What is Your Nemesis Animal?

As stupid as it sounds, a big fat Tom African porcupine. I've seen them on several trips but for one reason or another have not been able to shoot one! Three weeks in Selous in Sept. saw several candidates but NO night hunting allowed even though I had one on license. I even have had a really nice antique book cabinet since 2020 just waiting for a full body mount African Porcupine to sit on top.

dogcat1 said:

Brown Bear - Zero for 3 trips, have yet to see a male bear

Bush Pig - zero on 15 trips, missed one shot

Click to expand...

3 tags for my brown bear. First trip, never saw a bear. Second trip I passed on a young bear… no regrets about that. Third trip and just as time was running out…. I finally got my boar.

skydiver386 said:

Zebra because they ruin so many stalks.

Red Hartebeest because they seem to be the most switched on animal I've hunted so far.

Click to expand...

I developed a very quick hate for baboons for the same reason you called out zebras.

I had one parallel us for over a mile while stalking a nice kudu bull deep in a kloof.
Barked the whole way and never could get a shot at him.

I really should probably go on the baboon cull hunt that one of our sponsors has offered!

To be honest, I don't even know what I could highlight in particular, as I'm always actively pursuing new experiences and hope to keep doing so for as long as possible, so there will hopefully be plenty more opportunities. Otherwise, yeah, maybe the honey badger. I encountered it twice; the first time I was waiting for a bushpig and passed on it, and the second time I was after a leopard, so the badger got away scot-free again. Actually, probably all of those small African nocturnal predators. Because of that, I'm thinking about hunting in Zimbabwe, where I'll get the most value for my money when it comes to these little critters. But that's hunting for you—sometimes you hunt for something you don't get, but you end up getting something else instead. The leopard slipped away on my last hunt, but I bagged a massive eland. So things always balance out in the end, or we just convince ourselves that it's all part of the game."

csmcclain said:

Lame answer: whitetail.

I have shot plenty of them, but I have never shot a true quality representation. I have shot old ones that were busted up, I have had great ones duck the string, and I had to pass on a true monster after having already shot one buck in a one buck per day state.

On the bright side, someone shot the #1 buck in the county on the property I just bought, so fingers crossed - heading out today and tomorrow in hopes of getting one…

Click to expand...

Don't feel bad. I started the thread and I might have the lamest answer of all:
Pronghorn Antelope

Of the species I have hunted for Serval & Wolverine !

I have had two close shaves on once in a lifetime Warthogs 17-18+in foiled by simple things.

On animals I’d like to kill from spoiling hunts - Ostrich, fuckers act cool then go crazy running every where like lunatics , Zebra as I hate those murdering pricks & of course Baboons of the Southern breeds !

Sarg said:

Of the species I have hunted for Serval & Wolverine !

I have had two close shaves on once in a lifetime Warthogs 17-18+in foiled by simple things.

On animals I’d like to kill from spoiling hunts - Ostrich, fuckers act cool then go crazy running every where like lunatics , Zebra as I hate those murdering pricks & of course Baboons of the Southern breeds !

Click to expand...

Elk in the US. Tried twice and never hit one . On my first hunt I got a shot but my scope was off and I shot 18 " under his belly at 200 yds. Nice 6 x 6, too.
Warthog in RSA. Three safaris and I never saw a shooter. I almost shot a sow but three little ones came out of the bush so she survived.

Hmmmmmm. Well, waterbuck gave me some fits for a while, but I eventually got a nice specimen.

I've spent plenty of time and money chasing mule deer and I've killed plenty of them, but never one that I'd consider a truly nice buck.

BryceM said:

Hmmmmmm. Well, waterbuck gave me some fits for a while, but I eventually got a nice specimen.

I've spent plenty of time and money chasing mule deer and I've killed plenty of them, but never one that I'd consider a truly nice buck.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Tons of mule deer killed across the west each year. You can luck into a big one on first try. But conversely, they can be a real bugger to find and hunt. Many underestimate that reality and any old mule deer buck that survives to 10-12 years old on public land is no dummy. They do migrate so most have some experience with public hunting pressure. I grew up and hunted in the epicenter of large mule deer range and it took me 30 years to finally get a really good one. Concentrating on private land has bettered the odds the last 20 years or so but the landowners and outfitters have that market figured and it is not cheap and never any guarantee. Most every year I have a few big ones spend some time on my place but I don’t hunt them… many are impressive, both typical and non-typical. Only one last year, but he was an impressive typical, well up in B&C- 200 plus. Another thing that has happened is the public area draw odds have gone crazy in certain units and much of the point system quickly “eats itself” statistically.

Desert mule deer in the American southwest.

A large, mature Bushpig.

I´ve only spotted females or juveniles

JPbowhunter said:

Sambar - I’ve had just about every conceivable stuff up with sambar stags.

Biggest one I’ve ever seen was a 30” stag I put up at 20y. Was borrowing my brothers 9.3x62 sako 85 black bear and forgot it tended to jam rounds when chambered quickly. Had to watch him run away as I tried to get it cleared and a new round in.

Click to expand...

Ah well Sambar are always tricky buggers !

So another example of why I don’t recommend the Sako 85 for a DG rifle, some are problematic !

Sambar in Australia, been honked at, could have killed a big hind. Never had a chance on stags.

In the USA it's elk. From 10-18, I tagged along with dad on 3 or 4 elk hunts a year in Wyoming and Montana. He would kill lots of elk without me, but I never fired a shot.

Burned points on a lot of good units and have not killed one on my own as an adult. I am 0 and 5 I think on elk in Wyoming and New Mexico.

I am sitting on something like 8 points per state in 5 states. Hopefully one of those will result in an elk. Even a damn cow, I would be happy with that.

Here in Europe, it's as chamois but I got that done this year. I'd like a big mature stag. My last stag was only 8, scored 147 CIC I have 8 hunts coming up in the next 3 months in 3 countries. Hopefully there will be a bigger stag. But it really depends on how it goes. I was not able to book a rut hunt in my normal places, so it will be a post rut or driven hunt stag. Not the best method, but not impossible. I will probably shoot 3-5 cull stags in the next 3 months. Spikers to 4 year olds.

Africa spotted hyena. Actually could have killed a leopard in 2005 in Namibia, but the PH wasn't sure we could get it exported, and couldn't tell me what the trophy fee was. Came to a water hole in the morning when we were waiting for warthogs. I honestly have not spent the time on this one to work on it. Just something I want.

Sable and Waterbuck.


I either don't have a permit, when outside RSA, or they are too small, when in RSA.

TX049 said:

Desert mule deer in the American southwest.

Click to expand...

They are an anomaly for sure. Very difficult to guess where they may be. I’ve killed several out in the worst looking scrabble desert country imaginable. Little cover with occasional mesquite but primarily creosote. Sometimes I’ve found where a few live by just heading cross country on foot in the off season and looking for tracks. One of my best ones was 1970 while hunting Coues. Walking across a flat a couple of miles from a mountain about noon after spending early morning hunting from first light on the mountain for Coues, Jumped a good desert mule deer buck using a single, small soaptree yucca for cover. Very hard to figure them. I know quite a few dedicated hunters go on guided ranch hunts in Mexico for them. I have no experience doing that.

Mountain goat. Three hunts. NO chances. And I almost died twice while hunting them. Once from hypothermia and exhaustion and once again on a later hunt from a huge loose boulder that just missed crushing me. The mountain won.
In Africa I'd say bush pig. Never saw one. Also three hunts. Tracked, baited, stalked likely spots, not even a hair of a bush pig was ever spotted.

Longwalker said:

Mountain goat. Three hunts. NO chances. And I almost died twice while hunting them. Once from hypothermia and exhaustion and once again on a later hunt from a huge loose boulder that just missed crushing me. The mountain won.

Click to expand...

In a certain way it sounds like you narrowly won. Glad you are still here.

Raccoons are my nemesis, but not because I cannot find them.

Bushbuck - every thing that can go wrong does go wrong
Chewed up more time trying to get onto a mature ram than I care to talk about

Wyatt Smith said:

Raccoons are my nemesis, but not because I cannot find them.

Click to expand...

More of a Caddyshack nemesis?