Looking for thoughts on my recent African Trophies

[Noah Hutchens]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this…..

Hello, I just completed my first African Safari in Limpopo and wanted a round about opinion on the quality of animals I took. I went into the trip literally without a clue in hell about how to grade/score any African animals (still don’t!) and I when I shoot white tails at home I only go by the points if that says anything lol. Suffice it to say the largest and best Trophy wasn’t my biggest concern, I just wanted to experience Africa and hunt in Africa. Goes without saying but your opinions won’t affect my feeling towards the hunt as I had a great time and was just happy to experience it all, so shoot me straight! Only reason I truly care is to judge the trophy quality of the outfitter/lodge I used so when I return(after convincing the boss(wife)) I can decide if I will return to them to target some true trophies!

They gave me a certificate saying that the Springbuck, Impala and Blesbuck got a Gold medal and the Warthog a Silver.

I will attach a few photos below of each animal I took(Springbuck, Impala, Blesbuck, Warthog, Giraffe and Zebra).

Thanks!

 

[375Fox]

They all look like nice representative trophies to me. All nice ones to take. The warthog is very nice might take a few trips to do better.

 

[RR 314]

Impala looks really old (and with good mass) and a great animal to take. I have a hard time believing it would go SCI gold, but I am often surprised. Warthog is very nice. Blesbuck looks like it would score very well.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hopefully this is the right place to post this…..

Hello, I just completed my first African Safari in Limpopo and wanted a round about opinion on the quality of animals I took. I went into the trip literally without a clue in hell about how to grade/score any African animals (still don’t!) and I when I shoot white tails at home I only go by the points if that says anything lol. Suffice it to say the largest and best Trophy wasn’t my biggest concern, I just wanted to experience Africa and hunt in Africa. Goes without saying but your opinions won’t affect my feeling towards the hunt as I had a great time and was just happy to experience it all, so shoot me straight! Only reason I truly care is to judge the trophy quality of the outfitter/lodge I used so when I return(after convincing the boss(wife)) I can decide if I will return to them to target some true trophies!

They gave me a certificate saying that the Springbuck, Impala and Blesbuck got a Gold medal and the Warthog a Silver.

I will attach a few photos below of each animal I took(Springbuck, Impala, Blesbuck, Warthog, Giraffe and Zebra).

Thanks!

View attachment 763003View attachment 763004View attachment 763005View attachment 763006View attachment 763007View attachment 763008View attachment 763009View attachment 763010View attachment 763011View attachment 763012View attachment 763013View attachment 763014

Congratulations! You took good representations of each animal! If you are planning on wall mounts forget the girraffe and you do not have a great high ceiling I would do wall pedistal mounts, they extend more horizontally versus sticking out deep into a small room

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The blesbuck is exceptional for sure.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

All are great representative trophies and worthy memories of your first hunt in Africa. Your Blesbok looks like it’ll score the highest. Springbok is also solid. Love the character and thickness of that impala but like @RR 314 I’m not seeing “Gold” but I’ve been wrong before. Love the coloration on your giraffe. I’m still on the hunt for a really dark black, old bull myself.

Don’t sleep on your warthog only being silver. Like others have said that’s a really good one and you might need to take several trips to better him.

Congratulations on the completion of your first Safari

 

[Hunt anything]

Absolutely nothing wrong with any of your trophies. Well done and congratulations!
Great shape and well worn tips on the impala. Is the springbok a common springbok or a kalahari springbok? If it’s a common it’s excellent and if a kalahari it’s still very good, in my opinion.

 

[Noah Hutchens]

Absolutely nothing wrong with any of your trophies. Well done and congratulations!
Great shape and well worn tips on the impala. Is the springbok a common springbok or a kalahari springbok? If it’s a common it’s excellent and if a kalahari it’s still very good, in my opinion.

Common springbok

 

[Noah Hutchens]

Congratulations! You took good representations of each animal! If you are planning on wall mounts forget the girraffe and you do not have a great high ceiling I would do wall pedistal mounts, they extend more horizontally versus sticking out deep into a small room

My ceilings in my living room are 12 ft so not out of the question I would think!

 

[Noah Hutchens]

Impala looks really old (and with good mass) and a great animal to take. I have a hard time believing it would go SCI gold, but I am often surprised. Warthog is very nice. Blesbuck looks like it would score very well.

All are great representative trophies and worthy memories of your first hunt in Africa. Your Blesbok looks like it’ll score the highest. Springbok is also solid. Love the character and thickness of that impala but like @RR 314 I’m not seeing “Gold” but I’ve been wrong before. Love the coloration on your giraffe. I’m still on the hunt for a really dark black, old bull myself.

Don’t sleep on your warthog only being silver. Like others have said that’s a really good one and you might need to take several trips to better him.

Congratulations on the completion of your first Safari

These are the “certificates” they gave me with the scores if it means anything to y’all lol(I have no idea) When we walked up to the Impala initially my PH said he thought it was a “high silver” so I wasn’t expecting Gold or anything. I actually didn’t even know of the Gold/Silver designations before I arrived, they had to explain them to me lol.

 

[Hunt anything]

Who did you hunt with? Just saw the certificate

 

[Noah Hutchens]

All are great representative trophies and worthy memories of your first hunt in Africa. Your Blesbok looks like it’ll score the highest. Springbok is also solid. Love the character and thickness of that impala but like @RR 314 I’m not seeing “Gold” but I’ve been wrong before. Love the coloration on your giraffe. I’m still on the hunt for a really dark black, old bull myself.

Don’t sleep on your warthog only being silver. Like others have said that’s a really good one and you might need to take several trips to better him.

Congratulations on the completion of your first Safari

My PH told me that the manager of that farm started working there 17 or 18 years prior and the bull was already big when he started. I read previously before my trip that it was common for Lodges to charge extra for a darker bull so I was prepared but they only charged me their regular price so I was pleased. The size of the head of the Giraffe up close was a sight to see for me. I couldn’t believe that even as big as they look far away it still blew me away at the size of them up close in person.

 

[Noah Hutchens]

Who did you hunt with? Just saw the certificate

Matswani Safaris, they are in Limpopo in the Waterburg mountains.

 

[Noah Hutchens]

Who did you hunt with? Just saw the certificate

N

Thread 'SOUTH AFRICA: First African Hunt In Limpopo/Waterburg Mountains'

Apr 25, 2026

Hello all, I just completed my first African Hunt and wanted to share how it went!

I booked my hunt in November last year after considering doing one for over 4 years now. I booked a package through Matswani Safaris in the beautiful Waterburg mountains in Limpopo. The price the Matswani package offered was far cheaper than anything else I could find considering my circumstances and hunting wishes. I traveled with my Wife, our two young children and I paid for both my parents to come along as bribe for free babysitting/help tor the wife while I hunted lol.

The package included 2 all...

• Noah Hutchens
• Replies: 26
• Forum: Hunting reports Africa

• 
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Here is my hunting report I wrote if you wanted any more details! Thanks!

 

[375Fox]

These are the “certificates” they gave me with the scores if it means anything to y’all lol(I have no idea) When we walked up to the Impala initially my PH said he thought it was a “high silver” so I wasn’t expecting Gold or anything. I actually didn’t even know of the Gold/Silver designations before I arrived, they had to explain them to me lol. View attachment 763023

I’m a bit surprised they know what’s silver and gold. I haven’t seen a PH really care before. It’s a nice secondary metric that you took nice trophies, but that’s really all. SCI minimums are generally pretty easy to meet. They want to sell space in the book. All your trophies are nice, but the warthog would be more difficult to replace compared to the others. They do well on game ranches, but they aren’t farmed like other species.

 

[Tgood1]

You did well sir

 

[LivingTheDream]

I personally really like your impala, really nice mass. The giraffe is a good. I think you did well. Get a euro of your giraffe, it is a cool skull.

 

[Noah Hutchens]

I personally really like your impala, really nice mass. The giraffe is a good. I think you did well. Get a euro of your giraffe, it is a cool skull.

Euro is already paid for! I am getting the hide tanned and the neck is going to be turned into a few rifle bags, 3 rifle slings and a belt. The rest of the hide is going to be a rug!

 

[migrabill]

Impala looks really old (and with good mass) and a great animal to take. I have a hard time believing it would go SCI gold, but I am often surprised. Warthog is very nice. Blesbuck looks like it would score very well.

It's not SCI Gold. His outfitter has some weird medal system - definitely not up to SCI.

 

[Noah Hutchens]

It's not SCI Gold. His outfitter has some weird medal system - definitely not up to SCI.

They gave me the SCI points on the certificates but I’m not sure on their system