Help me make my list

[Newboomer]

I’m headed to Limpopo in about 2.5 weeks. My list is Blue wildebeest, zebra, impala, warthog, kudu, and bushbuck. I wanted to stick to species that offered high quality in that area. Kudu and bushbuck are the ones I added specifically because of being in Limpopo.

Sable if you don't have one. Don't know if there are any in Limpopo. Got mine in Eastern Cape. Beautiful shoulder mount on a pedestal.

 

[WildWill]

I’m headed to Limpopo in about 2.5 weeks. My list is Blue wildebeest, zebra, impala, warthog, kudu, and bushbuck. I wanted to stick to species that offered high quality in that area. Kudu and bushbuck are the ones I added specifically because of being in Limpopo.

Some really nice impala in the area too. Goodluck will be watching for the photos.

Sable if you don't have one. Don't know if there are any in Limpopo. Got mine in Eastern Cape. Beautiful shoulder mount on a pedestal.

They're a gorgeous animal but I kind of lost interest in hunting one during my trip. Maybe it was just the dynamic of the properties I hunted on but they were the least wary animal I ran into. Seemed everyone we ran into stood and watched no matter how close we got. Not sure if that's just how they act as a animal or if that was more of a affect of being on a game farm type operation.

 

[375Fox]

They're a gorgeous animal but I kind of lost interest in hunting one during my trip. Maybe it was just the dynamic of the properties I hunted on but they were the least wary animal I ran into. Seemed everyone we ran into stood and watched no matter how close we got. Not sure if that's just how they act as an animal or if that was more of an affect of being on a game farm type operation.

If you hunt a sable in an area with predators and poachers they are a very different animal than on a game farm

 

[Shooter375]

Kudu are king in Limpopo. You will love hunting them.

It also depends upon which area of Limpopo you are hunting? For your list I would focus on eland. You might see a huge warthog anytime so I would classify them as an opportunistic target. Tssebee have been stocked and are in significant numbers on some farms now. Grey duiker and steenbuck are another animal of opportunity like the warthog. Giraffe are relatively easy to hunt as they are rarely shot and are used to humans watching them. Much like the sable you saw. Their high price makes them tame. Klipspringer are expensive and relatively rare. They often live their whole life on one koppie. They are usually in the same place every morning. Common reedbuck are difficult to target and are another animal of opportunity the you bump into sometimes. Red hartebeest and gemsbok are not native to Limpopo (except maybe the south western part towards the Northwest province) but are present on many farms now. Black wildebeest and springbok are also not native to Limpopo but are present on some farms now. It is better to hunt them in other provinces.

If you haven't already hunted zebra, impala, blue wildebeest, and bushbuck, I would recommend them. You can always go for sable and buffalo as well.

Luckily, South Africa is a target rich environment. You can't go wrong.

 

[Green Chile]

Not on your list but big sable are a real feature of Limpopo. Great sucess story.

 

[ActionBob]

Giraffe
Klipspringer
Red hartebeest
Common reedbuck
Eland
Gemsbok
Tssebee
Black wildebeest
Springbok
Warthog
Steenbuck
Grey Duiker

Giraffe is a good one if you hunt it on a big property with some challenging habit. Like in the mountains in parts of Limpopo. Just hold out for a big black bull.
Klipspringer, yes. In the mountains up top in parts of Limpopo or the Karroo in the East Cape... If limiting yourself to RSA.
Red Hartebeest, eh, to me more EC, like Black Wildebeest.
Common Reedbuck, never saw one in Limpopo.
Eland, doesn't scream Limpopo to me.
Gemsbok. No. Karoo or Namibia.
Tsessebe, yes your probably hunting that on a game ranch almost anywhere you go. Limpopo or Zimbabwe.
Black wildebeest, no. EC/Karroo.
Springbok. No. Namibia or Karroo.
Warthog, yes if you see a good one anywhere. Take it. A truly good/great Warthog is a challenging trophy to find. Never pass one up no matter where it is
Steenbok. I took a 5" plus in Limpopo.
Duiker, same as Warthog and Steenbok. If you see a good male anywhere, take the shot if you can! To me that goes for all the duikers.

 

[ActionBob]

Some really nice impala in the area too. Goodluck will be watching for the photos.


They're a gorgeous animal but I kind of lost interest in hunting one during my trip. Maybe it was just the dynamic of the properties I hunted on but they were the least wary animal I ran into. Seemed everyone we ran into stood and watched no matter how close we got. Not sure if that's just how they act as a animal or if that was more of a affect of being on a game farm type operation.

Fully agree with you on Sable. Take one in Mozambique or Tanzania and it will be well earned

 

[WildWill]

Giraffe is a good one if you hunt it on a big property with some challenging habit. Like in the mountains in parts of Limpopo. Just hold out for a big black bull.
Klipspringer, yes. In the mountains up top in parts of Limpopo or the Karroo in the East Cape... If limiting yourself to RSA.
Red Hartebeest, eh, to me more EC, like Black Wildebeest.
Common Reedbuck, never saw one in Limpopo.
Eland, doesn't scream Limpopo to me.
Gemsbok. No. Karoo or Namibia.
Tsessebe, yes your probably hunting that on a game ranch almost anywhere you go. Limpopo or Zimbabwe.
Black wildebeest, no. EC/Karroo.
Springbok. No. Namibia or Karroo.
Warthog, yes if you see a good one anywhere. Take it. A truly good/great Warthog is a challenging trophy to find. Never pass one up no matter where it is
Steenbok. I took a 5" plus in Limpopo.
Duiker, same as Warthog and Steenbok. If you see a good male anywhere, take the shot if you can! To me that goes for all the duikers.

If you were looking for a eland and wanted to stay in the RSA where would you go? Some great info above on my next trip I think I'll branch out a bit and try a new province probably the east cape. Eventually I'd like to do a Buffalo hunt in Mozambique might have to add a sable to the trip.

 

[skydiver386]

Not an expert, but when I asked about the best place for a good Klipspringer, almost every guide said Limpopo. Steinbok and Duiker are also challenging hunts.

 

[ActionBob]

If you were looking for a eland and wanted to stay in the RSA where would you go? Some great info above on my next trip I think I'll branch out a bit and try a new province probably the east cape. Eventually I'd like to do a Buffalo hunt in Mozambique might have to add a sable to the trip.

And depending where you go. A red duiker if you don't get one in Limpopo....

 

[ActionBob]

If you were looking for a eland and wanted to stay in the RSA where would you go? Some great info above on my next trip I think I'll branch out a bit and try a new province probably the east cape. Eventually I'd like to do a Buffalo hunt in Mozambique might have to add a sable to the trip.

I'm not 100% sure but East Cape is a good start. Very big and varied Province though, try to get to several parts

 

[dchum]

Giraffe is a good one if you hunt it on a big property with some challenging habit. Like in the mountains in parts of Limpopo. Just hold out for a big black bull.
Klipspringer, yes. In the mountains up top in parts of Limpopo or the Karroo in the East Cape... If limiting yourself to RSA.
Red Hartebeest, eh, to me more EC, like Black Wildebeest.
Common Reedbuck, never saw one in Limpopo.
Eland, doesn't scream Limpopo to me.
Gemsbok. No. Karoo or Namibia.
Tsessebe, yes your probably hunting that on a game ranch almost anywhere you go. Limpopo or Zimbabwe.
Black wildebeest, no. EC/Karroo.
Springbok. No. Namibia or Karroo.
Warthog, yes if you see a good one anywhere. Take it. A truly good/great Warthog is a challenging trophy to find. Never pass one up no matter where it is
Steenbok. I took a 5" plus in Limpopo.
Duiker, same as Warthog and Steenbok. If you see a good male anywhere, take the shot if you can! To me that goes for all the duikers.

Good advice here

 

[dchum]

If you were looking for a eland and wanted to stay in the RSA where would you go? Some great info above on my next trip I think I'll branch out a bit and try a new province probably the east cape. Eventually I'd like to do a Buffalo hunt in Mozambique might have to add a sable to the trip.

Save buff and sable for Moz. You are on the right path!

 

[dchum]

If you were looking for a eland and wanted to stay in the RSA where would you go? Some great info above on my next trip I think I'll branch out a bit and try a new province probably the east cape. Eventually I'd like to do a Buffalo hunt in Mozambique might have to add a sable to the trip.

East cape

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Kudu and bushbuck definitely, but given the rest of your list I’d go giraffe, warthog, duiker, reedbuck, maybe a klipspringer. I’d take the rest in different areas where they are native or better hunting opportunities are available. I’d save eland, springbok, gemsbok, hartebeest, steenbok for a Namibian hunt. I’d save black wildebeest and springbok for the Karoo in eastern cape. Eland are my favorite animal to hunt but only under certain conditions. Most eland in Limpopo are taken on small game farms and it just isn’t what eland hunting is. I’m assuming you took impala, blue wildebeest and burchell zebra on your first hunt?

This right here. Depending where you’re hunting a Klippie might be a ways away. If you are on a big property and can track an eland consider adding that to the Kudu and Bushbuck. I’d hunt for an old giraffe bull, a big pig and the Tiny’s.

Like @375Fox I really like hunting animals where they’re endemic. Make a trip to Namibia and the Karoo or Free State for several of the others.

 

[joker2400]

Will be heading back to South Africa's Limpopo province next summer and am trying to decide on what would be best to focus on. This will only be my second trip I learned a lot on my first trip but am still far from knowledgeable on anything to do with african hunting. One of the things I learned is that certain animals are located more heavily or are of a better quality depending upon regions. I'd like to focus on killing large mature specimens of each animal on my list. With that in mind after seeing the area this year and talking with my PH I've decided to focus on a kudu a my main goal and then a bushbuck. I'd like to add 2-4 more animal's to the list. Here's a list of animals I'd like to kill which screams Limpopo to you?
Giraffe
Klipspringer
Red hartebeest
Common reedbuck
Eland
Gemsbok
Tssebee
Black wildebeest
Springbok
Warthog
Steenbuck
Grey Duiker

Giraffe, Klippie,warthog, duiker, and steenbuck.

A lot of those animals are open country animals and not really endemic to a lot of the Limpopo. If you want springbuck, black wildebeest, and red hartebeest it would behoove you to road trip to the free state

 

[Philip Glass]

Will be heading back to South Africa's Limpopo province next summer and am trying to decide on what would be best to focus on. This will only be my second trip I learned a lot on my first trip but am still far from knowledgeable on anything to do with african hunting. One of the things I learned is that certain animals are located more heavily or are of a better quality depending upon regions. I'd like to focus on killing large mature specimens of each animal on my list. With that in mind after seeing the area this year and talking with my PH I've decided to focus on a kudu a my main goal and then a bushbuck. I'd like to add 2-4 more animal's to the list. Here's a list of animals I'd like to kill which screams Limpopo to you?
Giraffe
Klipspringer
Red hartebeest
Common reedbuck
Eland
Gemsbok
Tssebee
Black wildebeest
Springbok
Warthog
Steenbuck
Grey Duiker

Ok, do not take this wrong but I have some thoughts. It is impossible to make a wish list sitting state side. This is due to the fact that you don't know what the animals and terrain are like where you are going. Are the animals truly elusive or is that one animal you had your heart set on one of those that you could just go out and pop any day? Let me give you two examples. One is the Tinies. I do not know a single person who on their first safari had any of the Tinies at the top of their list. You see many of us with experience here on AH feverishly pursuing the Tiny 10 Today.
A second example was me on my first safari in 1997. I was in the exotics business even back then at just 25 years old. So I knew most of the more prevalent antelopes of Africa. I was Hunting the EC with Barry Burchell and had a normal PG package. Red Hartebeest were not on that package nor did I have any interest in that ugly beast or so I thought. I do not know if I coined this phrase or not but "you don't see the Red Hartebeest you just see their dust"! The bottom line is once I saw how incredibly elusive and tough these animals were then I was desperate to hunt one.
So go ahead and make a list but be flexible and be willing to change if the opportunity arises.

 

[AZDAVE]

You can put together a list but sometimes when you see an animal the way it moves and blends in will have you put it to the top of your list. But based on you initial question.

My suggestion in addition to the primary animals you have stated would be Giraffe, Klipspringer, impala, warthog, diker.

My secondary suggestion is to do a night hunt for the smaller predators,( jackal, honey badger, civiet, genet, etc)

 

[WildWill]

Ok, do not take this wrong but I have some thoughts. It is impossible to make a wish list sitting state side. This is due to the fact that you don't know what the animals and terrain are like where you are going. Are the animals truly elusive or is that one animal you had your heart set on one of those that you could just go out and pop any day? Let me give you two examples. One is the Tinies. I do not know a single person who on their first safari had any of the Tinies at the top of their list. You see many of us with experience here on AH feverishly pursuing the Tiny 10 Today.
A second example was me on my first safari in 1997. I was in the exotics business even back then at just 25 years old. So I knew most of the more prevalent antelopes of Africa. I was Hunting the EC with Barry Burchell and had a normal PG package. Red Hartebeest were not on that package nor did I have any interest in that ugly beast or so I thought. I do not know if I coined this phrase or not but "you don't see the Red Hartebeest you just see their dust"! The bottom line is once I saw how incredibly elusive and tough these animals were then I was desperate to hunt one.
So go ahead and make a list but be flexible and be willing to change if the opportunity arises.

Great advice. This happened to me recently on my first trip. Sitting at home looking at photos I thought I had no interest in a waterbuck until I saw them in the flesh. I will definitely stay flexible just want a general idea of what to focus on and ask my PH about.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

Great advice. This happened to me recently on my first trip. Sitting at home looking at photos I thought I had no interest in a waterbuck until I saw them in the flesh. I will definitely stay flexible just want a general idea of what to focus on and ask my PH about.

I think Waterbuck might be one of the most underrated and under appreciated trophies. I too didn’t have one on my list for my first hunt but after seeing several while bushbuck hunting along the Limpopo River they were quickly added