Ranking Plains Game, Ranking Dangerous Game

[Northern Shooter]

I'm curious to hear from those that have a safari or two under their belts, how would you rank the overall experiences of hunting specific plains game, specific dangerous game?

If money was no object, what would be your top choices for hunting plains game when considering the overall experience, the difficulty, the terrain, the chase etc?

Same question for dangerous game. I know that Cape Buffalo are the perennial favourite but how does the experience of hunting buffalo compare to hunting elephant, hippo, Rhino(?), lion etc.

On the flip side, what have been your least enjoyable plains game and dangerous game species to hunt?

 

[WAB]

For me, in both cases it’s a tracking hunt. For PG, eland. I would love to do a LDE hunt, but I’m not sure it’s in the cards.

For DG, elephant. I suspect that a proper tracking hunt for wild lion would be the ultimate DG hunt.

 

[Mac13]

For me, in both cases it’s a tracking hunt. For PG, eland. I would love to do a LDE hunt, but I’m not sure it’s in the cards.

For DG, elephant. I suspect that a proper tracking hunt for wild lion would be the ultimate DG hunt.

That pretty much sums it up. Any on foot tracking hunt for any animal would be the most rewarding hunt.

 

[Northern Shooter]

That pretty much sums it up. Any on foot tracking hunt for any animal would be the most rewarding hunt.

So for you the attraction is more in the method of hunting, vs the game species itself.

I'm guessing this hunting method is more applicable to some game over others.

I forget where I read "you hunt elephant with your legs.."

 

[318AE]

X3

LDE would be really hard to beat IMO. I don’t have the same interest in trudging around the rain forest for a glimpse at a bongo.

Tracking elephant is hard to match. And you get close, very close, typically.

 

[Red Leg]

The same is true of buffalo and eland if traditionally hunted. Find the tracks at a waterhole or crossing the trail and try to walk him down. Nothing else quite like it.

 

[Dewald]

Tracking Eland in North Eastern Namibia, Bushman-land, with Bushman trackers, distinguishing one hole in the sand from another as a specific animal’s track, and feeling the palpable excitement in their voices as you get closer and they communicate to each other in their click like native tongue.

Tracking Buffalo in the Mopani from crossing the tracks, entering numerous herds, backing out again because the right one is not there, then repeating the exercise until you are so close you can smell them, identifying your bull and taking him cleanly. Then the mixed emotions and confusion until the death bellow sounds.

 

[BryceM]

Plains game...... This is hard to answer. They're all different, and every single species can be enjoyable.

I've been there 6 times now. 5 PG hunts and 1 DG hunt. The PG hunts I enjoyed the most were mountain zebra and eland. The zebra hunt was done on horseback, up in the mountains. Neat experience. But, there's very little that gets my heart pumping like a big kudu bull. Warthog and baboons can be fun. I've really enjoyed the little antelope too. Duiker and steenbok are everywhere, but getting a big one can be a challenge.

How you hunt is MUCH more important than what you hunt. My favorites have all been outside of high-fence areas. Free-range kudu and waterbuck are always a challenge.

As for DG, I hunted buffalo and had an unexpected opportunity to add on an exportable elephant. This was a truly wild Caprivi hunt. Both animals were unique and insanely enjoyable. Elephant hunting is really, really different than anything I've ever done. The entire experience was something. Carrying nothing but solids feels so foreign. Being up close and personal with them is not something you will ever forget. Having an entire herd walk past, 15-20 feet away, totally unaware of our presence, was INTENSE! Having a bull catch our sent and immediately turn and come to find us was incredible. When they square up to you and get their ears out, you'd swear they're larger than a 747. The 15 minutes after I finally pulled the trigger brought a lifetime worth of emotions to bear. Off into the trees he walked, in the rain, not making a sound..... Walking up to an animal I've hunted is always a strange mixture of closure, elation, satisfaction, and a touch of sadness. Walking up to a half-century old, 6-ton elephant..... Well, if that doesn't move your needle, there's no hope for you.

My least favorite species is the one I'm desperate for. Too much pressure spoils it. Focusing too much on checking a box leads to dissatisfaction. What I really want out of my next safari is to just wander around for a week and see what happens. Special animals show up occasionally. That's immensely fun.

 

[Tra3]

X4 for tracking hunts. Eland, elephant and buffalo.
@BryceM is spot on with his explanation.

Hunting giraffe is really exciting because they are so tall it is difficult to hide from them.

Least favorite? Sometimes a hunt is “too easy”. Like getting a huge deer on the first morning of deer season. Is it luck? Sure. Is it some skill to be in the right place at the right time? Sure. It seems that the biggest trophy on the wall is not usually the best/favorite hunt.

 

[Mac13]

So for you the attraction is more in the method of hunting, vs the game species itself.

I'm guessing this hunting method is more applicable to some game over others.

I forget where I read "you hunt elephant with your legs.."

Yes, the experience is what it is about for me, not the kill. When I was younger, I guided for different ranches in South Texas and Mexico for whitetail. Baiting the roads and sitting in a blind does not compare to easing through the brush and rattling in a 160” deer to 30 yards on a cold morning with steam coming out his nose looking for a fight.

Back to your question. If money was no object, what would be your top choices for hunting plains game when considering the overall experience, the difficulty, the terrain, the chase etc? Bongo, Grant’s Gazelle, Kudu, Sable, Eland. Hopefully a couple of these will be coming off the list in June.

Same question for dangerous game. Personally, I had never been interested in DG until I was in SA this past summer with my family as we were about to check our rifles after arriving in camp. It all changed when my son tapped me on the shoulder and said “Cape Buffalo”. I turned around and saw a heard at the water trough about 200 yards away. I picked up the binoculars and looked straight into the eyes of a 45” bull. These buffalo were not wild, but those eyes still said “I am Black Death and I Dare You to Mess with Me”. It’s a moment I will never forget along with the shear size of them. Needless to say Cape Buffalo is on my list and I will either go to Botswana or Mozambique when the time comes.

 

[Hunt anything]

I would spend my money and time chasing all of the subspecies of bushbucks, I think they are gorgeous and sneaky! This would also take me to places I’ve been dreaming of hunting, Cameroon, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Of course I would have to hunt all of the spiral horns and tiny tens that came along.

 

[LivingTheDream]

I would spend my money and time chasing all of the subspecies of bushbucks

I am setting the ground work to do this, they are my favorite to hunt. My lesser kudu was probably my favorite hunt, we have 3 encounters over 3 days, making different plans and learning him. I like the chess match aspect of it.

DG is elephant. I'm not sure it is even that close for me.

 

[channelkat]

All the tiny, all the eland and all the wildebeest. This would take me to the places on my bucket list. For DG all the buffalo, and I suppose if money were really no object then id try out elephant and a lion
tracking hunt.

I really want to get into the Congo, Cameroon region especially for dwarf buf and yellow backed duiker.

 

[Frederik]

I'm lucky enough to live in Africa in first place but also lucky enough not too have all the money in world which means I go on hunts regurlaly for specie specific trophies as I cannot afford to take more than one or two top trophy animal at a time.

So I hunt area specific to the endemic animals and hunt it in its own backyard in that way I get to see different areas and methods of hunting and soend 100% of the time on that specific animal.
With that you obviously choose the gear for that hunt and try and perfect it which is part of the hunt.

DG hunting is good and I would love to keep hunting buffalo another lion but I think the ulitmate is Elephant tracking hunt.

 

[Tanks]

...

Tracking elephant is hard to match. And you get close, very close, typically.

I forget where I read "you hunt elephant with your legs.."

Yep, one of the reasons I start every African trip with an elephant hunt. You will average over 100 miles of walking and get close to 100+ elephants by the time you are done (unless get lucky in the beginning).

Day 12 of 15 after looking at 80+ bulls.

 

[mark-hunter]

If money was no object, what would be your top choices for hunting plains game when considering the overall experience, the difficulty, the terrain, the chase etc?

In three safaris, I have hunted most of usual Namibia common plains game species. (I listed them in my profile)
If I need to rank, I would say my top hunt is tracking eland.
Some of those hunts have been also difficult, and not easy to approach within rifle range.
Red hartbeest and blesbok, for example, several attempts on each. I was not certain I will get them till last moment.
However, I still place eland on top of my list.

I am planning buffalo hunt in the future. Hope to make it in a same traditional manner, by tracking.

 

[Houston Bill]

Like many of the previous posts that have mentioned tracking and walking as key elements of a favorite animal to hunt I fall in this camp as well. My top plaines game species are Eland and Kudu. And for me, the best hunts for these species were in Zambia. On my bucket list is Lord Derby and I have my fingers crossed that I will do that hunt one day. While I will never hunt a Mountain Nyala I have read accounts of a few of those hunts and they sound like they would be an amazing adventure.

For dangerous game it is elephant by a wide margin followed by lion. I do love to hunt buffalo and because it is affordable it is the DG animal I will undoubtedly hunt the most.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Tracking Buffalo and Eland with a bow. 20-25 yards max.

And since I love tracking Eland. I would love to go after LDE some day.

Everyone that has tracked elephant or lion says it’s their favorite. I’ll find out in May. I’m sure that will be my new favorite DG.

So my answer SO FAR is Eland and Buffalo. But I’ve switched from the relatively cheap world of bow hunting to the new exciting world of big bore DG rifles.


I will still desire to get in close or go home with my trophy fee still in my pocket. Win Win.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Plains Game
Favorites

Kudu

Sable

Imapala

Gazelle

Wildebeest

Reedbuck

Zebra
Least Favorite-

Water Buck (Their meat is absolutely atrocious. A waterbuck… particularly an old one, has a very oily substance that gets in the hairs of the skin. When skinning the animal, great care must be taken to avoid getting the hair or oil on the meat. An old trophy bull does taste a bit strong, but a young waterbuck tastes quite fine.)

Dangerous Game

Favorites-

Hippopotamus on land

Wild lion

Bull elephant

Least Favorite-

Cape Buffalo (Not because I don’t enjoy hunting them. I certainly do, but I enjoy hunting other members of the African Big Five RELATIVELY MORE).

 

[uplander01]

If I could only hunt two animals in Africa it would be tracking hunt for buff and eland. Sure if I ever hunted elephant it would be on the list, don’t know, and probably will never know.