WANTED: Looking For A 55 Inch Plus Kudu To Hunt

[Adrian]

Amen to the above.
Looking for a specific size is not a bad thing.
I enjoy hunting first and foremost let me make that perfectly clear.
The OP has stated that he has been fortunate enough to take Kudu in the past and now he wants the opportunity to hunt one bigger than he has hunted previously.
I am in the same position.
I have taken 48", 52" and 56" Kudu previously so if I am going to hunt another and spend 1K and upwards for the privilege I will be wanting the challenge of looking for that rare beast of a 60"+ Kudu.
I'm not shopping, I'm not hunting with a tape measure but I want the experience of seeing, hunting and hopefully taking a real monster bull.
I don't want to waste my hard earned money on a lesser animal, I already have them, why would I want to repeat myself.
I would prefer to keep my money and let smaller animals grow bigger or hope that another hunter who hasn't taken a Kudu will have the opportunity of a fifty incher.
For me, I've been there and done it, the only way is up now.
It's not about anything other than refining my hunting and looking for specifics.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

My advice would be to contact Jacques Strauss at Kowas Safaris in Namibia. Book 7-10 days and be willing to walk the hills for all of them if need be. That guy lives for finding big free range kudu bulls on their awesome back country. You might hit the jackpot, you might not - that's hunting. But they are there, and it'd be a great challenge trying...

In fact I think I'll do just that myself someday. But I'd have to add another big Oryx while I'm there in addition to the Hartmann Zebra I left behind...

 

[Mark R]

I'll reply to this last post before the OP gets around to it. A smart ass comment like that won't win you any friends around here. We tend to try to avoid starting fights and arguments.
Some of us have been to africa a few times and would like to upgrade some of our trophies. We want to hunt in areas where that may be possible. If your hunting a concession where the biggest Kudu taken in the last 5 yrs is 54 inches then thats not the place the OP wants to be for a bigger bull. I still expect to HUNT and hunt hard for that trophy. I'll get up at 4AM and go till full dark. I want to smell the air and hear the rock doves. I want to participate in finding my animals. On my safaris I have spotted some of the animals I've taken before the PH and others there have seen them.
Here is part of the debate. I have taken enough of the plains game animals that I'm looking for trophies and not representative animals. I would like to upgrade. So maybe I pay a little more and shoot fewer animals on the trip. My safari so thats my right. If I'm paying a "trophy" fee then I hope I'm getting a trophy. If I'm paying a kill fee then thats different.
If you don't agree, thats fine move on. There will be PH's that don't have the quality of animals that the OP wants and thats fine too. What the OP is asking for, in my mind at least, is to hunt a property where he may have the opportunity to hunt his version of a trophy.
I will also submit that the harder you work for a trophy the more it means to you. My Bighorn was taken in the afternoon of the 10th day of a 10 day hunt. Well over 150 miles of horseback riding. Thats a hunt that I remember well. To end my rant sir, I'll say that I thought your comment uncalled for and in poor taste.
Bruce

Point taken and totally agree. Apologies to the OP but when I see topics like this I think of canned hunts where the size is directed to the hunter before the hunt ever takes place. My hunting says to me that Kowas Safaris would well and truly be a point of contact for big kudu.....Also some of the conservancies along Kruger have big kudu.

 

[BenKK]

I’m also looking for a big kudu this year, but not a guaranteed one, just hard hunting in an area that has produced big ones each year. My personal preference is to avoid sliding scale fees and guarantees.

 

[kudukid]

I’m also looking for a big kudu this year, but not a guaranteed one, just hard hunting in an area that has produced big ones each year. My personal preference is to avoid sliding scale fees and guarantees.

Some great insights in these comments that I totally relate to. I too am in a similar boat where I am looking to upgrade on kudu. It is not just about inches- but you need some sort of yardstick to determine what constitutes a huge kudu. On my most recent safari I passed up two or three large kudu in the 55 inch range because they weren't much different to what I had on my wall at home. I told my PH that I particulatly wanted a vey wide kudu with reasonable curl. From previous experience most of the wide kudu have little depth to their curls. I am being fussy but I know what I want and it keeps me going back.