Buffalo or Sable???

[WARTY09]

I just returned from my very first safari in south Africa last week. Needless to say I am hooked on Africa. I am 26 years old with alot of years left to hunt this amazing place. But I find myself loosing sleep on which I should hunt next year when I return to Africa? Buffalo or Sable? Which is better, which is more exciting. Iam sure some of you can help me make up my mind! If you have any other animals that you enjoyed more than these please let me know. Thanks :clapping:

 

[Calhoun]

>>I never had the pleasure to hunt either. Both would be great trophies it depends on which you want the most. Odds are you will be in a great area for both so you may want to do a combination hunt! if you are looking for elegance the Sable definitely foots the bill, but if excitement & danger are what you are interested in Black Death foots the bill! Two great species I hope to hunt someday!!!

 

[Patrick R]

Buffalo for me, never hunted Sable - the video footage i saw looked like it could be a very tricky hunt...

 

[TOM]

Buffalo. I've never hunted Sable but buffalo is just an awesome hunt.

 

[WARTY09]

Buffalo for me, never hunted Sable - the video footage i saw looked like it could be a very tricky hunt...

Hey thanks for the advice! How big is that Buff? Let me know!!!

 

[LouisB]

Hi there Warty09 I have hunted both buffalo and sable and would have to say first of all you can't really compare the two but if I had to choose it would defiantly be buffalo there is no better DG animal to hunt and I have been fortunate enough to have been on numerous big 5 hunts and would have to say that a buff just gets the hart going, leopard would be a close second in my book though.

 

[NUys]

Hi Warty09,

As Louis said, it is two differant hunts and I can see why you struggle to make up your mind. Buffalo would be my first choice, they just got the way to make your heart beat faster than ever before and push the adrenallin limits up.

 

[TOM]

Go for Buff! It's a hunt you will never forget. Save the Sable for later when you start hunting specific unique species.

 

[enysse]

Without a doubt I would go for the Sable!!! I should actually call myself the "great horn hunters" and I would go for the sable. The sable was the first animal I ever wanted from Africa and I definitely will come back for the sable before the cape buffalo.

 

[Patrick R]

Hey thanks for the advice! How big is that Buff? Let me know!!!

42"

 

[daggaboyblog]

Hey Warty. I have successfully hunted both the sable and the buffalo.
Hunting the sable on foot is a very difficult hunt. My 'round-the-fire discussions with PH's and concession holders in Zimbabwe and personal experience have shown the sable to be a relatively soft animal, and much smaller bodied than you probably think they are.
On the other hand, the buff hunt is tough. If you're in open country, it is straight forward enough; you look over a few animals, pan the stalk, ban, bang, and if you're a reasonably capable shot, if it doesn't go exactly to plan, you will have some time for yourself to try again and your PH to back you. But if you can find some mopani forest, lots of thorns, an impenetrable mesh of bush that bites, then you're in for a treat. You'll have trouble seeing an animal at 25 yards. Identifying bulls will be very difficult, and evaluating trophies is near impossible. After many encounters with buffalo in these conditions, I have learnt that you have 5 seconds from making visual contact to get a shot off - by then they have heard you moving in the crunchy mopani leaves on the floor. So you have to be committed to your shot and quick to let it go in just the right place. In close quarters, there's not much room for error and any second chance will be much more in-your-face than you want it.
I say go the buffalo first.

 

[billrquimby]

Why not hunt both on the same safari? That's what I did in the Matetsi region of Zimbabwe in 1983 on my first trip to Africa. Years later, in Zambia's Kafue region, I shot a lion and another sable, and could have shot a buffalo had I wanted to do so.

Bill Quimby

 

[Dox]

Buffalo its the most exciting hunt ever.

 

[Mike70560]

For me without a doubt the buffalo. Pick an area with thick cover and lots of tracking on foot and the hunt will be priceless.

I know this was not on your list but even more exciting (and can cost less) is tuskless elephant. It has got to be the biggest bang for your dollar in Africa.

 

[RayAtkinson]

I have shot more than a few of both, but by far I have shot more buffalo than any other species on this planet..I love to hunt buffalo and have been privy to a number of cull hunts in past years and still get to clean up quotas on rare ocassions..

I would suggest that you do a combo, hunt both on your next hunt in Zimbabwe as Sable and buffalo are much less expensive in Zim than any other country..I sold a combo hunt last year for $9,950. that included one buffalo bull and one trophy sable..I had elephant bull hunts for $16,500 and you could shoot, sable and/or Leopard for trophy fees of $4000. 2009 was the year for the hunter! I doubt that we will ever see those prices again. it was like going back in time to 1950.. but with the economy going like it is, 2010 may repeat itself...stay tuned!

 

[DLS]

If you can swing it, I'd do both. I did just that on my first safari, which was in the Deka Safari area in Zim. Took 2 buffalo and a fantastic sable. While I may never shoot another sable, I'm very glad to have one, and I've shot 4 more buffalo, and expect I'll shoot more of them than any other african game on my future hunts.

Buffalo are an excellent hunt, but if you can take a sable I'd do it while the opportunity to do so at current prices still exists.

 

[Wanderer]

Buffalo. Then more buffalo, and more, and more...

 

[monish]

Warty09,

"MBOGO" hunting is a real adrenalizing sport, you have to take it to experience the black death !!!! opt for it . Have nor set my reticule on a Sable as yet. maybe someday I will.

Monish

 

[PaulT]

G'day Warty.

BOTH !

I've been fortunate enough to take both buff and Sable and due to the fact that I'm a bovine hunting manic if pressed to choose between the two it would be the buff. BUT, in saying that I must also add that to me the Sable is the most gorgeous animal on the hoof in Africa, at least that I have seen. I did not get much in terms of hunting difficulty from them, there were heaps where we were at the time and I shot the 19th bull seen on a 10 day hunt ( Gwaii ).
Both my buff and Sable are looking down at me from the wall as I type this and I still can't part with either of them. Sorry I can't be much helf to you in deciding between them, JUST TAKEM BOTH !

 

[classicsafari]

which I should hunt next year when I return to Africa? Buffalo or Sable? Which is better, which is more exciting.

If you have any other animals that you enjoyed more than these please let me know. Thanks :clapping:

BUFFALO

NON TROPHY ELEPHANT