South Africa has much to offer the discerning trophy hunter. With 29 species of plains antelope, 26 of which may be hunted, the variety that can be offered is unsurpassed anywhere in the Africa. Of these 26 huntable species, 7 of them are endemic to South Africa and are thus unobtainable anywhere else in the world.

Bill sits with his 31 3/8" Blue Wildebeest, which scores 89 3/8 S.C.I. Points.

Bjorn kneels next to his trophy Red Hartebeest, which scores 73 2/8 S.C.I. points, and the longest horn measues 24 5/8".

These species are: the Grey Rhebuck, Blesbuck, Bontebok, Cape Grysbuck, Southern Mountain Reedbuck, Black Wildebeest and the Cape Mountain Zebra. In addition to all the plains antelope on offer, South Africa also has a large variety of carnivores, including Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Caracal and Spotted Hyena. There are also the large mammals, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, African Buffalo and Giraffe. This makes South Africa the only place where you can hunt the "Big 5" in one country.

With all of this variety and with popularity of South Africa as a hunting destination, you could be forgiven for thinking that you would have difficulty in obtaining a large trophy. This is a fallacy that is easy to dispel by taking a look through either the Rowland Ward or the S.C.I. trophy record books and you will see that the top trophies for a variety of species were taken in South Africa in the last few years. These trophies include the following: Blue Wildebeest; Greater Kudu; Common Waterbuck; Leopard; Impala; Red, Blue and Grey Duikers; Nyala; Common Reedbuck, Lion; Cheetah, and Red Hartebeest; as well as many more. All of these species occur in other African countries that offer them for hunting.

Jim and his Nyala bull, taken late one afternoon after a long stalk.