The spiral slam and a buffalo on one hunt? What is a spiral slam?

[thi9elsp]

I think he wants to join us for the brandy. But, seems like you and Hank changed it to some other brown liquid...

 

[Red Leg]

I think he wants to join us for the brandy. But, seems like you and Hank changed it to some other brown liquid...

Hank and I have a bet that will take time to resolve. Should I win (and I shall) he owes me that 25. Should he, I have to locate that swill he prefers. (There is no accounting for taste - particularly among those people north of the border - bit surprised he didn’t want Canadian Club).

 

[Royal27]

 

[Chago]

Only slam that matters is the grand slam.

1. Skipping work
2. Being in the woods all day
3. Post hunt whiskey (Canadian Club of course)
4. Post hunt cigar.

I have completed this slam more times then I would like to admit. And the marketers can't change my grand slam.

Ps there is a 5th step. But women and children browse this site so I'll keep it PG-13.

 

[sestoppelman]

And here I was thinking a wildebeest slam would be kind of neat. I have 3 of them. Blue, black and white bearded.

 

[LivingTheDream]

I have been looking for a new challenge since I finished the nine last year . . . I'm thinking that the 8 bushbuck might be interesting . . .

Any thing that gets you to write more hunt reports!!! As far as the 8 go, do you follow the 8 listed in Roland Ward or the 8 listed in SCI? If you have the chance to read Peter Flacks book on Bushbuck it is fascinating. And at one point there was 20+ sub species.

I actually had a goal of getting all of the huntable bushbucks, the biggest issue is Ethiopia as you pretty much have to book a Mountain Nyala hunt to get the permits and it requires two areas... so it got expensive quick. I asked probably the best booking agent in the business if you could hunt just the bushbucks in Ethiopia he hesitated and said no one has ever asked.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Only slam that matters is the grand slam.

1. Skipping work
2. Being in the woods all day
3. Post hunt whiskey (Canadian Club of course)
4. Post hunt cigar.

I have completed this slam more times then I would like to admit. And the marketers can't change my grand slam.

Ps there is a 5th step. But women and children browse this site so I'll keep it PG-13.

Perhaps a Step 0, in order to get the day started off correctly, should be the Denny's Super Duper Slam.

 

[Hank2211]

Any thing that gets you to write more hunt reports!!! As far as the 8 go, do you follow the 8 listed in Roland Ward or the 8 listed in SCI? If you have the chance to read Peter Flacks book on Bushbuck it is fascinating. And at one point there was 20+ sub species.

I actually had a goal of getting all of the huntable bushbucks, the biggest issue is Ethiopia as you pretty much have to book a Mountain Nyala hunt to get the permits and it requires two areas... so it got expensive quick. I asked probably the best booking agent in the business if you could hunt just the bushbucks in Ethiopia he hesitated and said no one has ever asked.

The best hunt reports involve interesting hunts . . . and the most interesting hunts are the ones that are a bit off the beaten track, or so it seems to me.

If I was going to take this on . . . and I am thinking about it - the first step is, as you say, deciding on what the actual list is. I think I would go with the bushbuck that are most generally agreed to constitute distinct subspecies, rather than those in addition to a bunch of others which are in reality no more than regional variations in colour or size.

There are plenty of sources one could look to to try to establish a comprehensive list. As it happens, I picked up all of Peter Flack's books on the spiral horns (in the limited editions too - all with the same number - I'm very pleased with myself!). As you point out, @LivingTheDream, he recounts a fascinating history of the determination of the actual species and subspecies which constitute bushbuck, with the trend towards more, rather than fewer, in number. Flack himself states (p.xxv) that "[p]ossibly this is one of the reasons that has led passionate bushbuck hunters to accept the classification of these animals into various subspecies which do not warrant such a subdivision. We have allowed ourselves to be seduced into accepting additional subspecies because this has given us an excuse to arrange yet another hunt for an animal we enjoy hunting so much." Understandable, but more than a little daunting if that takes us to 28 different critters.

Currently, from what I can find, SCI counts 8 subspecies of bushbuck, while Rowland Ward counted 11 in the 2010 version (I'm told). According to Flack, Rowland Ward now recognizes 8 and SCI 9, but I just looked at the SCI record book and count only 8. Nevertheless, noting Flack once again: "Having successfully hunted all the bushbuck subspecies recognized by both record books, my 'joining' or 'lumping' tendencies are not, therefore, an attempt to make it easier on myself to complete a collection of all the bushbuck but rather by a reluctance to avoid the evidence of my own eyes and the collective common sense of other hunters." This seems both sound and reasonable, so I am going to take Flack's list, which is also SCI's, as the complete list. That list includes the following:

Cape Bushbuck, found in South Africa long the south eastern coast up to Mozambique

Limpopo Bushbuck, found areas drained by the Limpopo River encompassing parts of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana

Chobe Bushbuck, found in Northern Botswana and Zimbabwe, as well as Zambia and parts of southern Congo

Nile Bushbuck, ranging from northeastern Congo (DRC) into Uganda and north to southern Sudan

East African Bushbuck, Tanzania into northern Mozambique

Abyssinian Bushbuck, found only in the lowlands of Ethiopia

Menelik's Bushbuck, found only in the highlands of Ethiopia

Harnessed Bushbuck, found in West Africa including Cameroon, Benin and Burkina Faso.

Many of these have larger ranges than I've outlined, but I tried to keep it to areas which could reasonably be hunted.

Anyone disagree with the list?

 

[sestoppelman]

Looks about right. I only have one, the Limpopo I mean who doesn't? I had hoped to have a shot at Harnessed but we all know what happened in that part of the world and it doesn't look to get a whole lot better anytime soon!

 

[LivingTheDream]

@Hank2211 after reading Peter Flacks book on bushbucks, I agree with the list you mention above. In my mind that is what would complete the bushbuck "slam" if you will, at least of the current huntable species though the history of the bushbuck subspecies is fascinating.

Good luck on your quest!! Let's us know where you are off to next!

 

[Red Leg]

Hope you tagged at least one of the Ethiopian fellows and the harnessed during previous hunts?

 

[Hank2211]

Here's what I have so far, more or less:

1. Chobe bushbuck. Matetsi Unit 2, Zimbabwe, 2009

2. Cape Bushbuck, Eastern Cape, Near Port Alfred, 2014

3. Limpopo Bushbuck, Limpopo Province near Polokwane, 2016

4. Harnessed bushbuck

(a) Benin, near Pendjari National Park, 2017

(b) Northern Cameroon, Mayo Nduell, 2019

The bushbuck don't seem to age. But I do!

 

[Hank2211]

Hope you tagged at least one of the Ethiopian fellows and the harnessed during previous hunts?

I'm kicking myself that I didn't try for either when I was in Ethiopia. But I was focused on the Mountain Nyala and the lesser kudu to get moving on the nine spiral horns, and already had a bunch of bushbuck. I guess I have to go back!

 

[Red Leg]

I'm kicking myself that I didn't try for either when I was in Ethiopia. But I was focused on the Mountain Nyala and the lesser kudu to get moving on the nine spiral horns, and already had a bunch of bushbuck. I guess I have to go back!

The Harnessed is a nice one to have. Needing two in Ethiopia might make a focused expedition feasible for you and an outfitter.

 

[Hank2211]

I was thinking about the challenges faced by someone looking to begin the "real" spiral horn slam these days. There are always the challenges of hunting remote destinations (even by hunters' standards) like Cameroon, CAR and Ethiopia, but also the challenges of climate (rainforests are hot, humid; mountaintops are cold and altitude can be a challenge; the savannah (in LDE areas) can be very hot and a challenge to walk on). There is also the fact that some of these animals are not easily found, or at least shootable ones aren't - for example, there is really no plan other than right place right time if you choose forest sitatunga as the representative of that species (things may be a bit easier if you decide on hunting the Bangweulu swamps).

One challenge I had not focused on, and that many may not appreciate, is that the ability to hunt some of these animals may one day be restricted, if not eliminated, as some species become endangered.

The mountain nyala comes to mind when you worry about future 'huntability'. The IUCN currently lists the mountain nyala as "endangered" with a declining population trend. The current "best estimate" of mature individuals is only 1,500 - 2,500 and even the most optimistic estimates don't go above 4,000 total animals, of which no more than about 2,800 would be mature. No matter how you look at it, this is an incredibly small number of animals. And of course, of that population of mature animals, there will be more females than males, so the huntable population is much smaller. The biggest threat to the mountain nyala is not hunting though, it's habitat loss. In fact, it's only hunting which really keeps what little habitat there is left available for these animals.

Given these numbers, it's more than a bit surprising (at least to me) that most hunts are successful, and generally within a relatively short period of time. My hunt was apparently a bit of an exception - it took us 6 days to find an animal worth shooting (and another five days to recover it - the hunt report is on AH if anyone is interested in understanding that gap). The relative ease of hunting may be a reflection of the fact that hunting areas are quite small and circumscribed - not a good thing generally, but a reflexion of the pressure put on hunting areas by a burgeoning population. Having said that, I have seen a few trophies taken over the last few years and while what I've seen in no way constitutes a representative sample, I'd have to say that people are taking smaller horn sizes, which I'd correlate to younger animals. If you want an example, a recent episode of the Buchanan Hunt videos on YouTube shows a mountain nyala hunt, and while I don't like to diss someone else's trophy, it appears quite small to me (notwithstanding the gushing by the hosts).

The moral of the story is get after it!

 

[mark-hunter]

José Madrazo, the 2019 Weatherby Award winner with 391 different species has 21 different spiral horns.

And to answer @BenKK , yes it does have something to do with with cash.

Since this post, in the meantime, by accident I found web site of mr Steve Korbin, where it is stated that he has taken "all 29 species from African 29". I am not sure what "african 29" is, but it mentions nyala, so my guess is that it refers to spiral horns 29.
(another "29" is american 29, but this clearly is not the case). This is just for info, i hope I did not get it wrong.

 

[Hank2211]

You may recall (if not, go back to the first post on this thread!) it was calling these four animals a "Spiral Horn Slam" which originally gave rise to this thread.

Well, today I saw a post for a South African hunt, consisting of bushbuck, kudu, eland and nyala. And this hunt is referred to as the "Spiral Horn Grand Slam."

So, while I don't want to start this all over again, if four of the nine spiral horns is now a grand slam, what do we call all nine?

Seems like marketers want to suggest hunters are getting something which, in my opinion they are not.

 

[sestoppelman]

The Super Duper South African Spiral Grand Slam, with egss and hot cakes on the side!

 

[Hank2211]

The Super Duper South African Spiral Grand Slam, with egss and hot cakes on the side!

Eggs are restricted to the Craig Boddington thread!

 

[sestoppelman]

The Super Duper South African Spiral Grand Slam, with egss and hot cakes on the side!

LOL, for as much guff as I give guys for bad spelling, look how I spelled eggs above! What a maroon!!