Kudu Expectations Vs Realities

[Black Fly]

I would really look into what experience you want to remember. For me, it was unfenced country. With my thin wallet that meant Namibia. The kudu and springbok and gemsbok there get bigger. There were also natural and historic things that really added to the experience. For me, coming onto petroglyphs while hunting really added to the experience. A PH that you click with makes it all come together.
Short answer Central Namibia for kudu. Give a thought to some little guys for truly fun hunting for lower animal costs. They can be harder won trophies than the big ones. Just bring home euro mounts or the horns and skull plates. Shipping and processing is crazy expensive.
Did i mention big kudu and central Namibia?
Bfly

 

[lwaters]

You never know when that special trophy will show up. My second animal I toke in Africa.

 

[Gemsbok Gangsta]

Skunked first trip to Namibia. Marius @KMG Hunting Safaris put me on this bull after one heck of a stalk!!!

 

[One Day...]

Eastern Cape 51" Kudu taken with Jason Olivier, Head PH for Huntershill Safaris, Queenstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

 

[Scott CWO]

Take a peek at the Duckworth family's free range Coutada 9 area in Mozambique for large kudu, nyala, etc... The name of their outfit is Mokore Safaris. They have done a wonderful job with anti-poaching and conservation. Prices are reasonable for daily rates and trophy fees. Kudu running everywhere and lots of other species. Should be able to get a 50"- 55" bull.

 

[Ragman]

Skunked first trip to Namibia. Marius @KMG Hunting Safaris put me on this bull after one heck of a stalk!!!

Exactly how it turned for me! Marius gets it done!

 

[shootist~]

Well it's official - we will be off off to Limpopo Province come July 2020!

Thanks again for all the sage advice and pictures.

Joe

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

As an old man, this thread shows me how much I am out of touch with today's hunters. I would go to Africa to drink in the experience, smell the smells, see the sights, and hunt hard. Make a good stalk, make a great shot, taste a good wine, and re live the day over and over. I would never take a tape measure. In my opinion L'Wyck has the most accurate post....as it applies to me........But I wish you well in your quest........don't forget to enjoy the experience................FWB

@flatwater bill
May I join you in the post hunt drinks and we can talk about the merits of leaving the tape measure at home. That shoul take less than a minute then we can resume enjoying the events of the day while soaking up a beautiful African sunset with the smell of a good fire and our favorite drink while waiting for another beautiful meal of game meat. Something like impala bckstraps cooked on the briar and veg.
Bob

 

[Trogon]

Here's a really old and huge-bodied Eastern Cape Kudu, I was able to hunt a couple days ago. Teeth worn down and missing, patchy hair. My PH taped out a single horn, at my request, it was 45". I think it's a fantastic animal.

 

[flatwater bill]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen ...........We would hunt well together my friend...............Bill

 

[fourfive8]

I’ve taken five of them. I’ve looked at hundreds of bull’s. Probably looked at 150 different bulls on a very large property in Limpopo- 200k acres. Did not kill a big one there. Passed on an old beat up 53-54 type bull, at the suggestion of the PH, early in the hunt… as luck would have it couldn’t find him again. Like everyone, I always asked the PH before starting about reasonable expectations and also like everyone I asked the chances for a sixty incher. hah! All the PHs, IMO, were very honest about it. No matter in Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, RSA and Botswana. All of the first four I took were very typical mature bulls ranging from 51 to 55. Then on my last trip to Botswana lucked into one on last morning of my hunt- literally the last two hours of the hunt. Leave it to one on those uncannily talented and gifted San Bushmen trackers, the ones with acute, 8x eyes (that’s no joke BTW), to first spot this frozen bull in a thick scrub. 63 1/4”. Just never know….

And there is a difference in body size among the geographic races of kudu. My 51 incher “looks” just as big as my 63 1/4 incher. That kudu was obviously much larger in body size than the 51 incher so the relationship of horn to body size remains fairly consistent. Odd but that 51 incher came from the Limpopo- theoretically one of the hearts of larger Southern Greater range. It even had a slightly reddish tan coat also indicative of the smaller race. Go figure.

For inches, like you will hear over and over is true! It’s the diameter/depth of curl. But I’ll also add - plus the kudu itself needs to be large.

 

[fourfive8]

Pics comparing smallest (shortest) and largest (longest).

 

[IvW]

If it was about inches I would have stopped hunting a long time ago ..

 

[fourfive8]

Nor do yo want someone suggesting you shoot this, especially if you haven't seen a bunch of them, by saying something like, "it is a very nice example" or "pretty good for this area", etc....

 

[IvW]

Nor do yo want someone suggesting you shoot this, especially if you haven't seen a bunch of them, by saying something like, "it is a very nice example" or "pretty good for this area", etc....

View attachment 475750

Well if you shot that as a visiting trophy hunter I guess you never saw one before. ....

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen ...........We would hunt well together my friend...............Bill

@flatwater bill

This is the kudu I got. He is an old mature male past his prime with nice ivory tips and a good spread. He came from the Kalahari area in Namibia. The PH later measured him at 52 inches. I couldn't have cared less to me he was a good specimen with good symmetry. I will be picking him up as a shoulder mount in a couple of weeks and am looking forward to it.
When I hang him in the lounge room he will bring back food memories of a great time spent in Africa. I think the wife would get a bit pissed if I lit a fire in the room and had a nice rum to remember the hunt. She would only be pissed because we haven't got a fire place.
I'm looking forward to picking him up long with my shoulder mount impala and all the other skins and horns.
Bob

 

[shootist~]

This is an old thread, and the OP (me) did make it to Limpopo (a year late) over the second half July 2021. Did I get the monster I dreamed about? No. Possibly because, as the PH/Outfitter later informed me - July is not the ideal time to hunt Kudu in the Limpopo. But I did get a nice Southern Greater Kudu and he's hanging on my wall right now.

The only "shooter" I saw. So I guess you could say I took what the bush offered.
Did I end up with a great memory (and even a great shot)? Absolutely.

"Heart kaput" according to the skinner:

 

[HuntingGold]

Nothing wrong with that bull!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

This is an old thread, and the OP (me) did make it to Limpopo (a year late) over the second half July 2021. Did I get the monster I dreamed about? No. Possibly because, as the PH/Outfitter later informed me - July is not the ideal time to hunt Kudu in the Limpopo. But I did get a nice Southern Greater Kudu and he's hanging on my wall right now.

The only "shooter" I saw. So I guess you could say I took what the bush offered.
Did I end up with a great memory (and even a great shot)? Absolutely.
View attachment 475794

"Heart kaput" according to the skinner:
View attachment 475795

@shootist~
That's a cracker. May not be what you initially wanted but you look happy with what you got

 

[buck wild]

This is an old thread, and the OP (me) did make it to Limpopo (a year late) over the second half July 2021. Did I get the monster I dreamed about? No. Possibly because, as the PH/Outfitter later informed me - July is not the ideal time to hunt Kudu in the Limpopo. But I did get a nice Southern Greater Kudu and he's hanging on my wall right now.

The only "shooter" I saw. So I guess you could say I took what the bush offered.
Did I end up with a great memory (and even a great shot)? Absolutely.

I think that's a great bull. Don't get to see a lot of 2.5/3 curl bulls.