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Sable hunting in South Africa
Majestic sable, show me a trophy hunter who would not want one in his trophy room...
16 years ago when I started work as a professional hunter a sable was a rare sight in south Africa and was only reserved for the mega rich Trophy hunters but now things are looking much better for the working man hunter that also have dreams of collecting a sable for that special place on his wall.
The first ever client I Guided on a Sable hunt was 15 years ago, the hunter was self-made man from Texas that owned a business in the oil industries. We hunted the sable on a private game reserve that bordered on the Limpopo River near Rooibokkraal north of Thabazimbi. We found the bull feeding in an open pan close to the river and we managed to stalk to within 150 m of the sable, the hunter shot from the shooting sticks in the standing position, I think he was as nervous as I was because the sable was not hit with a fatal shot. We had to track the sable for a good distance but my Tracking dog Impi helped us to get a speedy second shot into the bull, we had a great trophy in the salt.
Back then the cost of the trophy to the client was ZAR35000 (South African Rand) and that was allot of money back then for one single trophy.
Over the years we noticed how the prices on sable went sky high but their numbers steadily increased as more private game reserves introduced very expensive breeding stock and the range of the magnificent sable was expanded over all the provinces of South Africa. Time and allot of dedication by land owners caused the sable population to grow quickly. 3 years ago (2015) the prices on hunting bull started to become more affordable to the average trophy hunter on a budget. Outfitters in South Africa that used to hunt maybe one or 2 bulls a year at very high prices could now offer good representative bulls to hunters at much lower prices as part of general bag hunting packages. I guided more sable hunts in the last year than I did in the past 16 years.
The trophy fee have come down from well over ZAR100000 to Around ZAR40000 this past season, greatly increasing its popularity with hunters that could only dream of a sable bull on their wall.
From what I see on the hunting areas that we have access to the numbers will keep on increasing even as the hunting pressure increases with the better prices offered to clients. I have also noticed a jump in trophy quality, over the past years 36-38 inches was considered a good representative bull of the species. Today however a 4o inch bull is considered a good representative with bulls in the mid-forties are very possible for the patient hunter.
This is a perfect example of how trophy hunting had a good impact on the numbers and availability of a species when it has a monetary value given to the species by paying trophy hunters from all over the globe.
Hats off to the land owners that had the vision to introduce sables at great cost and effort to allow them to breed to the point where they became accessible to the working man hunter!
Happy sable hunting....
Majestic sable, show me a trophy hunter who would not want one in his trophy room...
16 years ago when I started work as a professional hunter a sable was a rare sight in south Africa and was only reserved for the mega rich Trophy hunters but now things are looking much better for the working man hunter that also have dreams of collecting a sable for that special place on his wall.
The first ever client I Guided on a Sable hunt was 15 years ago, the hunter was self-made man from Texas that owned a business in the oil industries. We hunted the sable on a private game reserve that bordered on the Limpopo River near Rooibokkraal north of Thabazimbi. We found the bull feeding in an open pan close to the river and we managed to stalk to within 150 m of the sable, the hunter shot from the shooting sticks in the standing position, I think he was as nervous as I was because the sable was not hit with a fatal shot. We had to track the sable for a good distance but my Tracking dog Impi helped us to get a speedy second shot into the bull, we had a great trophy in the salt.
Back then the cost of the trophy to the client was ZAR35000 (South African Rand) and that was allot of money back then for one single trophy.
Over the years we noticed how the prices on sable went sky high but their numbers steadily increased as more private game reserves introduced very expensive breeding stock and the range of the magnificent sable was expanded over all the provinces of South Africa. Time and allot of dedication by land owners caused the sable population to grow quickly. 3 years ago (2015) the prices on hunting bull started to become more affordable to the average trophy hunter on a budget. Outfitters in South Africa that used to hunt maybe one or 2 bulls a year at very high prices could now offer good representative bulls to hunters at much lower prices as part of general bag hunting packages. I guided more sable hunts in the last year than I did in the past 16 years.
The trophy fee have come down from well over ZAR100000 to Around ZAR40000 this past season, greatly increasing its popularity with hunters that could only dream of a sable bull on their wall.
From what I see on the hunting areas that we have access to the numbers will keep on increasing even as the hunting pressure increases with the better prices offered to clients. I have also noticed a jump in trophy quality, over the past years 36-38 inches was considered a good representative bull of the species. Today however a 4o inch bull is considered a good representative with bulls in the mid-forties are very possible for the patient hunter.
This is a perfect example of how trophy hunting had a good impact on the numbers and availability of a species when it has a monetary value given to the species by paying trophy hunters from all over the globe.
Hats off to the land owners that had the vision to introduce sables at great cost and effort to allow them to breed to the point where they became accessible to the working man hunter!
Happy sable hunting....
