Which Is The Most Striking Trophy..........

[Lawdog]

Got a few questions for all.  Not including any of the big five, in you opinion which of the plains game animals makes to most striking, most beautiful trophy of all?  Which is the most sought after?  Which is the hardest to get?  Which is the hardest to bring down?  Lawdog

[Double D]

Of the standard package plains game the Kudu  has to rank as the most stunning, they always catch my attention.  When you see them in the wild they are even more impressive.  Really not that hard to hunt, I saw lots of them.  Elk are harder.  but still a great trophy




I can't say which is the most sought after. Again the Kudu might fall in this catagory.  Most hunters who go over, especially for the first time have to take a Kudu.  Now if you mean what is the most illusive, can't help you there. Someone more experienced than this one trip hunter will have to tell you that.

For me I had two "hardest" to get; the Steinbok and the Mountain Reedbuck.  

We saw lots of animals but few good ones.  We made several stalks on Steinbok but they never let us get close. After about a week of trying we  finally got close enough to take this one with a Martini .218 Mashburn Bee.

 



My most favorite to hunt and the most difficult for me was the Mountain Reedbuck.  If I get to go back, I will hunt Mt. Reedbuck again.  We looked for this animal every time we went in the hills.  We saw a lot of females and small males.  Every group that saw us first spooked at long range.  We had to spot them at long long range, glass them to see if a good one was present. We had to make a cautiousl stalk, keeping out of sight and watching the wind ever so carefully. One mistake on our part and they were gone.  This animal was spotted very high up on a mountain, during a snow storm. We stalked for several hours and climbed 800 feet up to get it.  This was tough on me as I was just 4 months out of knee suirgery.  My PH is an archer and he got me with in 25 yards.  I blew the heart and lungs out of this guy with a 200 gr. Nosler BT in a  338/308 and this animal just stood there.  It looked around for us.  You could tell he wanted us! It just wouldn't lay down and die.  My PH cautioned me not to move,  wait for it to go down. The PH said that if they felt threatened and cornered they would charge. It was something he had experienced with Archery hunters.

[JJHACK]

Stalked on foot Kudu has to be at or near the top of the list for difficulty in hunting.  At least for wild born indiginous Kudu and not pre released "game farm animals.  Considering everything  they are far more agile then an elk, and are hunted as a single animal. Elk are typically hunted in herds and if the rut is legal by calling them. I have hunted both and would rank a stalking hunt soley on foot much harder for the Kudu. Many are shot on the road or craoosing the road, then they are easier then Elk but a foot stalk is so difficult it's hardly attempted any more by most PH's.

As far as striking appearance the Sable is at the top of my list with Nyala, Bongo, and bushbuck all ranking very high as well. For difficulty in killing,  the Blue Wildebeest or Zebra.  Kudu have almost no will to live once shot with a well located bullet.  Actually our PH, meat hunters and cullers council ranks the Blue Wildebeest as the toughest of all normally hunted or "common" plains animals.

[K.K.]

As far as I am concerned, the sable is, in my opinion, the most striking African trophy, followed by bongo.  

They are all beautiful trophies if they are wild and "collected" in fair chase.  I have been dreaming of going since I was a boy.  I hope to add my own photos and feedback in the near future.

PS- anyone ever see Robert Ruark's waterbuck trophy in "Horn of the Hunter"?  thats beautiful, too!

[elmer]

I think a Kudu would be a must have if I ever make it to Africa, but I think the most striking is the Oryx/Gemsbuck.

[Redhawk1]

I think a Kudu would be a must have if I ever make it to Africa, but I think the most striking is the Oryx/Gemsbuck.

I have to agree. Both the Kudu and Gemsbuck are on the top of my list.  

[NONYA]

Sable then Kudu

[GEMSBUCK]

kudu are nice to hunt and make a nice mount, zebra IMHO are overrated for will to live,and Hartman's make a stunning pedastal mount. Oryx are tough to hunt,to kill and make a nice shoulder mount. For sheer toughness I think an old bull eland would rank at or near the tops of plains game in my book. But for pound to pound toughness with a will to hang onto it's last breath I think the warthogs I've killed were pretty rank.
 I've never found any animal in any land that lived very long with a heart or lungs blown to bits. Some may cover extensive terrain before dropping but drop they will ...quicker if large bones are broken
 If I was limited to one PG animal to hunt in south Africa for toughness,  challenge of the stalk,and beauty of a mount it would be a free range Hartmans zebra in Namibia.

[akpls]

I've never had the opportunity to hunt elk, but otherwise I found all of the African species I encountered in Namibia to be much warier than any comparable North American big game I've seen.  They all seemed attuned to each other as well.  On my recent hunt we were trying to stalk a kudu when a previously unseen hartebeest blew the whistle on us.  He gave a little barking noise and instantly all the kudu in the area were alert and making noises back and forth.  

To me, the oryx was the most intriguing.  We even encountered solitary oryx in the middle of the Namib Desert where there was not even a trace of green vegetation or water for miles and miles.

[Yukon Jack]

Greater Kudu are probably the most classic.

Sable the most "royal".

Eland are impressive, whether its the long horned Lord Derby or the huge Livingstone.

But I think the Nyala is the most outstanding.

I was able to take sable, kudu, eland, nyala, and waterbuck on my trip to Zim, and all those are impressive, there's no question.  But to me, there is just something about the nyala.