Before getting to our main subject, legendary Big Five African Game hunters, it would be prudent to elaborate, investigate, and discuss a few present-day challenges, explanations, and questions relating to Big Five African game animals.

What is African Big Game Hunting?

African big game hunting refers to the “Big Five” animals when reference is made to hunting.

What are the big 5 to hunters?

The term “Big Five” takes us back to the early days of game hunting safaris, the so-called “golden years” when the most dangerous and desirable game animals were hunted. The big-5 animals were deemed the most sought-after game hunting trophies and included the elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, leopard, and lion.

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What are the best locations for hunting African Game Animals?

Africa is a continent of dreams and offers adventure and danger at affordable prices.

A few of the most sought-after top Big Five African game hunting premier destinations include:

• Namibia
• South Africa
• Mozambique
• Zambia
• Botswana
• Zimbabwe
• Tanzania

Are any additional African countries showing potential as premier hunting destinations?

Yes, big game hunting destinations in Africa showing future potential include Uganda, Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Cameroon, plus a few further north and on the eastern sides. Unfortunately, there is still some political instability or lack of infrastructure in certain countries due to years of civil war.

Recently, even Iran has opened to game hunting safaris for specialty species such as Desert Ibex, Kerman sheep, Jabir gazelle, and Esfahan sheep.

Then, when considering a game hunting safari following in the footsteps of our previous hunting heroes, the hunter must consider the potential hunting destination very carefully, when choosing his African hunting safari destination. Adding plains game or specialty species as an “add-on” when hunting dangerous game is always a fantastic idea, as many days may idly be spent in camp while waiting for a predator such as a leopard or lion to take the bait.

Some species are endemic to certain countries such as:

• Damara Dik-Dik in Namibia
• Sitatunga in Zambia
• Bongo in the Congo

Some countries may only have spotted hyenas available, while others may only have brown hyenas. An expensive and time-consuming game hunting safari must be a carefully planned trip. If the game hunter finds himself in a specific African country chasing a member of the big five, hunting endemic animals, and saving hard-earned currency based on synergies while on the game hunting safari, it may be an awesome and well-planned strategic move.

Endemic destination species may also include a member or two of the Tiny 10, on the top of many big game hunters’ trophy lists.

Are the African Big Five Endangered?

No, the African Big Five game animals are not endangered, as monitored by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Legendary Hunters in the Decades-long Past

I am not sure about other big game hunters, but I personally grew up reading about the big five famous African hunters such as the Courtney and Ballantyne Families as described by the international Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) author, the late Mr. Wilbur Smith.

Hours were spent in an imaginary world thinking about long nights waiting for a big leopard under the African stars or walking down a 100-pound elephant. From the African bushveld to the desert of Namibia, big five African game animals were always on my mind!

But, before we take a quick snapshot of our favorite and best Big Five African game hunters, let’s have a quick review of the dangerous game making up the Big Five and an update on Big Five hunting news and availability.

Cape Buffalo Hunting in Africa

Sport-shooting of these magnificent animals happens in more than a dozen African countries. Africa’s Black Death, AKA “the widowmaker” is the most sought-after and available dangerous game animal in Africa. Currently, these animals are bred in South Africa, and the width of the horns exceeds 50 inches. Cape buffalo are being reintroduced into many African reserves following years of poaching. They are hunted in most of the southern African countries. Cape buffalo hunting in Africa provides the hunter with options, and Cape buffalo hunts are affordable.

Big Five hunting makes for some of the most interesting, adrenaline-filled, memorable, and exciting game hunting safaris in Africa.

Rhino hunting in Africa

Intensive breeding programs in private reserves in South Africa have borne fruit, and the numbers of White and Black Rhino are slowly increasing. Mozambique has the highest number of White Rhinos, but with these numbers comes the high risk of poaching, which is also increasing. Legalizing the sale of rhino horn can be the answer to reducing the illegal trade of rhino horn.

Namibia and South Africa are the only two countries where legal game hunting safaris for rhinos can be conducted.

Elephant hunting in Africa

Elephant numbers were devastated four to five decades ago due to poaching gangs and the illegal trade of ivory. The international ban on ivory trading worked briefly, and numbers increased.

Sustainable elephant hunting in Africa has created many opportunities for employment for residents, and anti-poaching efforts have increased. The African elephant is not endangered, and some countries like Botswana do not have the carrying capacity to support the large herds like we can see today in the Chobe National Park. At last count, Botswana had over 200,000 free-roaming elephants.

Zimbabwe has a big quota for tuskless elephants available for hunting, in some instances for even less than a Cape buffalo or sable. Elephant trophies cannot be imported into the United States since 2014, when the ban was placed by UIS Wildlife and Fisheries.

Lion Hunting in Africa

“Wild Lion” populations have been decreasing over the last few years, with many lions targeted by local herdsmen and subsistence farmers due to lions hunting their livestock. The result is that in certain areas, wild lion numbers are decreasing.

Tanzania mandated that only lions over six years of being hunted, and we have seen countries like Mozambique follow suit.

The United States has also placed a ban on lion trophies importation, while “canned lion hunting in South Africa is also coming under pressure. Lion hunting in South Africa is available and very affordable. These hunts usually take place in the Kalahari Desert.

Lion hunting is available in most of the southern African countries.

Leopard Hunting in Africa

Leopard hunting happens throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, except South Africa, which has not issued tags in many years. Leopard numbers decreased due to the fur trade in the late 1960s, but leopard numbers have rebounded. Tanzania is one of the most expensive countries to hunt a leopard. Leopard hunting, from a value perspective in US Dollars, takes place in countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia.

A leopard’s territory is widespread, and no outfitter can guarantee a 100 percent leopard hunting success rate.

Big Five Hunting Legends

1) Frederick Courtney Selous (1851-1917)

Frederick was a British army officer and big game hunter famous for his exploits in Southern and Eastern Africa. Frederick was well acquainted with famous politicians such as Cecil John Rhodes and Theodore Roosevelt (from where the famous children’s teddy bear name originated).

Frederick married Marie Maddy at the age of forty-two and had two sons. It is known that Frederick had numerous children from at least three African wives. While these children were never legally acknowledged, he paid for their education and left them all a substantial inheritance in the form of property in Bulawayo and Harare.

Frederick was educated throughout Europe, including England, Germany, and Austria, and expected to study medicine by his parents. His natural love of nature and wildlife led him to become even a greater explorer than the famous Dr David Livingstone.

Federick was not only a famous professional elephant and ivory hunter, but his exploits as a soldier are extensive. Fredericks’s African safaris are very well documented, with wild accounts of trespassing, poaching, and causing mayhem all over southern and eastern Africa. Fredericks loved his.450 Nitro Express for dangerous game, with his preferred gun makers being Gibbs of Bristol and Holland and Holland of London.

Frederick died in 1917 fighting the German Colonial, Schutztruppen being outnumbered five to one. He was shot in the head by a German sniper and was buried under a tamarind tree on the Rufiji River in today’s Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

Frederick Courtney Selous will be long remembered as an avid adventurer, explorer, and big game African hunter.

2) Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell (1880-1954)

Walter, also known as Karamoja Bell, was a Scottish big game hunter, adventurer, decorated fighter pilot, sailor, and writer. A man who most certainly was multi-talented.

Walter traveled the sub-region of Uganda extensively and was one of the most famous ivory and elephant hunters of all time. Walter preferred accurate shot placement when elephant hunting in Africa and used mostly small caliber rifles over the bigger large bore rifles.

Walter was the second youngest son of eight children, and his father was a businessman in the coal and oil industry. Bell perfected a technique of shooting elephants diagonally behind the target, an exceptionally difficult shot.

He hunted in East Africa from Uganda to Ethiopia and later moved to Liberia, where there weren’t any regulations on hunting elephants or other game species.

Bell loved elephant hunting with his favorite rifle, the Rigby 7x57mm Mauser, and successfully hunted 983 elephants. He preferred the brain shot when elephant hunting as he believed it did not disturb the herd as much. Body shots could mean animals may run, which could easily cause the entire herd to stampede. He was an exceptional shot, and it was rumored he could shoot a Cormorant in flight with his trusty .318.

3) Jan Viljoen and his friend, Petrus Jacobs

These two gentlemen, during the 19th century, were two of the greatest and most successful elephant hunters. I am sure these professional hunters would today have been able to entertain us all with many tales of elephant and dangerous game hunting in Africa!

It is not confirmed how many elephants they shot, but the numbers are said to be more than 1,000 each.

Fredericks Selous once described Petrus Jacobs as, “The most experienced elephant hunter in South Africa!” Jacobs, at the age of seventy-three, was mauled by a lion and saved by his three hunting dogs. Selous witnessed this incident. Two months later, Petrus was back on his horse, partaking in his favorite activity, elephant hunting. Jacobs, it is believed, also killed more than 100 lions during his career. These are the stories of true big game hunting legends!

4) Philippus Jacobus Pretorius (1877-1945)

Philippus hunted elephants throughout East and Central Africa. It was believed he had hunted and shot hundreds of elephants, probably well over 1,000. He was so famous and renowned that in 1920 he was contracted by the South African government to cull the Knysna elephants. The Knysna Forest is a famous attraction in the modern day in the Garden Route area, running between Mossel Bay and Jefferies Bay in the Eastern Cape.

He loved his .475 caliber double rifle and would get up close and personal for these dangerous game hunts. Two journalists watched him kill six elephants in less than thirty seconds!

5) Philip Hope Percival (1886–1966)

When we talk about property, we talk about location, location, and location again! For Philip Percival, it was the same: Being in the right place at the right time. On two separate occasions! Not many game hunters I know can boast the same success, or luck if that were the case!

In the first instance, he was hired to assist the Hill cousins with the famous Roosevelt game hunting safari, which was life-changing for the young professional hunter. These cousins were already famous for lion hunting. They were appointed by Sir Alfred Pease, who hosted the Roosevelt safari.

Twenty-five years later, he was a seasoned big game hunter. He was appointed by Ernest Hemingway to host his safari. Hemingway later went on to include Philip in his novel, The Green Hills of Home. Philip was the famous character “Pop.”

Twenty years later, after yet another African Safari together, the account of the safari was included in the novel, True at First Light.

Philip became famous for dangerous game hunting, specifically lion hunting in Africa. After the Roosevelt safari, sport hunters worldwide decided Africa was a premier destination to hunt dangerous game!

6) Harry Selby (1925-2018)

Harry Selby remains one of the most famous big game hunting legends!

Harry Selby is most certainly one of the most famous Big Five African game hunters and outfitters of modern times. Selby was born in South Africa and relocated to Kenya at three years old.

The acquired land set aside for cattle ranching was 40,000 acres in size. Seasonal game migrations included dangerous game such as elephants, Cape buffalo, lions, and leopards. Various plains game shared the ranch, and cull hunts were essential.

When livestock were threatened by lions and leopards, hunts were conducted. As in all African countries, cattle were a prized and high-value commodity.

Harries early hunting days started with a .22 rimfire to harvest small game, including beautiful gazelle antelope, before moving up to dangerous game hunting.

Harry successfully conducted his first elephant hunt with his cousin in Kenya’s northern frontier. Needing to upgrade the .22 rifle for dangerous game, Harry purchased a .425 Westley Richards.

Tracking a small herd of elephants and spotting a mature bull, the duo both fired together and downed the bull. Ivory weighed in at an unbelievable 130 pounds per side. Today, there are very few 100-pounders left traversing Africa. Harry went on to guide many big game hunters in the same area with numerous tuskers harvested.

After joining Ker & Downey Safaris in 1949, Harry guided Robert Ruark and his wife on their African safari in Tanzania, which led to Ruark’s book, namely the “Horn of the Hunter”. Harry became so famous that game hunting safaris had to be booked three to four years in advance. Ruark and Harry hunted together on many occasions throughout the 1950s. Ruark published yet another book titled “Something of Value” based on Harry’s persona.

Harry was an expert at running an efficient and comfortable safari camp. He favored the .416 bolt action Rigby and loved knowing he had four rounds ready and waiting. The .416 Rigby could perform with devastating effect at close range on large dangerous game.

Harry and his partners later left Kenya due to the uncertain future of game hunting in the country and moved to what is known as Botswana today.

Harry died peacefully at his home in Maun, Botswana on the 20th of January 2018.

Harry will always be remembered as a true icon amongst professional hunters and outfitters. The “dark continent” will never forget Mr. Harry Selby, a true legend within the world of African Big Five game hunters.

Legendary Hunters

We could fill many journals, books, and libraries if we had to document all the exploits of past African Big Five hunting legends, those remembered and those forgotten. Would that not be something?  Are you made of the same grit as these few legendary African Big Five game hunters?

Has all this talk of big game hunting got you fired up for another game hunting safari? Found out more about available Big 5 African game packages. If you enjoyed reading about these legendary hunters’ adventures with dangerous game, read more about our Game Hunting Safari team’s brushes with big game hunting!

Author: PC van Wyk