Your Favorite African Animal

slad68 · Jan 2, 2015

I am not sure if this question has ever been asked here on AH but I am very curious to find out.
1. Of all the species found in Africa, what would be your most favorite of all?
2. Why would you say so?
3. Have you ever hunter that species? (short story)
4. Pictures if available?

spike.t · Jan 2, 2015

Bossie my favourite is the sable antelope. this goes back to when i was little and my favourite plastic toy animal on the wooden toy farm amongst the cows , lions , tigers etc was a black bull sable . thinking back i am surprised they even did plastic sable toys over 45 years ago.......i still love watching and taking photos of them on takeri now, even though its not exactely a novelty seeing them now. shot my first one in 1990 in mulobezi gma in zambia and it measured 45 inches. not great photos but used my phone

also have it as the company logo taken from a pencil drawing i had done for me by keri young http://www.keriyoung.net/ from Zambia, who sadly was killed in a car crash near little rock where she was at university a few years ago

20216 Takeri Private Reserve Stickers aw (1).jpg

Sable123 · Jan 2, 2015

Kudu - Intelligence,
Sable - Elegance
Buffalo - Attitude
I even got a tattoo done of them. Have only ever shot a kudu, saving up for Buffalo and I have a dog named Sable

Royal27 · Jan 2, 2015

Elephant
The amazing mixture of size and grace. How can an animal that is that large move so quietly when it wants to and camouflage so well????
I haven't hunted them yet, but it was my first encounter in 1999 that led to my love for them. We stopped on the side of the road on the way to a photo safari camp in Zim to look at two young bulls. I pulled my camera out to take photos. One of the bulls decided we shouldn't be there and mock charged to within 20 feet or so. As he turned and walked away I realized I had watched everything through the camera viewfinder, but had never taken a picture. The first pic I took was of his butt. LOL
a couple pictures from this year's buff safari.

Hard to see, but at night just outside of my room

Royal27 · Jan 2, 2015

Sable123 said:
Kudu - Intelligence,
Sable - Elegance
Buffalo - Attitude
I even got a tattoo done of them. Have only ever shot a kudu, saving up for Buffalo and I have a dog named Sable

You've got to post a pic of the tatt now!

spike.t · Jan 2, 2015

Royal27 said:
You've got to post a pic of the tatt now!

glad you asked as i was thinking about it, but was worried where the tattoo might be..........

Royal27 · Jan 2, 2015

spike.t said:
glad you asked as i was thinking about it, but was worried where the tattoo might be..........

Yikes!!!! Great point. ... this is a family forum after all !

slad68 · Jan 2, 2015

Thanks for the input guys.
Ok my favorite, as some of you might have noticed here on AH is Eland.
There is just that special something about them that makes me want to track them all day long.
I have hunted a few myself and guided plenty and it's always exiting. The endurance of an Eland is just mind blowing the ability to keep on running and running and running is what it's all about.
For me there is nothing that beats and Old blue bull Eland. The ultimate hunt to me would be the Lord Derby Eland. No doubt in my mind.

gizmo · Jan 2, 2015

Wow hard question because I love all of them. I would have to say though Cape buffalo get the top spot. I will hunt one in June this year. My favorite because as a child I first learned of them via Capstick's book Death in the Long Grass. I was taken by his description of them. I knew that I was destined to square off with mighty mbogo one day. Really it sparked what has turned into a life long passion for Africa.

Nyati · Jan 2, 2015

Buffalo, without any doubt, for me it´s the african animal. If I had the necessary finances and space in my house, I would hunt one every year.

bluey · Jan 2, 2015

my favourite antelope in Africa is the sable , has been for as long as I can remember , when I was 15 or 16 , I decided that one day I was going to hunt in Africa , the sable was the animal that I needed to hunt .
on my first African adventure , I spent 5 days of the 10 day hunt trying to stalk a bueatiful old bull with my bow .
unsuccessfully.
ive always been infatuated in their regal elegance ,sleek black shiney coat,the white blaze down either side of thie nose which runs onto their cheeks only add to their bueaty .
but those long arcing scimitar shaped horns ,hold me spellbound everytime .

Divernhunter · Jan 2, 2015

I like them all. If hard pressed to say I would say Waterbuck and Kudu and Gemsbuck. I cannot choose one over the other but I do have a great waterbuck waiting to be mounted first before the others.

I find few if any animals in Africa that I do not like. That would be a very short list.

TokkieM · Jan 2, 2015

Nice question Bossie

I have hunted around 40 species and as most old boys from the EC the Kudu and Bushbuck on foot in the thickeds is hard to beat. If I had to pick one species based on challange and total experiance alone it would have to be the Vaalie. There is physically very few species that are harder to hunt or who can be as frustrating to hunt by fair chase. I dont do doubles on species often, but Vaalie I would easily hunt more than once.

That said, I have not hunted Buff,Leopard or Elephant yet, things may change once I do

Velo Dog · Jan 2, 2015

Excellent question and thanks for posting it.

Like others here, I enjoy so many different ones in Africa that, it's difficult to choose only one.

Mine are a category and so not really a specific specie - the pygmy antelopes are more fascinating for me than the others.

So far I have taken steinbok, common duiker, klipspringer and not really pygmy but the following small ones as well; springbok (5 of them), mt reedbok (1) and I have probably also taken other little ones but after 40 something African antelopes, I cannot remember exactly all of them at the moment.

After the above, I really enjoy hunting warthog and bushbok, and I never get tired of watching elephant.

If I had the $$$, I would definitely want to hunt bongo but if a frog had wings.

The list goes on but again the so called "tiny ten" are I guess, my favorites.

Happy New Year.

Witold KrzyÅ¼anowski · Jan 2, 2015

I like tchem all, but my favorite African animal is buffalo. The hunt for buffalo is a little like plaing cards with death.
Witold

Badger Matt · Jan 2, 2015

Buffalo, no question. Love the tracking and element of suspense.

Shared the hunt below with my father. Got a wide buff. Now need a hard-bossed one.

Witold KrzyÅ¼anowski · Jan 2, 2015

Excellent Buffalo.
Witold

Wheels · Jan 2, 2015

spike.t said:
Bossie my favourite is the sable antelope. this goes back to when i was little and my favourite plastic toy animal on the wooden toy farm amongst the cows , lions , tigers etc was a black bull sable . thinking back i am surprised they even did plastic sable toys over 45 years ago.......i still love watching and taking photos of them on takeri now, even though its not exactely a novelty seeing them now. shot my first one in 1990 in mulobezi gma in zambia and it measured 45 inches. not great photos but used my phone
View attachment 35362 View attachment 35363

also have it as the company logo taken from a pencil drawing i had done for me by keri young http://www.keriyoung.net/ from Zambia, who sadly was killed in a car crash near little rock where she was at university a few years ago
View attachment 35369

Love your animals and your house Mike. They all look great!

JustinC · Jan 3, 2015

spike.t said:
Bossie my favourite is the sable antelope. this goes back to when i was little and my favourite plastic toy animal on the wooden toy farm amongst the cows , lions , tigers etc was a black bull sable . thinking back i am surprised they even did plastic sable toys over 45 years ago.......i still love watching and taking photos of them on takeri now, even though its not exactely a novelty seeing them now. shot my first one in 1990 in mulobezi gma in zambia and it measured 45 inches. not great photos but used my phone
View attachment 35362 View attachment 35363

also have it as the company logo taken from a pencil drawing i had done for me by keri young http://www.keriyoung.net/ from Zambia, who sadly was killed in a car crash near little rock where she was at university a few years ago
View attachment 35369

Hi Mike, your logo is truly unique and very impressive!

Sorry for the dumb question...the Sable at your lodge, is that the original cape for the animal hunted in 1990?

Regards

gizmo · Jan 3, 2015

To add to my earlier post, my favorite non game animal ( at least to the extent that to my knowledge they can not be hunted anymore) is the okapi just because I think they look really cool!

Your Favorite African Animal

slad68

spike.t

Sable123

Royal27

Royal27

spike.t

Royal27

slad68

gizmo

Nyati

Attachments

bluey

Divernhunter

TokkieM

Velo Dog

Witold KrzyÅ¼anowski

Badger Matt

Witold KrzyÅ¼anowski

Wheels

JustinC

gizmo

Members online

Forum statistics

Proudly sponsored by

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Share this page