Duckpro - sorting out your options in Africa is a good part of the fun. And there is some great advice from the folks on here who have been there and done it.
There are a lot of option across Africa to take 3 of 4 on your list. All 4, well as the folks have mentioned, that gets tougher on a truly free range basis. But doable.
As someone already mentioned, the Niassa Special Reserve in northern Mozambique would be an excellent option. Very wild, definitely unfenced, and a special place. The Niassa is just south of the border with Tanzania, so you are hunting in a similar environment, but the price point comes down significantly. The Niassa is likely less pressured than Tanzania, its certainly less populated, and has high quality camps and excellent free range hunting. Obviously you do not have the endemic Massailand species, but you will find it very game rich.
The Buffalo hunting is top tier, as is the Eland (with a lot of tracking involved) and good Sable. There are kudu in the Niassa, but they will be found in lower numbers so make sure the quota is available and take one when/if the chance presents itself. The camps will be very nice (especially compared to sheep or elk camp), but not as nice as a more permanent camp in South Africa, Zambia, or even Zimbabwe. Tanzania is next level, and the price reflects it. There will be a lot of game viewing, great food, wine etc., but your wife will want/have to go out on the truck with you and enjoy the hunting as it is a wild place, and hunting game viewing is the activity in the region.
As
@Scott CWO and someone else mentioned, Coutada 9 in Mozambique would also have all 4 species. Coutada 9 is a little easier to get to than the Niassa, and the hunting is excellent. You'll also find elephant and other plains game there so the game viewing is excellent. Again, the camps will be nice but not as luxurious as in Tanzania, but way better than elk/sheep camps.
Nuenetsi in Zimbabwe is a phenomenal hunting area. Its incredibly well managed, and probably has some of the best big cat hunting anywhere in Africa right now. You will definitely see elephants, I hunted there in 2023 and saw 44 bulls in 5 days, and the Buffalo, Eland, and Kudu were abundant. There are Sable on Nuenetsi but I don't recall seeing a lot. If you are going to SCI or DSC, you want to look up Cliff Walker at Collect Africa, he hunts Nuenetsi a lot with Spike Klaussen, who manages Nuenetsi. Fully disclosure, Cliff and Spike are not on AH to the best of my knowledge.
Jaques Spammer with
@JKO HUNTING SAFARIS hunts Cameroon and Uganda a lot, and would have good ideas on hunting wild Africa for the species you are looking for. I would not consider Cameroon a particularly good choice as a destination for my wife's birthday (I took my wife to Cameroon and she was less than impressed). Cameroon is really for the hard core hunter looking for very specific endemic species, its tough hunting in touch conditions. Uganda is awesome, and completely free range, but also much more populated. Uganda does offer a lot for the non-hunting companion, and I would very highly recommend a side trip to trek with the Mountain Gorilla's in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest should you choose to head to Uganda. Since there are only 4 fixed operators in Uganda, and JKO that hunts there, its pretty easy to figure out Uganda. The camps will be nice, and enough to do that your non-hunting wife will have a good time.
The Luango Valley in Zambia would also likely have the species you are looking for (I think). I do not know that much about Zambia, other than its an option.
In virtually every case, the outfitter will start with the assumption that the Cape Buffalo is the 1st or main target species, and then take the plains game after. If that's what you want, you are all good. If your priorities are different (e.g., if you really want an Eland and the Buff could wait), you will need to be very specific on that issue. It will be very difficult to find all 4 of the species you are looking for in equal numbers in any of the free range areas. Kudu in good numbers will likely be the hardest (I recall that even Hemingway lamented the lack of kudu most of the time).
I have taken my wife with me on 20 of 22 African safaris and she loves it. She has occasionally hunted, but mostly not. The camps are all pretty good, and if you are clear with what you really need, there will be an outfitter/PH that can deliver.
Good luck, and welcome!
