Who is chasing the spiral horn slam?

[Green Chile]

You are correct. He is worth measuring and submitting for the book. Mine made gold, but yours dwarfs him.

Thank you! I have always hesitated to submit them and have a number of species that would qualify if I did enter them. Craig Boddington had a good piece of advice after seeing photos of this eland at DSC last week...he almost fell out of his chair but after that he said, honor the animal and the PH by submitting it. Well said.

 

[Red Leg]

Thank you! I have always hesitated to submit them and have a number of species that would qualify if I did enter them. Craig Boddington had a good piece of advice after seeing photos of this eland at DSC last week...he almost fell out of his chair but after that he said, honor the animal and the PH by submitting it. Well said.

He is exactly correct. One of the few I have submitted was a massive old Cape Eland that scored very high gold. The young Ph also deserved the credit. We had no tracker, and yet this young man followed this bull for at least five hours before we managed a shot.

 

[JES Adventures]

The harnessed bushbuck is incredibly handsome. Wonderful!

I’ve taken two harnessed and the color varies quite a bit.

Taken in the CAR

Taken in Chad

 

[MontanaPat]

I love hunting spiral horns as well but will never have the time or money to pursue the full spiral slam. I only need an eland to complete my South African version spiral slam and plan to get a nice eland hopefully this coming June hunting with NKWE in Botswana. I really like hunting bushbuck and they are always on my agenda for trips if the opportunity arises. I got the photo below sent to me this morning of a 62” kudu bull from NKWE shot by Jaco’s son recently. They have some monster kudu at NKWE that die of old age!

 

[Green Chile]

I think if you are going to consider a full mount bushbuck, the harnessed has to be a strong option. They are wonderful.

I also love hearing that your favorite after taking all of the spirals is the little bushbuck. That’s awesome. I hope to take a nice one this summer…and maybe an old nyala too.

 

[Green Chile]

Oy….thats a big kudu bull.

 

[AZDAVE]

Spirals are such interesting animals to hunt. Plus they each have a unique beauty to them. We have a combo Limpopo Eastern cape 4some. (cape kudu and bushbuck, with the eland and nyala from limpopo) In my mind we need a Limpopo bushbuck and greater kudu to finish out the SA slam, so to speak. Chobe bushbuck and Livingston eland are possibilities in Mozambique this year.

 

[PARA45]

This topic is really for anyone who enjoys hunting spiral horns and I think that's most of us. I would love to hear what you're going after next...bushbuck...nyala...maybe it's kudu every time? It's not an upper crust topic really. Most of us like chasing and eating kudu, eland, etc.

Well, in that case then I most likely be after the South Africa spiral slam, if there is such a slam . Planning on going after Eland next time around. So far, I have a Greater Kudu, Cape Kudu, Nyala, and Bushbuck. Kudu, Nyala and Bushbuck does it for me. If I had only one choice of animal in Africa, it would be the Kudu. I most likely hunt Kudu every time I visit the continent.

 

[Backyardsniper]

The spirals are without a doubt my favorite, actually the only PG that I really care to hunt. I doubt that I will ever complete a slam, but I hope on my next trip in 2026 to secure a nice bushbuck while we are there. I love the DG and that is why I go to Africa, but those spiral horns run a close second! I have an Eland so that will at least give me the largest spiral horns and the smallest if I manage to get a bushbuck. If I ever win the lottery, maybe a bongo. Ha ha
I posted a thread here a long time ago, before my trip asking about "the animal you didn't know you were interested in until you saw one" the overwhelming majority answered, Eland or Waterbuck. It was definitely Eland for me, I did not think I was interested in them at all until we got on the tracks and I laid eyes on one, then I understood.

 

[Philip Glass]

I have quite a few of them but certainly not all. I may get to the forest in Cameroon someday but I am not sure about Ethiopia. One of my PH's in Tanzania in 2022 was a young fellow from Ethiopia. Like many there he is of Greek decent. That connection might be the encouragement to get me there one day.
Need: bongo, sitatunga, mt. Nyala, a couple bushbuck, and a couple others if you count all the common eland varieties.

 

[Fatback]

Really enjoy the spiral horns but doubt I’ll be able to get a true slam. The one slam that I would be interested in would be all the different bushbuck species. One because I am really intrigued by them and two it would take me to many different areas of Africa to hunt. The 2 I’ve taken so far were in vastly different terrains/areas.

 

[Green Chile]

Spirals are such interesting animals to hunt. Plus they each have a unique beauty to them. We have a combo Limpopo Eastern cape 4some. (cape kudu and bushbuck, with the eland and nyala from limpopo) In my mind we need a Limpopo bushbuck and greater kudu to finish out the SA slam, so to speak. Chobe bushbuck and Livingston eland are possibilities in Mozambique this year.

Excellent Dave. I know you have been chipping away at several slams including tiny 10. Those Chobe bushbuck are really beautiful. I was looking for one on my last hunt when this little monster popped up and all thoughts of bushbuck left my head...statistically, he's bigger than the eland I took on that hunt.

 

[Green Chile]

Really enjoy the spiral horns but doubt I’ll be able to get a true slam. The one slam that I would be interested in would be all the different bushbuck species. One because I am really intrigued by them and two it would take me to many different areas of Africa to hunt. The 2 I’ve taken so far were in vastly different terrains/areas.

That's an awesome goal...taking all of the available bushbuck species.

 

[Green Chile]

The spirals are without a doubt my favorite, actually the only PG that I really care to hunt. I doubt that I will ever complete a slam, but I hope on my next trip in 2026 to secure a nice bushbuck while we are there. I love the DG and that is why I go to Africa, but those spiral horns run a close second! I have an Eland so that will at least give me the largest spiral horns and the smallest if I manage to get a bushbuck. If I ever win the lottery, maybe a bongo. Ha ha
I posted a thread here a long time ago, before my trip asking about "the animal you didn't know you were interested in until you saw one" the overwhelming majority answered, Eland or Waterbuck. It was definitely Eland for me, I did not think I was interested in them at all until we got on the tracks and I laid eyes on one, then I understood.View attachment 582344

Wonderful eland bull! You said it well...they have a certain physical presence and they really stand out from the other PG. Awesome animals. Like you, I'm mainly interested in DG but the spirals keep my attention as well.

 

[PARA45]

Here are the four spiral horn animals I've taken so far. The Cape Kudu, Bushbuck and Nyala were taken in the Eastern Cape.

 

[Green Chile]

Love it...that bushbuck has some mass!

 

[PARA45]

Love it...that bushbuck has some mass!

Thank you! BTW, I tested my PHs patience that day. That little bugger was well hidden, and my PH kept trying to point it out to me. It felt like an eternity, and he finally moved, and I had him. Due to the steep terrain, it was one of my toughest hunt, my knees were hurting that day. I earned this Bushbuck, and I'm glad it was such a tough hunt.

 

[Green Chile]

Those little bushbucks can be really hard to spot. What was the distance on that one? I could see there was a lot of elevation around him. Was it uphill or downhill from your position?

 

[PARA45]

Those little bushbucks can be really hard to spot. What was the distance on that one? I could see there was a lot of elevation around him. Was it uphill or downhill from your position?

He was way out there, I was shooting a 375 H&H with a 1-6x24 scope, and I placed my crosshair on his back. I was sighted in at one inch at 100 yds. If I had to estimate, I'd say 280-300 yds easy. Oh yeah, it was some steep country.

 

[Green Chile]

Hell of a shot my friend...375 with low powered scope at 300 yards in steep country on a small target. Well done.