually turns out?

Too true John! I killed a beautiful kudu on the first stalk, of the first morning. Have yet to draw blood on a bushbuck! Maybe next time.:)

Jeff

I had the toughest time getting a shot at a red hartebeest. The Hartman's zebra was a tough stalk, but a lot of fun, my kind of hunt. I also killed a 55.5 kudu and a caracal that were both gimme's, but sometimes that happens.

Mountain zebra and eland, if unencumbered.

Warthog wasn't even on my list. My recollection is you threatened to shoot him yourself if I passed.

Hmmmm that is something I would have said to my hunter, I guess I'm rubbing off on Pieter, or he is on me?

I had a hunter using my rifle on a hunt a few years ago. We saw a mega steenbok. I told the fellas that it was a big, exceptional Steenbok. Neither seemed to care or even blink. I suggested that it was a huge steenbok and I would shoot it myself it I was hunting.

The Hunter, reached out with my rifle and handed it to me. He said he's all yours take him. ................ I have that pedestal mount steenbok in my trophy room now it's a nearly 5" steenbok. I very rarely shoot with clients. I can count on one hand or maybe two,.... the times I have shot game with hunters. Mostly guys that are my friends and we are hunting together, more then an actual "client" situation.

Hartmann's Zebra was far and away my toughest PG hunt, but I was hunting them high in the Western Highlands of Namibia. Rough, rough country.

I have been fortunate enough in the 8 safaris I made to Zimbabwe to have sucessfully taken every game animal species I hunted. The first eland I ever saw was in a herd standing next to a 6' cattle fence. Since the guy raised Brahma's I automatically assumed that to be what they were. We were about 150 yards away. My PH said 'take a closer look'. I did and realized they were Eland. Each one of the herd WALKED up to the fence and standing flat footed ,jumped it. Another time we spooked a herd and they started to run and came to a road and cleared the road completely in one jump. I realized this was a very unusual antelope. We tracked a herd one time all day and would get close enough to hear the clicking of their kneesand never saw them. My first one we tracked almost all day and finally climbed a hill and saw where theywere going and ambushed them. For my second I wanted an old Blue Bull. We found one about 9am and I took a quartering shot from the left rear. The 270 gr 375H&H hit a smally mopaniabout 3ft behind him and I hit the left rear and broke his leg. We tracked hi easily because of the crooked left rear foot tille 8pm and got up at first light and picked up the tracks and followed them to where he had bedded down. It was about 10 am when I finally put him down. If I were limited to only one plains game animal I could hunt it would be a hard choice for me to make between a Kudu and an Eland. And I have killed several dozen Kudu.

I am still happy you took him!