Top 5 plains game?

[Happy Myles]

I too enjoy bushbuck and have taken all the recognized subspecies. I have a difficult time picking favorites as long as they are wild and free ranging

 

[FlyGuy]

Interesting replies folks, keep them coming! To be honest, I’m hoping to add a couple of other species but I wanted to see what folk would really choose as a core group..

Out of interest, where do you draw the line with non natives? In the UK for example, I believe it was just roe deer and red deer originally. Fallow deer were introduced around the 11th or 12th century,(from having a search). Sika are starting to spread everywhere, as are muntjac. South of England also now has a healthy water deer population.

This is where I’m torn with the introduced species. I’d be reasonably happy hunting say, a lechwe in South Africa,(I won’t get them in Botswana I don’t think). I wouldn’t want the animal to have been released in its lifetime. But if they’ve been self sustaining for 20-30 years, maybe that’s reasonable? Really need outfitter transparency there. I think they’ve been in the free state for a while?

Anyway, I’m rambling to say it’s hard to draw the line at when something is introduced but if they’ve been self sustaining for a while, that seems okay?

My personal cut-off is historic range.
E.g. Historically, sable antelope only occurred in small areas of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Therefore I won’t hunt one in the Northern Cape.
It would be like hunting a Dik Dik in the Eastern Cape.
With regard to Oryx, they are native to the Northern Cape, North West and the far western areas of Limpopo in S.A.

 

[Big guns]

In May 2014, my kid and I hunted plains game in South Africa. 300WBY for both. While I have 200 grn Nosler PT, he has 200 grn Nosler AB. Reloading materials was more difficult in 2014 than it is currently. One shot kill, 200 PT, huge zebra. One shot kill, 200 AB, huge red hartebeest. I could have used smaller for anything else.
180 Nosler AB/PT ought to function without any issues. They used to manufacture the Weatherby bullets, but I don't know Norma. I don't have any grounds to question their performance. Whatever you decide on should work, in my opinion.
Last but not least, speak with your host. Of them all, he will have the most experience.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Lots of gemsbok / oryx votes coming through. Would that still be the case if it was South Africa or purely a Namibia appeal?

I absolutely love gemsbok and will without a doubt take one at some point. With that being said, it loses a bit of it's appeal knowing it's been introduced widely to areas in RSA. The problem is, hunting the Kalahari and Namib can be really pricey. In a perfect world, that would be your target species for an authentic Kalahari hunt, among a few others.

They are one of those species that can still be a challenge to hunt even in introduced areas. I watched a group of them come to water from a blind I was in. They are absolute bruisers. Beautiful animals too. Tough as nails. I almost came back with one instead of a kudu on my last hunt. I almost watched them for too long and they became appealing.

Watching them fight with those horns is something else too. They can also go under a cattle fence like nothing you would ever imagine.